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  • Esko school paper will go digital in 2025

    Jana Peterson|Oct 11, 2024

    After years of looking for a more economical way to distribute the school paper, Esko school board members approved a move to a digital-only newspaper starting in January. That means community members will no longer receive a paper copy of the Esko's Corner paper produced and distributed by Esko Community Education. The move is expected to save the school district thousands in printing and postage costs. Esko isn't the only local school making the move: Wrenshall switched to a digital paper effe...

  • Wrenshall school board formalizing rules for community use of space

    Brady Slater|Oct 11, 2024

    The Wrenshall school board is in the process of formalizing a policy for community use of school facilities. The policy received a first reading at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. Superintendent Jeff Pesta said that because it’s a new policy the board can conduct as many readings as it takes to get it right. “We want community feedback on this,” board chair Mary Carlson said. Depending on the category, users of the school could be charged fees. The six-page policy proposal prioritizes non-fee based use of the facility for pre-K through 12th gr...

  • College notes

    Oct 4, 2024

    Dakota Tireman of Esko graduated with honors from Milwaukee School of Engineering this past spring with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. • • • Cloquet’s Madolyn Beckfield (nursing and health sciences) and Lexis Gerard (psychology) graduated this past spring from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. • • • University of Minnesota in Minneapolis included the following students from the area on its spring dean’s list. Carlton: Ashley Aker, Isaac Konu Cloquet: Cameron Borner, Alex Despot, Mario Genereau, Michael Kayser,... Full story

  • Enrollment brings mixed news in Carlton and Wrenshall

    Brady Slater|Sep 13, 2024

    The first returns on the popularity of the new four-day week at Carlton schools showed only a slight dip in enrollment. It amounted to good news for a district entering a new era by not having classes on Fridays. Early childhood to 12th grade saw the student count reach 304, according to superintendent Donita Stepan, compared to 317 on a report generated by the school in March. “We lost some, we gained some,” Stepan said. “We budgeted for 295 and are at 304. We are optimistic that the numbers will keep rising as the year progresses.” Nearby...

  • County 4-Hers bring home a raft of top ribbons

    Pine Knot News|Sep 13, 2024

    Of the 27 Carlton County 4-H members with demonstrations and exhibits at the Minnesota State Fair that began in August, 19 purple or blue ribbons were brought home by the time the fair ended on Labor Day. Purple is the top award, for entries deemed to have "met and far exceed the average standards established for that particular class. The exhibit or workmanship is outstanding with minimal flaws." Here is a rundown on the Carlton County participants who won purple ribbons: • Laura Rubesh of C...

  • Wrenshall: City, school could share some burdens

    Brady Slater|Jul 12, 2024

    The Wrenshall school board converged Monday on Holyoke, where board members watched a sudden downpour and a whistling train outside, and were met by Wrenshall mayor Gary Butala. Butala agreed with the board that the city and school district ought to examine how to share snowplowing duties in the winter as well as fuel costs and access, already located on school district property. “We would like to share if we could with the school,” Butala said, inviting board member Eric Ankrum, head of the school’s building and grounds committee, to the J... Full story

  • Carlton Honor Rolls

    Jul 12, 2024

    Carlton schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 12 Luukas Korpela Gavin LeBrasseur Megan Matarelli Tiffany Meade Abigail Mitchell Sam Ojibway Keanna Simula Gibson Reed Brody Vernon Harlee Ziebol Grade 11 Cody Shaw Gavin Gibson Lauryn Hilton Jackson Korpela Kayla Radtke Julia Peterson Amy Schoch Ariadna Rovira Sanchez Grade 10 Karysa Brown Alexis Coy Sophia Schmidt Nadia Tessier Grade 9 Harley Erickson Lydia Kiehl Brielle Simula Teagen Tessier Grade 8 Jaylah Crane Jack Gibson Jorgen Herman Gabriella Loucks Cooper Miller Selah... Full story

  • Changes made outside and in at college

    Brady Slater and Jana Peterson|Jun 28, 2024

    Brady Slater [email protected] A pair of major projects took over the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College campus this spring and summer. One, the renovation of the commons area, is ongoing, while the other wrapped up earlier this month. As part of the Forest Stewardship Project, the college underwent a significant tree-thinning effort, dubbed a selective harvest. Built on the remnant timber plantation, the college’s tree thinning effort sought to improve fire safety and ... Full story

  • Esko Schools Honor Rolls

    Jun 28, 2024

    Esko schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Hailey Hansen Nora Kachinske Jacion Owens Avani Perez Millie Seymour Lucye Backstrom Cairin Berger Keaira Coleman Jamis Halverson Madilyn Hawkinson Aubrey Micken Joshua Synnott Evan Watsick Ethan Gamache Trevor Leach Gabriel Dusek Jaster Johnson Leah Borden Philip Furcht Amber Lawry Cole Luense Sovay Nick Layla Whiting Blake Behrendt Kiya Marino Evelyn Peterson Neela Stuermer Colton Dewey Hank Backstrom Owen OConnor Carter Osvold Baizlee Ritchie Aiden Tingum Annabelle Sunnarborg Jaxon... Full story

  • Wrenshall Schools Honor Roll

    Jun 28, 2024

    Wrenshall schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Connar Ankrum Kiara Ankrum Drew Bartczak Soyure Beetcher Vera Brown Willow Cash Gabriel Cass Lila Dalen Mason Goetz Annabelle House Angel Hughes Taylor Hulgan Brysen Jessup Jack Johnson Julieauna Johnson Natalya Kacer Kendal Kot Elliana Lattu Ryan Mattson Tyler Mills Alexis Nelson Andrew Olesen Isaias Padilla Teyah Parent Isabella Parmeter Camden Peterson Owen Resberg Isabel Riley Jack Riley Molly Sheda Jeshua Sjodin Faith Solomon Jasper Stamper Birk Stensaas Alexis Swanson Samuel Thul... Full story

  • Carlton School Board approves budget in the red

    Ted Lammi|Jun 21, 2024

    Carlton business manager Angela Lind said busing costs are too high, and driving a deficit for the next school year. At their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, the Carlton school board approved a budget for the 2024-25 school year that showed a deficit of $102,380, with $6,206,726 in estimated revenues, and $6,309,106 in estimated expenses. "The revenues we receive for transportation do not ... come close to our expenses," Lind said. "There's a $192,000 deficit in transportation."...

  • A Pollinator Lesson in Wrenshall

    Sandy Dugan|Jun 21, 2024

    Children in Wrenshall Community Education’s Wrens Club program are learning about plants and pollination this summer. In mid-June, the Wrenshall Parents in Education group engaged the kids in a daylong activity that included hearing a hands-on presentation by a retired biologist, transplanting a native pollinator-friendly plant to take home, weeding a garden at the school, crafting a solar-powered night light with bee decorations, and visiting a nearby farm that relies critically on natural poll...

  • Cromwell-Wright Honor Rolls

    Jun 21, 2024

    Cromwell-Wright School Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 12 Elliott Anderson Jillian Anderson Avery Birman Anaka Burton Tanner Collman Brandon Dickey Gracie Foley Aurora Gervais Wyatt Goranson Kyra Granholm Mya Gronner Maxwell Hanni Andrew Kachinske Macie Lind Emaleigh Olesiak Karina Olesiak Josie Suhonen Grace Swenson Pawel Swiatkiewicz Grade 11 Isabella Anderson Siiena Anderson Brady Dahl Bryanna Foster Jack Irving Tucker Korpi Emerson Lind Emily Lindman Nevaeh Manninen Dylan Nyberg Titus Swartout Grade 10 Justine Anderson... Full story

  • Wrenshall superintendent contract is renewed

    Brady Slater|Jun 14, 2024

    The Wrenshall school board meeting Monday featured one of the more enthusiastic votes a board can give. Each of the five members exclaimed their affirmative vote to extend the contract for part-time superintendent Jeff Pesta. In doing so, the members lightly razzed the administrator about his loquacious manner — getting their money’s worth as far as the number of words he uses, they said. But thorough, detailed explanations were necessary to help get the district out of a $300,000-plus deficit last year. In accomplishing that, as well as ini...

  • Consolidation talks on ice this summer

    Brady Slater and Ted Lammi|Jun 14, 2024

    An impasse between the Carlton and Wrenshall school boards is threatening consolidation efforts by the districts. The Carlton school board reached a consensus at its working session Monday to not have further discussion with Wrenshall until August at the earliest. An email later this week between superintendents - obtained by the Pine Knot News through a public records request - confirmed the Carlton position. "(B)ecause sending letters back and forth to each other doesn't seem to be getting us...

  • Cloquet Honor Rolls

    Jun 14, 2024

    Cloquet High School Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 9 Olivia Aldridge Ella Anderson Olivia Battaglia Ava Belgarde Carley Bjerkness Devin Cary Halie Chartier Jayten Clark Franklin Cossey Kayla Covington Noah Cunningham Hailee Defoe Joseph Dillon Daisie Gustafson Amaija Halli Eli Heehn Averie Hoffmann Lovissa Hughes Kyra Kramer Emma Lamere Isaiah Langer Jordan Linder Theresa Loisel Makenzie Lynch Rana Majerle Brendan Malloy Matthew Mangan Cecelia Moench Tenique Moose Cadence Niemi Jacob Parks Adalynn Pecore Aubrey Perrault Ariel... Full story

  • Murals with meaning adorn Cloquet school walls

    Jun 7, 2024

    Two artists in residency, Michelle Defoe and Moira Villiard, worked with Cloquet students to create two murals — one at Cloquet High School and one at Cloquet Middle School — over the past few months. Cloquet High School art teacher Julie Deters was thrilled with the residency and the final high school mural — a round mural that utilized three-dimensional cutouts of Ojibwe florals and pollinators, framing the northern lights as they dance across blue waters. The murals reflect the natural world...

  • Barnum Honor Rolls

    Jun 7, 2024

    Barnum Schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 7 Owen Bailey Macy Berg Jacob Bernhardson Morgan DeCaigny Rachel Dinger Avery Graftaas Hailey Ikola Moses Jurek Braxton Laveau Lindy LeDoux Clover Moerke Kamryn Pearsall Tyler Schatz Aiden Seboe Carli Stevens Addison Webb LeeRoy Wyatt Grade 8 Olivia Bigelow James Budge Julia Campbell Logan Charboneau Julian Class Braylon Collelo Brady Ferguson Piper Genereau Jaxson Halverson Ethan Heaslip Mia Hurst Alyssa Isham Kohltan Johnson Abigail Lahmayer Ingrid Lund Isabella McCall DeAhnna... Full story

  • Districts exchange letters on merger

    Ted Lammi|May 24, 2024

    During a break in consolidation committee meetings, Carlton and Wrenshall school boards have continued to negotiate via written communications. The most recent letter came from the Carlton board May 14 in response to Wrenshall’s April 8 proposal to move the consolidation’s start date to July 2026. The Wrenshall board had pushed the date back from 2025 after learning the Carlton superintendent Donita Stepan’s contract runs through the 2025-26 school year. Wrenshall had previously stipulated it did not want any long-term contracts spilling over...

  • District celebrates $7 million project

    Brady Slater|May 17, 2024

    A chance to celebrate roughly $7 million in improvements to the Cromwell-Wright School brought out students and community members Monday. Cromwell graduates Tracey Goranson, 62, Pauly Granholm, 65, and the Koivistos - Ken, 77, and Sue, 74 - gathered on the edge of the student body, bright blue skies overhead. "It's exciting to see the progress," Goranson said. "It's been a long time coming," Granholm added. "I've been looking forward to this, to see the expressions of the kids," Ken Koivisto...

  • Carlton wants to stick with 2025 consolidation

    Ted Lammi|May 17, 2024

    The Carlton school board, fresh from sending a four-day school week proposal to the state for approval, returned to the issue of consolidation with Wrenshall. At Monday’s working session, superintendent Donita Stepan was directed to answer a Wrenshall letter which proposed consolidation in summer 2026, instead of an initial consideration of July 1, 2025. Wrenshall’s correspondence was positive in tone, promising that Wrenshall would “lean into all sharing opportunities,” although declaring their board members had agreed with each other that the...

  • Esko makes space for fitness, learning

    Jana Peterson|May 17, 2024

    Esko school board members set an open house for the new fitness center for 4-6 p.m. June 10. Expect to see lots of "Esko" and "Sisu" logos decorating the space, located on the south side of the school. "By June 10, all our equipment and furniture will be set up, and I believe our partner, Essentia, has what they need," said superintendent Aaron Fischer. "It's a big deal for Essentia too." At the same meeting Monday, board members voted unanimously to spend almost a half-million dollars to turn...

  • Cloquet teacher earns trip to explore Iceland

    James Wiita|May 17, 2024

    Kim Broman has dreamed of a National Geographic-type of adventure ever since becoming a second-grade teacher. This summer, she will fulfill that dream after being awarded a Grosvenor Teacher fellowship from the magazine and one of its travel partners. Soon, she will be sharing adventures from Iceland with her students at Washington Elementary in Cloquet. Broman will go on a 10-day Iceland expedition in August, starting in the capital of Reykjavik. She will then board the ship Explorer to...

  • Photos: History made at college graduation

    Amber Nichols|May 17, 2024

    Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College included a bit of history as the first bachelor of science degrees for elementary education were handed out in the Lester Jack Briggs Cultural Center May 9. There were 148 graduates who crossed the stage. Joradan Paulson, Nahin Gatica Cruz and Shana Aubid were the education graduates. There were 219 degrees earned in total....

  • Growing school seeks state help for new facility

    Jana Peterson|May 3, 2024

    When the Northern Lights Academy was created seven years ago by the 12 school districts served by the Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative, it gave those schools a place to send students they couldn't serve on their own. It also gave the students - who might have autism or significant emotional and behavioral disabilities and/or mental health needs - a place where they could be surrounded by classmates with similar needs and teachers specially trained to help them. Northern Lights... Full story

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