Month: April 2025

The Crookston School Board met on Monday, April 28, in the Crookston High School choir/orchestra room.

The consent agenda included the approval of minutes from the March 24 meeting and current bills.

The board approved the resignations of Brittany Rassett as the high school German instructor, Austin O’Hare as the high school science instructor, and Cierra Hangsleben as the Middle School principal. Superintendent Randy Bergquist said the three are leaving for family reasons. “Cierra has been here for two years, and the community wanted a middle school concept, so Mr. Kuehn (previous Superintendent) hired her as the middle school principal. We are reevaluating to see what we will do moving forward. She and Mr. Torgerson worked well together to have a cohesive 6-12 building, but keeping them separate with different passing times,” said Superintendent Bergquist. “The community made it clear that they want the middle school concept, and I think it has been going well so far.”

The board approved the employment of Timothy Barwin as a school district mechanic/bus driver, Lily Kronas as an Agriculture Education instructor at the high school, and Holly Messelt as a special education instructor at the high school. Superintendent Bergquist said finding an Ag Education teacher was important to continue the Ag classes, FFA, and more. “That was a huge hire. I honestly didn’t think we were going to find an Ag instructor, but she’s going to be graduating this next month from UMC, so we are really excited to have her as part of the group,” said Superintendent Bergquist. “We want to continue with our Ag classes, FFA, and do those things because this is obviously an agricultural community. I have to give the Administration credit because there are a lot of Ag teaching jobs open right now.”

The board will be asked to accept over $19,000 in donations, including $1660 from the Masonic Lodge and another $1660 from the Crookston Masonic Lodge for the FFA program, $13,000 from the Crookston Baseball Association for softball equipment for KROX Radio Stadium, $360 from Kathie Barnes for the middle school field trips, $250 from Grove Mechanical for the Itasca State Park field trip, $1,855 from the Crookston FFA alumni for the FFA state convention, $344.46 from Polk County misc. supplies, and $240 from Loren and Marjean Sanderson for the Itasca State Park field trip. Superintendent Bergquist said the community and organizations support the School District, and he appreciates it. “I am so happy that the community and organizations are willing to donate,” said Superintendent Bergquist. “And it’s not just all athletics, there is donations for FFA, field trips, and I just want students to be able to have opportunities for things that they can enjoy.”

The main agenda had one item and it was designating Old National Bank as the replacement bank for Bremer Bank. Old National Bank recently bought Bremer Bank and they will be making the name change soon.

A school board working session will be held on Thursday, May 1, at 9:00 a.m. in the District Office room. The next school board meeting will be on Monday, May 19, at 5:00 p.m. in the Crookston High School choir/orchestra room.

The post Crookston School Board hires Ag Education Instructor, and accepts over $19,000 in donations first appeared on KROX.

The Crookston High School held its 17th Annual Triple-A Senior Recognition Night on Monday, April 28, to honor its senior Student-Athletes in Academics, Arts, and Athletics. The Crookston Pirate Fine Arts Boosters, Crookston Kiwanis, Crookston Noon Day Lions, and the Crookston Rotary Clubs sponsored the banquet.

ARTS AND MUSIC
Music Senior plaques: Naomi Johnson, Madeline Harbott, Meliyah Durham-Moore, Shayla Azure, Michael Deng, Mackenzie Funk, Makenna Kopecky, Teagan Lubinski, Grace Smith, Lincoln Waldal

T.W. Thorson Memorial Award: Lincoln Waldal

John P. Sousa Awards: Michael Deng

Mari Hussey Award: Grace Smith

Ronald Carey Award: Madeline Harbott

Merle Miller String Scholarship: Meliyah Durham-Moore

Lloyd and Shirley Lee Band Scholarship: Teagen Lubinski

Outstanding Thespian Award: Ella Lanctot

Most Dedicated Thespian Award: May Cuno, Maya Aguilar

Blackburn Family Theatre Arts Scholarship: Meliyah Durham-Moore

Music Above and Beyond Awards: Maya Aguilar, Shayla Azure, Meliyah Durham-Moore, Jack Everett, Madeline Harbott, Daniel Jones, Ella Lanctot

 

ACADEMIC AWARDS:
Donnie Lauf Memorial Scholarship: Miryah Epema

Larsen Achievement Award: Paige Abrahamson, Joey Nesseth, Georgia Sanders

CHS Scholarship: Meliyah Durham-Moore

Franz Memorial Award: Teagen Lubinski

Academic Achievement (Summa Cum Laude, Trophies):
Summa Cum Laude (3.9 to 4.0 GPA)- Paige Abrahamson, Brandon Colborn, Chase Cormican, Michael Deng, Ava Edwards, Miryah Epema, Mackenzie Funk, Makenna Kopecky, Tyler Michaelson, Joey Nesseth, Georgia Sanders, Grace Smith
Magna Cum Laude (3.8 to 3.89 GPA) – Jack Buhler, Kaylie Clauson, Jack Everett, Addison Fee, Madeline Harbott, Lincoln Waldal, Tessa Weber
Cum Laude (3.7 to 3.79 GPA)- Carley Knutson, Rylan Lubarski, Meliyah Durham-Moore

HONORS AND AWARDS
RiverView Health Orthopedic Clinic Scholarship – Georgia Sanders

Noon Day Lions/Brock Olson Award: Madeline Harbott

Noon Day Lions and CHS LEO Club MaryAnn Odland Community Service Award – Mackenzie Funk, Joey Nesseth, Georgia Sanders

Bremer Community Service Award: Paige Abrahamson, Conner Hanson

Crookston Rotary Students of the Month – Hunter Nicholas, Shayla Azure, Madeline Harbott, Conner Hanson, Bradyn Pederson, Mackenzie Funk, Addison Fee, Kaylie Clauson, Parker Kelly

Senior Honor Awards: Brandon Colborn, Madeline Harbott

American Legion Citizenship Award: Paige Abrahamson, Teagen Lubinski

Walt Keller Memorial Scholarship: Brandon Colborn, Addison Fee, Madeline Harbott

CHS Citizenship Award: Mackenzie Funk, Teagen Lubinski

Tracy Lynn Altringer Scholarship: Georgia Sanders

Diane Altringer Scholarship: Brandon Colborn

Bob and Ella Q. Strand Scholarship: Paige Abrahamson

June Shaver Healthcare Scholarship: Paige Abrahamson, Carley Knutson, Joey Nesseth, Grace Smith

Red Lake Electric Scholarship: Mackenzie Funk, Joey Nesseth

Halstad Telephone Company Scholarship: Kaylie Clauson, Brandon Colborn

American Crystal 2-year Tech Scholarship: Brandon Colborn

American Crystal Sugar Company 4-year University Scholarship: Tyler Michaelson

FOR THE ATHLETIC AWARD WINNERS, CLICK HERE

Academic Award winners

Arts award winners

Honors and Awards award winners

The post Crookston High School hands out 2025 Academics, Arts, and Athletic Awards first appeared on KROX.

On Thursday, April 24, fifth grade students from Highland put on a drum performance at Crookston High School with the help of a grant secured by Highland’s music teacher, Kristine Dickson.  The grant brought in a resident musician for a month, Dr. Kenyon Williams, the Director of Percussion at Minnesota State Moorhead. “He has traveled around the world and has served as a clinician, a performer, and an artist in residence for us for the last month. We have so enjoyed learning from him,” said Dickson.

The artist-in-residency program, which Dickson says took place over the month of April, has been a rich and cultural immersion experience for the students. “It’s allowed then to experience music from another culture but also to understand how other cultures interpret music and dance,” says Dickson. “It’s been wonderful for them to see the community and collaborative component of music. So, as we’ve learned to perform with Dr. Williams, it’s been a joy to experience something we never would have been able to expose our students to without the generous grant from the Minnesota Northwest Arts Council.”

Dickson wrote for and received the grant from the Arts Council. “They not only supplied the funding needed to confirm the residency with Dr. Williams, but they also generously donated 20 Djembes,” says Dickson. “So the drums you see being played today were all donated by the Minnesota Northwest Arts Council. We are delighted; this is a partnership that we have certainly enjoyed this year and hope to see in the future.”

A large audience attended the performance, and students even brought on stage teachers and Highland’s principal, Chris Trostad, to dance to the music.

The post Dr. Kenyon Williams gets Highland 5th graders excited about percussion first appeared on KROX.

In an effort to keep our roadways safe, the Grand Forks Police Department will take part in a “Click it or Ticket” Enforcement Campaign, which will involve selective traffic enforcement by several officers looking specifically for seatbelt violations.

Law enforcement will work targeted enforcement shifts from May 1 to June 1, 2025. Our primary goal during this campaign is to ensure motorists are using their safety belts while operating their vehicles within Grand Forks. This program is funded by the ND DOT and will allow additional officers to be assigned specifically to enforce this type of violation during this campaign.

The Grand Forks Police Department wants to remind the public that seatbelt violations are a primary reason to conduct a traffic stop. All passengers inside a vehicle must also be wearing seatbelts.

The post Grand Forks PD will conduct “Click it or Ticket” Enforcement Campaign first appeared on KROX.

Vehicular heatstroke is one of the leading causes of non-crash, vehicle-related death for children 14 and younger in the United States. Parents and caregivers who think child heatstroke deaths could “never” happen on their watch should think again. Tragically, “never” does happen.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) urges parents and caregivers to learn about and share critical information about the dangers of leaving children alone in hot cars. Help us spread the word: Once You Park, Stop, Look, Lock. Since 1998, when safety advocates first began tracking, vehicular heatstroke has killed more than 1000 children. Each death was preventable, and unfortunately, we have seen a tragic death from this cause in our state.

• More than half (52.6%) of these tragedies occur when a child is “forgotten” by a parent or caregiver and left in a hot car. A busy parent or caregiver may unintentionally forget that a quiet or sleeping child is in the back of the vehicle.

• More than half (58%) of these heatstroke deaths occur at home.

• Nearly one-third of these tragedies occur with children under one year of age. Why are hot cars so unsafe? For starters, internal vehicle temperatures can raise quickly and become up to 50 degrees warmer than the outside air temperatures. So even if it’s a cool day outside, a vehicle may still pose a threat to a child. A child’s body temperature increases 3 to 5 times faster than an adult’s.

In 2024, 39 children died due to vehicular heatstroke, an increase of 35% from the prior year. The death rate has been lower in recent years. On average, 37 children die each year as a result of vehicular heatstroke. “We have to teach our children that the vehicle is not a playground, and that playing in and around the car is dangerous,” said Jasmine Wangen, NW Minnesota Child Passenger Safety Liaison. “On average, one child dies from heatstroke every 10 days in the United States from being left in a car or crawling into an unlocked vehicle. What is most tragic is that every single one of these deaths could have been prevented.”

Toddlers and young children are also at risk of vehicular heatstroke, and they are more likely to climb into a vehicle without supervision. Children “gaining access” to a vehicle accounts for nearly one-quarter of child heatstroke fatalities. Some children climb into a vehicle without the knowledge of an adult and may be unable to exit the car, especially if child locks are activated. The bottom line and message to mothers, fathers, and caregivers — anyone is susceptible to forgetfulness. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, or where you come from: In a fast-paced society, routines are often upended at a moment’s notice. It is during these moments of hurriedness and change in routine that many of these preventable tragedies occur. For this reason, it is more important than ever to remember:

Once You Park, Stop, Look, Lock. NHTSA urges all parents and caregivers to do these three things to help prevent child heatstroke:

• When getting out of a car, make it a habit to look in the back seat EVERY time.

• NEVER leave a child in a vehicle unattended, even for one minute.

• ALWAYS lock the car and put the keys out of reach.

If a bystander sees a child in a hot vehicle:

• Make sure the child is okay and responsive. If not, call 911 immediately.

• If the child appears to be okay, attempt to locate the parents or have the facility’s security or management page the car owner over the PA system.

• If two people are around, one person should actively search for the parent while the other waits at the car.

• If the child is not responsive or appears to be in distress, attempt to get into the car to assist the child, even if that means breaking a window. Some states have “Good Samaritan” laws that protect people for getting involved to help a person in an emergency.

Warning signs of heatstroke include:

• red, hot, and moist or dry skin;

• no sweating;

• a strong, rapid pulse or a slow, weak pulse;

• nausea;

• confusion; or

• acting strangely.

If a child exhibits any of these signs after being in a hot vehicle, quickly spray the child with cool water or with a garden hose — NEVER put a child in an ice bath. Call 911 or a local emergency number immediately.

Remember: Once You Park, Stop, Look, Lock.

For more information on vehicle heatstroke, visit www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/heatstroke. For current data, visit noheatstroke.org. For an interview or additional local information, please contact Carma Hanson at 701.739.1591 or chanson@altru.org or Jasmine Wangen at jwangen@altru.org

The post National Heatstroke Awareness Day is May 1 first appeared on KROX.

5^th and 6th-grade students from Crookston Public Schools competed in the regional Math Masters of Minnesota Challenge in Bemidji, MN on Friday, April 25, 2025. Students competing were Michah Pyles, Leah Biermaier, Jesse Garcia, Kenlea Osen, Corbin Caillier, Grant Moe, Odin Prudhomme, Garrett Guzman, Devin Gudmunson, and Cora Jackson.   These students competed individually and as teams on eight sets of mathematical problems in this competition for a total of 325 math problems.  They competed against 152 other students from 30 teams.  

The 6th-grade team placed 5th overall

Corbin Caillier placed 9th in the fact placement round

Micah Pyles placed 4th in the Individual Division.

Devin Gudmunson placed 10th in the Individual Division.

Math Masters of Minnesota provides mathematics competitions for thousands of fifth—and sixth-grade students. The competition is designed to promote excellence in thinking skills in mathematics and was founded upon research concerning the characteristics of mathematically gifted people. The purpose of Math Masters is to challenge students to use critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities and to give recognition for academic effort and achievement.  

5th grade left to right: Jesse Garcia, Micah Pyles, Corbin Caillier, Leah Beirmaier, Kenlea Owen

6th grade left to right: Odin Prudhomme, Grant Moe, Garrett Guzman, Devin Gudmunson, Cora Jackson

The post Crookston 5th and 6th grades competed in Math Masters of Minnesota Challenge Friday in Bemidji first appeared on KROX.

The East Grand Forks Fire Department was dispatched to a pulp dryer fire at American Crystal Sugar on Sunday, April 27 at 2:30 p.m.
Dispatch information was heavy smoke in the pulp dyer area and all employees were evacuated. The Department responded with 21 personnel and 8 vehicles. Fire units were on scene for 3 1/2 hrs.
Most of the fire was contained in the pulp dryers. Due to the high heat, some fire extended to some ductwork and a small part of the roof. The fire was reported out at 6:02 p.m. The fire started due to a power outage at the facility, causing some equipment to stop working. Once power was restored, systems were able to assist with controlling the fire and heat. No injuries were reported.
The fire department was assisted by the East Grand Forks Police Department, Altru Ambulance and American Crystal Sugar staff.

The post EGF Fire Department responds to pulp fire at American Crystal first appeared on KROX.

Carley Johnson, RN, a nurse in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Altru, has been recognized with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®, a national honor celebrating the compassionate and skillful care nurses provide every day. Johnson was nominated by a grateful patient who praised her for going “above and beyond to help and support me in every aspect of my health and life.” The patient recounted Johnson’s extraordinary kindness and empathy during a difficult time when Johnson was still working in the PCU (Progressive Care Unit).

“She wiped my tears, calmed me down, made eye contact, truly connected with me as a person with feelings and emotions.” The patient continued, “Carley helped me when I couldn’t walk on my own and cared for me unconditionally. She is truly special! Thank you for taking care of me when I was unable to do so. You don’t realize you helped and cared for our entire family.”

“Carley is an amazing nurse who patients, their families, and team members all trust. She is upbeat, kind, caring and empathetic. Carley is regularly recognized as being ‘a bright light’ by those around her. We are grateful to have a person of her caliber working at Altru, and she deserves every recognition she receives,” shared Ken Nash, PCU manager.

The DAISY Award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to honor nurses who exemplify clinical excellence and extraordinary compassion. The not-for-profit organization was founded in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who passed away in 1999 from complications of an autoimmune disease. His family created the foundation to recognize the incredible difference nurses make in the lives of patients and families.

Carley started working at Altru as a PCU Nurse COOP in 2023 and then started her nursing career at Altru in June 2024. This award highlights her dedication to providing exceptional, patient-centered care. For more information about The DAISY Award and the DAISY Foundation, visit www.DAISYfoundation.org.

From left: Sara Dvorak, director of nursing services; Ken Nash, manager of PCU; Carley Johnson, DAISY winner; Cory Geffre, chief nursing officer; and Jamie Lawrimore, patient care manager.

The post Altru nurse Carley Johnson recognized with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses first appeared on KROX.