June 13, 2019
In May 2018, Middle School faculty members Ms. Meras, Ms. Powell, and Ms. Nagle first began thinking of ways to better utilize the food waste in the cafeteria. With the help of a Ramsey County grant and members of EcoConsilium, MPA was able to purchase a food recycling system and larger waste bins. MPA’s food waste is now sent to a pig farm, where it can be recycled as feed. There are two other bins available at lunch–one for trash and one for recyclable materials. While this was a significant change from simply dumping all lunch waste into one bin, our community adapted quickly and the student body has been enthusiastically cooperating. MPA has received positive feedback and high remarks that we are doing an excellent job of sorting our food waste and the impact has been positive.
In an effort to further this expanded waste program, we are upgrading all the recycling bins in the building. The new bins will be a solid blue color and all bins will now be clearly labeled for either garbage or recycling. In all, MPA received $10,220 in grants from Ramsey County to fund these exciting changes. During the first week of summer break, Ms. Meras, Ms. Powell, and Ms. Nagle along with help from facilities staff members Mr. Connors, Mr. Schneider, and Mr. McLees collected cleaned, and re-labeled all of the existing bins on campus. We are grateful for their enthusiasm and hard work to make MPA a greener, more environmentally-conscious place.
MPA senior Parker Law entered the 2019 Class A Singles State Tennis Tournament as the #1 seed. Parker’s path to the State Championship included four matches, in which he defeated Worthington High School’s Blaine Doeden in the opening round of 16, St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Kai Sih, the #4 ranked player from the Breck School Ishan Nadkarni in the final four, and the #2 ranked player from Redwood Valley Rikard Wilkens in the Championship match. After these crucial wins, Parker finished as the 2019 MSHSL State Class A Singles Champion!
The Mounds Park Academy Panthers defeated the St. Paul Academy Spartans 4-3 in the Class A State Tennis Tournament at the Reed-Sweatt Indoor tennis facility in Minneapolis Wednesday. MPA secured wins in first singles, second singles, first doubles, and the deciding win came in a three hour and 30+ minute marathon match in fourth singles. Vlad Vutov (Nova Classical Academy) secured a Panther victory with a 6-4 third set win. This was MPA’s second State Boys Tennis Championship—the last time was in 2006. Congratulations, Panthers!
Congratulations to Claire Porter ’00! The MPA Alumni Association Board of Directors is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of the MPA Alumni Association Award. This award is intended to honor alumni of outstanding talent pursuing their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations, while embracing the spirit of MPA’s commitment to community and social outreach.
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!
Ann Frances Gregg, MPA’s Upper School theatre teacher and director, is currently directing “Two Gentlemen of Verona” for Shakespeare & Company in White Bear Lake. S&C, founded by MPA parent of alum George Wade, is an outdoor theatre company, which produces three shows ‘in rep’ each summer. It is the oldest outdoor Shakespeare company in Minnesota. This summer marks the company’s 44th season!
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!
A very special surprise happened on campus last week that began at the Spring Auction 2019-Once Upon A Time! Mike Velin ’06 bid and won the opportunity to name a sewing machine in the Makerspace, and he named it after his mom, Jane Harper. “We wanted to show our appreciation for everything you’ve done, and dedicate a sewing machine in your honor,” Mike said to his mother, after she unwrapped the sewing machine.