Daily Archives: September 30, 2020

I was involved in our school district for several years prior to being elected to the school board.  I attended board meetings, wrote letters, and volunteered in the schools.  

Since becoming a board member, I have visited schools, attended PTO meetings, participated in scores of Turkey Bingos and Spring Flings, cheered for our sports teams, and applauded our student musicians. I’ve seen all of these experiences as valuable opportunities to meet and talk with parents to better understand their concerns and desires for their child’s education.

Along with performing my duties as a Director and Board Chair, I have continued to stay involved with our community groups, religious organizations, and business across our district.  I’ve seen these groups help drive support to our schools through their volunteerism, donations, and the creation of jobs for our students and alumni.  

You may or may not know, we have an exceptional automotive technician program at Osseo Senior High. Recently, I was at an auto dealer having my car worked on. I asked a technician how they found their new employees. He stated that they worked with local technical colleges and programs. I mentioned our great program at Osseo and asked if he would  consider reaching out to our students. Turns out, this guy was the lead tech for the dealership and lived walking distance to OSH. He followed up on his promise to connect, and the dealership recently donated a tire repair station to the program! No one had ever asked him before.

I attended the Maple Grove city council meeting when the approval was given to build the new Portillo’s Restaurant. The CEO of Portillo’s was in attendance and I introduced myself and told him about the innovative food service program that we have at Park Center Senior High. He connected me to his VP of Human Resources and I provided her information regarding the program and the training that our students receive.  Always good to see new jobs created for our students and residents.

I was talking to several acquaintances when I mentioned that one of our Robotics teams was looking for additional mentor support. One said “Mike, you do know that I installed hundreds of industrial robots in my career?” Well, I did not, or would have reached out sooner.  He has now spent five years mentoring our students and is a great asset to the team and to the district. 

I will talk to anyone, at any time, to share information about the programs and opportunities we offer in the Osseo Area Schools. Our students are doing great things and deserve all the help and recognition we can give them! Get involved.