Monthly Archives: April 2024

By Claire Erickson

Husky of the Month is a brand new thing to NLA, so not everything is known about it. Chris Stewart, a 7-12 building co-lead, started this program because he believed that there was a lack of recognition for student leaders at NLA, and he wanted to change that. 

Voting is done by all NLA staff. A student’s IQ, EQ, and contribution to the learning environment are the main items looked at when voting on the winners, Stewart said. Winners are announced the first week of the following month at school and in the weekly NLA newsletter. The chosen student from each grade, K-12, gets a certificate, a social media shout-out, and a $10 prize. 

Stewart has wanted to do this for a while. 

“It is something that I think was missing from our culture for some time,” he said, “It didn’t really take off until I was able to find a sponsor for the prize.” 

Amanda Jensen, an NLA parent and local realtor, sponsored the cash prize.

Voting is relatively simple.

“Staff are all invited to vote on the grade levels they interact with regularly,” Stewart said, “Voters are asked to nominate one student who demonstrated key characteristics of strong academic performance (IQ), emotional intelligence (EQ), and an overall contribution to our learning environment over the past month.”

To close everything he said, “I want students to hear that this is not a popularity contest, above all else…Teachers notice the big and small things that you do in the classroom, the hallways, on the playing field, and everywhere else…Leadership comes in a lot of forms and every single student is capable whether or not they get a monthly certificate,” Stewart concluded.

By Asher Beimert and Micah Schock

Forest Lake, Minn. – The NLA girls basketball team recently played its last game of the year against Liberty Classical Academy, on February 20th, losing with a final score of 33 – 65. The loss was tough, but the team’s growth over the season is a real success story. 

“The season was definitely challenging for the girls because we have a lot of beginner players,” said Aleena Riviere (10), one of the captains.  

Brenna Theisen (11), the team’s other captain, emphasized hard work. 

“[The season was] good; it was a lot of positivity and working through the tough stuff.” 

Coach Jeff Beimert considers the season a success for a young team. 

“We knew going into this season we were going to be a very young and inexperienced team at the Varsity level.  If you look at the season as a whole, the team showed tremendous growth, and I am looking forward to that continued growth into next season,” Beimert said.

As far as growth and improvement, it came in many different aspects of the game.

 “I think it is really hard to pick just one player who improved the most.  So many girls on the team showed a lot of growth,” he said. 

One season highlight was the immense community support. 

“This was by far the most supportive [the community] has been for a girls team in my time here,” Beimert said.  

Another highlight was the first win of the season. 

“We had played our opponent for that game earlier in the season and lost by 22 points.  To come back and win by 18 points was a testament to the work ethic and positive attitude of this team,” Beimert said. Theisen also agreed that this win was a major highlight.

While the season had its challenges, it was, overall, a success.

“It took time and it was not always perfect due to our experience and youth, but we knew this team was going to have to play good team basketball for us to be successful,” Riviere said.