On Jan. 30, Sartell area students found themselves spelling words like “macrocosm,” “circadian” and “scintillation” in the District 748 Spelling Bee. Spelling bee participants included the following: (front row, kneeling left to right) Elaine Lo, Adrianne Gefre, Brinn Akervik, Jacob Franzmeier and Carter Vonderahe; (second row, standing) Carter Hemmesch, Matt Pallansch, Elizabeth Hamak (St. Francis), Nora Steil, Julianna Moore and Deborah Ufearo; (back row) Jaden Nguyen, Greta Mahowald, Jake Anderson, Jacob Stolzenberg (St. Francis), Katelynn Leigh, Janagan Ramanathan and Mara Borgeson. Eighth-grader Anderson placed first by spelling the most words correctly; second place was awarded to seventh-grader Borgeson and third place went to eighth-grader Franzmeier. These students represented Sartell-St. Stephen schools at the Regional Spelling Bee Feb. 13 at Resource Training and Solutions in Sartell. Eighteen students in grades 5-8 participated in the district competition. To advance to that level, students participated in spelling bees in their classrooms and then in their grade levels. Students from each grade advanced to the district competition along with two students from St. Francis Xavier. Earning the opportunity to participate in the district competition was a huge accomplishment in itself. A special thank you to Mastoni’s Pizza of Sartell and Texas Roadhouse, who donated gift certificates to each participant, Coborn’s for donating alphabet pasta for each participant and to Traut Wells for donating water for refreshments. Congratulations to all District 748 spelling bee participants!
Sartell Middle School Principal Julie Tripp stands with winners of the bee (left to right): Mara Borgeson, Jacob Franzmeier and Jake Anderson.
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Christopher Johnson of Sartell was recently named to the dean’s list at Central Lakes College, Brainerd and Staples. Students must earn a grade-point average of 3.25 to 3.74 to receive the honor.
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Callie Frank, a junior theatre arts and hospitality management double major from Sartell, plays the other woman/stranger in the Feb. 19-22 production of “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” an inventive dark comedy by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl, at Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. each evening with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee Feb. 23. Variety called “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” “a fresh and humorous look at the times we live in.” One day in a café, Jean’s life is changed forever when she discovers, at the next table, the owner of an incessantly ringing cell phone is dead. Taking the phone, Jean begins a journey through the man’s life and her own, exploring the lines between reality and memory, honesty and fiction, connection and disconnection. For more information, visit www.SMSUtickets.com or call 507-537-7103.
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Abigail Frericks of Sartell recently graduated from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences.
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Dr. Nicholas Colatrella was recently elected president-elect of the board of trustees by the Minnesota Optometric Association. Dr. Colatrella co-owns PineCone Vision Center, Sartell, Minnesota, where he is medical director. Colatrella was most recently vice president of the MOA Board of Trustees, and has twice been named Young Optometrist of the Year. He has been active both in community and MOA outreach efforts, and has led the MOA Professional Education Committee. In 2013, he was inducted as president of the Illinois College of Optometry Alumni Council, the governing body of the Alumni Association. Colatrella, OD, FAAO, Dipl (ABO, ABCMO), is an honors graduate of the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago, and completed a hospital residency in ocular disease. He is a nationally recognized lecturer and is a published author on the topics of LASIK surgery, cataracts, glaucoma, dry eye and corneal diseases. He and his wife, Dr. Stacy Hinkemeyer, live in Sartell with their two children.
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The St Cloud Forum of Executive Women recently announced its 2014 board members. Pictured are (front row, left to right): Trina Dietz, Becky Reynolds, Jacque Klein and Sarah Sonsteby; (back row) April Mastey, Rachael Bonn, Jodi Elness, Brenda Brown, Jenifer Odette, Rebecca Kurowski, Carol Klaphake, Mary Harlander-Locke, Shawn Hoffman-Bram, Kelly Hansen and LuAnn Popp. Dietz, Klein, Elness, Kurowski and Hoffman-Bram are from Sartell; all the rest are from St. Cloud. Not pictured: Lee Hurd, Sartell. FEW is a non-profit organization which meets monthly to promote growth and professional connections among women. For more information about FEW, visit www.fewstcloud.org.
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Ryan DeRoeck of Sartell will be student teaching math at Discovery Middle School, Alexandria, Minn., under the supervision of Tyson Swaggert. Student teaching is an academic career high point for University of Minnesota, Morris education students. A powerful and memorable experience, student teaching allows students to apply knowledge, skills, talents, and techniques developed and nurtured by interaction with experienced Morris faculty and through rigorous, comprehensive, and collaborative programs accredited by Minnesota’s Board of Teaching and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
