Two events that you are going to read about in this week’s Northern Sentry gave me a bit of focus for this week’s article. First, a teacher at Memorial Junior High and now also at Minot North, Mr. Byron Boren, was named CTE (Career and Technology Education) teacher of the year in North Dakota.
Mr. Boren was a graduate of Minot State University. Please take time to read about Byron. Dr. Steve Young made sure that the Northern Sentry was aware of a recognition gathering at Memorial to honor Byron, and of course if possible, have the Northern Sentry do a story about Byron and his award.
The next event would be the very first Homecoming football game at Minot North. 5th BW Public Affairs and 91st MW Chief of Staff Mark McDonald put this on our radar a couple of weeks ago. Not only because it the first Homecoming event at Minot North, but because the 54th Helo Squadron would be in charge of flying Col Schlabach, Col Chapman, Chief Thomas and the official game ball to the venue, Sentinel Field, during pre-game festivities. Could it get any better than that? Again, take a moment to read about the event in this week’s Northern Sentry.
It Takes A Village
So what is really so special about a Teacher of the Year and a football delivered by a Huey helicopter? The answer is pretty simple. Because of the number of people that it took to accomplish these events. We are not talking a few, we are talking about a community of people. Minot State University, the 91st Missile Wing command, the 54th Helo Squadron and all of the folks all the way to the Pentagon that had to put their stamp of approval on the football event. The saying about it “taking a village to raise a child” is so true, and that is where these events get really special.
From the young kids in Mr. Boren’s classes, to all of the kids in the stands at the Minot North Homecoming game, a message was being sent. The message was “We Care About Our Kids!” Dr. Shirley and Rick Hedberg took the time to call out Mr. Boren and believe me he didn’t really want to be called out, in front of the kids at Memorial because we all know that being a teacher is really special. But, being the CTE teacher of the year for all of North Dakota, it’s certainly worth the extra effort.
As for the Minot North event? Well, I can only think about the kids from St. Mary’s on the other side of the field from the bleachers that held hundreds of students and parents from Minot North. As I was walking out of the stadium a couple of kids from St. Mary’s were talking. Their conversation? “Wow! I wonder if they bring every game ball to the stadium in one of those helicopters?” Kid #2- “Wouldn’t it be neat if they dropped a game ball from a B 52?” So, I guess the bar has been set, at least in the eyes of a couple of students from St. Mary’s. And finally, perhaps the most defining moment. One St. Mary’s student talking to another student. “They don’t care about us enough to do anything as great as that.” Probably says it all, at least to me.
Yes, A WOW moment…
We all know that we can’t make every moment in our kid’s lives a WOW! We all know that not every game ball can be delivered on a helicopter, by the command team of the 91st Missile Wing. But it happened once, and perhaps it will happen again.
And at Memorial Middle School. Who knows which young student sitting in the assembly is thinking “someday I want to be a teacher and be named the teacher of the year”.
These events are all about a community that cares, and if I might take a moment and note that we at the Northern Sentry are all about community. Growing up we had our hometown paper. The expectation was that special events would be recognized in that paper. Things haven’t changed for the Northern Sentry. We want to cover all of those WOW moments, sure. But we also want to cover, with your help, all the other important events that make Minot Air Force Base a community. At the Northern Sentry we really appreciate getting those phone calls and emails about community events. We also like to do feature stories on the personalities behind the scenes that deserve recognition. It’s all about being “Your Newspaper”.
Best Kept Secrets
The Roosevelt Park Zoo is still open, and actually now that the days are not quite as hot, they animals are pretty active during the day. There is a lot of construction going on at Roosevelt Park and Roosevelt Park Zoo, but on a warm fall afternoon it’s still worth a short visit.
Soon the camp Oweti Path through Oak Park will be teaming with fall colors. Take your camera to capture those fall colors up close.
Today’s Chuckle
If at first you don’t succeed, pretend you didn’t try.
