SUPERIOR, Wis. – Classes for the fall semester begin on Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin Superior. Going to the first day of class can be an exciting moment for many students attending a university Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a curveball in what some students expected for the academic year. “I’m excited, but I am disappointed it’s all…
SUPERIOR, Wis.- Some kids in Superior got back to their classrooms Tuesday as the academic year began for the Superior School District. Many students started the year in a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning. At Northern Lights Elementary School hybrid learning students with the last names A through L went back to school Tuesday, while the remaining students’ first…
DULUTH, Minn.- A local non-profit is searching for mentors to help provide additional support to families as they navigate through the upcoming school year. Mentor North in Duluth is a one on one community based mentoring program. The organization is launching its new academic mentoring program to be a positive re-enforcement as many students and their families may be facing…
NORTHLAND – COVID-19 cases are continuing to spike across the northland. Now several schools in the region are making adjustments to plans originally put in place for the start of the academic year. Minnesota schools were given three options to choose from to safely resume the 20-21 school year. Many Northland school districts had planned on implementing a hybrid model,…
DULUTH, Minn.- Online v.s. in-person class settings, class sizes, and even semester start dates are all being changed at Northland colleges and universities this year, as students gear up for an academic year like no other. The August 31st starting date at UMD hangs in uncertainty as the Board of Regents is set to vote Monday on whether or not…
DULUTH, Minn.-Enrollment at Lake Superior College has shot up in the past two weeks, putting them at levels similar to last year according to school officials. In the past week alone enrollment has increased 6%. Officials say that is because more students are choosing a more local, cheaper option with the year uncertain. On Thursday, one of the college’s Early…
ITASCA COUNTY, Minn. – Health and school leaders in Itasca County are urging parents to practice what local medical professionals are preaching to better help their children prepare for the upcoming abnormal school year. Officials stress the need for preventative action at home before students return to the classroom come September. Per Minnesota state guidelines, all students returning to in-person…
DULUTH, Minn. – The Fitger’s Bookstore is helping teachers get ready for the upcoming school year. Wednesday was dedicated specifically to show support to those educators. Twice a year the bookstore hosts a teacher’s day to help them learn more about the benefits of shopping at an independent bookstore. Some educators also had the opportunity to have a one-on-one shopping…
DULUTH, Minn. – Community Action Duluth is hoping to narrow the technology gap one person at a time. The organization’s Community Tech-Up program aims to provide free laptops and wifi to those who may not be able to afford it. The program is geared towards giving those individuals more access to educational and employment opportunities. The digital divide has already…
Tutoring services are becoming in high demand as many Northland parents are looking for help homeschooling their kids. Duluth Core Learning is now adding homeschooling support to its list of services. The organization typically offers one-on-one therapy services to children to strengthen skills that help them function through the school year such as attention and memory processing. The need for…
HERMANTOWN, Minn.– Schools around the Northland are now making their decisions on what learning will look like in the upcoming school year. Now, Hermantown is going to make their choice early next week. Last week, the Hermantown school board met to set the framework for distance learning, in person, or a hybrid of the two. And now they vote for…
COOK COUNTY, Minn. – The Cook County School Board voted Thursday evening to begin the academic year for ISD 166 on a distance learning model for all students grades K – 12. Superintendent Bill Crandall says the School Board not only took into consideration the current COVID-19 case numbers in Cook County, but what health experts are predicting could happen…
DULUTH, Minn. – Several kids in Duluth learned how to make beautiful sounds with their voices during the Lake Superior Youth Chorus’ “Summer Sing” camp. Youth singers learned basic music concepts and movement-based activities to help them develop their voices. This year students were required to wear face masks and to social distance. The theme for this week’s group of…
HERMANTOWN, Minn.- Boy Scouts at the Voyageurs Area Council partnered with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Minnesota Power to start making 70 houses for a different type of resident in need — bats. “It’s kind of a little condo for bats,” said Michael Jenkins, Scout Executive. The sound of machines cutting wood and the smell of fresh wet paint are…
DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth has put new safety protocols as it prepares to welcome students back to campus. There are about three weeks remain before students can get back to in-person instruction at the university. But when student return, there will be a wide array of noticeable differences including plexiglass partitions at information desks. About 50…
ITASCA COUNTY, Minn. – On Thursday, Superintendents from multiple school districts in Itasca County provided an update on back-to-school plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently announced a statewide decision to leave reopening plans up to district officials based on current COVID-19 data per county. Independent School District 318 (Bigfork and Grand Rapids) Based on current COVID-19…
DULUTH, Minn. – The College of St. Scholastica is offering tuition help to new students, who may have lost their job as a result of the global pandemic. The COVID-19 Saints Succeed award is a type of financial aid that will provide those new students with a 15% tuition discount for the upcoming academic year. New graduate, non-traditional undergraduate, and…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – After a graduation that didn’t feel like the real thing by any means because of the pandemic, the Duluth Denfeld Class of 2020 figured out a way to celebrate together. Denfeld graduation usually includes hundreds of people gathered in the auditorium cheering on the new grads. This year’s commencement was a lot different because of COVID-19, but…
DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth School District’s new superintendent, John Magas, has presented his education strategy for the fall. In his plan, elementary students would return in-person and middle and high school students would return in a hybrid manner, with each student walking through school doors for in-person classes one day per week. “Making this more safe quite often means…
DULUTH, Minn.- Visitors at Glensheen Mansion Saturday got to learn about an old-fashioned trade — being a blacksmith. Forging Community’s blacksmiths were on the mansion grounds demonstrating metal working and smithing. Glensheen staff say they appreciate having them every year and they are an even more valuable attraction during the pandemic. “For the public it’s always kind of fun to…
SUPERIOR, Wis.- Student firefighters at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Superior have just started training on a new fire truck to practice for more complex and challenging emergencies that life as a firefighter could throw their way. Costing about $250,000, the new truck sports a modern pressure control system, which instructors say helps in transporting water over longer distances in…
SILVER BAY, Minn. – A childcare shortage across much of the Northland has become even more urgent during this pandemic, especially in less populated towns. Now, a childcare center is expected to open in Silver Bay to help with the growing demand. Little Mariners Child Care Center is on course to open this fall. The center is expected to greatly…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – A UW-Superior professor has been awarded more than $40,000 to study microplastics in the St. Louis River and Lake Superior. The grant is from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. It awarded research money to three UW campuses: Madison, Eau Claire, and Superior. UWS students and chemistry professor Lorena Rios will use the grant money to study how…
SUPERIOR, Wis.- The Superior School District has approved their possible plan for how students will be taught this fall. The coming school year will either be all virtual, all in-person, or a hybrid of at-home and in-school learning. The district is still waiting to pick a final option. They say they hope to have a set plan in place by…
SUPERIOR, Wis.- In their first in-person meeting since March, the Superior School Board Monday approved their COVID-19 District Response Plan on reopening schools this fall. In the plan (found here), families can choose whether to continue having their children learn virtually at home, or attend in a hybrid setting with partial education at home and partial in the school building….
DULUTH, Minn. – A new childcare center is now open in Duluth. It’s hoping to offer an in-demand service to families during the pandemic. “Hope for Kids” is located in Hope United Methodist Church on St. Marie Street near UMD. There are only about 10 kids registered there now, but the center is looking for more children ages six months…
DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth Public Schools will soon welcome its newest assistant superintendent. Anthony Bonds comes to Duluth from the Anniston School District in Alabama. During his time there, he served as executive director of curriculum and instruction, where he was responsible for overseeing teaching and learning practices while in that role. Bonds is also a former assistant superintendent for…
DULUTH, Minn. – Hills Youth and Family Services in Duluth is looking for the community’s help. The organization is still in need of masks to give to the children they serve. Hills Youth is hoping to receive a donation of at least 100 of the protective wear. Each one will go to protect children and their families visiting the Neighborhood…
NORTHLAND, Minn. – The uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis is causing school districts across the nation, including in Minnesota, to create appropriate plans for the upcoming school year. School districts in Minnesota have been given three options from the state for possible strategies to implement in the fall, but all come with their own challenges. Both Duluth and Hermantown school…
DULUTH, Min. – CHUM is once again partnering with Duluth Public Schools for their annual backpack drive. Since 2006, CHUM has provided more than 10,000 backpacks to students in need. This year the goal is to give away about 1,00 bags filled with school supplies, which will go to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The upcoming academic year could…
DULUTH, Minn. – As the Covid-19 crisis has already thrown a curveball in the way students receive their education there is a growing need to help students struggling with math are reading. The Math and Reading Corp of Minnesota is hoping to help fill those gaps. The organization is looking to hire nearly 2,000 tutors across the state and about…
DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota announced Monday that starting July 1, it will require all students, staff and visitors to wear a mask while in any indoor or enclosed space on campus. In an email sent to staff and students, officials wrote that “We now know that wearing a face covering provides valuable, albeit imperfect, protection against the spread…
DULUTH, Minn. – Lake Superior College is sending a big “thank you” to Subaru of American and Miller Hill Subaru for donating more than $100,000 worth of equipment for the automotive program. The extra equipment will help to further expand training for students to allow them to have a long-standing career. The automotive industry took a hit due to the…
DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth is making an effort to help remove barriers for students applying to attend the school. The university is testing a new admissions model, which would no longer require ACT or SAT scores to be submitted. Instead, students are being given the choice to decide whether or not they want the scores to…
DULUTH, Minn. – St. Luke’s Hospital is the first healthcare facility in the region to utilize a spectrometer to help identify microorganisms much faster. Traditional methods to classify bacteria, viruses, and fungi typically take days to return results. The equipment uses a laser to break down the microorganisms for identification in a matter of minutes. “It allows us to deliver…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Superior School District hopes to open schools for in-person learning in some capacity this fall. That announcement comes after the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction issued guidelines for how schools can best reopen during the pandemic. Wisconsin’s Education Forward plan includes examples for how schools may have to change scheduling this fall. Plan examples include four-day…
DULUTH, Minn. – A petition has now been started by several former Duluth Public School students. Those students want the school board to dismiss the district’s relationship with the Duluth Police Department. The petition is also demanding all resource officers be removed from the city’s public schools. There are now four resource officers in Duluth Public Schools. The petition outlines…
DULUTH, Minn. – Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac Mcghie are still being commemorated through this memorial. 100 years later many are hopeful change will come as racial injustices and inequalities still plage the nation.” This day of remembrance is a chance for many in the Duluth community to take a moment to pause and reflect on what happened back…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – Families and students at the Superior Middle School returned their borrowed laptops. More than 1,000 laptops were issued to elementary and middle school students. Upon return, the devices will be evaluated and updated for use next year. Superior Middle School was already allowing the use of laptops before the pandemic, but once the school moved to long…
DULUTH, Minn.– As an unprecedented school year wraps up, Duluth teachers and staff found a way to send their students off into the summer in a unique way. Staff from Congdon Park Elementary School held a parade to say goodbye to all of their students for the summer. Teachers at the school say while it’s not the way anyone wanted…
DULUTH, Minn. – Back in April, the Great Lakes Aquarium was forced to furlough 46 employees after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses. Currently, 11 staff members report to work daily. Around 80 percent of the aquarium’s funding comes from ticket sales and field trips. Donations are being accepted through the attraction’s website to help…
Categories: Education, Minnesota, News
DULUTH, Minn. – Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many summer events are canceled, but Animal Allies Humane Society in Duluth has figured out a way to still host educational summer camps with restrictions in place. “We worked really hard collaborating with other humane societies to see what we could offer our community after a stressful period of sheltering in place and…
CLOQUET, Minn. – Washington Elementary in Cloquet held their second “reverse parade” allowing students to be driven around the school to wish their teachers well. Organizers say, although this wasn’t the end of the year they wanted teachers are getting the send-off they deserve. “Today would have been our field day and we wanted to do something to celebrate for…
DULUTH, Minn. – Hundreds of smiling faces drove past Lakewood Elementary School in Duluth Monday. The teachers and staff recently coming up with an idea to safely see their students and say ‘thank you’ for a great year even though it didn’t get to end as planned. “I miss my teachers all I can,” said Wyatt, a first-grade student at…
DULUTH, Minn. – Many summer camps around the Northland are already choosing not open for the season to prevent the potential spread of the coronavirus. Fortunately, University Nursery School isn’t one of them canceling summer programming. University Nursery School’s location, in the Harbor Highlands community, has been transformed to offer a full-time summer program. It can accommodate up to 30…
DULUTH, Minn.- About 2,300 seniors graduated from UMD this year, but they’re listening to pomp and circumstance in their own homes, virtually. “Being a family of five we just try and make it as special as we can,” said Music Education major Hunter Hamby. “We know we can’t emulate the big celebration sort of thing.” That big celebration would normally…
SPOONER, Wis. – Comedian Charlie Berens gave a shoutout to the 2020 seniors at Spooner High School. Berens is a Wisconsin native known for hosting the online show, the Manitowoc Minute. According to the Spooner School District’s Facebook page, the teachers enlisted the help of Berens to help spread humor and positivity during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch and…
DULUTH, Minn.- Graduating seniors at the College of St. Scholastica are celebrating the end of their college lives a bit differently than they may have expected: with a virtual commencement ceremony. This time last year, there was a full gymnasium filled with caps and gowns. “I was homeschooled high school so I never had the ceremony so I was really…
CLOQUET, Minn.- Picking up your graduation cap and gown is a big moment for high school seniors. So the Cloquet High School Administration and the surrounding community made it even bigger, while still maintaining social distance–having them available as a drive-thru. “It really boiled down to some form of togetherness,” said Principal Steve Battaglia. A chorus of honks greeted Cloquet…
