Bring The Holiday Spirit To MPA
December 10, 2019
Mr. Habermann, Madrigal Singers and MPA Faculty and Staff would like to welcome back all choir alumni to campus to help spread joy this holiday season at MPA.
Caroling will take place in the North Entrance, Halls and Family Commons on Friday, December 20, 2019 from 7:15-8 AM. Please contact alumni@moundsparkacademy.org if you plan to attend.
December 10, 2019
Parents from the MPA classes of 2016 through 2019 gathered at Dellwood Golf Club on Thursday, November 7 to catch up on all the news of MPA’s college students! The evening was sponsored by the Parents of Alumni and is an annual event designed to help parents stay in touch after graduation. Drinks and appetizers were served and everyone had a wonderful time mingling and reconnecting with old friends!
You’re Invited: Alumni Gatherings
December 10, 2019
December 21, 2019: Alumni Basketball Game
Enjoy getting back on the court with fellow alumni at the Alumni Basketball Game held on December 21, 2019 in the Lansing Center at 1 PM. All MPA alumni are welcomed and encouraged to attend to play or cheer on their former classmates!
December 26, 2019: Alumni Social
This is your chance to return to campus for this year’s winter Alumni Social held on December 26 at 5 PM. The event will include appetizers, beverages and tours of the newly renovated spaces. For questions or to RSVP, please email alumni@moundsparkacademy.org.
January 14, 2020: Alumni Mentorship Program Networking Event
Join in preparing the Class of 2020 for life after MPA in the 2nd Annual Alumni Mentorship Program Networking Event. The event will take place on January 14, 2020 from 8-9:15 AM in the Family Commons. If you are interested in participating or to learn more, please contact Ashley Goetzke, assistant director of development at agoetzke@moundsparkacademy.org for more information.
December 9, 2019
Meet 2019-20 Alumni Association Board member Cathryn Camacho ’04!
Following graduation from MPA, Cathryn moved to California to attend Pomona College. She graduated with a B.A. in Economics and worked as an analyst for a litigation consulting firm before switching gears and pursuing a Masters of Interior Architecture from UCLA/Cal Poly Pomona.
“Many of my friends and family joke that I am ‘serial student,’ as I currently pursue my second Masters in a part-time program,” she said. “The joy of learning has never faded. Throughout my collegiate and graduate studies, I sought institutions that mirror MPA’s dedication towards student development.”
In 2015, she returned home to Minnesota to run her family business and enroll in the Carlson School of Management for her Masters of Business Administration. Cathryn now serves as the President of Camacho Contractors and is involved with MPA in a variety of ways. After a tough four years juggling school and work, she is seeking balance, travel, and adventure, as well as growing her engagement with the MPA community and develop new relationships. Read More
MPA Places Highest Ever In State Debate
December 8, 2019
MPA Debate had a very successful weekend at the State Tournament. Forty three students represented the school, and Mounds Park Academy received the second place team sweepstakes award. That’s an award based on the top two performances across each of the three divisions of competition—novice, junior varsity, and varsity. That’s MPA’s highest team finish in the 20 years of the tournament.
The tournament is called the Classic Debate Championships in novice and junior varsity. Three MPA teams advanced to the quarterfinals (top eight) among the 47 teams in the junior varsity division. Meera Dear and Beldaja Jama advanced to the quarterfinal round, as did the team of Charlotte Bergh and Ruby Schweiger. Emma Cohen and Salmah Elmasry won the junior varsity division with a perfect 8-0 record, defeating a team from Eastview in the final round.
The varsity division is called the Minnesota State High School League Classic Debate State Festival, as the MSHSL sponsors the awards for this event. Charlie Galicich and Garrett Hollihan advanced to the semifinals, and Charlie received all-state honors for his outstanding performance over the course of the season. Ryan Ghose and Elli Carlson reached the finals of the tournament, where they were defeated by the state champions from Mankato.
A special thank you to all the alumni who helped the team. Meg Wilkening ’18 is a brilliant coach, and numerous alumni judged for the team over the course of the season.
Go Panthers!
Logan Erickson ’15 Inspires Student Entrepreneurs
November 25, 2019
As a recent graduate of the University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts and Engineering program, MPA Class of 2015 alum Logan Erickson has a lot on the horizon. From designing games with Octothorpe, to leading the design and development of neurological rehabilitation assessments and training at Stronger Brains Inc., he is making an impact and inspiring others to do the same. One of Logan’s recent projects was developing a game in which the user enters the world of Sherlock Holmes as a Baker Street Irregular–coincidentally, MPA’s 2019 Middle School Play, Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars, allowed for the same experience!
Logan was invited by his brother Hunter, a current MPA junior, to visit campus and speak to the Upper School Entrepreneurship Club. Since he was seven years old, Logan has been creatively finding ways to pioneer his own small businesses. As a Middle School student, he established his first enterprise by selling handcrafted figurines–a leap he took that still echoes his ambitious spirit to this day. It eventually led him to the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah, where he helped friends with their own small companies. In turn, he realized how much he enjoys building them himself. Read More
Coming Together To Create The MPA Alma Mater
November 21, 2019
MPA Music Teachers, Mari Espeland and John Habermann, have been wanting to create an Alma Mater for MPA for years. But as the 2019-20 school year began, our campus went through many changes, Mr. Habermann gained more experience composing music, and MPA entered its 38th year; the timing just felt right.
As a founding faculty member and renowned English teacher, John believed Anne Atchison was the perfect candidate to write the lyrics. From the heart, she wrote and drafted the words to perfection, leaving the rhythmic lines comprehensible enough for our Alma Mater to be sung by everyone, from our littlest Panthers in PreK to our entire alumni community. Mr. Habermann said that the song’s tune came quickly after the lyrics were written. The arrangement was basically finished after an inspiring MPA Homecoming. Read More
Deep Gratitude From An MPA Alum And Trustee
November 20, 2019
by Jeremy Drucker ’97
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, now is the time our thoughts are often directed to gratitude. In addition to those things for which I have always been grateful—friends and family and what I consider to be the miraculous comforts of modern living—I find increasingly a deep sense of thanks for the education I received at Mounds Park Academy.
When I attended MPA the motto was “Mounds Park doesn’t teach kids what to think we teach them how.” Today the motto is “Dream Big. Do Right.” In both of those mottos I find core values that have infused this school since I was a student in the early 1990’s. I arrived at MPA in sixth grade a spirited, albeit undisciplined and unruly, student with little experience in a structured academic setting. Through the years, MPA provided the structure and support for me to develop not just the skills and work ethic I needed to succeed, but also the less easily measured qualities of curiosity, adaptability, and self-awareness. Read More
November 15, 2019
The following essay is adapted from MPA Class of 2020 member Elli Carlson’s Senior Speech. Elli joined MPA as a sophomore in August 2017.
I have been looking for “home” for as long as I can remember. Places I can be me, comfortably and unapologetically. Those places have changed as I have grown, and I’m sure my search will last my entire lifetime as I continue to evolve.
From a young age, I thought school would be my first home. I possessed an unrelenting love for learning, so I naturally imagined school as a haven for my curiosity. My mom frequently recounts the story of my first day of kindergarten, when I hopped off the school bus, ran up the driveway, and immediately asked her “When are we going to start the real learning? All we did was play!” Read More
Join Us For A Meet & Greet Networking Opportunity
November 12, 2019
On January 14, 2020 we will be hosting a networking meet and greet event for our seniors at MPA. This will include alumni who participated in the mentorship program but we also would like all alumni and parents of alumni to join in this great opportunity. The event will take place in the Hart Commons on January 14, 2020 from 9-10 AM.
If you are interested in participating please contact Ashley Goetzke, assistant director of development at agoetzke@moundsparkacademy.org for more information.