Mounds Park Academy

September 17, 2020

Please be sure that your AUXS Safety App is up to date! In this new update, your green daily screening pass will display within the app in addition to being sent via email.

You will see a new “pass” icon in the upper right on home screen within the app, and after completing the screening form, you will also receive an alert with link to “View Safety Pass.” Passes will only display for the current date, and the pass screen will be blank if no form was completed for the day. All email and text messages already set up will continue to be sent to you as usual.

This latest version (version 1.4) is now available on the App Store and Google Play. If your phone already has updates turned on, the update will occur automatically. Thank you!

IMAC Middle School Virtual Meet

September 15, 2020

It was not an ideal day to race cross country. But you ran very well!

Eddie started fast and kept going fast, maintaining a steady 6:20-ish pace for the entire race. Joey also ran a strong steady pace, averaging 7:00 pace. Josh was never far behind Joey and also ran a steady pace. This was his first cross country race. Sam, in his first cross country race, did very well.

Ryan held off the hard charging Carter and Connor. All three ran very competitively. This was the first cross country race for all three of them. Boyd finished things for our middle school boys. He started very fast and held on pretty well.

Teagan was our top girl, our 5th overall finisher. She averaged 7:20 pace the entire way, keeping a fairly even pace after a quick first loop. Megan was not far behind, in her first cross country race. Julia ran a steady pace the entire way. She’s only been on the team about a week, and this was only the second time she’s been with the team!

You can see the times for our runners here and overall results for all participating teams here.

Meet Alex Appleton ’23

September 15, 2020

How many years have you been a student at MPA?
I came to MPA in the fall of 2019 as a ninth grader.

What do you love about MPA?
I love the diversity and the classes. The teachers are so kind and supportive and truly want you to grow toward your goals and will help guide you there. I love the community and that as a tenth grader, I have the chance to be with Lower School kids or work with Middle Schoolers as they make their way toward the Upper School.

How are you encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA?
My math teachers encouraged me to pursue my goal of jumping ahead into accelerated math. And this past summer, I finally achieved that. What started as a big dream developed into a possible goal that is now a reality. This would not have been possible if it weren’t for the support of the teachers at MPA who encouraged me to reach this goal. Not only do I now feel more confident to reach my own goals, but I am encouraged to do right by helping others reach their goals as well. Read More

News From The Parents Of Alumni

September 15, 2020

Amanda Campbell is joining the Alumni Association this year as the Parents Of Alumni Liaison. Amanda served on the MPA Parents Association from 2010–2018 when her daughter Quinn [first child of an alum (Ryan Campbell ’90) to attend MPA and 13 Year Club member] graduated. Since 2018, she has been an active member of the POA. It has been a great organization to maintain the connections and friendships made over the course of 13 years as a parent at MPA. Amanda has been the POA Executive Board Secretary and will serve as the Alumni Board POA Liaison for the 2020-2021 school year. She feels fortunate to remain tethered to MPA and its faculty and staff through the POA.

The MPA POA Executive Board consists of Mary Jo Thrane, Amanda Campbell, Jeanne Danaher, Linda Goodno, Carey Ide, Chris Levesque, and Karla Myers. Each are members of the POA with alumni from the graduating classes 2009–2020.

The POA looks forward to hearing from you & catching up at one of our virtual social activities throughout the coming year. For more information, please reach out to the POA directly via email at POA@moundsparkacademy.org.

Four MPA Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

September 14, 2020

Congratulations to this group of MPA seniors! Isak Dai, Ryan Ghose, Dhruv Muppidi, and Sungjoon “Sean” Park have qualified as National Merit Semifinalists. They qualified based on their performance on the PSAT they took as juniors.

More than 1.6 million high school students from about 22,000 schools nationwide take the PSAT in October of their junior year. Those with the highest PSAT Selection Index scores are recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their exceptional performance. These four students were honored this fall by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, based on their scores on last fall’s PSAT.

Semifinalists proceed in the scholarship competition by submitting their academic records throughout high school, endorsements and recommendations by a high school official, written essays, and SAT® scores that confirm their prior performance on the qualifier test. If they are named Finalists, they will be eligible for National Merit Scholarship opportunities. Over 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and nearly half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. Read More

A Message From Alumni Board Member Amanda Magistad ’12

September 14, 2020

What advice do you wish you had been told your senior year of high school? I can think of a few things I wish I had known. Like not to rush through the year, to enjoy your last summer in Minnesota and don’t overload yourself on difficult courses your first semester of college. While life has moved very quickly and senior year seems like a lifetime ago, I’ll never forget the people who gave me valuable advice and helped me pave the path to where I am today.

Now, I have the opportunity to share advice with an MPA senior through the 2020-2021 mentorship program. This will be my first year joining the mentorship program and I am looking forward to offering my perspective on senior year, preparing for college and more. The program requires a small-time commitment, that results in a positive impact on an MPA senior. Behind every successful person is a mentor who took the time to listen, offer advice, and most of all who cared. I encourage you to be that person. Make an impact and join this year’s mentorship program to help a senior navigate their final year of high school and prepare for their next adventure. To learn more about the mentorship program, please email Ashley Goetzke, Assistant Director of Development at agoetzke@moundsparkacademy.org.

MPA Talks Features Garseng Wong ’11

September 14, 2020

Meet MPA Talks speaker Garseng Wong ’11! Garseng attended MPA from grades 4-12 and went on to study Human Biology at Stanford University. He concentrated on nutrition and chronic disease management and initially thought about working as a primary care physician to continue this interest, but during his time in medical school at NYU, pivoted to psychiatry because the field afforded him more time to get to know patients deeply and personally. He is currently a resident psychiatrist at NYU and hopes to specialize in child-adolescent psychiatry, focusing his work with queer youth and young adults long-term. Get to know more about Garseng before MPA Talks on September 30 with the Q&A below!

What will we learn from your MPA Talk?
In my MPA talk, I would like to compare and contrast mental health as it is portrayed in the media and discussed in the lay public versus our conceptualizations as a profession. I hope to offer a space to discuss and de-stigmatize mental health, and introduce skills and ideas for maintaining mental health as students progress through school and develop as young, independent adults.

What do you believe will be the greatest challenge our current students will face in their lifetimes and how do you see MPA equipping them to face that challenge?
Our society has become extremely polarized to the point where communication between people of opposing ideologies often become shouting matches without any exchange of ideas. This is worsened by the growing sentiment against evidence and the blurring of “truth.” Our students will have to become effective communicators with those who do not share their point of view in order to advance in their lives and careers, especially for those who hope to tackle our nation’s (or world’s) great challenges. I see MPA equipping students for this future by introducing them to big, controversial ideas early and asking them to consider issues from multiple perspectives. Read More

IMAC East Varsity and Junior Varsity Girls

September 11, 2020

The weather was cloudy with a little drizzle at times. But our girls were shining bright.

Margo led our varsity girls. She was dealing with some painful hip flexors, but after some strength and stretching, she decided to race. She ran with the top SPA girls for 2 miles, but then the hip flexor got painful and she wisely backed off. She still managed to finish 4th.

Cara ran very well to take almost a minute off her best time on this course. Izzy was not far behind, with a time not that far off her time at last year’s IMAC Championship near the end of the season on this course. Abigail, running her first varsity race, knocked almost 5 minutes off her previous personal best time! If she does that again, Margo will be looking over her shoulder. Sophia wrapped things up for our varsity girls. In this small field, she wound up running alone, but still managed to take over a minute off her previous personal best time.

Later in the afternoon, Amy made her way to Battle Creek to run in the junior varsity race. She had never run this course, but the girls from Minnehaha were nice enough to show her the way. Amy started out cautiously, but turned it up a notch during the second half of the race. Showing some determination, she finished strongly.

All the times (including the varsity winner) were on the slower side. This was everyone’s first race. And if you think about previous years, we would be running our first race on Saturday. So these are early days. Running in a meet with just three teams is also a very different experience, with many gaps forming, leaving runners running alone, which is much harder.

With more interval workouts (did I mention that we will be doing 600s on Monday?) and a few more races, you will be sharp and ready to race your best times.

You can see the results for our girls here.

IMAC East Varsity and Junior Varsity Boys

September 10, 2020

You ran well in your first cross country meet in this new normal world.

Isak played cat and mouse with the top runner from SPA. In the end, the cat won. And the cat was running in hiking shoes. Really. Isak promises me he will wear his spikes next time. Or at least running shoes.

Ben stuck with the Minnehaha runners right to the end. He was not able to catch that group, but he did run a personal best time on a course that is significantly more challenging than the section course where he set his previous person best.

Evan was next up, also running without spikes, but at least wearing real running shoes. Liam, running just a few seconds off his personal best time, was our next runner. Peter wrapped up our scoring five, running well off his personal best. But we can cut him some slack, since he only got the boot off his previously broken ankle about a month ago!

Trevor ran well and was smiling the entire race. This was not only his first race as a varsity runner, but his first cross country race. An impressive debut! Noah, promoted to the varsity finished things up for us. In this much smaller than normal field, he was left running alone, which is always much harder.

Next, our junior varsity runners headed bravely to Battle Creek. After learning the course on the fly, it was race time. Eddie led the way, not going out too fast and running a smart, patient race. Joey ran a personal best, moving up throughout the race to finish just ahead of our new runner from Gentry, Andrew, making a strong debut in his first cross country meet. Zain finished just a few seconds further back, running his personal best. Henry S. overcame a side cramp and added his own personal best time, and Eilam, though he wasn’t feeling his best, persevered and finished, wrapping things up for our junior varsity boys. Thank you to the JV boys for diligently helping to pick up the cones after the race.

You did very well adapting to the new normal, wearing masks, distancing on the starting line, sticking to a tight schedule so our junior varsity runners could get to the second meet on time, and everything else. While some of your times may have been disappointing, those will improve as we do more work in the coming weeks.

If you do not have spikes, visit Run N Fun and pick up a pair. If you did not wear your spikes, bring them to our next interval workout and put a little time in wearing them to get acclimated. They will make a huge difference.

Times for our runners can be found here.

Save The Date For MPA Talks

September 10, 2020

This year’s MPA Talks is going virtual! MPA Community members, specifically alumni will be given the platform to share their stories and knowledge through an MPA Talks series this fall. MPA Talks this year will be a platform devoted to the voices of people of color and take place virtually. Save the date for September 30, 2020 to join us at 6 PM live on Facebook.