Mounds Park Academy

November 8, 2017

Mounds Park Academy is proud to announce that senior Declan Dahlberg signed with the University of Minnesota’s Track and Field and Cross Country Teams. An exceptional student athlete, Declan was accepted to the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

“I’m extremely excited to start this new chapter of my academic and athletic career next fall, and I’m honored to do it at the University of Minnesota. In the end, the combination of my interactions with Coach Plascencia, the boys on the team, and the school in general made this an easy choice. I’m extremely grateful to my high school coaches, Dan Ethier, Jerry Slater, and Bev Docherty, my parents, and my teammates and friends for helping me get to this point. I could not have achieved any of this without all of their support,” said Declan.

Declan is a two-time state champion (1600m in Track and Cross Country as a junior). He also finished second twice (3200m in Track as a junior and Cross Country as a senior). He is a seven-time state qualifier and seven-time All State Honoree between Track and Cross Country. Remarkably, he was part of both of the two closest finishes in Cross Country State Meet history.

Outside of athletics, Declan is an exceptional student and volunteer. He is an academic All State Recipient with a 3.98 Cumulative GPA, making honor roll every semester of high school. Declan was one of 14 members of the MPA Class of 2018 to be inducted into the National Honor Society on October 12, 2017. His selection was due to his exemplary commitment to service, leadership, character, and academics, tenants of NHS and Mounds Park Academy. He writes the weekly Run, Write, Repeat Blog for running website MileSplit MN.

Interested in pursuing medical school after college, Declan volunteers in the emergency room at St. John’s Hospital and does melanoma research with Professor Timothy Lyden at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls specifically related to the 3D modeling of melanoma tumors.

He is a highly skilled percussionist, pianist, violinist, and choral member, exemplifying the balance between academics, arts, and athletics that students find at Mounds Park Academy.

Click here to see more photos!

Press Release: Declan Dahlberg Signing

November 7, 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Natalie Waters Seum
Director of Communications and Marketing
nwatersseum@moundsparkacademy.org
651-485-1597 (cellular)

MOUNDS PARK ACADEMY’S DECLAN DAHLBERG CHOOSES UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TRACK AND FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY

Signing Wednesday, November 8 at 8:25 AM

November 7, 2017 – Mounds Park Academy is proud to announce that senior Declan Dahlberg will sign with the University of Minnesota’s Track and Field and Cross Country Teams. An exceptional student athlete, Declan was accepted to the University’s School of Science and Engineering.

Members of the media are invited to join us on Mounds Park Academy’s campus Wednesday, November 8 for his signing, which will begin promptly at 8:25 AM. Enter the Lansing Center through door seven, which is located on the north end of campus, furthest from Larpenteur Avenue. Prior notice of plans to attend would be greatly appreciated via email at nwatersseum@moundsparkacademy.org,

ABOUT DECLAN

Two-time state champion (1600m in Track and Cross Country as a junior). He also finished second twice (3200m in Track as a junior and Cross Country as a senior).
Seven-time state qualifier and seven-time All State Honoree between Track and Cross Country.• Part of both of the two closest finishes in Cross Country State Meet history.
Follows in the footsteps of MPA alumnus Evan Ferlic ’15 who currently runs Cross Country and Track for the Gophers.
Writes the weekly Run, Write, Repeat blog for running website MileSplit MN.
Academic All State Recipient, 3.98 Cumulative GPA, honor roll every semester of high school. Declan was one of 14 members of the MPA Class of 2018 to be inducted into the National Honor Society on October 12, 2017. His selection was due to his exemplary commitment to service, leadership, character, and academics, tenants of NHS and Mounds Park Academy.
Volunteers in in emergency room at St. John’s Hospital and does melanoma research with Professor Timothy Lyden at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls specifically related to the 3D modeling of melanoma tumors. He is interested in pursuing medical school after college.
Highly skilled percussionist, pianist, violinist, and choral member, exemplifying the balance between academics, arts, and athletics that students find at Mounds Park Academy.

About Mounds Park Academy
2051 Larpenteur Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55109
Founded in 1982, Mounds Park Academy is a private, PreK-12 college preparatory school serving nearly 500 students from throughout the Twin Cities. The MPA environment is designed to allow each student to discover who they are truly meant to be through rigorous offerings in academics, arts, and athletics. For more information, visit www.moundsparkacademy.org. For more information about Athletics at MPA, visit www.moundsparkacademy.org/athletics.

State Meet

November 4, 2017

The state cross country meet provided a little drama, with Declan once again involved in the closest finish in meet history.

Margo was first on the line for us. She was under strict orders to have fun. Despite a very fast first mile (only a few seconds slower than what she did in Phy Ed a few weeks ago!), she ran one of her best times of the season to finish 46th. Afterwards, the winner of the race took a few minutes to talk with her about her race!

Declan led our boys team during their race. In a near replay of last year, Declan and Matt Steiger sprinted down the final straight side by side. But this year, Steiger outleaned Declan by less than a tenth of a second. Once again, the closest finish in state cross country history. Those two sure know how to put on a show!

Tanner led a pack of panthers across the line, running his second best race ever. Matt was close behind, running his second best time of the season. Henry S. and Isak were only seconds behind to complete the scoring for the boys.

Henry P. and Sumner finished up their races to wrap up the race for the boys. Henry’s time, while not his best of the season, was still a minute faster than his best of last year. Sumner may still be wondering how he wound up running in the state cross country meet. But the answer is simple: he ran a lot of miles last summer.

The state meet is a challenging affair. The course, despite lacking big hills like Battle Creek, is deceptively challenging, and has a way of sucking the life out of your legs. The race starts fast and you’re always running in a crowd. And most of you were tapering for our section race and were probably a little past your peak.

Despite those challenges, you all ran reasonably well. I hope you enjoyed this opportunity. We bid farewell to Declan and Sumner. But the rest of you might just be back here next year.

Results for girls and boys are available at Wayzata Results. There are articles at the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press (with many nice photos of MPA runners), and Down the Backstretch. There is a post-race interview with Declan on Milesplit.

Evan Ferlic ’15 Receives Big Ten Sportsmanship Award

November 3, 2017

Congratulations to Evan Ferlic ’15 for receiving the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the University of Minnesota Men’s Cross Country Team!

The Big Ten Conference honors athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. Athletes must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

As a Panther, Ferlic helped lead MPA to a second place finish at the 2013 MSHSL State Cross Country Meet and anchored the 2015 Class A State Champion 4x800m relay team in Track and Field.

Congratulations, Evan!

Can We Count On You?

November 2, 2017

Gifts of all size are an affirmation of your commitment to MPA. It sends a powerful message to the students, faculty, staff, and the community that MPA is an institution worth supporting, that the work we are doing to prepare our future leaders to dream big and do right has an impact on our world, and that you know how valuable participation truly is in the Fall Campaign. Thank you!

We all love a pizza party! Your class can join the celebration of giving! Participation is what really makes the difference! Classes that reach 70% participation via their families’ giving will then receive a free pizza party! Also, mark your calendars for the Give to the Max Day Lip Sync Assembly on Thursday, November 16. We can’t wait to see you there!

Cross Country Qualifies for State

November 2, 2017

The Boys Cross Country team finished second at the Section 4A Championship Meet to qualify for the State Cross Country Meet. Team members are Matthew Bourne, Tanner Kozen, Isak Nightingale, Henry Peterson, Henry Snider, Sumner Wu and defending Class A State Champion Declan Dahlberg. Seventh grader, Margo, finished fourth in the Section 4A Girls Race and also qualified for the State Meet! The MSHSL State Championship is on Saturday, November 4 at St. Olaf College. Margo runs in the Class A Girls Race at 1 PM and the Boys Team runs in the Class A Boys Race at 2 PM. Go Panthers!

Student Artwork Chosen For Juried Exhibition

November 2, 2017

The Mounds Park Academy Visual Art Department is pleased to share the students selected to be included in the annual invitational juried exhibition at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Fairbault October 26-November 13. Each school invited may enter ten works of art. Of the ten MPA entered, nine pieces were juried in and two received awards.

Alex Esch, senior, received a first place award for her photo, titled, “Small Girl in the Big City” and Siri Vorvick, junior, received an honorable mention for “Piano”. See both below along with all of the other artwork selected for this show. Congratulations!

Click on the image for a full-size view.

: “Joy” by Lily Madore, 11, Colored Pencil

: “Bahamuts” by Lucy Larson, 12, Clay, underglaze, glaze

: “Green Reflection” by Abby Goodno, 12, Clay, underglaze, glaze

: “Obstruction” by Alexandra Esch, 12, Photography

: “Small Girl in a Big City” by Alexandra Esch, 12 Photography

: “Facing Difference” by Mats Dahlberg, 11, Mixed Media Collage

: “Van Gogh’s Aquarium” by Mats Dahlberg, 11, Acrylic

: “Piano” by Siri Vorvick, 11, Acrylic

: “Self-Portrait” by Siri Vorvick, 11, Colored Pencil and Pen

Halloween Reflections

November 2, 2017

by Mark Segal, Upper School Director

It is hard to believe that the annual MPA Halloween Parade is the culmination of months of planning and preparation. At some point early this past summer, my fourth-grade son, Logan, began to share with me how much he enjoys Halloween. An ardent Minnesota Vikings fan, he began to think about his costume and figured out a way to meld together his favorite Vikings player (Harrison Smith) and the Vikings mascot, Viktor the Viking. It is not about the candy, he would later share, but rather about the fun costumes that students get to wear and the high-fives he receives from the “older kids” as he follows the parade route through the building.

The all-school celebration of Halloween is one of the many school wide traditions that younger students get to share with older students at MPA. Mounds Park Academy is the only independent school in the Twin Cities that offers a PreK through 12 educational and community experience under one roof. I appreciate when prospective parents ask if being in an environment of mixed-age students is beneficial. I get to share that MPA wholeheartedly knows it is and explain the many ways in which this is the case. Being in a mixed-age community allows our students to be their best selves. Our Lower School students utilize their greatest communication skills and lessons learned from the CHAMP character education program in their interactions with older students and emulate their respectful, inclusive behavior. Our Upper School students respond appropriately to the fact that they are being carefully watched by the younger students and relish opportunities to act more child-like while still modeling appropriate behavior. And those in the middle? They find great joy and meaning through interacting with their younger friends as they look ahead to becoming campus-wide leaders as older students.

Finding Balance In Today’s World

October 26, 2017

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

I am having a hard time finding balance these days. I think I am pretty good at the work-home balance, but achieving a physical balance is another matter. This week, I broke a bone in my foot and one in my ankle while on an afternoon run. Even with crutches, maintaining a balance is a challenge.

Maintaining balance and achieving well-being seem to be increasingly difficult in today’s society. It is challenging for adults and even more so for our children. It is well documented that anxiety and depression are on the rise for our young people. There are a number of reasons that can be attributed to this growing problem. The pressure of academic achievement, the drive for perfection, homework, and worries about getting into the “right” college can make it difficult for young people to find balance. Social media is also partly to blame. While the data is not yet conclusive, researchers believe the use of social media and smartphones appear to be culpable for the increase in teen mental health. (Jean Twenge, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” The Atlantic, Sept. 2017)

Many years ago, MPA initiated a very unique and innovative marketing campaign. One of the taglines was “Competition belongs in the boardroom, not the classroom.” I think it speaks to one of the most distinctive attributes of MPA. Students work hard at achieving good grades, but not at the expense of their relationships with one another and with their teachers. We have a collaborative environment where students support one another and work to achieve their personal best, not to beat their classmates.

Section 4A

October 26, 2017

Declan is returning to state. And he’s bringing some friends!

First up on this blustery day was our girls varsity. Margo ran very well to finish in 4th place, qualifying individually for the state championship! Izzy ran her best time on this section course to finish 19th. Emily, in just her third varsity race, earned a personal best by over a minute. Katie wasn’t far behind. Sarah ran her best time on this section course. Skylar and Ana wrapped things up for the girls. With their efforts, the girls team finished 6th, their best finish in many years!

Next up was our boys varsity. Declan had some company early, but turned on the jets the second half of the race to build a significant lead, winning by over 20 seconds. Tanner ran his personal best to finish 14th. Henry S. was close behind, tying his personal best (run on a much flatter course). Matt ran his best race of a frustrating year to finish 22nd. Isak was just a few seconds behind as the all important 5th runner. Henry P. ran not far off his personal best, as did Sumner. For their efforts, the boys team finished 2nd, qualifying for the state championship!

Our JV runners finished things up for us. Peter ran just seconds off his personal best. Evan ran well. Dylan ran his best race of the season. Aneesh ran his best race of the year. Henry ran his personal best in just his second 5000 meter race. Louis was just seconds behind in his first 5000 meter race.

Emily W. ran her personal best by about 30 seconds, despite having to run around a stray dog (bad owner!). Izzy G. ran her personal best time. And Mari eclipsed her personal best by just a second.

I am so proud of your efforts today. This was a tough day to run, with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s by the end of the JV race, and strong winds to suck the warmth right out of you. But you stayed focused and ran very well.

Margo ran a splendid race to become our first girl to qualify for state since Kristen Bourne in 2008. Our boys team executed their race plan to perfection, being patient early, while everyone else went out fast. You earned this trip to state as a team. Congratulations!

Complete results for the girls varsity and the boys varsity are available from Gopher State Events.