July 25, 2022
Nastya Vershenya ’01 and Sarah Hanson Salgado ’03 are each other’s chosen family. Their story begins in Sarah’s seventh grade year at MPA, when, as an only child, MPA’s call for families to host an international student was appealing and exciting. Both Sarah’s family and Nastya, coming as an international student to MPA from Minsk, were looking for the same thing, but none of them expected to gain a bonus sister/daughter in the process.
“Twenty some years later, she’s still a part of our family,” Sarah said. “Her [Nastya’s] daughter calls my parents her grandparents, and my parents refer to Nastya as their bonus daughter. We truly did gain a family member from the experience.”
We were able to connect with Sarah and Nastya together to share their heartwarming story as a host family and bonus family member.
How did you meet and become family?
Sarah found what she was searching for in a sister and friend in Nastya. “I’m an only child. When I was preschool age, my parents had done a couple college student homestays at our house. As a three, four, and five-year-old, that was really fun for me! I remembered liking that, and the summer after seventh grade, MPA sent out a newsletter looking for host families. I called my mom at work to say ‘Mom, you have to call MPA right now, and we’re gonna do this!’”
Nastya was drawn to MPA after her family’s experience with Friendship Force. Friendship Force connects families with others, staying with each other as host families for weeks at a time. Her family happened to connect with an MPA family, and they presented an opportunity for the international program to her.
The day Nastya was supposed to arrive in Minnesota, there was a massive airline workers’ strike. She couldn’t get to MSP, and had to reroute to Chicago as the closest available airport. Sarah’s family was so adamant about not delaying Nastya’s arrival, that at three in the morning they made the drive to Chicago to personally pick her up. Read More
Meet Amina Brewer, an MPA junior entering her third year at MPA!
What position will you be holding at MPA? 
If you’ve been on campus lately, you’ve probably noticed something different about MPA’s pond–and not just the seasonal algae. This summer, the pond is adorned with trucks, cranes, bulldozers, gravel, and boulders. We have an exciting update about all of this action and commotion around our beloved outdoor learning lab.
Meet Frances, who will be beginning her third and senior year at MPA this fall.
What do you get when you throw spin art, bracelets, fidget spinners, slime, and other crafting activities into a camp and mix it all with a big helping of art history? Snapology’s awesome new Craft Design Maker Camp! Throughout last week, Lower School students learned about some of art’s greatest minds, as well as created some fun STEM-focused take-home projects and activities. One of the most favored activities of the week was building magma-filled volcanoes. The camp has a perfect balance of creativity and STEM-based assignments that prompt young artists to expand their creative comfort zones while developing essential hands-on and problem-based skills.
Parent of alumni and fourth grade teacher DeeDee Stacy shares her experience hosting Lyndon Lyu ’20.
Dear MPA Community,
What position will you be holding at MPA?
Meet Samantha Forgosh, a recent MPA Class of 2022 graduate and proponent of the many possibilities and experiences MPA had to offer during her time as a student.