Backpack Online - Feb. 24, 2023
Feb. 24, 2023
Andover High School girls’ hockey advances to state semifinals
The Andover High School girls’ hockey team opened play in the 2023 Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Class AA State Tournament with a 9-0 win over Rosemount High School on Feb. 23.
The second-seeded Huskies will now take on No. 3 seed Edina High School in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. Friday night’s game will be televised live on KSTC-TV Channel 45, and streamed online for free. Tickets for tonight’s game are available online only. Visit the MSHSL tournament website for more information.
Andover is making its sixth straight MSHSL Class AA State Tournament appearance and will look to advance to the championship tilt for the fourth straight season. The Huskies won state titles in 2020 and 2022. The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 and the third place game is set for 11 a.m. To view the complete bracket, visit the MSHSL website.
To advance to the state semifinals for the fifth straight season, the Huskies got off to a fast start in Thursday’s win over Rosemount. Junior forward Nora Sauer tipped in a shot from the point just over one minute into the game to give Andover an early 1-0 lead.
Senior Ella Boerger made it a 2-0 game late in the first period and Andover exploded for four goals in the second, including two from senior Isa Goettl, to take a 6-0 advantage.
Goettl netted a hat trick with a shorthanded goal in the third period as the Huskies rolled into the semifinals completing a 9-0 win.
Bus safety poster contest winners announced
Winners of the annual bus safety poster contest to be recognized at transportation department meeting
The Anoka-Hennepin transportation department held its 28th annual school bus safety poster contest this winter, which began during Winter School Bus Safety Week (Jan. 9-13).
This year’s theme was Safely Rolling to my Destination. The transportation department invited students in all grade levels to submit their best artwork for the competition. Each school held their own poster contest, with one winner chosen from each grade level. The winning poster for each school was then entered into the district contest.
The objective of the contest was to encourage students to think about school bus safety, while also presenting an opportunity for discussion during school bus safety week.
The winners are:
- Vanna Vang, kindergarten, University Avenue Elementary School.
- Samantha Formosa, first grade, Madison Elementary School.
- Luke Dorsey, second grade, Madison Elementary School.
- Abdullah Muhamed, third grade, Madison Elementary School.
- Sebastian Bojorge, fourth grade, Madison Elementary School.
- Avery Dikken, fifth grade, Andover Elementary School.
- Avrie Siedschlag, sixth grade, Coon Rapids Middle School.
- Brielle Whitney, seventh grade, Oak View Middle School.
- Andrew Beasley Wells, eighth grade, River Trail Learning Center.
- Molly Siedschlag, ninth grade, Coon Rapids High School.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
2022-23 winter sports and activities roundup
With the winter sports and activities season wrapping up, here’s a look at who’s heading to state, and how they fared when they performed and played. Also included is information about post-season awards gathered by student-athletes and coaches. Visit the district website for updates on boys and girls alpine and nordic skiing, dance, girls hockey and gymnastics.
AHS partners with community leaders for STEAM Professional Review Night
Anoka High School - Center for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (AHS) hosted its annual STEAM Professional Review Night Feb. 16 with the goal of providing seniors in the Honors Design and Development class with input and advice on their final capstone project prototypes. In its second year in-person, the event featured more than 40 projects ranging from climbing holds and healthy eating apps to addressing fear of dentists and recycling 3D printer filament. The students were greeted with a 1-to-1 ratio of reviewers, as more than 50 professionals from the community and school community volunteered. Read more about the evening and view photos from the event.
University Avenue Elementary School - Aerospace, Children’s Engineering and Science was recognized as a Top Magnet School of Excellence award winner
University Avenue Elementary School - Aerospace, Children’s Engineering and Science was recognized as a Top Magnet School of Excellence award winner, which is the top merit award given to only a select group of magnet schools. University Avenue was one of just 24 schools nationally to earn this recognition, earning the award for the second straight year. Learn more about this award in this news story by NorthMetro TV.
Coaches participate in professional development opportunity on mental health
During the staff development day on Feb. 21, hundreds of coaches from across the district gathered at Champlin Park High School (CPHS) for an afternoon of training and workshops focused on student-athlete mental health.
The first part of the day included suicide prevention training, which is a newly required training in the state of Minnesota, and Anoka-Hennepin is taking a leadership role in that effort. Coaches had the opportunity to participate in QPR - also known as “Question, Persuade, Refer” training - a system to identify warning signs of suicide and how to refer someone for help.
Dr. Joshua Stein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with PrairieCare, led the QPR training for coaches.
Following that session, coaches moved into a second session on coaching in 2023, leadership style, culture, and identifying and dealing with mental health, which was led by district social worker Britt Olean and her husband Chris, who is the head baseball coach at the University of St. Thomas.
“Knowing that co-curricular activities are such a protective factor for students, we wanted to equip coaches with tools and strategies to support positive team culture and mental wellness,” said Britt Olean. “As we look at the rising mental health needs, coaches need to have a plan to notice changes in their athletes and help treat mental health needs and symptoms the same way they do physical injuries.”
Let’s Talk About it - Mental health and substance abuse
by Rebecca Velline, chemical health prevention specialist
The 2022 Minnesota Student Survey results were recently released. More than 135,000 students completed the survey with nearly all doing so in-person at school between January and June 2022. This group of students reported greater struggles with mental health, such as depression and anxiety, than at any other time in the history of the survey, which began in 1989 and occurs every three years. The 2022 survey saw the continuation of an upward trend, with 29% of students reporting long-term mental health problems compared to 23% in 2019 and 18% in 2016. Long-term means problems lasting six months or more. State of Minnesota Student Survey 2022.
The relationship between substance use and mental health are often entwined. Looking specifically at adolescents, estimated rates of co-occurring mental illness among adolescents with substance use disorders range from 60 to 75 percent. As the adults in the lives of these adolescents, it is critical for us to discuss the signs of mental health and substance use concerns. Mental health concerns and substance use symptoms often can have a lot of similar symptoms.
Additional district news
- School Board meeting set for Monday, Feb. 27.
- 2023 graduation ceremonies for Andover, Blaine, Champlin Park and Coon Rapids high schools to be held on University of Minnesota campus - Maturi Pavilion.
- Six days remain to bid on student-built ice fishing house.
- Testing opportunities for high school students to earn a World Language Proficiency Certificate or Bilingual/Multilingual Seal.
- New $225 substitute teacher rate at select sites and on Fridays now in effect through the end of the school year.
- Winter weather information.
- School Board votes to amend 2022-23 school year calendar.
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