Promise Fellow Northern Site Visit September 16th-17th 2009

We began our adventure to the Iron Range early Wednesday morning, setting off from Saint Paul and heading North toward McGreggor, MN, where we would be meeting Trent Meld. We (Maria, Mason and Clare) had met only a few times before, but hours of flat highway are the perfect backdrop for building friendship (and sleeping) and we soon discovered that despite having widely different life experiences, our choice to become Promise Fellows was enough of a bond to keep us from drifting into the awkward silence that comes when people with nothing in common are forced to share an enclosed space. We arrived in McGreggor (population 404) and nearly passed through it, but managed to find the school where we were greeted by Trent. Trent is a McGreggor native and spent his youth in the very school where he now runs the homework help program and coaches football. We ate lunch at the local bakery and then toured the school. We were struck at once by how new and technologically advanced the school appeared. Trent’s mother, who is also the chair of YIPA’s Professional Development Committee, writes grants for the school and is evidently quite good at her job!
As the end of the school day neared, we returned to Trent’s classroom and base of operations to set up the Dance Dance Revolution game, which was the activity of the day for the after-school program. Trent’s room was spacious and held a pool table, several large couches and lots of materials for art projects and other games.
At the end of the day, just before the last bell, we helped Trent teach a group of freshman boys about planes so that they could get a start on their math homework. When the bell rang Trent headed to football practices and we went to help his mother with the kick-off after school event of the year – a DDR tournament and a pizza-decorating contest. A small group of about eight 7th-9th graders trickled into the room and began playing with us immediately. We drew pictures on the chalkboard and danced until we collapsed. Then, we went into the school’s kitchen to decorate pizzas and were designated the official judges (despite the fact that Maria is a vegetarian!).

Trent kindly let us sleep at his house that night and the next morning we woke early and headed to Warba, MN (population 133) to visit the Northern Lights Charter School. We arrived at Northern Lights just in time for their community service seminar, where we spoke to the class about our programs. Our arrival inspired a mixed reaction, while a group of students may now attend YIPA’s youth conference in Saint Paul, another student loudly stated as we began, “Honestly, I just don’t care.” It was another moment where the SCP Fellow experience was sharply contrasted with our experiences of offices and adults and conference calls. We toured the school, met the middle school advisory menagerie, and ate lunch with the staff. After lunch we headed off to Duluth.
In Duluth, Mason was able to connect up with a former YAC member. We also visited Neighborhood Youth Services, which is a member of YIPA and hosts a True North AmeriCorp member. We stayed for a while to help with homework, but the evening’s chili competition stole most of the young people’s attention away from work. That evening, after a restful moment by Lake Superior, we met up with two other Promise Fellows for dinner. It was a perfect end to our trip, we were able to relax and talk about our experiences, connecting more with Fellows whose location isolates them from the larger Twin Cities Promise Fellow community. We drove home Thursday night exhausted, but ultimately happy that we had taken the time to visit these unique sites.


Clare Ryan, Maria Ortiz, Mason Fong: SPN Promise Fellows