By TRISTAN JENSEN
Editorial Assistant
Aaron Phillips, one of the new members of the NRHEG School Board for 2023, leads a busy life. He is regional sales manager for 360 Yield Center, a career that regularly sends him traveling, working trade shows, visiting dealers, and leading dealer trainings. “There isn't such a thing as an average day for me,” he explained. On top of his job, Phillips is assistant coach for the varsity baseball team at NRHEG, which his son plays on. Andrew, one of Phillips' four children, has received a scholarship to play Division 1 baseball at South Dakota State University next year. For the last four years, Phillips says, one of his hobbies has been traveling nationwide for baseball with Andrew, who has also played on the Minnesota Blizzard team. Phillips' youngest daughter, Faith, is in eighth grade and participates in numerous school activities and sports, so Phillips is also spending his time supporting her. His leisure activities of choice are snowboarding and snowmobiling, as well as hunting; he also helps out on the family farm when he can. “Yeah, I got enough to do,” Phillips says.
Phillips has four children. Andrew and Faith have twin older sisters, Madeline Guildner and Morgan Wiersma, who are 24. Phillips has been married to his wife, Jeanette, for twenty-six years. He comes from Hartland, and still lives there just across the street from his parents, Dale and Valerie, and the family farm. He also has three sisters. Amy Beausoleil, who lives in Wheaton, Illinois, Ann Phillips, who lives in the Twin Cities, and Alison Sorensen, who lives near Conger. Phillips has three pets – a fox red lab, Copper, a Siberian husky, Ruby, and a cat, Harrington.
With such a full life, some might wonder why he sought to add more to his plate with his election to the school board. “I've got a lot invested in the school, and I thought that would be a good reason to be on the school board,” he explains. In addition to his two children in school, Madeline is a first-year fifth-grade teacher at NRHEG Elementary; her husband, Darren, teaches math in New Richland. He says, with his involvement in the school, people were telling him their opinions and asking him to run for the board. He'd also heard great things about Michael Meihak, Superintendent for NRHEG, and wanted an opportunity to work with him. “Thanks for the people that voted for me,” he says, “trusting me to have a part in the kids' education, helping to make a difference in kids' lives at NRHEG.”
Phillips is an athlete himself, on top of coaching his son. He used to do triathlons until he got busy coaching, and hopes to get back into them. Just three years ago, he took up snowboarding. “Not a lot of people get started snowboarding at 47,” he says. “It was interesting, but I love it.” He's also a sports fan, dedicated to the Boston Red Sox when he isn't cheering on his own children.
Family and faith are the most important things in Phillips' life. “I don't really like to go out,” he explains, “I just like to be at home with the family.” Phillips says the best advice he's ever received comes from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The verse supports Phillips' attitude that nothing will be given to you except through hard work, adding, “Growing up on the farm really taught me about hard work.”