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Eight students at Our Savior’s Lutheran School participated in a regional spelling bee at Mayer Lutheran High School. Students participated in a half-day event of written and oral spelling challenges against 16 other schools. Participants are front row from left, Luke Kamrath, Nicholas Dobbs, Jacob Lauer and Cody Ortloff; back row, Tyler Esser, Mariah Seller, Alex Messner and Molly Zackrison. Messner took fourth place, Lauer was sixth and Esser placed seventh in the contest.

High school students across the country and in Hutchinson have just finished taking the tests that determine if they receive college credit for Advanced Placement courses.

The program has expanded during the years to include 37 courses across 22 subject areas. At Hutchinson High School, the newest addition to the AP roster is Advanced Placement statistics, which was added at the beginning of this year.

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Hutchinson youth will have new sports fields to play on come as early as next summer.

School District 423 Board members voted to award the low bid for campus greenspace improvements to Burski Excavating of Rice at its last regular meeting.

Plans call for building a new senior high baseball field, a new youth softball/baseball field, a new youth football field and a new youth soccer field. District Director of Buildings and Grounds Brian Mohr said the contractor could be ready to begin work as early as June 9, but estimated ground will be broken sometime shortly after that.

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A townhall meeting on the issues of underage drinking is being offered at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 27 in the Hutchinson High School auditorium.

Hutchinson Police Chief Dan Hatten, Principal Ron Johnson, McLeod County Health Director Jean Johnson and chemical health counselor Carmen Morrow will be among the speakers to address teen alcohol use.
Box of Rockets, winners of the 2007 McLeod County Fair Battle of the Bands, will perform to kick off the event.

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The Hutchinson High School vocal music department is presenting a spring concert at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16, in the school auditorium.

The concert and varsity choirs and the Tiger Chorus, along with many smaller vocal ensembles, will perform.
Familiar songs from the musicals “Wicked,” “Pajama Game,” “Hairspray” and “Hair” will be featured. Highlighted pop songs include “The Middle,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Breaking up is Hard to Do,” “One Fine Day” and “Buffalo Gals.”

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I have been wondering what 423 is going to do with its Asst. Superintendent salary. Will they continue to be top heavy administratively while classroom numbers rise or will they use that salary to hire two-three teachers! Six teaching positions were lost at the High School, alone , so what is the average size of REQUIRED classes if you do not factor in electives. I hear it will be closer to 40 than 30 next year. Academics is not ALL there is to life, to be sure but it is what our TAXES should be paying for. Sports needs to be relegated to the private sector for financial support. When there is not enough money to go around at my house I cut back and non-essentials like Assistant Superintendents and sports should be the first to go. Remember this when they come at us for more money!!

Education is not the only thing in life. What's wrong with spending money on sports? It's better to have kids in sports for their extracurricular activities than doing drugs or playing video games. Sports teach discipline, hard work, leadership, and good attitudes which will all be needed when the kids grow up and live in the "working world".

As the article said... these "capital funds have been budgeted for the improvements for the past few years."

District 423 spends money on a new sports field when they let teachers go last fall!? This is a perfect example of what is wrong with this school's leadership. C'mon people your priorities are messed up! Spend this money on academics not sports!

arnijodi wrote...

"Education is not the only thing in life."

You put that on your next job application and see how far it gets you. This sends entirely the wrong message to the youth of this community and it's a primary thing that is wrong with this city. Sports are put above education by arnijodi, by the administration of district 423 and by the school board. It's shameful. Remember this next time you see the test scores published for the students of district 423. Teachers were sacrificed for a sports field. Shameful.

I also agree that sports/athletics have a place and time for our youth. However, because of budget restraints that everybody is feeling these days in our school districts, I think it is now time for sports/athletics/fine arts become the responsibilities of private booster clubs and/or corporate sponsors. Because the schools would not longer be responsible for coaching costs, transportation costs, uniform costs, etc., the budget could be reduced, and more money could be directed to education which is what schools are all about in the first place. Sports, too, would benefit because the best coaches could be hired rather than hiring those teachers who are on the school's staff and really don't have their heart in coaching but rather are just there to pick up their paychecks. Parents may have to pay more for their children's activity fees, but if real estate taxes could be reduced because of the school's dependence on this funding and it would be reduced because of the discontinuation of the sports budget, then this money could be directed to their children's increased activity fees, and the rest of the district's residents would be relieved of paying for something they really do not support in the first place. Or, they may want to make a donation to their favorite sport to be used as they so direct. Also, I think, too, the school needs to start looking at perhaps year-round school. The buildings would be used full time and the taxpayers would be getting a better "bang for their buck." This seems to work quite well in California, so what not try it here? The school district cannot continue to spend more and more money. The taxpayers' pockets are empty and the district needs to be more creative in their budgets. School District #423 is a good position to start with their budget re-evaluation since we now have lost our Asst. Superintendent. I think we can get along quite nicely without that position and we could start saving immediately and use that savings in the classrooms which like I said previously "is what schools are all about in the first place."

Hutchinson youth will have new sports fields to play on come as early as next summer.

School District 423 Board members voted to award the low bid for campus greenspace improvements to Burski Excavating of Rice at its last regular meeting.

Plans call for building a new senior high baseball field, a new youth softball/baseball field, a new youth football field and a new youth soccer field. District Director of Buildings and Grounds Brian Mohr said the contractor could be ready to begin work as early as June 9, but estimated ground will be broken sometime shortly after that.

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Teachers are contracted for a certain number of duty days each year, usually between 176-184. These include school days and workshop days. They do not get paid for service during the summer. There are schools in other states that go year round but many still have the same number of days. Instead they take 2-3 week breaks after each quarter. In that case teachers would not necessarily make more and transportation costs would be the same, but there would be more spent on maintainence. I don't believe this will ever happen in Minnesota because the summer tourism industry opposes a change in the school year.
As far as sports being part of the school, the United States may be the only country where sports are sponsered by schools. In other countries, athletes attend private clubs that are not associated with the school. Scholarships are available so all can participate.

No, not all coaches are teachers. The boys tennis coach, Brett Rasmussen, for example, is a business owner (retail), thus able to set his own hours. His wife is an elementary teacher.

Among the others: Andy Rostberg, football head coach, former teacher not teaching now; Dennis Piechowski, volleyball head coach, former teacher not teaching now; Len Lasley, head track coach, retired teacher; Jerry Carlson, recently retired head swimming coach, retired teacher; and Mitch Fabel, head girls hockey coach, not a teacher. So there are several.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)

I must have hit a passionate nerve!! I apologize - I thought all of the coaches were also teachers at District 423. I know of several persons who have applied for coaching jobs, but were told that only teachers could apply for those jobs. So I am surprised to hear that some of the coaches are not teachers. So, how do these coaches do it? Where do they work that they are allowed to leave their jobs at 2:00 P.M. to attend practices and/or games, meets, etc.? And, how do we come up with the salary of $5.00 per hour? My point in suggesting that extra curriculars are sponsored by booster clubs or corporations is that if there was more money available, then the very best coaches would be hired, and of course, they would have to be paid more - if you're worth your weight in gold, then you'll get a higher salary, but you would have to bring positive results to your team!!! Parents/booster clubs/corporations would have to step up to the plate, and pay higher activity fees, plan fundraising events, etc. This would at least relieve the budget pressures our schools are presently feeling!! As far as year-round school is concerned, I thought our teachers were already paid an annual salary, or do they just get paid for nine months of teaching? Maybe they would welcome the extra money they could make by teaching year around. Doctors, engineers and mechanics all work every day, 5 days a week (and maybe more) and are paid accordingly. My point in this suggestion is that our buildings would be totally utitilized, and not remain idle for three months out of the year!! And our kids would be the recipients of a better education!!!

Let me clarify myself. By saying that education is not the only thing in life, I am merely trying to state that an individual needs balance in his/her life in order to succeed. Good grades cannot get you very far, if you can't relate well with people. Sports is simply a potentially good activity to round out a good education. It doesn't replace education, but rather enhances it when used properly.

I'm all for education and do agree that education should come first. I myself graduated with honors from High School, College, and also a College Technical School. Education definitely has a big part in defining the job that we will eventually undertake, but lets not discount other activities that contribute to a well rounded individual that can make for a good worker in our society.

How can you possibly feel that having school year-round will save money? The additional utilities and salary increases will only make it more costly. You don't actually think that the staff will invest all this additional time without being compensated do you? The next time you ask your doctor, lawyer, or mechanic to donate more time see how they respond. When they are done laughing in your face they will surely answer, "no thank you".

I do agree that there are teachers who are not very good at coaching. Surely you must know that many coaches in Hutchinson, including head coaches are not presently teaching or teaching at all for that matter. Please ask your passion filled professionals, i believe you refer to them as the "best coaches"... if they want to deal with over-bearing parents for $5.00 per hour. Make sure that they are available at 2:00 p.m. to leave with the team on away games. Also make sure that these better qualified coaches are not just self-serving parents with certain agendas. Several of our teachers coach because "no one" wants to coach.

You mention that boosters and private business should pay for extra curriculars... it was my understanding that many of these businesses are already hit very hard and can't afford to simply take on any more. Do you know something or someone that the rest of the community doesn't? I'm guessing that 3M or HTI could take over the expenses of extra curriculars... have you asked them?

You also mentioned that parents should just pay more... is this what the parents want and can afford?

You mentioned that we should model our educational system after California... Minnesota has out-ranked and out-scored the majority of the other states, including California.

I mildly agree with you about the salary of our assistant supt. He was the curricular expert, yet didn't seem to even know what was best. He was more of a good guy than he was an innovative problem solver. Maybe if his responsibilities could be delegated a bit we might be just fine. Of course this won't actually happen, but it is fun to mull over a-bit.

Who would be willing to coach at the high school level with the peanuts they are offered for compensation. And what makes you even think that they would have more knowledge? I'm guessing that our doctors. lawyers. or engineers have other obligations and would probably snicker that the notion of doing anything for $5.00 per hour. I do agree that there are coaches who are not always knowledgeable and don't have lots of passion. Several of the coaches are already "not" teachers, it is challenging to find coaches who are willing to take the heat from parents and unmotivated athletes. If you have a long list of super motivated AND knowledgable coaches please give this hot list of prospects to the district, they might find it a value. Make sure that your new passion filled coaches have a schedule that will allow them to be free to coach and/or leave town with the team at 2:00 in the afternoon for away games. Make sure that the members are not just some self-serving parents who want to push and showcase their own offspring.
Your idea of having year-round school is an expensive option. Operating the schools with the extra utilities and increased salaries would be very costly. Surely you don't expect the entire staff to do all of this without a bump in pay. Try asking your doctor, carpenter, or mechanic to do the same without more pay... when they stop laughing, they will probably say "no thank you".I don't think that saving a few dollars with extra curriculars would come even close.
Your idea to do without an assistant supt. probably makes the most sense... his main role of curriculum director seems on the surface to be valuable, but those who were in the trenches knew how little he actually brought to the table.
Perhaps you are a business owner who is fighting the urge to give thousands and thousands of dollars away to school sports. I believe that many of our businesses are already hit hard enough to donate to this and to that. If you have a list of passion filled businesses who have piles of money, please give them the address of our schools so that they can start this process.

Nursing school graduates Erica Hertzog, Natalie Roffs and Christiane Cuadros huddled together before taking the walk of pomp and circumstance during Ridgewater College’s graduation ceremony last Thursday at the McLeod County Fairgrounds.

The Minnesota Legislature added $49 million, or 1 percent, to fund school districts across the state. The increase amounts to be about $51 per pupil.

“I was really impressed with the $51,” said District 423 Superintendent Daron VanderHeiden. “We really didn’t expect that in a reduction year. That’ll mean a little more than $150,000 for the school district.”

The district is still trying to figure out how the Legislature's decision to cap local property tax levy increase to 3.9 percent will affect its bonding request slated for later this year.

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A program designed to help incoming freshmen transition easier into high school has been expanded this year.

Hutchinson High School 101 is being offered again from June 9 through June 25. Classes start at 7:45 a.m. and run until 12 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Students will learn about their schedules, the trimester system and final exams. They will also spend time brushing up and honing skills in math, reading and writing.

Last year, the program consisted of 20 hours of high school preparation. This year, the program has been expanded to 60 hours.

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Two Hutchinson High School students, with help from their friends and classmates, are presenting a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 24, at the Hutchinson High School.

Eric Radloff and Mike Lauer, both juniors at the school, have been working tirelessly on organizing talent, schedules, set lists and their own performance in the concert for the past several weeks.

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Hutchinson High School band members will perform a concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, in the auditorium.

The concert band will perform “Li’L Gabriel March,” “Spirals of Light” and “The Story of Mumble Happy Feet.” The symphonic band will play “Bugler’s Holiday,” “Canticles of the Saints” and the theme from “Schindler’s List.”

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A program designed to help students get up to grade level on their reading skills will be expanded in District 423 next year.

Minnesota Reading Corps, an affiliate of AmeriCorps, is a statewide initiative to help children become successful readers. The program first came to Hutchinson last year when Park Elementary Assistant Principal Lori VanderHeiden applied for a grant to pay for a full-time Reading Corps member to work with second- and third-graders on their reading. That person is Marty Zachmeyer, who works one-on-one with students for about a half hour at a time.

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If it was that easy 20% of our students would be tossed out. Of course when they were tossed, their parents would wake from their pull-tab coma they are in at the local watering hole and fight like drunken sailors about the right that little johnny or little sue has to get an education.
Until Abercrombie designs uniforms i doubt we will ever see it happen. Clothing allows the rich kids to walk around in designer labels... poor kids to wear walmart... and the animals to wear whatever they want!
I would love to see uniforms... something with a sense of style.
As far as making the student turn the shirt inside out... why not make the cap wearing hoods from turning their hats inside out... the '''''' things are already backwards. No caps should be allowed.... a compromise could be for the cap to be a "Hutch Tigers" design... of course that would be cool enough and no one would want to wear that style... problem solved!

Students are at school for one purpose -- to get an education. If a student chooses to interfere with the other students right to the same thing, then toss them out along with this silly lawsuit!!!

It doesn't really much matter whose fault it is the fact is teen apparel is out of control. I don't see any fair solution short of plain jane uniforms. We are way past the day when we can expect parents to guide these students in what is appropriate. Just look around at what some allow. We are long past when any authority can tell a teen what to wear w/o being accused of some bias. What ever one wears has the potential of offending some one else. I wonder what was so bad about the shirt in question? It was a protest against killing, against violence. Students are allowed to protest war why not abortion? Both types of legal killing. I get that Christianity is not welcome in the public schools, but I don't get why Christians are allowed to be offended, but no one else is. The occult is well represented in teen attire. Did we forget that is a religion? Uniforms are really the only equitable solution if we want to avoid these law suits, and not offend anyone.

I agree... the way our students dress is almost scary. Caps, chains, piercings, rainbow colored hair, guys with pants big enough for two students to wear and the girls tight enough to rip with every step. Phones, and ipods hanging off of them...
It is administration that allows this not the teachers... the teachers are almost powerless. The administrators sit at central office in their shirts and ties while 20% of the student population wears clothing and outfits that are screaming of disrespect.
I can see the district try to say that they have rules about this but in fact they do not. They can say they have rules about phones and ipods but I know they allow all this crap. I have had several of my own children in the high school... I have seen this for myself... I am not writing this as some form of rumor... it is fact. Our society lacks discipline and respect. We have gotten so lazy and have lost the fight years ago.
This does not just happen in our schools but also shows itself in church. Do you remember the day when people used to put some effort in dressing up a bit to attend church. Now we have to feel thankful that our own children will even attend... and if they do...lets allow them to wear anything. I get it when someone tries to say "at least they are attending church"... blah blah blah... tuck in your '''''' shirt and take off your ripped jeans and show some respect for who you are worshipping or at least yourself!

"What do we do to a student who wears a shirt that says "sex is fun" or "drugs are cool" or "bush is an idiot"? " What we do is virtually NOTHING so that is where this problem will get very sticky for Dist 423. The t-shirts my child sees at the High School are horrid, IMHO. Not fit for Saturday in the park let alone on a teen at school, yet day after day teachers do nothing. The issue needs to be, creating then enforcing a dress code, but Dist. 423 has no backbone, hence the non specific wording. "What sixth grader is going to be that obstinent about wearing a T-shirt to school, " The same students who wear hats ALL day inside the building against the dress code and text message during class against the dress code.
I recently read 12% of civil cases get to court. The others are just money makers for lawyers. They will attempt to bury each other in paper, racking up costs for the parties involved. The party with the least money agrees to settle first. The cases that go to court are because someone has a statement to make, and the statement is rarely about the issue that brought them to court.

Asking a student to dress with some level of respect is not asking too much. What do we do to a student who wears a shirt that says "sex is fun" or "drugs are cool" or "bush is an idiot"? Although Bush may be an idiot, it is disrespectful for a student to display such a message. The little 12 year-old's shirt's message is an ad that tells of his parents beliefs. I think i am going to have my second grader wear a shirt that says "taxes suck big time". To compare the shirt with someone carrying in a bomb is an uneducated and silly example. I am a believer that shirts should be tucked in and hair should be washed and combed... Our school's dress code is so very lax already... if we begin to allow trash, then the garbage pile will only stink even more.

If a woman or a man can say that they believe abortion is right, then how can one say that a 12 year old can't say it is wrong? Regardless of gender, people have the right to an opinion on the issue...Should that not also be true for age? Who are we to say how old a person must be to form an educated opinion? I say let him wear it. It isn't lude or vulgar. It isn't alcohol or drug related. Stop worrying about a kids T-shirt and raise your kids, educate your kids. It's a T-shirt...he's not running into a hospital with a bomb. Get over it.

Violating his rights or HER's. What sixth grader is going to be that obstinent about wearing a T-shirt to school, that has already been deemed inappropriate? Who's trying to get their message across? I don't think it's the student.

Paul's piece was wonderful. I liked the way it featured different sections of the band. If you missed it, you missed quite a treat. It is incredible to wrap your mind around how any one can compose for an entire band let alone this high school student. You have much to be proud of Paul!!

By Lori Hendrickson, University of Minnesota Extension

As this school year comes to a close, many students are planning for college. Students are usually concerned about their financial aid papers, acceptance letters and the formalities that go with choosing a college. What they may not be thinking about is creating a spending plan for college life.

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A Hutchinson mother has brought a civil lawsuit against Hutchinson School District 423 on behalf of her sixth-grade son.

The lawsuit, which names Jeanne Ibbitson as the plaintiff and Hutchinson School District and Middle School Principal Todd Grina as the defendants, alleges that the school district violated Ibbitson’s son’s constitutional rights of free speech, equal protection and due process. Ibbitson was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.

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A trumpet trio — from left, Megan Sommerville, Paul Cravens and Kyle Brand — was the highlight of the Hutchinson High School Symphonic Band’s “Bugler’s Holiday,” during the school’s spring band concert Wednesday. Later, the band played Craven’s original piece, “Overture in B Flat,” to a standing ovation. The school’s Varsity Band and Concert Band also performed.

Hutchinson High School senior Paul Cravens said his composition “Overture in B flat” is about 10 minutes long and took him more than a month to finish.

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For the complete story, see the May 29 print edition of the Hutchinson Leader.

Hutchinson High School senior Paul Cravens may be the first local student to be a National Merit Scholarship finalist — at least no one in the district can recall another student going that far in the competition.

The scholarship will be an award of up to $1,000 for four years, which is on top of the $50,000 Presidential Distinction Award Cravens received from his college of choice, Concordia College in Moorhead. The college scholarship is given to only 50 incoming freshmen and pays a sizable portion of tuition, which made his parents, Forrest and Bobbi Cravens certainly happy.

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Park Elementary boys learned about the importance of reading — even when it comes to drawing dragons and other huge, scaly creatures — last week when illustrator Stefan Johnson visited the school.

As part of the Girls Read/Boys Read program organized by district librarian Naomi Shadis, Johnson shared his love for reading and drawing with boys while Shadis worked with girl students on reading projects.

“When I was their age, I really started getting into reading and drawing,” Johnson said.

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New Century Charter School student William Erickson reaches to the top of this 145 Adams Street home to scrape the old paint from the siding. He, along with teacher Brett Damerow and other students, are working on a service learning course by fixing up a Hutchinson family’s home. As well as a fresh coat of paint, the house will receive new doors and other donated materials.

A Students Imput..... I personally know this kid AND HIS MOTHER. And I believe they have great reasons for bringing up this problem. And for those of you who think of him as a "little boy" he is almost 6 foot and with a big mind to match. I have been wearing these shirts myself since 6th grade (currently in 8th) I knew perfectly well what the shirt meant. You can ask any 5 year old if killing babies is a good idea and I doubt they would agree. I also know for a fact that he was given a choice to wear the shirt or not (I was there) and his mother had no imput just support. In a conversation today with some of my classmates, they think he has done the right thing. He is not asking anyone to agree with him he just has an opinion as do everyone. They're not asking for a load of money. They are simply asking for and apology, being allowed to wear the shirts, and free speech.

That is ironic. Looks like it was a set up from the beginning with the hopes that the school would make the kid turn the shirt inside out. Then the mother and law firm could move right in with a lawsuit and extract some money out of the taxpayers. I sometimes wonder how people who file these stupid lawsuits sleep at night. Just a different mentality that you have to have I guess.

Isn't it kind of ironic that the T-shirts come from an anti-abortion organization with affiliations to the law center?

Of course, it is his mother!
Rules are rules and it should not matter what what one believes in or how strong the belief is.

It's one thing to believe strongly in something, it's another thing to be disruptive about it. My daughter is in sixth grade and was asked to change her shirt this year because it had song lyrics on it. Song lyrics from a well known Christian artist. In order for anyone to read it, they had to be right in front or behind her. You couldn't read it from far away, because of how the lyrics were written. . How screwed up is that? My daughter got in trouble for this when there are kids out there wearing a LOT worse. .

I'm just worried about what this is going to do to our schools and our children in the long run will suffer. I know this young man, and I have a hard time believing this is him talking and NOT HIS MOM!!

Lets look at the sunner side of this. Atleast people are standing up for what they believe in. In the bigger picture yes teens and college people are fighting authority figures even on the smallest level of dress codes but doesn't that fuel the fire for bigger changes in government (war) and religion? I think most everyone can agree things have to change so we should encourage us young people to take a stand for what to believe in but do it in the right way and legal way and not look for money out of it but for a change that betters the institution and peoples lives! If parents want a dress code then stand up for it and make a change don't complain and tell people what they should do or not do thats not going to change anything!

Exactely at work I have to wear business casual, If your shirt is not talked in the boss will say something. He also does not allow hats to be worn in the office even on jean Fridays but the people who work in warehouse wear jeans, T Shirts, and hats everyday. Up front no shirts with writing even on Friday it is just how it is there are rules and we need to follow them . If you do not the boss here will let you know and the teachers do the same with the students.

I agree with the "sue happy" people... So we have clothing guidlines for what reason? There are dress codes in every job and school, if a person does not follow them then that is their choice but then they shall reap the repercussions for breaking the rules, and should not complain or sue.

I get so sick of these sue happy people. Who is going to pay for this the Tax payer. So if the mother of this child is a tax payer she will pay for it in the long run. If it becomes a big lawsuit programs or other things could be cut. My child is 7 at this time and I have seen what 1st graders are wearing stuff that is not appropiate. We live in a tragic world of political views, social parties, Sci fi violence and other garbage. I belive there should be no views on someones shirt in the school systems or hats worn in a building. Plus what is a sixth grader doing concentrating on Abortion? Wow this is one messed up world we live in.

I expect that the girls would balk at not being able to wear pants. I know I would.

I would love to see District #423 go to a dress code with uniforms. It wouldn't have to be anything fancy - navy blue/khaki dockers with dress shirts for the boys; and skirts/jumpers/blazers/dress shirts for the girls. Everyone would be treated/look equally - rich and those not so rich. If you dress well, you will command respect by those around you. I wonder how many businesses would hire a guy with his jeans hanging halfway down his butt with his underwear showing - not very many!!! We need to start teaching our kids respect and not only academics - both are important in preparing our kids to be adults. The problem at the high school is that the dysfunctional kids and their parents are running the institution, and the administration is wondering "what happened?" I mean how could our superintendent not know about this pending lawsuit? Don't the different principals talk to each other??? No wonder we have the problems we do in society. I am so thankful my kids are out of school. Now, as adults, they tell me the difficulties they faced while attending school here because they didn't wear the designer clothes, etc. Uniforms would provide an equal playing field. Go for it - school board (or at least give it a try for one year).