Upper School Archives

December 2, 2021

by Mark Segal, Upper School Director

It has been clear over the past year and a half that being a part of a community provides us the opportunity to connect with peers at both social and emotional levels. Strengthening interpersonal relationships make us feel that we belong and that we are something greater than ourselves. It is for this, and many other reasons, that we are working hard to bring back a sense of “normal” in the lives of upper school students and provide them with the Rites of Passage that makes MPA the special place it is. It is for these reasons that the Student Council will again be hosting the Semi-Formal dance this Saturday evening, December 4, at Prestwick Golf Course for 9-12 grade students. The dance will run 8-11 PM and all attendees should plan to arrive before 9:30 PM. The Student Council sold tickets during lunch this week, and we are expecting strong attendance.

Maintaining the health and safety of those in attendance remains a priority, and all MPA students who plan to attend are required to wear facemasks for the duration of the dance and will need to provide negative covid test results within 72 hours of the dance. Unlike earlier this year, either PCR or at home rapid antigen test results are acceptable and should be sent to msegal@moundsparkacademy.org by dinner time Friday. On campus testing will not be provided. MPA students may also invite a guest to the dance. All guests must currently attend high school and must be registered using the Semi-Formal guest form no later than 12 PM on Friday, December 3. Guests may not register at the Semi Formal dance. All guests are required to provide proof of covid vaccine AND a negative covid test result within 72 hours of the dance. Either PCR or at home rapid antigen test results are acceptable and should be sent to msegal@moundsparkacademy.org by dinner time Friday. (Please find below important information about home COVID-19 Antigen self-testing kits sent home today)

According to Happiness.com, “Humans aren’t meant to be alone all of the time: connecting as part of a meaningful community is important for our mental well-being.” The past couple of years have been a challenge for social interactions and building relationships. As social beings, it is experiences like dances and social gatherings that brings us together and unites us. Events like this, actually, help us develop a stronger sense of personal and collective identity. I am excited about and looking forward to our first off campus upper school dance in more than two years. I hope your child(ren) will be joining us. Read More

Three Panthers Chosen For 9-10 State Honor Choir

December 1, 2021

Congratulations to Olivia Lynch ’25, Pahwa Yang ’24, and Maggie Banks-Hehenberger ’24 who auditioned and were selected to be members of the 9-10 State Honor Choir! Olivia will sing in the mixed choir under the direction of Kyle Fleming (Regis University) while Pahwa and Maggie will perform in the soprano-alto choir with G. Phillip Shoultz (Vocal Essence). The daylong event will culminate with a concert on February 19 on the campus of Bethel University. Olivia is a member of the MPA Varsity Choir while Pahwa and Maggie sing in Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers. We wish them the best!

MPA Parents Association News And Events

December 1, 2021

Thank You!
A big thank you to all those who, over the past six weeks, have shared their Saturday afternoons at MPA helping to clear the ponds and surrounding areas. We began with the area off Larpenteur Avenue and finished with Mr. Thomsen’s area near Upper School. Your help was so appreciated, and really benefited both areas. A hearty and much appreciated thank you!

Thanksgiving Pie Giveaway
Right before the Thanksgiving break, the MPA Parents Association continued the tradition of distributing pies to all MPA employees. A big THANK YOU to our faculty and staff appreciation volunteers, Sage, and the MPA development team for acting quickly to make this happen. There were 130 pies distributed!

Parents Connect: December Walks with Dogs
Join Michelle Mick for two Fridays in December, December 3 and 17, for a walk in a local dog park. Bring your dog or not, we’ll meet at Battle Creek Dog Park, a lovely, big, off-leash dog park with 35 acres at 8:15 AM. Parking is off Upper Afton Road, in the parking lot next to the dog park. Look for Michelle and her dog Rufus (pictured), near the entrance of the dog park. Read More

Interested In Becoming A Host Family?

November 30, 2021

MPA is actively recruiting host families for both mid-year and fall of 2022 international students joining our school from around the world. This is a wonderful opportunity to open your home and your heart to another student, deepening your family’s global perspectives! For much more information, including details about the available stipend, please visit mpa.link/becomeahostfamily. Reach out to Cory Becker-Kim, international student program coordinator, at cbeckerkim@moundsparkacademy.org to express your interest and learn more.

Meet Alumni Board Member, Hena Vadher ’13

November 23, 2021

Introducing Hena Vadher ’13

For what grades did you attend MPA?
K-12 (“lifer!”)

Why did you choose to pursue a position on the Alumni Association Board?
To promote an equity/justice-based lens in a place that served a formative role in my growth

In what ways do you see yourself as a supporter of MPA and its mission?
A critical assessor of, and huge advocate for, the ways MPA supports all of its students to learn, grow, and succeed on their own terms.

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?
I am a reader, poor and injury-prone runner, and aspiring generalist. Outside of how I enjoy living, I was recently working in disaster relief program implementation for New York City over 8 million residents with the American Red Cross as a disaster Response Manager. I oversaw the program, which included cash and sheltering support, for clients displaced due to disaster.

How did you get to where you are in your career? Did you attend college and if so, where? Are there some career moves or other key experiences or relationships that have inspired you?
I studied International and Area Studies at Washington University in St. Louis interested in pursuing a humanitarian career, inspired by my time interning with UNHCR—the UN’s Refugee Agency—in Geneva, Switzerland. After graduating, I was lucky to learn and grow at Breakthrough Twin Cities in St. Paul before relocating to New York City and eventually beginning my role with the American Red Cross.

How did your MPA experience prepare you for your life today? How did MPA help you dream big and do right?
MPA prepared me to ask questions, prioritizing critical reflection on what and how to ask. I don’t—and can’t—know everything. But, feeling comfortable asking questions and demonstrating vulnerability in that respect goes a long way in better understanding your context (both in personal and professional spheres) and discerning a path toward “doing right.”

What’s next? Any aspirations – personal or professional – that you’d like to share?
I’m currently thinking quite a bit about how I enjoy engaging with my career and am putting intention toward growing in analytic and written communication skills.

What do you to see happen during your time on the Alumni Association Board?
As always, I hope to continue to learn and grow–and support the same for a formative community in my life.

Please share your favorite MPA story.
Thirteen years is a long time for “favorites.” But, I’m so proud to tell stories about how my school encouraged political engagement and thought. I’ll never forget Ms. Conway cancelling our Constitutional Law class the day the Minnesota House voted on whether to legalize gay marriage, asking us all to be present for history at the Capital. That day, she prioritized that sometimes learning comes from living. After the House passed the measure she explained, “In five years, there will be teenagers who won’t remember a time when they couldn’t marry the person they love.” Unforgettable.

Meet Zaara Nayak ’23

November 18, 2021

Zaara has been an MPA student for six years.

What do you love about MPA?
I love MPA’s culture of inclusivity and its commitment to diversity. I also love my teachers and how they encourage me to be an independent thinker.

How are you encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA?
At MPA, I truly feel there is no limit to what I can accomplish. MPA has provided me with many leadership opportunities. For example, I recently re-established the Upper School student-run newspaper as I felt students needed a platform to cultivate community culture.

Why do you believe your teachers teach the way they do?
Hands-on, experiential learning is a key part of teaching at MPA because it teaches us how to think, not just what to think.

If you have attended another school, how has your experience here been different?
Compared to the schools I’ve previously attended, MPA’s small class size has allowed teachers get to know me, my strengths, and challenge me accordingly.

What would you tell another student your age considering MPA?
You won’t regret coming to MPA! It’s one of the best decisions you’ll ever make.

In what ways has MPA prepared you for life beyond school?
MPA has taught me to think critically and independently and how to apply classroom learning to solve real world issues.

What’s your big dream?
Regardless of what career I pursue, I hope to meet the needs of our community and leave the world a better place.

Let’s Join Together: The Power Of Community

November 18, 2021

from Bill Hudson, Head of School

The power of community was on display the week of November 8 as we celebrated the success of our Girls Volleyball Team and their run at the state championship. I was incredibly proud of our team—the grit, tenacity, and resiliency they displayed, and the way in which they positively represented the school. I was also full of pride for the way our community came together to support the team. Students, whether they attended the game in person or watched the livestream at school, cheered loudly and proudly, and with extraordinary school spirit.

Earlier in the week, this amazing community pulled together to host a vaccination clinic, providing members of our school community and our surrounding neighborhood, the opportunity to vaccine our younger learners and boosters to adults. The clinic was emblematic of our community’s response to the pandemic: draw upon the can-do spirit of MPA and on the strength of our relationships to overcome an urgent need.

Forty years ago, a different urgency led to the founding of Mounds Park Academy. A group of parents and teachers established a shared community to provide children with a new and unique student-centered whole-child education that didn’t exist in the east metro area. Forty years of gratitude and joining together: we’ve collected quotes from community members you can access here. By joining together, that early community overcame numerous obstacles to succeed and thrive.

Our challenges today are different than those 40 years ago. In a time of rapid change and volatility, young people need stability and a safe, welcoming place to learn and grow. They need kind and caring teachers and staff who truly know them and can accompany them through uncertain times. Students deserve an education that is both challenging and meaningful, one that provides the foundation to succeed in a future with jobs that don’t yet exist.

Today is Give to the Max Day and we are nearing the end of our Fall Campaign. This year’s campaign is especially meaningful because it coincides with our 40th anniversary celebration of the founding of our school. Like the founding families, our school wouldn’t be what it is without you and your family. We have a $200,000 goal today and we need to raise $150,000 in one day to access $50,000 in bonus challenge gifts from anonymous community members. I humbly implore you to join together with other parents, trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, parents of alumni, and grandparents and make a gift to this amazing school.

Every gift of every size makes an impact. Let’s join together in support of our community! Make a gift here!

Be sure to follow along in your email inbox and social media as we share live results and unveil our special virtual Lip Sync Battle with beloved teachers, staff, and students today!

Connecting With The Parents Association

November 18, 2021

Dog Walking with Michelle
As the weather turns colder, Michelle Micks’ popular walks will move to a bi-weekly format. This December bring your dog to play, and enjoy some time walking and chatting with MPA Families. No dog required. There are 30+ acres of lovely walking to be experienced. Join us Friday, December 3 and 17, after drop off. We’ll meet at 8:15 AM outside the dog park entrance off Upper Afton Rd. Look for the red-colored doggie (Rufus). The address is: Battle Creek Dog Park, 2350 Upper Afton Rd, Maplewood, MN 55119.

The contact person is Michelle Mick, and please feel free to text or call 651-328-7312 if you can’t find us!

Upper School Parent Social
While the kids dance the night away, let’s meet for a late dinner! India Palace has agreed to stay open late for us that evening. If we can get at least 20 people to attend, they will provide dinner, coffee, tea, and soft drinks for $16 per person. Beer, wine, and lassis are available for an additional cost. Please RSVP to Staci Banks, sbhehe42@icloud.com or Venmo the cost of dinner for your party to @Staci-Banks-Hehenberger by November 28. The address is: India Palace, 8362 Tamarack Village #120, Woodbury on December 4, 8:15 -10:30 PM.

Help Create This Year’s Middle School Café
The Parents Association invites you to envision the Middle School Café. This is a remarkable opportunity to help host the event at school, get into the building to catch a glimpse of your kid and meet new parents! The Middle School Café is a program aimed at building community within the Middle School and is anticipated the week of January 24 this coming year.

We’re forming the Middle School Café planning committee now which will brainstorm ways to use the $3,000 budget allocated by the Parents Association Board. The first committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 17 from 10:30-11:30 AM at Panera, just before the luncheon with Dr. Milam.

If you’re interested in joining the Middle School Café planning committee and can not come on Friday, November 17 please email Christine Larson, PA Middle School Co-Lead at chrisandmatt1289@gmail.com. If you can’t commit to the committee, no worries, there will be advertised opportunities closer to the Café.

Holiday Gift Wrapping
This much loved tradition is returning! MPA teachers and staff bring in their Holiday gifts and parent volunteers wrap them. This gift of time is greatly appreciated, and will really get you in the Holiday spirit. Save the date! Monday, December 13 from 8 AM-3 PM in the Porter Conference room.

PA Lower School Co-Lead Position Open
The PA Board is looking for an additional member. The Lower School Co-Lead position is currently open. As a Lower School lead, you would be working in tandem with Michelle Mick to create community and connect people throughout MPA. Lower School Leads also attend and vote at monthly board meetings, oversee and support the Lower School PA events, and serve as conduit between families and school administration. Contact Michelle Mick at michelle_wessely@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Microfunding Grants Available
Microfunding provides funds for projects and programs, existing or new. It is open to student organizations, teachers and parent volunteers. Requests must benefit the mission of the MPA PA. Requests that are recurring from year to year are discouraged. This program is supported by the Parents Association dues, which are paid by MPA families. The PA encourages student groups to use these funds. We look forward to supporting MPA student organizations, and classrooms for many years to come. Please fully review the procedure and application forms before submitting. Applications are available here.

Reflections On 40 Years Of Teaching At MPA

November 16, 2021

When teachers in the Anoka-Hennepin School district went on strike in 1982, an untenured, 23-year-old Anne DeVout Solie knew her job was in jeopardy. Her mom told the worried young teacher about a new school that was opening in St. Paul, and suggested she apply. But she hesitated: the school required three years of experience, and Anne DeVout Solie (now Anne DeVout Atchison) only had two.

“Well, why don’t you give them a call and just find out about them?” the elder DeVout advised.

Atchison called. More than 40 years later Atchison, now an MPA Middle School English teacher, is grateful for her mother’s wisdom and nudge.

In reflecting on that initial job inquiry, Atchison said, “I’m 23, and I’m talking to the woman who picked up the phone. I assume it’s the secretary, and we’re hitting it off. I’m asking her questions; she’s asking me questions. At the end, I ask about the salary, and the woman says, ‘I will tell you that, if you tell me your name.’ I do, and in return ask hers.”

It was Lois Kreischer, the wife of Mounds Park Academy co-founder and visionary Bob Kreischer, who also served as the director of admissions, business manager, and co-founder.

Lois Kreischer (now Sandy Kreischer Smith) encouraged the young teacher to apply, though added, “Just so you know we’re looking for more experienced teachers.” Fate intervened when the stated goal on Atchison’s resume matched the one expressed in MPA’s first brochure, which was being printed at the time: “to create the conditions, within the school environment, for each individual to develop to the best of his or her ability.” She secured the interview and then the job.

Started “On A Dream And A Shoestring”
Bob Kreischer was a well-respected and beloved teacher, counselor, assistant principal, and principal in California before the death of his father-in-law compelled the family to move to Minnesota. The couple’s niece and nephew were students at Breck, so they knew the west metro college preparatory school was hiring. Kreischer applied to and was offered a teaching position. As the new teacher, Kreischer taught “all the classes nobody else wanted” and took “a huge pay cut,” Smith once said. After only a year, Kreischer became Breck’s Middle School director.

Kreischer left Breck shortly after his promotion—with no job prospect—dreaming of a school where everyone had a voice. At the time, Smith was a professional potter with her own shop in Afton. While her hands were busy making pots, her mind was exploring ways her husband could create the school he envisioned. She had notebooks full of ideas, budgets, and impressions of schools she visited that were for sale. Smith said she often took their daughter Kristi on trips to see schools, swearing her to secrecy not to tell her daddy.

One day, her friend Joan Munzner visited Smith’s shop. The potter asked the future MPA French and German founding teacher to come to her house so she could share Bob’s idea of starting his own school. Over coffee at the kitchen table, encouraged by Munzner’s enthusiasm for the idea, Kreischer gained a new perspective on his dream: together they could make it a reality.

They enlisted the support of community leaders, prospective parents, future teachers, and required board members and launched what would become MPA. As the initial values statement declared, “Our school was founded on a dream and a shoestring.”

An Early Commitment To The Whole Child And Social Justice
For Atchison, the early conversations about the vision for MPA—and whether they could really pull it off—remain deep in her soul. The fledgling team wondered if the buses would show up that first day on September 7, 1982. They did, and MPA became a real school, exceeding the expectations of all involved. Read More

Meet Alumni Board Member, Katie (Ditmore) Sinaikin ’97

November 12, 2021

Katie (Ditmore) Sinaikin, 1997

For what grades did you attend MPA?
K-12

Why did you choose to pursue a position on the Alumni Association Board?
MPA gave so much to me; I’d like the opportunity to give back to the MPA community

In what ways do you see yourself as a supporter of MPA and its mission?
I give, financially, but have also always advocated for the value an MPA education brought to my life.

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?
I work in the biotech/pharma space helping bring oncology drugs to patients who need them most. Personally, I am the mother to 2 sons who keep me quite busy 🙂

How did you get to where you are in your career? Did you attend college and if so, where? Are there some career moves or other key experiences or relationships that have inspired you?
I attended Wellesley College and received my MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. My first role out of undergrad was in Strategy consulting where I worked with a number of small biotechnology companies, and that inspired me to continue to work in that field. All of my work is grounded in knowing “how” to think and not just “what” to think – that’s something that MPA fostered in me from the beginning.

How did your MPA experience prepare you for your life today? How did MPA help you dream big and do right?
MPA allowed me the opportunity to try everything. New languages, new sports, new extracurriculars. I was not the best runner or cross country skiier, but I always had a place on the team and I appreciate that even more now as I’m raising my own children and trying to figure out how to give them those same opportunities to “dream big and do right”

What do you to see happen during your time on the Alumni Association Board?
I would just love to see the MPA community – alumni and current students – grow and thrive and continue to develop a new generation of thinkers and doers

Please share your favorite MPA story.
Oh this is hard! When I was in my senior year of track and field something “clicked” and I was running my best times. I ran multiple PRs and was able to be part of the 4x800m relay team that went to Sectionals. Being able to share that success with a team that had been with me for 6 years (Because I was able to join the team as a 7th grader!) and especially with Mrs. Docherty who had been coaching me that entire time was incredibly special.