Cole Mortiz, Sartell, received an award at the North Dakota SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference. Mortiz received a gold metal in welding. He is a student at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, N.D. By achieving gold medals at the state level, students qualified to compete in their respective categories at the national SkillsUSA Championships, which will be in June in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jessica Mergen, Sartell, earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for her leadership and community service in implementing a Music and Memory project.
The Gold Award is the Girl Scout ‘s top achievement. Mergen’s project was to implement the Music and Memory program at St. Cloud VA Health Care System for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. She recruited the help of friends and family to complete her project and local organizations were also financially instrumental in the completion of this project.
Music and Memory uses music the patient listened to in their youth to help restore memory. The impact of the project will reach the lives of many people including the individual struggling with Alzheimer’s or dementia, the family of the individual and the nursing staff.
