School & Sports | Southwest Connector

Nordic Ski team earns state championship

The Washburn High School girls Nordic ski team are state champions for the first time in the school’s history. The team placed first at the Minnesota State High School League Nordic Ski … more

4/18/25

The students visiting from Kasugaoka High School in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan met with Anthony Middle School students. “They were a big hit!,” said Southwest High School teacher Nathan Hamel. (Photo submitted)

Sister schools

During the school week, the students from Japan presented about Japanese culture and joined their host students to experience what school is like in America. On Thursday, the students from Kasugaoka … more

3/21/25

Washburn Girls Nordic Ski team earns state championship

The Washburn High School girls Nordic ski team are State champions for the first time in the school’s history. The team placed first at the Minnesota State High School League Nordic … more

3/19/25

Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura Responds to Republican-Proposed Bill Repealing Ethnic Studies in Minnesota Schools

Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives Education Policy Committee will hear legislation authored by Ron Kresha (R - Little Falls) repealing Minnesota’s ethnic studies program … more

2/18/25

There's a summer camp for every kid

Summer camp season will be here before parents know it. While children anxiously await the last day of school, adults know that it can be challenging to keep kids occupied and mentally stimulated … more

1/31/25

Minneapolis Public School bell schedules prevent students from taking CTE classes

Who gets career training in high school?

Minneapolis Public Schools Career and Technical Education (CTE) program aims to match students with real-world skills, but some high schools are restricting access. Even though students register, … more

By Tesha M. Christensen | 1/2/25

Parents flood school board meeting to demand solutions to overcrowded classrooms

On Tuesday evening, Dec. 10, 2024, parents, caregivers, and teachers packed the Davis Center board room and the overflow space to voice concern over ballooning class sizes and shrinking numbers of … more

Submitted by Laura Wilhelm (parent of Dowling Elementary students) and Maggie Koerth (Bryn Mawr parent) | 1/2/25

David Walcher of Urban Boatbuilders instructs Masyn May to lace ribs to the frame of a canoe. Urban Boatbuilders teaches youth how to build boats through paid internships. Gretchen Wilbrandt of Urban Boatbuilders says they seek to let companies know they have employable youth. She cites COVID, global wars, and a mental health crisis as stressors that can make youth feel hopeless.

How can the community help youth succeed?

What are the biggest barriers to young people succeeding in the Twin Cities? Are there enough resources to assist youth facing overwhelming challenges? Are those resources readily accessible? And … more

By Jan Willms | 9/18/24

Campaign for school board heats up

Southwest voters will be choosing a new District 6 school board member this fall. Ira Jourdain announced early this year that he would not being seeking re-election as Minneapolis Public School (MPS) … more

By Cam Gordon | 8/21/24

BUSINESS FOR THE YOUTH

Positive impacts on a community don’t always need an adult to start change. Business for the Youth, founded in April 2023, developed from the mind of Sam Vahhaji during his sophomore year at … more

By Evan Vezmar | 8/21/24

Ericsson resident Jessica Wyn Miller (right), an entomologist, leads a Bug Club adventure into the world of bugs near her Minnehaha Creek-side home. She has found that her work as an artist intersects with insects.“I got excited for aquatic insects when I found out they reflect the health of a water," she recalled.

She hated bugs – so she decided to become an entomologist

Jessica Miller still shrieks sometimes when a spider jumps on her, but the south Minneapolis environmental entomologist has found that makes her more approachable when she’s teaching classes on … more

By Tesha M. Christensen | 7/24/24

Longfellow resident Eliza Washington said that Red Lake Nation College “gave me a place to find myself and learn about myself, my history and where I come from. They don’t teach you that stuff in mainstream schools.”

First tribal college opens in Twin Cities

The newly open Red Lake Nation College in downtown Minneapolis is one of the first tribal colleges in a major U.S. city and is reaching a “never-served” community,” according to Dan … more

By Tesha M. Christensen | 7/24/24

Lisa Sayles-Adams, Minneapolis Public School Superintendent

Rising costs, declining revenue bring trouble to public school budget

Lisa Sayles-Adams, the new Minneapolis Public School (MPS) Superintendent, has been on the job for less than three months and has already participated in two major contract negotiations. Plus, she is … more

By Cam Gordon | 5/15/24 | 1 comment

Running for Special Olympics

Two Southwest runners are making a difference one step at a time. On May 19, 2024, Jake Lepak and Patrick Larson will run 50 miles around Lake Harriet to raise money and awareness for Special … more

By Tesha M. Christensen | 5/15/24

Youth and elders brainstorm ideas during a community solutions workshop at Walker Library on Feb. 3.

A solution for school disengagement

T he world has changed. Our education system has not. As a result, school is broken . It's so bad that many kids don't go to school anymore. Chronic absenteeism was an issue before the pandemic. … more

By Eric Ortiz | 2/14/24

Hear from Mark Rivard, creator of Do Rad Things, at 'Let's Connect' event in February

Every artist has an interesting origin story. But nothing compares with how Mark Rivard got started. Rivard began illustrating skateboards with Sharpie markers in the early 2000s. That led to an … more

by Eric Ortiz | 1/25/24

(Left to right) Seventh grader Kaia Bursell, Yinghua Academy Director Dr. Luyi Lien, and sixth grader Sage Houdek hold their certificates and awards from Chinese Bridge.

‘We were celebrities’

In the fall of 2023, two students from Yinghua Academy Chinese immersion school in northeast Minneapolis went on the trip of a lifetime. Keewaydin resident and sixth grader Sage Houdek and seventh … more

By Jill Boogren | 1/18/24

Sydney Johnson and Eli Anleu demonstrate their dance skills. (Photo submitted)

Fifth graders show off moves

Sure, you’ve seen fifth graders do the “griddy” dance, but have you seen them tango, waltz, rumba and foxtrot? More than 70 students at Barton Elementary School, 4237 Colfax Ave. … more

1/18/24

County Recycling Grants

Hennepin county is offering grants for preschools, K-12 schools and colleges in Hennepin County to start or improve waste reduction programs. The money can be spent on staff time, equipment and … more

1/18/24

Change in school board leadership

At its first meeting of the year, on Jan. 2, the Minneapolis Public School Board unanimously elected Collin Beachy for the position of board chair for the year. Last year he was vice chair. Kim … more

1/18/24