The members of St. Francis Catholic Church in Sartell recently donated $3,400 for Kids Against Hunger. The parish conducted a coin drive for one month. All loose coins that were put in the collections held during Mass were saved for Kids Fighting Hunger. St. Monica’s Christian Women added $569. Along with a few other donations, the total was $3,400. On Feb. 15, 46 parishioners and guests gathered at the warehouse and packaged 21,000 meals of chicken and rice.
Academic Triathlon Team wins at state tournament
Two teams of five 5th- and 6th-graders from Sartell Middle School competed March 22 at the 2014 U.S. Academic Triathlon Minnesota State Tournament, held in Cottage Grove (Minn.) Middle School. Team member include the following: (front row, left to right) Ella Krauel, Abby Starz, Brannon Bjork, Brad Kalla and Ayleigh Hammond; (back row) Elaine Lo, Amber Pietrowski, Mallory Daniels, Janagan Ramanathan and Jayden Nguyen. The team is coached by Nicole Maslowski. During the Tournament, the team wrote, produced and performed a skit spontaneously. The topic was, “The Smiths Invade Earth,” requiring students to illustrate the confusion caused when aliens invade earth and attempt to fit into America society. The team participated in a “Face-Off!” competition, a round of questions from history and math to literature and consumer issues; and rotated among three challenging “Mind Sprint” rooms, testing their verbal, critical and creative problem-solving skills. The team has been practicing since last fall. Roughly 170 teams, grades 5-8, participated in U.S. Academic Triathlon this year in Minnesota alone.
Isaac Siekawitch, son of Elizabeth and Larry Siekawitch of Sartell, was recently named with honors to the fall semester dean’s list at University of Northwestern, St. Paul. The dean’s list includes full-time students with a grade-point minimum average of 3.65. Siekawitch is pursuing a degree in pastoral ministry.
Kelsey Jones of Sartell, recently competed in the Minnesota Collegiate DECA Career Development Conference as part of the St. Cloud State University DECA chapter. She received first place in human resources management and fourth place in business ethics. She is headed to the International Collegiate DECA conference in Washington, D.C. in late April.
Sarah Lage, daughter of Michelle and Mike Lage of Sartell, has been accepted for the 2014 fall semester at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn. Her planned major field of study is special education/music.
Austin Barkley, son of Julie and Jim Barkley of Sartell, is studying in Spain during spring semester 2014 through the Office for Education Abroad at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. Barkley is a junior Hispanic studies major at SJU.
Segovia serves as the site for the Spain study abroad program. In Segovia, students immerse themselves in Spanish culture, art, history, politics and language. The program is directed toward students seeking to deepen their training in Spanish language and culture. All courses are taught in Spanish. The cities, castles, churches and museums of Spain are used as “classrooms” by the program professors. Each student lives with a Spanish family for the duration of the program. Vilma Walter, instructor of Hispanic Studies at CSB and SJU, is the director of the spring 2014 program.
Pictured from left to right: Larry Minnix, LeadingAge CEO; Jodi Speicher, Stars Among Us awards chair; Joan Zadoo, District D award recipient; Gayle Kvenvold, Aging Services of Minnesota president and CEO; and Jon Riewer, Aging Services of Minnesota board chair.
Zadoo honored as regional Caregiver of the Year
Joan Zadoo was recently named the Aging Services of Minnesota 2014 District D Caregiver of the Year for her years of service to residents at the Good Shepherd Community in Sauk Rapids. This special award is the highest honor awarded to Minnesota caregivers who dedicate their lives and careers to service older adults.
Zadoo was honored by Aging Services of Minnesota, the state’s largest association of older adult services organizations in Minnesota.
Zadoo, a care manager at Good Shepherd Community, was nominated for the prestigious award by Good Shepherd staff Jeanette Schroden, assisted living manager, and Michelle Vasek, director of home care services.
“Joan represents a passionate resident-focused team member and coworker who makes everyone’s job easier,” said Gayle Kvenvold, president and CEO of Aging Services of Minnesota. “She leads the daily challenges with truly a “can-do” spirit and she is that exceptional caregiver that truly goes above and beyond the call of duty when caring and advocating for the residents in her care. The way the residents’ eyes light up when they see her represents great trust; just knowing her makes their lives more abundant.
“The Caregiver of the Year award is about honoring the very best of the best. This award provides us with the opportunity to show Minnesotans the face of the people who care for our loved ones when we cannot. Joan Zadoo is the kind of caregiver we all hope will be there for us when we need help.”
About Aging Services of Minnesota
Aging Services of Minnesota is the state’s largest association of organizations serving Minnesota seniors with membership encompassing more than 1,000 organizations statewide. Together with more than 50,000 caregivers, Aging Services members serve 63,000 older adults every day in all of the places they call home, including home care and services, independent senior housing, assisted living communities and skilled nursing facilities. Aging Services is the state partner of LeadingAge and state affiliate of Assisted Living Federation of America.
About the Good Shepherd Community
Good Shepherd Community is a senior living community with campuses located in Sauk Rapids and Becker, Minn. Services offered include patio homes, apartments, assisted living, memory care, short-term sub-acute rehabilitation and long-term skilled nursing-home care. Good Shepherd has been a member of Aging Services of Minnesota for many years.
