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Reminder: U of Mn Raptor Center donations, drop off by Friday, May 5th

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Hello, my name is Anthony and I’m a senior. I’m running a materials drive for a class assignment to help the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center continue their mission, which is “to ensure the health of raptors and the world we share.” We would like to have materials by May 5th. Please bring donations to the front desk and drop them off with Holly!

The Raptor Center performs rescues and rehabilitations on all species of raptors, and has requested the following items to help with their rehab work:

-nitrile gloves (size medium)
- paper towels
- hand soap
- 70% isopropyl alcohol
- 2” painters tape
-duct tape
- white printer paper
- fine point Sharpies
- ball-point pens

Thank you for your help,

Anthony

EXTERNAL EVENT: Dunwoody College Food Truck Takeover, May 9

Great River Students,

Dunwoody College of Technology is hosting a Food Truck Takeover at our Tuesday, May 9, Open House, from 3-6 p.m. This will be a great way for high school students to experience what a technical college has to offer before they head off into summer.

The event will include FREE food, prize drawings, campus tours, and hands-on demos.

dunwoody.edu/openhouse

Download the Flyer

We know that many high school seniors haven’t made a final decision on their fall plans, so this will be a good way for them to explore our hands-on programs in high-demand, great paying career fields such as Construction, Computers, Engineering, Automotive, Manufacturing, Robotics, Architecture, and Graphics.

The open house will include free food from five of the best food trucks in Minneapolis, along with a chance to win several prizes including a GoPro, a 3D printer, and an external hard drive.

Here are the food trucks participating in the takeover:

  • Butcher Salt | Chicken Fingers, French Fries

  • Sizzling Wagon | Sliders, Cheese Curds

  • Pharaoh’s Gyros | Gyros, Falafel & Hummus

  • Egg Roll Queen | Eggrolls, Cheesecake Eggrolls

  • Taqueria El Patron | Chicken, Beef, and Veggie Tacos

There is no cost to attend, but students should RSVP in advance. The event will take place at Dunwoody College of Technology, 818 Dunwoody Blvd., Minneapolis.

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Bike to School Day Next Wednesday 5/3

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Wednesday, May 3 is Bike to School Day! Plan to ride to school.

Students and parents who would like to participate in a group ride are invited to meet-up at the locations below. A map of the meet-up locations can be viewed here! 

Parents can support all riders by joining a group ride. Please plan to ride if your student is a novice rider or needs extra attention. Parent volunteers leading the ride shall not be liable for any damages arising from personal injuries that are a result of student participation in the Great River School National Bike to School Day event. In event of inclement weather, Bike to School Day may be postponed until Wednesday, May 11. Watch school announcements for details. Please notify the site group leader if you need to cancel your participation for any reason.

We are looking for donations of fruit and snacks, and volunteers to help direct bikers and hand out giveaway items. Please sign up at this link.

Helmets required. Notify the group leader at your preferred meet up spot that you plan to ride with them so no one gets left behind. Please make sure to arrange after school transportation with your student and group leader. Arrive early enough to check tire pressure and review group ride basics before listed departure times. 

Horton Park (departing at 8:10am), Hamline Avenue at Englewood. Contact Casy Fath, casy.fath@gmail.com or 651-325-1807.

McMurray Field (departing at 8:00am), southwest corner of Como/Wynne Avenue and Lexington. Contact Karen Solas, ksolas@gmail.com or 651-334-0793.

Newell Park (departing at 8:10am). Northwest corner of Hewitt and Wheelter. Contact Abram Shapiro, abr@mshapiro.com or 650-296-8692.

Longfellow Park (departing at 7:50), corner of east 34th St and 36th Ave S. Contact Randy Lewandowski, randylewandowski@gmail.com or 612-250-5001. 

Parent Coffee Social Wednesday, May 3 from 8:15 to 9:00am

Bike to school with your students and stay for a cup of coffee with other parents!

REMINDER: GRS Bike Tune-ups

Bike Tuneups for the 7/8 Bike Trip

Bike Trip preparation has already begun! The bike trip will be taking place June 5 - 8, 2023 and each student is required to have their bike be properly checked over by a bike shop. This typically costs around $110 at a local shop for a basic tune-up to $175 or more for a thorough tune-up. The Great River “Ridey Tighty” bike shop offers comprehensive check-ups for $70. and all bicycles going on the trip need to be tuned up. The GRS bike shop offers full tuneups for $70, about half the cost at a typical bike shop.

All bikers must fill out the 2023 Bike Shop Tuneup form; this will take you through the process of signing up for a GRS tuneup, or document if you will do a tuneup at a local shop. 

Student-mechanics tune up all bikes, under the supervision of bike shop guide Johnny Wakefield. We not only tune your bike to perfection, we clean it like nobody’s business. All funds raised through the Bike Shop are either directed towards the cost of the end of year Bike Trip or are reinvested in the Bike Shop program.

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Bike to School Day Next Wednesday 5/3

, ,

Wednesday, May 3 is Bike to School Day! Plan to ride to school.

Students and parents who would like to participate in a group ride are invited to meet-up at the locations below. A map of the meet-up locations can be viewed here! 

Parents can support all riders by joining a group ride. Please plan to ride if your student is a novice rider or needs extra attention. Parent volunteers leading the ride shall not be liable for any damages arising from personal injuries that are a result of student participation in the Great River School National Bike to School Day event. In event of inclement weather, Bike to School Day may be postponed until Wednesday, May 11. Watch school announcements for details. Please notify the site group leader if you need to cancel your participation for any reason.

We are looking for donations of fruit and snacks, and volunteers to help direct bikers and hand out giveaway items. Please sign up at this link.

Helmets required. Notify the group leader at your preferred meet up spot that you plan to ride with them so no one gets left behind. Please make sure to arrange after school transportation with your student and group leader. Arrive early enough to check tire pressure and review group ride basics before listed departure times. 

Horton Park (departing at 8:10am), Hamline Avenue at Englewood. Contact Casy Fath, casy.fath@gmail.com or 651-325-1807.

McMurray Field (departing at 8:00am), southwest corner of Como/Wynne Avenue and Lexington. Contact Karen Solas, ksolas@gmail.com or 651-334-0793.

Newell Park (departing at 8:10am). Northwest corner of Hewitt and Wheelter. Contact Abram Shapiro, abr@mshapiro.com or 650-296-8692.

Longfellow Park (departing at 7:50), corner of east 34th St and 36th Ave S. Contact Randy Lewandowski, randylewandowski@gmail.com or 612-250-5001. 

Parent Coffee Social Wednesday, May 4 from 8:15 to 9:00am

Bike to school with your students and stay for a cup of coffee with other parents!

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Folk school update--Yoga on Thursdays!

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Yoga for all bodies and abilities (ages 12 and up)

Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 pm, April 27-May 25 (5 sessions)

Instructor: Delany Breitbach

Move, breathe, and sweat for 60 minutes of vinyasa yoga with good tunes and great energy with Delany (Health and Wellness Workshop and Big Canoe Guide). Whether you're a long time practitioner or just getting started, Delany teaches to all bodies and abilities, and empowers her students to move in ways that feel good to them. She is a 200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher and took her trainings in both Vinyasa/Power Yoga and Hot 26 in 2019 through her old home studio of Muddy Feet Yoga in Iowa City before moving to the Twin Cities. Bring a water bottle, towel, and any other item you may want to use in your practice. The only expectation is that you honor where you're at on that day and spend the 60 minutes taking care of you. 

Cost: $75 (5 sessions)

Sign up here.

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Update from GRS HS Robotics Team 2491 NoMythic!

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The HS Robotics Team, 2491 NoMythic, who is on their way to the FIRST World Championship in Houston, where they will be competing with 622 teams from around the world!  

You can follow the competition at:https://frc.divisions.co/r/south/d/Daly.  

You can support their fundraising at https://gofund.me/c6dbf4ce.

Hello!

NoMythic Team Member Joseph, Phoebe and Eva celebrating!

This is Phoebe, NoMythic's team captain. The last time I wrote a team update was after our win in Duluth in 2020.  Here we are again, my senior year, heading to the World Championships in Houston. We qualified for the World Championships three weeks ago in Minneapolis. I’d like to share with you that adventure!  

As we head to Houston, you can follow our adventure on our team’s instagram @2491nomythic. 

You can also follow the adventures of our team’s mascot Frank:  @franks_travels2491.

A brief summary of the Minneapolis competition:

It was an intense and exciting weekend! Our robot came together and came apart and came together again. We spent time with friends on other teams and made new friends. We were a very purple presence in the pits and the stands. Our alliance ended playoffs in third place. And... I'm still shocked to be saying this... we won the Impact Award, "the most prestigious award in all of FIRST" which means we are headed, once again, to the world championships in Houston, Texas! There were many many tears and so much laughter and joy and I could not be more grateful for your support through the season, helping us get to this moment.

Read their sponsor update, included below

https://www.greatriverschool.org/2023/4/19/triumphant-nomythic-robotics-team-firsthand-account

Triumphant NoMythic Robotics Team Firsthand account

Written by Team Captain, Phoebe

Our Minneapolis competition this year was amazing and tough and kind of a roller coaster - so much happened so quickly!

I have to preface this by saying that we chose a super ambitious design for our Minneapolis robot and so the weeks leading up to the competition were filled with intensive work to get the robot ready. I'm sure I was not the only one wondering if it would function. Before we loaded in on Wednesday, we had to remove the arm from our robot and do major surgery, and most of our arm controls were written Wednesday night, an amazing effort from our programmers!

Come Thursday morning, it seemed that our robot was (miraculously?) working, and we were looking forward to getting on the field and giving our drivers some practice. Then, we discovered that the issue we had tried to fix the previous afternoon was back... and the only thing to do was to disassemble the robot again, and fix it better. So we missed all of our practice matches, and we fixed the robot. While that was happening, our scouts were hard at work as well. We worked with three other local teams to collect match data using the collaborative system we created, and Thursday's practice matches were a great time to train. A few more students focused on collecting data interview style. At the very end of the day, we were able to get the robot into a few filler matches.

Friday was filled with learning, as our drivers improved and mistakes were found and fixed, and we played better and better throughout our qualification matches. Our Impact Award presentation crew had our interview with the judges, before which we de-stressed by making a whole lot of puns, and our presentation seemed to go well! The evening plan was to have a team dinner (from the Naughty Greek!) and meet to talk about our strategy for playoffs and who we would like to work with. The blizzard threw a wrench in our plans, and we adapted to a virtual meeting so that we could send students home before it got too bad out. In that meeting, we were able to use the data collected by scouts to make a comprehensive list of robots we'd like to work with.

After a delayed start on account of snow, we went into Saturday hoping that all the work from the day before would result in consistent robot performance during the last three qualification matches. Our robot had other plans! In fact, our robot broke in our first match so badly that we had to miss our second match in order to fix it. The team kept positive and supportive and everyone crossed their fingers we'd make it to our last qualification match. And we did! And we played well! I remember in that moment feeling so strongly that I wanted to see our robot on the field again. Luckily, I would get to, because we were chosen to join the 4th alliance as the third robot, and we felt so fortunate that the teams picking us put their trust in us after all of the challenges we'd had. Playoffs gave us another beautiful five matches, and our alliance landed in third place. After being eliminated, we were all saying to each other, "Do you remember where we were on Wednesday?"

   We had a blast watching finals, our team sharing the stands with our scouting alliance teams, and we danced and cheered and laughed and enjoyed it. After the medals for the winners and finalists came the Impact Award announcement, the last award and the last announcement of the whole event. The Impact Award is a big deal in FIRST. They say that "it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST." Teams that win get to go to the world championship. And we had submitted, but I didn't think we'd win.

  And then the first word of the announcement was "unicorns" and we all collectively lost it. It's kind of hilarious to watch the video back and see us all process that it was us. And then we were crying and laughing, and if you haven't already realized we do a lot of that on this team.

So! We're going to worlds! We get to compete again! And I am so in love with our team. I'm so proud of every single one of my teammates. My team is amazing. Worlds is going to be amazing. I cannot believe how lucky I have been to have the privilege to lead the team these last few years. I cannot wait to do it for one more beautiful competition! There is so much work to do to get it to come together, and we'll keep you updated.

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U of Mn Raptor Center donations

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Hello, my name is Anthony and I’m a senior. I’m running a materials drive for a class assignment to help the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center continue their mission, which is “to ensure the health of raptors and the world we share.”

The Raptor Center performs rescues and rehabilitations on all species of raptors, and has requested the following items to help with their rehab work:

-nitrile gloves (size medium)
- paper towels
- hand soap
- 70% isopropyl alcohol
- 2” painters tape
-duct tape
- white printer paper
- fine point Sharpies
- ball-point pens
Please bring donations to the front desk and drop them off with Holly!

Thank you for your help,

Anthony

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Coming this Spring! Great River Folk School!

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The Great River Folk School is a new community education initiative open to all: parents, families, friends and connections of Great River School. 

All classes are offered at Great River School. Click the link to sign up!

Contact Karen at kanway@greatriverschool.org with any questions. Scholarships are available to assist with fees, contact kanway@greatriverschool.org for more information. To sign up for any of the classes, click on this link.

Yoga for all bodies and abilities (ages 12 and up)

Mondays, 5:30-6:30 pm, April 24-May 22 (5 sessions)

Instructor: Delany Breitbach

Move, breathe, and sweat for 60 minutes of vinyasa yoga with good tunes and great energy with Delany (Health and Wellness Workshop and Big Canoe Guide). Whether you're a long time practitioner or just getting started, Delany teaches to all bodies and abilities, and empowers her students to move in ways that feel good to them. She is a 200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher and took her trainings in both Vinyasa/Power Yoga and Hot 26 in 2019 through her old home studio of Muddy Feet Yoga in Iowa City before moving to the Twin Cities. Bring a water bottle, towel, and any other item you may want to use in your practice. The only expectation is that you honor where you're at on that day and spend the 60 minutes taking care of you. 

Cost: $75 (5 sessions)

Sign up here.

Archery for Adults

Wednesdays, 4:30-5:15 pm, April 26-May 24 (5 sessions)

Instructors: Hadley Musselman and Lynn Overvoorde

Why should the kids have all the fun? Come learn the point of this rapid-fire sport.  Instructors will help participants improve their technique, accuracy, and coordination. Arrow repair and care of equipment will also be demonstrated. Come learn why so many people enjoy this accessible and fun sport!

Cost: $75 (5 sessions)

Sign up here.

Plant-based eating/nutrition

Monday, May 1, 6:30-8 pm

Instructor: Lauren Robinson

Are you curious about Plant-Based Eating for yourself and/or your family? Do you want to hear inspiring reasons for eating this way? Learn from a mother and Vegan of 9+ years who feeds a family of five 100% plant based meals. You'll get an introduction into the science of the lifestyle that can revolutionize your health and well being from someone certified in Plant Based Nutrition through Cornell University. You'll take home an information packet with tools to help you begin your journey. Vegan treats will be served. 

Cost: $15

Sign up here.

Spoon Carving

Wednesday May 3, 5:30-8:30

Instructor: Lynn Overvoorde

Learn how to carve a spoon using traditional Nordic carving techniques. We cover tree anatomy, axing out a blank (roughed out spoon shape), knife holds for the hook & sloyd knife, drying, and finishing. This class is great for the beginner or the person wanting to learn Sloyd style carving. Please wear closed toed-shoes, as we are going to make some wood chips!

Cost: $65 (includes materials cost)

Sign up here.

Herbal Salve-Making 

Wednesday, May 3, 6-8 pm

Instructor: Emily Pearson Ryan (www.lowlandplantmedicine.com)

Herbal salves (aka Ointments or Balms) are used topically. They nourish skin, smell lovely and carry strong medicine. Making your own salves/ointments is a great entry point into crafting your own medicine and taking the care of your health and your family's health into your own hands!  

Participants will be given information on some of the many ways to infuse oils with plant material, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different oils, and learn a few easy plants to begin with and what they might be helpful for.  Then we'll try our hand at mixing a 1-oz salve to take home.  

Beginners, including interested children, are welcome! Experienced medicine-makers are encouraged to come and share what they know!

Cost: $40 (includes $10 materials fee)

Sign up here.

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Earth Day is almost here!! Join us!

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Hello All,

Please join us for 1-3 hours of work on Earth Day, April 22 from 9:00-12:00 here at school.  Kids are welcome!  We will be cleaning up outside, spreading woodchips, fixing fences, adding rocks to our "river", building borders for woodchips and more!  We have 2 truckloads of wood chips and 2 tons of rocks coming and we need your help!  Sign up HERE!  The EggRoll Queen food truck will be here at noon if you want to stay for lunch.  Thanks!

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NoMythic Robotics team seeking to go to World Championship!

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Hello All!
A few weeks ago, NoMythic, the high school robotics team, competed in our second competition of the year, the 10,000 Lakes Regional presented by Medtronic. We had a blast at this competition working with lots of teams from all across the state and deepening our connections with many teams within the Twin Cities. During playoffs, our alliance placed third overall, a fact we are quite proud of. Perhaps, though, an even greater highlight of the tournament was winning the prestigious FlRST Impact Award, an award that honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST. We are so thankful that we got this award, especially because we then advanced to the World Championship through it. 

The World Championship is down in Houston starting April 19th. With this new competition comes a lot more work though, most of which is securing funds so that everyone on the team that wants to can go. Because of the high price tag associated with travel and lodging, NoMythic is hoping to raise $24,910 by the time we leave. Can you contribute $24.91 or $249.10 or $2,491 to help us using this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/send-team-2491-nomythic-to-world-champs-2023?

Thank you so much!
NoMythic 2491

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GRS Food Program Town Hall | Wednesday, April 19; 6:00pm

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This Wednesday, April 19th at 6pm we are having a town-hall style webinar meeting about our lunch program.  This is because of the new legislation around free lunch for all MN students and we want to talk about the impact it will have on our nutrition program.  On that evening we will be sharing all the information we have, answering questions, and offering caregivers a survey to collect opinions on this topic.
Here is the Zoom link to join the meeting at 6pm on Wednesday!

Family Signs of Suicide (SOS) Prevention Program - 9th and 10th Grade

Great River School 9th and 10th grade families, 

Adolescence can be marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions: challenging for teens, their families, and educators. As we work back to life after a global pandemic, it can be easy to misread depression as normal adolescent turmoil; however, depression appears to be occurring at a higher rate post pandemic, and the past decade has seen teen suicide rates double.

To address this issue proactively, Great River School will offer a depression screening and suicide prevention training as part of the Signs of Suicide (SOS) Prevention Program. Our goals in participating in this program are straightforward:

  • To help our students understand depression is a treatable illness and to help them assess whether they may have symptoms consistent with depression;

  • To explain suicide is a preventable tragedy that often occurs because of untreated depression;

  • To provide students training in how to identify serious depression and potential suicidality in a friend;

  • To impress upon teens that they can help themselves or a friend by taking the simple step of talking to a responsible adult about their concerns.

All Great River School 9th and 10th graders will participate in the SOS program on Wednesday, April 19th.

Seth Tupper, Megan Miliaresis, Adolescent School Social Workers, as well as Michelle Flannery, School Psychologist, and Saleha Erdmann, Social Emotional and Wellness Coordinator will be facilitating a 30 minute-long lesson for 9th and 10th grade students during the beginning of the day on April 19th. Students will watch a short video that presents the signs and symptoms of depression and suicide, and educates teens about how to respond if a friend is at risk by telling a responsible adult about their concerns. 

Following the video and class discussion, each student will be asked to complete a short questionnaire designed as a screening tool for adolescent depression. Students who are at serious risk for depression or suicide will be contacted on the day of their screening by our mental health team, along with their parents/guardians, and offered help and referral information.

The depression screening tool that we are using concerns thoughts and feelings parents may be unaware their child is having. This tool cannot provide a diagnosis of depression, but does give an indication of whether a young person should be referred for evaluation by a mental health professional.

If you do NOT wish your child to take a written screening test for depression and participate in the SOS program, please let the team know by Tuesday April 18th  by emailing stupper@greatriverschool.org . If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate. 

NOTE: If your child opts out of the screening, they will still view the education portion of the program, but they will NOT take the survey.

Attached is an information sheet for families to review and better understand the core concepts and resources offered by SOS.

If you have any questions or concerns about this program or the enclosed screening form, please do not hesitate to contact the mental health department at mentalhealth@greatriverschool.org.

If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact the national mental health crisis line at 988 or visit your nearest emergency department immediately..

Adolescent Great River School Mental Health Team

Saleha Erdmann, MSW, LICSW

Michelle Flannery, EdS, NCSP

Seth Tupper, MSW, LICSW

Megan Miliaresis, MSW LGSW

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Coming this Spring! Great River Folk School!

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The Great River Folk School is a new community education initiative open to all: parents, families, friends and connections of Great River School. 

All classes are offered at Great River School. Click the link to sign up!

Contact Karen at kanway@greatriverschool.org with any questions. Scholarships are available to assist with fees, contact kanway@greatriverschool.org for more information. To sign up for any of the classes, click on this link.

Yoga for all bodies and abilities (ages 12 and up)

Mondays, 5:30-6:30 pm, April 24-May 22 (5 sessions)

Instructor: Delany Breitbach

Move, breathe, and sweat for 60 minutes of vinyasa yoga with good tunes and great energy with Delany (Health and Wellness Workshop and Big Canoe Guide). Whether you're a long time practitioner or just getting started, Delany teaches to all bodies and abilities, and empowers her students to move in ways that feel good to them. She is a 200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher and took her trainings in both Vinyasa/Power Yoga and Hot 26 in 2019 through her old home studio of Muddy Feet Yoga in Iowa City before moving to the Twin Cities. Bring a water bottle, towel, and any other item you may want to use in your practice. The only expectation is that you honor where you're at on that day and spend the 60 minutes taking care of you. 

Cost: $75 (5 sessions)

Sign up here.

Archery for Adults

Wednesdays, 4:30-5:15 pm, April 26-May 24 (5 sessions)

Instructors: Hadley Musselman and Lynn Overvoorde

Why should the kids have all the fun? Come learn the point of this rapid-fire sport.  Instructors will help participants improve their technique, accuracy, and coordination. Arrow repair and care of equipment will also be demonstrated. Come learn why so many people enjoy this accessible and fun sport!

Cost: $75 (5 sessions)

Sign up here.

Plant-based eating/nutrition

Monday, May 1, 6:30-8 pm

Instructor: Lauren Robinson

Are you curious about Plant-Based Eating for yourself and/or your family? Do you want to hear inspiring reasons for eating this way? Learn from a mother and Vegan of 9+ years who feeds a family of five 100% plant based meals. You'll get an introduction into the science of the lifestyle that can revolutionize your health and well being from someone certified in Plant Based Nutrition through Cornell University. You'll take home an information packet with tools to help you begin your journey. Vegan treats will be served. 

Cost: $15

Sign up here.

Spoon Carving

Wednesday May 3, 5:30-8:30

Instructor: Lynn Overvoorde

Learn how to carve a spoon using traditional Nordic carving techniques. We cover tree anatomy, axing out a blank (roughed out spoon shape), knife holds for the hook & sloyd knife, drying, and finishing. This class is great for the beginner or the person wanting to learn Sloyd style carving. Please wear closed toed-shoes, as we are going to make some wood chips!

Cost: $65 (includes materials cost)

Sign up here.

Herbal Salve-Making 

Wednesday, May 3, 6-8 pm

Instructor: Emily Pearson Ryan (www.lowlandplantmedicine.com)

Herbal salves (aka Ointments or Balms) are used topically. They nourish skin, smell lovely and carry strong medicine. Making your own salves/ointments is a great entry point into crafting your own medicine and taking the care of your health and your family's health into your own hands!  

Participants will be given information on some of the many ways to infuse oils with plant material, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different oils, and learn a few easy plants to begin with and what they might be helpful for.  Then we'll try our hand at mixing a 1-oz salve to take home.  

Beginners, including interested children, are welcome! Experienced medicine-makers are encouraged to come and share what they know!

Cost: $40 (includes $10 materials fee)

Sign up here.