It just so happens to be really nice that the strategic plan really does reflect the work we are doing here in Hastings and the work hope to do in this coming school year in Hastings as well.”

Director of Teaching and Learning Andrew Hodges

The ISD 200 school board met on Wednesday, July 23 to approve the MSHSL contract and discuss professional development across the district at the first school board meeting with new Superintendent Dr. Kristine Wehrkamp Herman.

Superintendent Wehrkamp Herman spoke to introductions across the Hastings community including at the city council, Rotary, and leadership teams for the district.

“It’s been just wonderful,” said Wehrkamp Herman.

MSHSL Contract

The board unanimously approved the MSHSL contract emphasizing the importance of athletics in the district.

Director Elaine Mikel-Mulder called athletics a “pivotal part of the culture here in Hastings,” saying the board wanted to do its due diligence in “just making sure we aren’t going to get in a legal bind.”

According to Director Philip Biermaier, it was “never the intention not to sign up. We have the right to be concerned.”

School Board Chair Carrie Tate highlighted the impasse placed before school board members across the state, given the contradiction between Minnesota and Federal law: “There is no school board member in the state who can uphold their oath to uphold state and federal law.”

Raider Spotlight

High School Athletic Director Trent Hanson and Track and Field Coach Austin Eliason spoke before the board highlighting boys Track and Field State Champions, Dakota United Hawks Champion, and Hastings Archery.

Cole Zeien, Gunner Hanstad, Sebastian Strauss and Lane Hoffman won the title of State Champion in the 4x200 relay with a time of 1:25.80, just 0.2 seconds off the state record set in 2019.

The boys are the 14^th Hastings State Champions and first in track and field.

The quartet weren’t done there, however. In June, they would go on to become Nike Outdoor National Champions at the Nike Outdoor Nationals held in Eugene Oregon with a time of 1:26.22.

Hanson also recognized freshman Nolan St. Sauver, who won the State Championship with the Dakota United Hawks Adapted Softball.

Sporting a championship medal, first baseman St. Sauver explained how he hit a home run in the state championship game against New Prague contributing to the Hawk’s win with a score of 4-2.

Finally, Hanson recognized the new Hastings archery team, one of about 40 non-MSHSL activities that take place in the high school. The Hastings archery team recently competed for the first time in the National archery tournament in Louisville, Kentucky.

A parent of one of the archers who attended the event, who happens to hold the title of School Board Chair spoke to how the team did.

Of the 15,000 archers at the event, “the Hastings high school team ended up middle of the pack,” said Tate, with students participating in various activities from hitting bullseyes to shooting at 3D animal figures.

“The kids did amazing. They had a great time. It was phenomenal,” said Tate.

Withheld Title Funds

Superintendent Wehrkamp Herman also addressed the held-up Title IIA, IIIA, and IVA funds for ISD 200.

Some $5 billion of these funds had been previously withheld by the federal government but were released on July 25.

For Hastings, the amount translates to approximately $115,000 according to Superintendent Wehrkamp Herman.

These funds seek to improve student achievement, academic quality, and academic enrichment in various ways from helping students meet state academic standards to assisting schools expand capacity to serve low-income students to providing students with a well-rounded education and improving school conditions, according to the Department of Education.

Professional Development

Director of Teaching and Learning Andrew Hodges presented the Staff Development Plan. That plan encompasses “everything we do working with educations on their development,” ranging from workshops to staff skill and knowledge.

The final goal of this work is to “ultimately improve student learning opportunities and achievement,” said Hodges.

Especially with the creation of the new strategic plan, embedding the values within that document into staff development is an explicit goal in order to emphasize those values.

“It just so happens to be really nice that the strategic plan really does reflect the work we are doing here in Hastings and the work hope to do in this coming school year in Hastings as well,” said Hodges.

While much of that work sounds new, especially with the continued implementation of the READ Act, “80% of this plan is essentially rolled over each year,” including the new teacher mentoring program and professional learning Communities.

Hodges also spoke to the progress on the district’s Pathways Program, the new way of organizing classes, clubs and activities in the high school by which fields they could build into.

As new classes, like the Healthcare Professionals class, are designed to act as pipelines, helping students enter the industries in which they are interested.

As the program expands, the goal continues to be “how are we tying those career focus areas into the work students are doing?” Said Hodges.