Lady Panthers make it 7 straight
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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
There's no doubt it.
The NRHEG High School girls' basketball team is on a roll.
The Panthers improved to 3-0 in the Gopher Conference and 8-1 overall with wins over St. Clair and United South Central before tacking on two more victories while winning the St. James Holiday Tournament.
The Panthers started their run Dec. 21 at St. Clair, where the rallied from a halftime deficit to win 72-69.
"What a rollercoaster of a game," said NRHEG coach Onika Peterson.
It began with an 11-point Panther lead in the first half.
"But we couldn’t buy a layup in the last eight minutes," said Peterson, whose team trailed 28-27 at halftime."
It was back and forth the rest of the way until the final few seconds, when Camryn VanMaldeghem came through with a huge steal and Faith Neilsen hit an easy shot to finish it off.
Grant Berg earns degree in educational leadership
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By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
NRHEG secondary principal Grant Berg received surprise congratulations from about 500 students and school staff members on the last day of school prior to the holiday break.
Berg, who was a teacher in the district for 18 years before becoming principal last spring, had completed the final requirements for a degree in educational leadership only days before.
“This is a challenging accomplishment,” observed school counselor Liz Stiernagle. “Mr. Berg has been a great leader this year. He is popular with both the staff and the students. So it only seemed appropriate that we all work together to congratulate him.”
FACS students take part in Coon Rapids event
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By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
“I’m excited to see how we do in competition,” commented NRHEG Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher Kelly Delacruz.
Delacruz makes this observation because she feels the 10 students she took to the “Stars of the Future” event on December 10 represented themselves and the school district exceptionally well. NRHEG was one of 11 schools which brought participants to the $100-a-person event held in Coon Rapids. Money raised will be used by the sponsoring organization, Hospitality Minnesota, toward helping Minnesota’s winning culinary team travel to national competition next April in Baltimore, Maryland.
NRHEG will be sending two teams to the Minnesota invitational in March to vie for the national trip.
Delacruz makes the observation that on December 10, as hospitality leaders from around the state mingled and sampled foods made by the various teams, NRHEG ran out of food, “some others…didn’t,” she says.
NRHEG’s ‘Hurricane’ Jane Wagner dies at age 57
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By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
There's a giant void in the New Richland area that in no way can be filled.
Hurricanes are, after all, extremely rare here on the prairie.
No longer will Jane Wagner be there to brighten the day of most anyone she encountered. The area's favorite basketball mom died suddenly last Sunday at the age of 57.
Wagner, nicknamed "Hurricane," a moniker she embraced, was born in 1966 and grew up in New Richland. She met her husband, Darren, in study hall in high school. Together they raised five children: Alex, 35; Danny 32; Carlie, 28; and twins Maddie and Marnie, 25.
“Everybody knows everybody by name,” Jane said in an interview in 2016. “We’re all friends.”
“Her smile would light any room, her heart would heal any hurt,” Carlie, Jane’s oldest daughter, said on Facebook Sunday. “She was the most giving and selfless person, and she loved her family so, so much, and it most definitely showed. Love you Mom.”
Struggle, addiction, perseverance
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2005 NRHEG Graduate shares story, authors book
Jason Lennox speaks to REACH classes at NRHEG
By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
“I challenge you to be a decent human being.”
Jason Lennox, a 2005 NRHEG graduate, was invited to speak to about 90 students in the three sections of sophomore health and in a class titled “Relationships, Education, Accountability, Character, and Hard Work,” most commonly referred to as REACH.
Lennox shared the story of his personal struggles with relationships and drug addiction, admitting that, already at the age of 10 he had held a knife to his own chest, wondering how much it would hurt and how long it would take to die.
Lennox has recently published a book, “A Perfect Tragedy: Finding Purpose in Pain, Loss, and addiction.” The text began as a series of blogs published online, and is now also in print. Lennox has been a consistent speaker at NRHEG, telling about his experiences and encouraging students both to stay away from harmful substances themselves and to be compassionate toward others.