PROMISE FELLOW OF THE MONTH
April 2010
Best Promise Fellow Experience: I've had a lot of fun so far as a Promise Fellow, but the best so far would have to be our Alternative Spring Break. For our Alternative Spring Break, or ASB for short, we set up a combination of service projects and fun activities. It was great to see our students interact with a wide variety of people and work so hard on the service projects. We worked in a nursing home, parks, the Veterans Home, a nature center, the Lewis House (a shelter for women and children) and we even did some work on some cabins at Camp St. Croix before we left. We took the students to Grand Slam, a cook out, geocaching and to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. It was a long week and by the end I was finally used to driving the minibus we were using. (Bus driver was not something I had planned on adding to my resume.) The high point of the week was taking 50 people to Feed My Starving Children in Eagan where we made over 29,000 meals in two hours that will be distributed in needy countries around the world.
Bio: I was born and raised just outside of Hastings, MN. I grew up on a small farm and my family ran a construction company. After high school, I went to North Dakota State University and earned my Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences Education. My wife and I moved back to Hastings after we graduated and shortly after I began teaching at Hastings High School. After two years, I was cut for budget reasons and left education for a couple years. I worked in finance for those years, but it wasn't really fulfilling for me. It has been a lot of fun for me to come back to my hometown and contribute to the community. I decided to go back into education and I am currently working on my Master's degree in Special Education. My wife, Molly, and I have two kids, Lauren (6) and Jacob (3), who keep me busy when I'm not at work.
Favorite Quote: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." ~Theodore Roosevelt
Hobbies/Interests: Disc Golf, Fishing, Football, Playing with my kids
Hometown: Hastings, MN
