Profe Felty
1. Which Minnetonka schools did you attend?
I attended Scenic Heights (3rd and 4th grade), Minnetonka Intermediate School (now know as West for 5th and 6th grades), Minnetonka Junior High School for 7th grade, my 8th grade year was when the current concept of East and West started, so I was at East for 8th grade, and the High School for 9-12.
2. What was your graduating year?
1998
3. What are some of your favorite memories from elementary school? Middle school? High school?
Elementary School – My 4th grade teacher spent time in Kenya during the fall of our year, so we studied Kenya and turned our class into an african safari. Middle School – Wolf Ridge and the super-storm of 1991 (Almost two feet of snow on Halloween night, so school the next day was cancelled)
High School – Choir, Football (Conference champs all 4 years), Track (all-conference all four years, all state three times), setting the school record for the 4×400 my sophomore year, graduating at Northrop Auditorium on the U of M campus and our senior party at Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America
4. Are any of your former teachers still teaching? What do you remember about them?
Paula Holmberg from choir (one of my favorite teachers of all time due to her passion and dedication)
Maggie Pistner, Merlin Zimmerman and Mary Hedstrom from English
Math – none
Languages – none
Science – Tom Tomashek and Dawn Norton
History – none
Coaches – none
5. What are some of the biggest changes in Minnetonka High School between your time as a student and now?
Great question. In the 14 years since I graduated: the arts center has changed. There were no classrooms around the auditorium. The football and baseball fields were grass and there was no dome. The student union was two different court yards. The library is where the math office is currently located. Pagel Center was a student parking lot. The West gym did not exist; neither did the west entrance. The main entrance and main office have been renovated. There was no second floor where art is currently located. There are new classroom near the silo. The entire administration team has changed (and we had five principals instead of three). There was no cove. There was no writing center. There were study halls. There were ten periods in a day. We had regular classes Monday, Thursday, and Friday with block on Tuesday and Wednesday. Backpack tutoring was started by my classmates. The tennis courts were located right outside what is now the west entrance (they have changed locations twice since I graduated). Our graduation ceremony was held at Northrop Auditorium on the U of M campus. There was no college and career center. I don’t believe there was a booster store. There were no smart boards, sound fields, or LCD projectors in classrooms. Daily announcements were done over the PA system, they were not televised. There were no COWS (computers on wheels). There was no marching band. The vast majority of the clubs (DECA, TLC, Reveal What’s Real, etc.) did not exist. Health was not an embedded class. Physical education was not online. There was a teacher’s lounge. There were no International Baccalaureate classes. East and West were resurrected when I was in 8th grade. They were previously known as Minnetonka Intermediate School (currently West) and the Minnetonka Junior High School (currently East). First hour started at 7:05am. The forum was known as the small auditorium and faced the other direction. SBR was known as the “Crisis Room.” Ragnar (the Viking mascot) was a paraprofessional at MHS. The parking lot para had a shack (that was burned down twice in my high school years). There was no man pageant. There was a homecoming court and a winter court. The top GPA possible was 4.0. We had a valedictorian and a salutatorian. Only one student spoke at graduation. There were no singing telegrams. Students didn’t have cell phones and there was a pay-phone in the building. The “Classic Lake” sports conference comprised of Minnetonka, Edina, Hopkins, Armstrong, Cooper, Wayzata, and St. Louis Park. I’m sure there is more so I’m going to keep thinking on this one.
6. How have events like Homecoming, Heart Week, etc., changed or stayed the same?
Heart week is very different. The school didn’t come together as a fundraiser for families in need and there was a winter court of a male and a female from each grade.
Homecoming hasn’t changed much. I was in male rettes, the pepfest and the parade haven’t changed much either.
7. Is there some aspect of today’s MHS that you wish had been present in your time as a student?
The physical layout of the building (the commons area especialy) creates a unique feel to the high school that wasn’t there when I was a student. There are many more options for students (including the IB diploma) that were not available to students when I was in school, and the writing center would have been greatly helpful. Also, the use of technology would have been great but in 1998 it was not commonplace for all students to have cellphones.
8. What is some aspect of the education you received at Tonka that you took for granted at the time but has proven valuable since you graduated?
I don’t think I realized the quality of education and educators at Minnetonka until I was gone. I realized that all of the things my teachers had put me through (long compositions in english and the subjunctive in Spanish) would help me to become accustomed to college expectations ahead of my classmates that came from other schools.