Alumni Archives

March 5, 2020

The MPA Alumni Day of Giving on March 3, 2020 was dedicated for alumni to show their continuous Panther Pride and support for MPA students, faculty, and staff. MPA alumni and parents of alumni rallied together yesterday to raise an incredible $40,692 in support of students and teachers! A total of 106 alumni and parents of alumni made a gift, and the Classes of 1991 and 2004 tied with 20% class participation. Their gifts ensure students can receive:

Scholarships and Financial Assistance: MPA prides itself on its diverse and inclusive community. Help us to ensure that Panthers from all backgrounds can benefit from a life-changing education. Your gift will support the more than $2 million in financial assistance MPA provides to families each year.
Programmatic Enhancements: Thanks to the AnnMarie Thomas Makerspace, experiential learning opportunities, a robust performing and visual arts program, and no-cut athletics, MPA offers a whole-child education for an ever-changing world. Your gift will help us to continue to provide top-notch educational opportunities across these important academic content areas.

Why Interdisciplinary Education Works

March 5, 2020

by Mark Segal, Upper School director

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, you will find a guest Head’s Message here from one of MPA’s division directors. We hope you enjoy reading their thoughts and reflections about life at MPA.

When I was in second or third grade, I defined mathematics as something I did daily from 9:45–10:30 AM. My focus should have been on the addition and subtraction problems written on the blackboard or mimeographed handout, but instead it was on the upcoming recess where my friends and I played competitive games against one another. Educators rarely explain to students and parents why the school day is designed as it is. It should be no surprise then that students and parents look at the arbitrary divisions for English, math, reading, social studies, world language, science, art, music, and physical education and begin to define the subject areas as separate bodies of knowledge with little connection to one another.

As I moved into middle and upper school, the subject matter separation became even more noticeable as the academic areas were forced into independent time frames taught by individual teachers. It is no wonder that many middle and upper school students (including me 35+ years ago) complain that school is irrelevant to the larger world. In the real world, we do not wake up in the morning and do social studies for a specified time block. Over time, adolescents begin to recognize that in “real life” we encounter challenges and situations, gather data from a number of resources, and problem solve to generate solutions. The fragmented school day does not reflect this reality. Read More

Limited Auction Golden Tickets And Sponsorships!

March 3, 2020

Don’t miss out on your chance to purchase a Golden Ticket, Sponsorship, and tickets to the 2020 MPA Spring Auction: Light Up the Night! The event is right around the corner! Just 13 Golden Tickets remain, Host Sponsorship packages are SOLD OUT, and only two Community Sponsorship packages remain. Join your friends and fellow MPA parents in support of the school. Hurry before Spring Break to secure your spot today.

In case you missed it, the Spring Auction is MPA’s biggest fundraising event of the year, and raises nearly $200,000 to support students, teachers, and special projects. Your ticket or sponsorship includes parking on the night of the event, a hosted bar, appetizers and a plated dinner, and a wonderful night out with like-minded friends. Learn more about this year’s Fund a Need renovation project on our event website. Read More

Alumni, March 3 Is The Day To Leave Your Mark!

March 3, 2020

by Mike Velin ’06, MPA Alumni Association Chairperson

A 6 AM email from me may have seemed a little early, but it’s never too early to begin an important day of giving in support of MPA students, faculty, and staff. Today, I hope you’ll join me and other alumni and Parents of Alumni from our generous community to ensure MPA students and teachers today have the resources they need. Your gift will support:

Scholarships and Financial Assistance: Did you know MPA provides over $2 million each year to families who dream of an MPA education, but can’t afford the price tag? Your gift can make sure every promising student can benefit from a top-notch education, regardless of their ability to pay.
Programmatic Enhancements: An MPA education is the magic that happens inside the classroom, and in the clubs, sports, teams, and enrichment activities before, during, and after the school day. Make sure that students don’t miss out on what makes MPA truly great: the arts, athletics, music, student groups, and enhanced learning through innovative classroom experiences and the AnnMarie Thomas Makerspace.

See You At Maker Fest On Saturday!

February 20, 2020

See you this Saturday, February 22 from 1-3 PM for Maker Fest 2020! Join us in the AnnMarieThomas Makerspace and Family Commons to view and participate with our community’s talented and passionate makers. Maker Fest is free is open to everyone–students, parents, grandparents, alums, faculty, staff, etc.

If you have questions, please contact Ms. Koen at nkoen@moundsparkacademy.org.

Independent School Diversity Career Fair

February 20, 2020

We are proud to be a part of this year’s Independent School Diversity Career Fair on Saturday, March 7, from 9 AM-12 PM at Breck School in Golden Valley. Faculty, staff, and school administrators who identify as people of color/indigenous are welcome to learn more about employment opportunities at a number of independent schools in the Twin Cities. Participating schools include: Blake, Breck, DeLaSalle, Friends School of Minnesota, Groves Academy, Minnehaha Academy, Mounds Park Academy, Shattuck-St. Marys, St. Paul Academy and Summit School, and Waldorf City of Lakes. Visit the website for more information and to register.

MPA Board Of Trustees Seeking Nominations

February 19, 2020

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.

Nominations for Trustees
We are pleased to share that the Governance Committee of the Board is launching its annual process to identify potential trustees.

If you, or someone you know, could be a strong contributor to the MPA Board of Trustees, please provide the name of your nominee and a short description of their experience and background, directly to Wendy Marko Odeen, Trustee and Governance Chair, MPA Board of Trustees at wendy.odeen@ellester.com.

In addition to strong leadership skills, nominees will bring a broad diversity of experience and backgrounds, and a passion to advance the mission of MPA. Areas of desired professional experience include: finance, accounting, investment, banking, business, communications, construction, education, law, governance, scientific training, the arts, IT, human resources, strategic planning, development, marketing, and community service, among others. Read More

Our Legacy Society Story

February 13, 2020

Nan Etzwiler, Dan O’Neill, and Laura O’Neill

Since our daughter, Laura, started at MPA in 2005 in its first PreK class, MPA has been joyful, enriching, and stimulating for her—and for us! From pillowcase poems to building 3-D digestive systems, from memorizing Chaucer to crafting a competitive speech, we are grateful to the incredibly skilled and caring faculty we have known in each division. As parents, we have also had the opportunity to volunteer at MPA in various capacities and have seen close-up how thoughtfully the mission of the school is borne out through curriculum, character-building, and extracurricular activities. MPA is a place that speaks to the both the ‘head’ and the ‘heart’ of everyone who passes through it.

In recognition of the rich mission of the school, and its strong leadership and staff, we have included MPA in our estate plans for three reasons. Most important, MPA has played a critical role and had a sustained presence in
our lives for many years—and its impact on our family will continue for decades to come. Second, prioritizing our giving and including MPA in our estate planning have been ways for us to talk with our daughter about not only the importance of giving, but the joy of it. She has a growing appreciation for the fun and importance of leaving something behind for others.

Finally, through tax planning we have been able to maximize the impact of our gifts today and later. Working with MPA’s Development Office to denote MPA as an estate beneficiary was easy and quick. We hope one day that our legacy gift can help sustain MPA so that generations of students to come might thrive and soar just as our daughter has. We encourage you to reach out to MPA’s Development Office to consider including MPA in your legacy planning, too.

Be A Career Panelist To Help Students Dream Big

February 12, 2020

College Counseling and the Upper School Advisory program are teaming up to provide career exploration opportunities for students! We are looking for MPA parents and alumni to share information about their careers with students who are starting to imagine where their talents could take them.

We plan to offer six different “career cluster” panels during Advisory meetings. Speakers will volunteer either Wednesday, April 8 or Wednesday, April 15 (time commitment roughly 10:45 AM to 12:30 PM). On each date, three different panels will be offered, featuring people presenting about their jobs, the paths that led to their current positions, and taking student questions.

If you are interested in being a panelist OR getting involved in future career programming, please complete our brief survey or contact Andrea Kaltved in College Counseling at akaltved@moundsparkacademy.org. Read More

Meet Nate Bander ’09

February 11, 2020

Meet 2019-20 Alumni Association Board member Nate Bander ’09!

MPA Class of 2009 alum Nate Bander is MPA’s admission outreach coordinator and Upper School admission coordinator at Mounds Park Academy. He also coaches boys basketball and the varsity track and field and cross country teams at MPA. After attending MPA K-12 and the University of Minnesota, where he majored in Communications Studies with a Spanish Studies minor, Nate moved to Baza, Spain and worked in an adult language academy as an English teacher.

“The single biggest impact that my MPA experience had on me was inspiring me to learn about the world. MPA is a wonderful, diverse community of parents, students and educators who place a high value on education. I feel prepared to speak about the greater world, travel to faraway places, digest complex theories and thrive as a global citizen. MPA connected me to the broader world.”

But Nate’s MPA moments did not stop as a student and alumni. In fact, he didn’t make one of his fondest memories until coaching in 2019.

Nate recalls, “I first met Yahya Madar (Class of 2019) when he came out for my ninth grade basketball team. That season, I benched him in a game and he almost quit the team.” But, Yahya persevered and in 10th grade, he came back out for the basketball team. He also tried high jumping in track and field for the first time, and something clicked. Read More