Feature Stories from the Star Eagle pages.
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1916 - Rob Wilkening stands next to a block from the original Waldorf school building from 1916. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
In a day in which charter schools seem to open and close nearly every year, you have to wonder about the future for some of them.
There are no such thoughts after visiting East-West International Education Academy in Waldorf. The area’s newest K-12 school appears to be a cut above, and the future looks bright.
Executive Director Rob Wilkening — who was elected Mayor of Waldorf back in November and is a former teacher — has been extremely busy these days, preparing for an Aug. 28 open house and a Sept. 3 opening. The deadline for enrolling in the school is Aug. 23.
“We hope to have 100 students here (this year),” said Wilkening as workmen scurried to put the finishing touches on the building, which formerly housed Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Elementary and, before that, Waldorf-Pemberton High School.
Eight teachers have been hired, ranging in age from 24 to 40, though more will be added as enrollment increases. Wilkening, 56, will teach business, science and music.
The school is the result of a demographic study done by East-West Foundation, of which Wilkening is a co-founder. The foundation partners with Peking University and has more than 300 schools in the U.S., with one or two Chinese students attending each school. No international students are enrolled in Waldorf, though Wilkening said the school offers opportunities for its students to study overseas.
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Looking Back is a regular feature on the pages of the Star Eagle
100 Years Back – 1919
• An immense crowd raised an impressive $888.26 at the firemen-community band picnic at St. Olaf Lake.
• Hoosier — the kitchen cabinet that saves miles of steps. Simply pay $1 and this automatic servant will be placed in your kitchen at once. Amounts so small you’ll never miss them soon pay the balance. — Tyrholm’s Furniture Store, New Richland.
• Before a crowd of several thousand, the New Richland baseball team humbled Wells 13-0 in the second game of a doubleheader at the homecoming celebration in Wells. New Richland also defeated Wells 3-0 and Twin Lakes 5-4. The victory over Twin Lakes was staged at the firemen and band picnic at St. Olaf Lake before the largest crowd that ever attended a ballgame in this part of the state.
• It is absolutely impossible to give you a cleaner or more attractive and entertaining program of amusement than the one to be given at the Waseca County Fair this year.
• Mrs. C.I. Salter, wife of New Richland’s new attorney, was proffered the principalship of the public schools in Hartland and gave her acceptance to the board of education at that place.
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Farm & City Days 2019
New Richland firefighters Joe Isder, Brandon Mullenbach and Curt Pederson compete in water wars on the final day of Farm & City Days Sunday, July 14. Chris Schlaak was named grand marshal of the parade. See the July 18 edition of the Star Eagle for more. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
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Rajala rides 625 miles, raising $3,260.80 in June
DID SOMEONE SAY CHALLENGE? — New Richland resident Laina Rajala rode her bicycle 625 miles in June, raising $3260.80 for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. (Submitted photo)
By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
Laina Rajala is never one to back down from anything.
So when she discovered the Great Cycle Challenge, and the way it benefits the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, she was all over it.
It started slowly enough. Rajala rode her bicycle 82 miles and raised $615 in 2015.
This past June, she pedaled 625 miles to raise $3,260.80, bringing her five-year total to 1,430 miles and $7,753.01.
Finding the motivation to do it, according to Rajala, was not difficult.
“Ethan Strenge was my original inspiration when I started participating,” said Rajala. “He and his family have gone through a lot since his cancer journey began (I think 14 years ago!). As a cancer survivor myself, I know it's an ugly disease at any age, but kids should get the opportunity to be kids and not have to fight for their lives. I bike for the kids that can't, and I keep that thought in mind when I'm out there.”
Rajala says there are some staggering statistics that she’d like to see change, that every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer and 38 kids die of the disease every week.
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Farm & City Days 2019
New Richland firefighters Joe Isder, Brandon Mullenbach and Curt Pederson compete in water wars on the final day of Farm & City Days Sunday, July 14. Chris Schlaak was named grand marshal of the parade. See the July 18 edition of the Star Eagle for more. (Star Eagle photos by Jim Lutgens)