January 19, 2021
MPA’s Legacy Society Committee welcomes you to join MPA alumnus Ty Johnston ’04 for a special presentation on wealth management and creative giving vehicles to benefit important causes you care about. You will learn and gain perspective on tax implications, practical steps you can take, and a variety of giving vehicles you may benefit from. Save the date for January 27, 2021 to join us at 4 PM.
Ty serves as a wealth manager, working directly with his clients to create and maintain a customized financial plan addressing all aspects of a healthy financial life including investments, tax planning, risk management, retirement, employee benefits and estate planning.
Ty is a proud member of the Class of 2004 at MPA and enjoys visiting campus in non-COVID years to visit with former teachers and administrators as well as to keep in touch with existing alumni in the Twin Cities. He has also participated in the MPA Alumni Mentorship program, supporting current MPA seniors as they contemplate their career and college choices.
This presentation will be beneficial for any MPA parents, grandparents, alumni, and other community members. Following the presentation Ty will provide a Q&A session. Join us on Facebook Live or watch the video recording made available following the session.
The MPA Mentorship Program entered its third year with MPA Alumni being paired with a member of the senior class. The MPA Alums and seniors exchange three emails throughout the months of November and December. A survey was sent to both the seniors and alums to determine what their interests, career goals, college choice, etc. Work then began to recruit mentors who matched with the interests of our seniors. The program is proving to be successful and gain traction as for the second year in a row we had more alumni interested than seniors enrolled. Engagement continued to be at a high level and many connections were made that will continue far beyond the seniors’ last year at MPA.
MPA’s Legacy Society Committee
Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming webisode series, created by the cast and crew of this year’s Middle School play! Inspired by John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” series, the ensemble came together to produce four webisodes, which will begin airing next Friday, January 22. The Middle School students (with Upper School students mentoring) were responsible for pitching ideas, collaborating, and writing stories, interviews, jokes, and sketches. This approach allows the cast to go beyond acting, but to be involved in writing, filming, and directing.
The 2021 Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards (MSAA) have been announced, and we have multiple MPA Upper School artists to congratulate this year! Award winners will have their work included in a virtual gallery and will be invited to an online awards ceremony hosted by the Weisman Art Museum in late February. Gold Key artwork will be submitted into competition at the national level of judging. Congratulations to these ambitious artists! Learn more at 
MPA’s Board of Trustees collaborates with the Head of School to guide the school’s strategic direction, to protect its mission, to support the school’s development efforts and to safeguard the school’s financial stability.
Invite a friend, neighbor, colleague, or family member to join us for MPA’s final PreK-12 preview event of the year. Held virtually on Sunday, January 31 starting at 2 PM, this event will be a structured program that allows prospective students and parents to get a sense of what makes MPA an exceptional place to learn and grow. From participating in hands on classes offered by our expert educators, to seeing 17 campus spaces via a virtual tour, prospective families will get a detailed overview of Mounds Park Academy.
The MPA Math League team participated in their third virtual meet this week, scoring very well with 89 points overall! MPA’s top individual scorer was sophomore Anthony Troullier, earning 12 points, including a perfect seven in event A. Four team members earned ten points: junior Amy Xiang (including a perfect seven in event B), senior Lareina Gu (including a perfect 7 in event B), senior Sean Park, and senior Steve Min (filling in nicely for Qiya Zhang, who was unable to attend). Freshman Ella Li also earned a perfect 7 in event B. The team overall did extremely well in event B, earning 26 out of a possible 28 points.
Reconnect with former classmates
This past Saturday, the MPA Upper School Quiz Bowl teams couldn’t take celebratory pictures together quite like the one featured here from 2019, but their smiles were just as big! Three MPA teams competed at the RATRACE tournament (Really Awesome Thumb-Racing Academic Competition Event) Quiz Bowl competition, which was held virtually.