Litchfield High School’s Disney tour choir members Adeline Lundin, Greta Hulterstrum, Raina Kaping, Ethan Mauer, Olivia Holmgren and Kaleb Pinilla strike a pose during the choir’s performance of “Life in a Northern Town.”
Grace Schmidt and T.J. Christensen play trumpet with the Varsity Band.
Junior Natalie Randt and senior Emma Brown play flutes during Thursday’s Litchfield High School band concert.
Some might think this is March Madness time, with the NCAA basketball tournaments.
But last week at Bernie Aaker Auditorium in Litchfield, it was March Music time, as choirs and bands from Litchfield High School and Middle School performed spring concerts.
Choirs from the two schools, all under the direction of Joel Green, took the stage first, on March 15, for what was titled the March Contest Music Concert. Sixth- through eighth-grade choirs performed early in the evening, followed by the high school choirs.
The high school concert featured music and singers that LHS choir members performed at regional competition in late February. Featured soloists included Josie Janson and Hailey Vines, both of whom received Best At Site recognition at the regional contest. Janson, a senior, sang “The Loom,” a Welsh folk song. Vines, a freshman, performed “Bel Piacere” by Handel.
Also featured in the concert was the choir that traveled to Disney World in Florida this week, where they performed a concert. The “Contest Contest” served as a kind of dress rehearsal for the singers’ Disney performance. Among songs the choir performed March 15 were “Shosholoza” a traditional South African song; “Jamaican Market Place,” “Can You Hear,” “Life in a Northern Town,” “Happy Together” and “Mr. Blue Sky.”
High school and middle school bands took the stage Thursday at Bernie Aaker Auditorium, with middle schoolers taking the early concert slot, followed by high school Varsity Band and Wind Ensemble.
Both high school bands will participate in the band regional contest next week, following spring break this week.
Liz Miller stands in front of the track set up March 12 at First Lutheran Church as part of Cub Scout Pack 3353’s Pinewood Derby. Miller and her family — husband Duncan, and sons Gryphon and Drake — moved to the Litchfield area last June. When she found out the local Cub Scout pack was dormant, she restarted it with help from district executives.
Cub Scouts and family members watch as Pinewood Derby cars race down the track.
Top finishers in the Litchfield Cub Scout Park 3353 Pinewood Derby on March 12 were, from left, Dylan McCormick, third place, Jeremiah Miller, second, and Drake Miller, first.
Cub Scouts keep their eyes on Pinewood Derby cars as they fly down the track.
Electronic timers come in handy for photo finishes like this.
Blue and gold streamers and balloons hung throughout Chilstrom Hall at First Lutheran Church in Litchfield on a recent Saturday morning, and matching table cloths decorated tables.
In one corner of the hall stood a large, sloped metal race track.
All those elements, combined with the festive atmosphere, it seemed the scene of a birthday party.
Or, more appropriately in this case, a re-birthday party.
The hue of the decorations gave away for whom the party was taking place — young Litchfield boys who had not had not had a Cub Scout pack to call their own for a few years, before the guiding hand of one driven mom and regional leaders helped reestablish a unit this past fall.
And the party March 12 at Chilstrom Hall — a traditional Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet to celebrate achievements — marked the culmination of the first year of the pack’s restart.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of what Scouting stands for,” Liz Miller said. “My two brothers were in Scouting, and my mom was a den mother. I always thought they had the most fun … fun outdoor activities. I was in Girl Scouts; all I did was make pies.”
With that history, Miller encouraged her two sons to participate in Cub Scouts as soon as they were old enough. And both of them — Gryphon, 16, and Drake, 10 — have been involved since they were in first grade.
But when the Millers moved from Colorado to a home on Star Lake last summer, they learned that Litchfield did not have an active Cub Scout organization.
Liz Miller wasted no time connecting with regional leaders to see what it would take to bring back a pack. Her questions to Aaron Russell, a district executive who lives in Hutchinson, and Adam Bosch a district commissioner from Willmar, became encouragement for her to step up.
“I asked, ‘Can you give me some ideas where I can take my son?’” Miller said. “(Bosch) said, ‘You know, we could use some help restarting it (the Litchfield pack).’ Since COVID hit, a lot of packs had dissolved, because they didn’t know how to make it work through the pandemic.
“He said the pack was a long-time running in Litchfield, and it was really sad to see it go,” Miller added. “I said, ‘What do you need me to do?’ and I jumped in.”
Starting from zero members other than her youngest son, and with little recognition of Cub Scouts activities proved to be a challenge, Miller admitted. But in the end — as the Blue and Gold Banquet, and combined Pinewood Derby March 12 attest — it all worked out.
Her experience as a den leader, committee chairperson and district roundtable commissioner in Scouting while living in Colorado, combined with marketing skills she developed through other volunteer work gave Miller the foundation upon which to create a Cub Scout pack.
“The hardest part is to get the interest,” she said. “I knew pretty much what we needed, but you have to find the kids – five kids (and) five registered adults is the minimum to start any unit.”
She planned a kickoff event in August where parents and boys could learn more about Scouting, as well as build and launch their own “stomp rockets.” She followed that with another organizational meeting in September, and “boys started to trickle in.”
She said the registration process for boys and adults can be somewhat “painstaking,” and with almost everything these days, Scouting takes funding for programs and supplies, so there were fundraising activities to promote to the new Cubs and their parents.
“It was tricky to juggle all of that without spooking parents,” Miller said, “but we just said we were going to run this until we get our five.”
In the end, they got seven boys and six registered adults, slightly above the minimum required, and launched into the Scouting year. They held weekly den meetings where members participated in age appropriate activities to earn awards and advance through the five levels of Cub Scouts — Lion, Tiger, Wolves, Bears and Webelos — before earning the Arrow of Light and transitioning into Boy Scouts. In addition, they had a Christmas party and in February attended a Polar Cubs program at a Boy Scout camp in Stearns County where they participated in a variety of winter activities.
And of course, the Pinewood Derby. Normally, an event separate from the Blue and Gold Banquet, the Litchfield Cub Scouts opted to combine the Derby — for which Scouts and family members fashion cars out of blocks of wood to be raced down a sloped track — with the banquet to conclude this re-start year.
All those activities are what Miller remembers her brothers doing when she was a girl, and why she’s such a big believer in the program for her own children — and any others — these days.
“Scouts teaches more than just how to go camping,” she said. “The best way to find out what you do best is to do it — catch fish, ride a bike, set up a tent, build a Pinewood Derby car. It gives them a foundation to embrace opportunity and overcome obstacles. Scouting is play with a purpose. The purpose is to engage all the intellectual, social, emotional (areas) … and become responsible citizens when they grow up.”
Though 10-year-old Drake will transition to Boy Scouts soon, Miller said she plans to continue working with the Cub Scouts for a while at least as the local group tries to build membership.
“Cub Scouts is more on the parents; that’s where my place is,” she said. “I told the pack, ‘If you need me, I’ll stick around,’ but eventually I’ll transition and hand it over to other parents. That’s part of Scouting. We’re always looking for who we can train to take things over. You always pass the ring.”
Litchfield School Board agreed with a recommendation from its district technology director March 14 to delay an upgrade of student technology.
The delay means the district will extend use of laptop and tablet computers into a fifth year. That’s a slight change from its previous approach, which saw the district rotate out all of its devices for the 2018-2019, after four years of student use.
Litchfield Public Schools implemented its 1-to-1 device-to-student technology program for the 2014-2015 school year, after district residents approved a $3.2 million levy.
Since that time, each student in sixth through 12th grade has received an Apple Macbook Air laptop computer for school use, while pre-kindergarten to fifth grade were provided Ipad tablets. The district refreshed its devices in 2018, staying with Apple laptop and tablet computers, though switching from 13-inch to 11-inch laptops as a cost-saving measure.
The four-year rotation allowed technology to stay current while also garnering a good exchange rate for the district’s used devices. Business Manager Jesse Johnson said the previous exchange paid most of the first-year lease on the new devices in 2018-2019.
But several factors forced a change in thinking on the rotation, according to Jennifer Ridgeway, district technology director.
“Due to circumstances both locally and global, my recommendation is that we hold onto our current devices through this summer into the school year 2022-2023,” Ridgeway wrote in a memo to the board. “Let’s continue to investigate the best device options and purchase time frame for LPS.”
The recommendation to delay the device upgrade, Ridgeway said, was supported by teachers and administrators in the district.
Among the reasons for the delay, she said, were supply chain uncertainties – whether new devices would arrive in time for the start of next school year if ordered now — in addition to the ongoing construction at the district’s three schools.
Delaying the sale of the current devices is likely to reduce their value, as four years seems to be a sweet spot, “but who knows, maybe with supply chain issues we don’t know?” Ridgeway wrote. If sold this summer, the district could get $112 for Macbooks and $85 for iPads, and Ridgeway said the district might expect a 10% decline in the amount for device if sold later this year.
Delaying the sale of old devices and purchase of new ones also would allow the district to pursue technology infrastructure improvements. The district’s server is scheduled for replacement this summer already, Ridgeway said.
Johnson said sale of the current devices could bring about $118,000 this year, and that the annual lease payment for new devices would be projected at $250,000. Delaying this change could save the district about $100,000 this year, he said, adding that he favored extending current devices to a fifth year “and take care of infrastructure needs.”
Delaying the technology switch also gives Ridgeway and the technology department more time to continue student trials of devices. She said the trials with a limited number of other devices have sparked “great feedback from students so far.”
Summer vacation won’t end until after Labor Day for Litchfield Public Schools students this year.
The School Board on March 14 approved the district’s 2022-2023 academic calendar, which has students returning to class on Tuesday, Sept. 6, the day after Labor Day.
A previous version of the calendar, which Superintendent Beckie Simenson brought forth at the board’s Feb. 14 meeting, proposed a return to school on Aug. 29, the Monday before Labor Day.
However, a few board members spoke against the pre-Labor Day start, including Michelle Falling, who said that without a “business reason” for the earlier start, she had “mixed feelings.”
In fact, the early return presented other challenges, not the least of which was a question about whether the district’s three school buildings – all of which will have some degree of ongoing construction this summer – would be ready for students to return a week before Labor Day.
When the original calendar came up for a vote at the board’s Feb. 28 meeting, it was rejected on 5-0 vote, with Falling absent. Prior to the vote, Litchfield Education Association co-president Joel Green said teachers supported returning to the classroom before Labor Day, because it allowed an earlier start to learning after a long summer off.
Board member Greg Mathews, a former teacher at Litchfield High School, said he disagreed with his former colleagues. Chief among his concerns, he said, were the students who participate in 4-H and FFA programs and often spend the week before Labor Day at the Minnesota State Fair.
After additional discussion, Green pushing the start date back by week should not be much of a problem, likely just moving back the last day of the academic year by a day or two.
And that was what the calendar approved last week did, moving the last day of the 2022-20223 to June 2.
Other dates on the calendar include:
- Christmas vacation beginning Friday, Dec. 23, and running through Monday, Jan. 2;
- Spring break from Monday, March 27, through Friday, March 31;
- No school Thursday and Friday, Oct. 20-21, for “MEA break”;
The calendar includes 182.5 school days, with 16 hours of conference/back to school time, and 174 student days.
