The following is a recap of the presentation during the banquet honoring the Students of Excellence Wednesday, April 26, at River?Äôs Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud.
Aligning personal passions and strengths with a career take planning and persistence
By Sandra Cordie
Students of Excellence representing Kimball Area High School are pictured at the banquet April 26, at River?Äôs Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud. They are, from left, Maicy Vossen, Stephanie Hurrle, Kaylee Hechtel, Kari Schiefelbein, and Executive Director of Resource Training & Solutions Mark Schmitz. Submitted photo.
?ÄúHonorees, in less than two months your high school education will be complete.
?Ä¢ Are you ready?
?Ä¢ Do you know what is going to happen next?
?Ä¢ Are you absolutely certain?
?Ä¢ Why not??Äù
These questions were posed by keynote speaker Kale Van Bruggen at the 30th Annual Students of Excellence Banquet and Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, April 26. Van Bruggen went on to say ?ÄúTwelve years ago I was graduating from high school. I came from a small, rural community in North Dakota. I knew what was next; I was ready; and I was absolutely certain where I?Äôd be in my career as a music teacher.?Äù But one semester into college he knew that his interest in music was a hobby not a passion. ?ÄúI needed to discover my passion and do the research to launch that into a career.?Äù
As the crowd of 600 gathered in the foyer waiting for the doors to open, students, parents and educators greeted one another and visited about spring activities, upcoming graduation and college plans. The atmosphere was filled with warmth and laughter and pride.
The evening?Äôs presentations began with Mark Schmitz, executive director of Resource Training & Solutions, welcoming everyone to the 30th annual event. Schmitz congratulated seniors and told of two important pieces of advice he learned a long time ago from a school in Texas. ?ÄúThis school had two guiding principles, simply work hard and be nice. This school?Äôs demographics would indicate the students should not do well in school or even graduate. However, the students did do well and graduation rates far exceeded their expected results.?Äù ?ÄúThese two ideas will carry you far in life,?Äù he added.
Teresa Dupre, from Rush City School District, served as the presiding superintendent for the event. Dupre engaged the audience in an activity of listing attributes of the honorees and shouting out a few. She will be creating a Wordle from those attributes and sharing on the Resource FaceBook page. Dupre also shared her ?ÄúToolbox for Life?Äù using an actual hammer, screwdriver, hard hat and wrench as visual reminder of things that the students will need to carry with them. For example, a hard hat needs to be in your toolbox because you are always under construction and changing.
With humor and a powerful message, keynote speaker Van Bruggen spelled out the six steps he followed to align his passion, strengths with his career as an attorney specializing in agriculture and helping family farmers. Those steps included making a plan, becoming qualified, and be resilient and open to advice and criticism.
The evening was dedicated to honoring the top 142 high school seniors from 36 high schools in the Resource Training & Solutions region. Criteria for selection to the Recognition Event is at the discretion of each school but based upon recommended guidelines. The honorees were nominated by their school or district and received a plaque recognizing their accomplishment and a certificate from Governor Dayton. Over the past 30 years there have been 4,690 high school seniors recognized at Students of Excellence.
Ken Anderson, Board Chair at Resource, extended congratulations and a word or two of advice to the honorees. ?ÄúThis evening is a recognition of your accomplishments but I want to encourage you to tell your parents and teachers thanks.?Äù
The event is sponsored by the participating school districts and Resource Training & Solutions. Sandra Cordie, Director of K-12 Educational Programs for the agency, organizes the event. Next year?Äôs Students of Excellence recognition and awards ceremony will be April 25, 2018. Schools will be contacted in early March, 2018 with nomination information.
?ÄúI want to leave you tonight with a final note. It is connected to my very first class in law school,?Äù continued Van Bruggen. ?ÄúThe class was Torts and the professor had recently come back from a backpacking trip. He spoke of the dream of the children in the Toledo District of Belize who dream of attending school. After hearing the stories, I knew a farm kid like me could help. That fall the professor, another law student and myself created a nonprofit organization to improving educational opportunities for the youth of Belize. Since its inception, we have awarded more than 1,000 scholarships, over $130,000 in books, and built classrooms. Our donations are literally raised a dollar bill at a time through college dance marathons and silent auctions.?Äù
?ÄúAs you leave here, you are already equipped with the tools to be successful. Never look at a challenge and think for a minute that it is too large. Our world needs leaders, just like you,?Äù Van Bruggen concluded.
Students honored from Eden Valley-Watkins School are Kaitlyn Gruber, Maggie Ludwig, Elaina Stommes, and Nathan Utecht.
Students honored from Kimball Area High School are Kaylee Hechtel, Stephanie Hurrle, Kari Schiefelbein, and Maicy Vossen.