Jolene Boeckermann, the MNHSWA central chapter president, presents Kassara Kneeland (right) with a service award honoring her social work and volunteer contributions.
Kassara Kneeland, a social worker at Good Shepherd Apartments in Sauk Rapids, recently received the 2015 annual Service Award from the Minnesota Nursing Home Social Workers Association during its annual conference. Kneeland was nominated by Kori Petersson, director of customer engagement with Align, a MNHSWA member.
Petersson’s nomination speaks to Kneeland’s growth in leadership and confidence within the organization and her willingness to step up into greater leadership roles. From early in her membership, Kneeland took on a board seat, becoming secretary and recently joining the education committee where she coordinated speakers and created the conference brochures.
Her service endeavors outside of the organization include volunteering for fundraising events for the Starkey Hearing Foundation, participating in the Color Vibe Run and taking a mission trip this year to Peru, volunteering in a Hospice. An avid quilter, Kneeland organized a quilt drive before her trip so she could give a hand-made quilt to each of the patients in the hospice.
Five Sauk Rapids-Rice teachers were recently named by the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District as Teachers of Excellence.
They are the following: Dave Heideman (Pleasantview), Kim Genereux (Mississippi Heights), Beth Gadola (High School), Karen Musielewicz (Hillside/Adult Basic Education) and Amy Meyer (Middle School)
Sauk Rapids-Rice and Resource Training and Solutions honored them on Nov. 4 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud. The representatives, their guests, as well as Sauk Rapids-Rice principals and board members took time to recognize and celebrate them.
The Greater St. Cloud Development Corp. will soon be the anchor tenant in the First National Bank of St. Cloud building in downtown St. Cloud. Built in 1889, the First National Bank of St. Cloud building is considered to be one of the best designed, most preserved and most significant buildings in central Minnesota. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, the building is currently undergoing a complete rehabilitation in partnership with the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service. The GSDC leads economic development in the Greater St. Cloud region through six strategic initiatives; one of which is to contribute to the planning for and vibrancy of downtown St. Cloud. For more of this story, visit thenewsleaders.com and click on Nov. 13 People.