I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Jan. 23, 1997
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
Newly appointed state Children, Families and Learning Commissioner Bob Wedl met some of the youngest people in the state Wednesday, who will be affected by changes in direction he plans to make in what once was the Department of Education.
Although he was in Bemidji to visit with northwest Minnesota superintendents and principals, he took time to tour Paul Bunyan Elementary School, visiting the classrooms of 4- and 5-year-old kindergarteners and reviewing several early education programs that will become an important focus statewide under his administration.
More specifically, Wedl said he wanted to see the early intervention, Title 1 and Early Childhood Family Education programs in action.
"We have to make all of our kids successful. Minnesota's population is aging, and our future job market demands it," he said. "It's important that school is not something that just happens in a building. It starts at home."
Wedl said although Minnesota students who go on to higher education are well trained, the state is still facing increasing dropout rates and failing those who are not successful. Those are the children who need to be targeted early through programs such as early intervention and ECFE programs.
"We do an awful lot of things very, very well in Minnesota schools, but we need to address the needs of kids who are not as successful," Wedl said. "Kids are not coming to school prepared, but if we get kids off to the right start, we'll have a much better chance of addressing their needs."
A changing society contributes to part of the dropout problem, and it is something that needs to be addressed in the educational system, he said. Society is changing and so schools must follow the lead.
A second initiative of the new commissioner is to adjust the Department of Children, Families and Learning to provide more options for students, parents and school boards, he said. For instance, more schools should be allowed to develop year-long academic cycles to replace nine-month school years, and more districts should be able to allow for charter schools. A third initiative will be to improve the system's accountability, from teachers to state-level administrators.
Wedl said decreasing the number of dropouts, providing more alternative paths for students and spending more money on technology in schools are future issues that Minnesota needs to address.
Wedl held several positions in the Children, Families and Learning and former Education departments before being appointed as commissioner in November by Gov. Arne Carlson.
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