May 23, 2019
Sophomore Salmah Elmasry and Upper School history teacher Katie Murr are one of 15 student-teacher pairs from across the country to be accepted this year to the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute. The Institute is an intensive, all expenses paid program that will give Salmah and Ms. Murr the opportunity to study D-Day and the Operation Overlord Campaign of 1944. They are participating in an online course this spring, and then will travel to Washington D.C. and France to complete archival research and learn from experts. The program will culminate with Salmah writing a lengthy biography of and delivering a eulogy for a Minnesota soldier buried at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer in France.
This soldier is Lawrence—or “Larry”—Riley, and he has a connection to the MPA community. Upper School English teacher David Loo introduced Salmah and Ms. Murr to his wife’s uncle, Bob Riley, who is Larry’s son. Bob’s father was killed as a paratrooper in WWII, and he grew up knowing very little about who his father was, how he died, the regiment he served in, or anything related to his military service. After months of rigorous research, Salmah and Ms. Murr were able to piece together Larry’s story, and they met with Bob on campus this week to share with him what they discovered.
Salmah and Ms. Murr learned that Larry was from Minneapolis, lived in a house with his parents and eight siblings, and attended DeLaSalle High School. After finding photos and obtaining records from DeLaSalle, it was clear that Larry was a remarkably talented athlete. “He played football throughout his high school career, and he earned letters in his junior and senior years,” shared Salmah during the conversation.
“He had this high school education, but it was a struggle, and right at the moment he seemed to be getting back on his feet he secured a job at the Twin Cities Ordinance Plant … The war clearly took over in terms of where he went to get a job and what he was going to do,” says Ms. Murr. Due to his age at the time of the war and having three children, Larry was likely not going to be drafted, so he volunteered instead. He enlisted as a paratrooper. Paratroopers were paid an extra $50 a month, and there were a lot of men who tried to join the airborne for that reason.
The Spirit Committee gathered yesterday to celebrate the contributions of long-time members, and senior parents, Kathy Bourne and Kathi Peterson. After many years of dedication to the Spirit Committee they bid a fond farewell with their seniors and leave MPA Athletics stronger than ever. Mounds Park Academy would like to sincerely thank them for their many hours of volunteer service and incredible contributions through the years.
by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
A group of former MPA girls soccer players, some of their partners, eight little ones, and coaches Mike Scinto and Al Greimel recently got together for an MPA soccer reunion!
MPA alum Pa Chia Thao ’13 was a featured speaker at this year’s Breakthrough Twin Cities annual gala, the Booyah Bash. Pa Chia is a Mount Holyoke College Class of 2017 alumna majoring in astronomy and physics. She shared about the impact of Breakthrough Twin Cities and Mounds Park Academy during her remarks.
What do you love about MPA?
As the 2018–19 school year comes to an end, we’re sharing the college choice stories of several members of the Class of 2019!
Thank you to our entire community for helping to make the 2019 Spring Auction – Once Upon a Time a big success. Together, current parents, alumni families, grandparents, faculty and staff, and friends raised a grand total of $200,584!
by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
Congratulations to the MPA Girls Softball Team for winning the 2019 IMAC Conference Championship! This is the first championship title to be won by MPA’s softball team in school history. This year’s team composition has been tremendously successful, as it features a variety of grades and even a few players from Gentry Academy, who MPA has a co-operative partnership with this year. There are two seniors, four juniors, six eighth graders, and three students from Gentry Academy. All the players showed a commitment to the team from the beginning, such as eighth grader Siri S., who chose to play on MPA’s team along with her traveling softball team.