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.
On June 8, 2019, students, families, and faculty gathered in Mounds Park Academy’s Nicholson Center to graduate the Class of 2019. The evening began with the Upper School Band’s rendition of “Pomp & Circumstance” as the junior color guard and MPA faculty and staff presented the graduates. Throughout the ceremony, the Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers shared songs and three members of the Class of 2019 spoke. Gabby Law ’19, Julia Portis ’19, and Valedictorian Ajay Manicka ’19 shared words of pride, encouragement, and inspiration for their fellow classmates.
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!
On Tuesday afternoon, I had the privilege of attending the presentations of three seniors who will graduate having earned a Graduate Certificate of Distinction in the Fine Arts. If you are not familiar with the Graduate Certificate of Distinction (GCD), it is designed for students ready and willing to pursue their passions through additional and focused coursework, research, and volunteerism. The GCD allows students to dive deeper into one area of their choosing: STEM, Global Studies, or the Fine Arts. The depth of inquiry that students experience through achieving a Certificate typically simulates what they will find in college, requiring hundreds of hours beyond the classroom.
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!
Congratulations to MPA’s Sailing Team for placing third in the 2019 State Co-Ed Championships and to senior Toby Sullivan and eighth grader Henry S. for placing first in the Boys State Championships! Both regattas were held last weekend at the Minneapolis Sailing Center under challenging conditions.
by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School