Author Archives: Chelsie Thielen

By Gavin Maki-Jones

Each year, North Lakes Academy spends thousands of dollars on styrofoam trays and plastic utensils. The school is now applying for a grant through Washington County to eliminate all of that waste by installing dishwashers.  

The waste has been an environmental and financial problem for a long time.  

“We use approximately 24,780 trays at the Upper School per year and 30,975 at K-6,” said Chelsie Thielen, NLA’s environmental education coordinator. 

“Having each person use one tray, a fork, and/or spoon each time they eat lunch adds up quickly: the school spends around $7750 each year on single-use trays and utensils”, Thielen said. 

There’s also the cost of garbage collection.  

“We pay per garbage pickup,” Thielen said. “If we’re throwing away less, we have fewer pickups, so we pay less.” 

There is also the environmental component – putting so much styrofoam and plastic in the trash is not good for the environment, and NLA has an obligation to its authorizer, Osprey Wilds, to reduce waste.

“Osprey WIlds decides whether we get to continue to be a school, and it doesn’t like how much trash we are currently generating.  We need to be better about how we use our resources,” Thielen said.

While there are options like compostable trays, the best solution would be installing a dishwasher. NLA is working with a non-profit called Biz Recycling to write a grant for dishwashers, as well as reusable trays and cutlery, and the cost of installation.  If this goes through, NLA will receive somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000.  

Dishwashers would mean some changes for staff and students.

 “It will give me more work to do,” said Patty Jelinek, the 7-12 lunch coordinator. “To start, I will need to order cleaning supplies for the new dishwasher.” Jelinek will also need to attend to the kitchen more due to having to wash, dry, and store the dishes.

Student opinions are mixed. The majority are in favor of the reusable ones. Some say that the reusable trays are less sanitary; others say they are easier to eat off of. In the end, the majority said that the trays are better for the environment and the students.

 The next step is to improve the district’s recycling program.

“Garbage is taxed heavier than recycling or composting in our county, so we’d likely save a few thousand more by implementing better recycling programs to make sure that all recyclable material makes it into recycling and not the trash,” Thielen said.  “That’s our next project.”

By Dustin Jensen

In January, North Lakes Academy went through a major change: it moved grades 7 and 8 to the Upper School building as part of a greater effort to bring the NLA community closer together. This was a major adjustment for students, but it was also a major adjustment for the 7-8 teachers – Forrest Florczak, Marcia Graetz, Dan Mendenhall, Lynda Nelson-Williams, Jeff Rapp, and Emily Thompson – had to pack up their classrooms and move across 35 as well.

According to most teachers, the transition went well.

“It went very smoothly,” said Thompson, who also added high school courses to her schedule in addition to the move; she now teaches 7-12 Spanish.

“It was mostly seamless,” Mendenhall said.

Multiple teachers went on to show appreciation for parents, staff, and others who helped.

“Staff and students have been supportive and welcoming,” Graetz said. “It was so helpful to have everyone help with the move too.”

All of the teachers felt that the best part about being at the Upper School was seeing former students.

“It’s good to reconnect with former students and interact with students I didn’t have in 7th and 8th grade,” Mendenhall said.

Graetz appreciates the Upper School culture.

“The culture is very inclusive and the students work very hard and are determined to be amazing adults,” she said.

When asking what the hardest part of the transition has been, most teachers agreed that “Creating a new routine” as Mr Florsak put it, has been one of the biggest struggles. 

As for their students, all of the teachers say that the middle school students are doing amazingly.

“[They] are thriving!” Graetz said.

There were understandably some parental concerns about bringing younger students over to what was, at the time, a high school-only environment. When asked what possible closure they could give to the parents who had concerns about the transition, Mendenhall comments, “I would encourage them to talk with their student(s) to get their perspective.  I haven’t heard anything but positive comments from the students.”

This is comforting, especially matched with Thompson’s response:

“I truly believe this was the best move.”

As with every big change, there is room for improvement. Most teachers agreed fine-tuning the schedule would be the best (and this is in the works for the 2024-25 school year). Graetz added that the school should focus on building career-focused opportunities for students

“[We should be] building community and business relationships and job training connections for students so they can better plan for becoming amazing working adults.”

Finally when asked what they are looking forward to for this school, all of the teachers commented on being excited to see the growth of the school and culture.

“I believe that moving to the elementary and secondary building model was a good move for our school. If we look around, we see that this is the most common model for charter schools. Now that we are settling in, I can see why. The Upper School students bring excitement and maturity, and the Middle School students get a glimpse of their future here at NLA. I can’t wait to see how this continues to impact us all!” Thompson said.