Whither Minnewaska Area, a "cornfield" school?

The Minnewaska Area school got built amidst a flurry of small town issues and emotions that strike me as archaic now. I have heard Minnewaska's creation described as "the tail wagging the dog." What was meant here, was that Starbuck got way too much clout in the process. Yes, this is how I recall things.
Lac qui Parle was another school that got built in that era. Years later we began to hear that the legislature resolved "no more cornfield high schools." The impracticality began setting in. As if this should not have been evident in the first place. A school benefits from the surrounding infrastructure of a town and easy proximity to services. I could see this merely as a member of community media - the Morris newspaper - and not someone paid to understand these things. People may be paid but they also have to be responsive to politics. Perhaps politics becomes the prevailing concern. A media person simply tries to weigh the facts objectively. That's me. And that's why some people gnash their teeth about those of us in the media. We can say the emperor has no clothes.
 
Hancock school feeling its oats
The Morris media are telling us today that the Hancock school is booming. Facility expansion is in the works. Enrollment seems a most rosy picture. So I asked an acquaintance of mine in Morris, a woman with elementary-age kids at Hancock, what's up? Us journalists always like to inquire "what's up?" Her answer may not reflect gospel truth but it's telling anyway. She said Starbuck area families are choosing to send their kids to Hancock. And why is that? I further inquired. She said the Minnewaska Area school has a bad "rep" (for reputation).
Well, that's somewhat concerning if you live over in that neck of the woods. "Minnewaska" is not the name of a community, it is the name of a lake. The view of the lake from outside the school may be most impressive, yes, but that and ten cents will get you a cup of coffee. When the school does not represent a community or town per se, it would seem most difficult to get the kind of community support that keeps money flowing into the coffers. Referendums have been a daunting task for Minnewaska area. Daunting and futile, right?
 
The infamous ACLU episode
Minnewaska Area got a public relations black eye four years ago, a pretty serious one. The school, after being dragged into a legal mess by no less than the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), had to fork over $70,000 to settle a lawsuit that claimed school officials violated a student's constitutional rights by viewing her Facebook and email accounts without permission. The school officials appeared to lack judgment in terms of realizing the risks this confrontation would pose for them.
The affected student was Riley Stratton. She was age 15 at the time the lawsuit was settled. She looks so innocent and charming in a photo that was posted at the time. Why hassle this sweet teenager? Riley was given detention after posting disparaging comments about a teacher's aide on her Facebook page, even though she was at home and not using school computers. She broke down crying when she was induced to give over her password. The ACLU argued that students' use of social media is not the school's business unless it involves cyberbullying or poses a substantial threat to school activities. Riley's mother reported that she wasn't invited to sit in at Riley's "interrogation."
The $70,000 settlement was divided between the Strattons and the ACLU. People my age can remember school days where our teachers and administrators could overreach in applying discipline and showing authority. This is what happens when people feel a sense of bureaucratic entitlement, a result of the monopoly status our public schools once had. A change occurred with open enrollment and the vast proliferation of pairing and sharing ventures. I would say the mid-1980s were a tipping point, when parents demanded to be treated more as paying customers. Parents became less inclined to defer to the authority of teachers who could be draconian and sullen.
 
Assertiveness here in Morris
We had parents rise up here in Morris in the late 1980s, creating a controversy that should not have been allowed to get as far as it did. I watched with not much surprise as the controversy took on kindling and with collateral damage like boycotted businesses.
I wasn't surprised because I had known for a long time we had an ossified class of school employees who recoiled at being treated like they had to be accountable, like they really had to respect parents' wishes. Extracurricular was a flashpoint. That was hugely ironic because the type of teachers who were a problem then, were the type to proclaim "extracurricular" is no big deal and our priority is "academics." That's sheep dip of course because all school programs should be considered important.
But if so many teachers wanted to brush off extracurricular, why did they make such a huge cause over how extracurricular was being handled? Why were so many willing to totally fall on their sword over certain people keeping their extracurricular coaching appointments?
The very fact that the community insurgents ended up formally presenting a petition (or "statement of concern") to the school board was an indictment of Superintendent Fred Switzer. A more responsible administrator should have listened better and not be so tentative in the face of substantial community sentiment.
 
Proposals floated, not always enacted
A book could be written about school adjustments and issues in the Morris area. Remember the time many years ago when we almost got total consolidation of Morris and Chokio-Alberta? Remember? Remember how the one big stumbling point was the stipulation that the junior high be located in Alberta, with Morris kids to be bused there? The proposal died.

A fine ballfield (Minnewaska Baseball Association image)

The district we know today as Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley was slated to include Ortonville at one time, right? There would have been another of those "cornfield schools," legend has it. I recall the Ortonville people pushing back especially hard on this. So, another faded proposal.
The Villard people were restless when Minnewaska Area was first created. Wasn't Villard sort of "sold a bill of goods" on the consolidation? They got a big new addition to their school which was re-branded as Villard Elementary. But then the district closed it four or five years later. Villard families became receptive to sending their kids to Osakis, home of the Silverstreaks. Osakis was closer than the Minnewaska school. Remember the welcome sign "welcome to Villard, home of the Mallards?"
Maybe a psychologist could help us understand the relationship of the Starbuck and Glenwood communities. I believe the same issues exist with Herman and Wheaton. Take a left at Herman and you head into the wide open flat-as-a-board prairie.
 
Be careful who you listen to
The belief existed that "Starbuck people" would never have accepted a new school built in, or close to, Glenwood. I put "Starbuck people" in quotes because you never know about these things: do certain loud and inflamed voices really reflect community sentiment? In my experience, I've seen a minority of school parents who are highly attuned to athletics draw way too much attention to themselves. They become so strident, everyone else can begin to feel intimidated, to be cowed. Furthermore, the sports-oriented leather lungs often disappear from the whole picture in pretty short order, in other words not long after their kid graduates! So we must discipline ourselves to not pay too much attention to them.

A friend of mine says in regard to the "cornfield schools" the following: "In retrospect they were mistakes." He further says: "At the time, the state Ed. Dept. wanted fewer and larger schools. If you remember, about that time they proposed a demand for all state school districts to have class sizes of no less than 75 students. That didn't get far with the 'greater Minnesota' people and legislators, so it wasn't even enacted."
We see class sizes in some places today of 15 or less per grade. We might wonder how they can cut it. I personally like the idea of small schools in small communities. Sports be damned, I just think education can be accomplished with a minimum of costly "frills." The more time goes on, the more I am a "reading, writing and arithmetic" person when it comes to school. The online world exposes kids to so much knowledge. There is a natural incentive to harness it for your own personal development.
I am told there is a Glacial Hills Elementary School in Starbuck, housed in the old clinic building, that is not part of the Minnewaska district. I guess Starbuck is also the site for an "alternative" type of school. Maybe that's the type of school I should have gone to! All the fifth and sixth graders in the official Minnewaska district now go to the high school building.
I think it's foolish that motorized commuting is the only way to get to and from the 'Waska school. I shake my head.
I am told that "Herman and Wheaton would be a logical consolidation - they do pair for some sports - but there's a case of longstanding animosity between the two communities." And this person added: "Much like why Morris and Hancock will never combine. Ah, what a tangled web we weave."
At least it's not as bad as the Israelis and Palestinians.
 
My deep family connections with Glenwood
Since my mother's recent passing, I have taken time to go through old items in the house like family memorabilia. I found a box of items we were bequeathed by my late uncle Howard of Glenwood, the banker. He was my father's brother. I was fascinated to discover the graduation night program for the Glenwood High School graduation of 1929! It was crisp and fresh, just like it was issued yesterday. Howard gave the salutatory address.
"Glenwood High School" - will we ever see that term again? I hope the day comes.
My grandparents on Dad's side of the family - Martin and Carrie - are buried at Glenwood Lutheran Cemetery. I don't recall ever going there. I plan to decorate the graves next spring. They both died too young. Perhaps my mom felt it would be difficult for Dad to go there as it would remind him of his parents' deaths. Martin and Carrie, RIP.
Howard and wife Vi are buried there too. Howard and Vi, RIP.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com