photo by Carolyn Bertsch
Sartell-St. Stephen Community Education Instructor Kristina Leppanen tightens a snowshoe strap for Isabel Wuellner, 10, before taking a group of 20 Oak Ridge Elementary School students on an after-school hike Feb. 27. The showshoes were obtained community education through a grant in 2016. This is the first time there has been enough snow to use them.
photo by Carolyn Bertsch
Noah George (left) and Karson Ritter, both 9, lead a group of 18 peers on a showshoe hike Feb. 27 on the grounds of Oak Ridge Elementary. Students from Oak Ridge were first to have the chance to try out the new snowshoes, obtained by Sartell-St. Stephen Community Education, in a “pop-up” community education class. Snowshoe hikes are also planned after school for students who attend Pine Meadow Elementary and Sartell Middle schools pending favorable weather conditions.
Author: Carolyn Bertsch
Bertsch has worked for the Newsleaders since 2015. She and her husband, Matt, and their three children live in Sartell where they also own and operate Four Seasons Window, Carpet and Air Duct Cleaning. Bertsch also stewards the “Reads and Seeds and Other Needs” Little Free Library in Sartell. The “Other Needs” portion of the library functions as a collection site for donations to the Salvation Army where Bertsch serves as a board member. Her other hobbies include volunteering at the food shelf, cooking, baking, and growing a vast array of fruit in her backyard orchard. Bertsch believes that every single person can choose to make the world a better place for someone else and at the end of the day the only question that matters is, “What kind of difference did you make?”