Each year, Minnesota teachers can take the time to attend workshops and gain new skills to take back to the classroom. This takes place at the Minnesota Educator Academy conference, the biggest one-day event for professional development. While teachers were busy networking and gaining new information during MEA, many OHS students were busy taking in the long MEA break to do many different activities.
OHS students look forward to this break to spend time with friends and family, vacation, relax and simply to enjoy the time off. Junior Mariah Fox said, “I was really looking forward to the break because it can often feel really busy in the beginning of the school year so it was great to have some time to reset over the break.” Some OHS students took advantage of the time off to make memories and even just to take in new experiences.
Fox saw MEA break as a chance to do multiple activities. She enjoyed getting the chance to tour the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University while visiting some of her family members up north. Something that she also enjoyed was watching the rival hockey game between UND and the University of Minnesota. Fox said, “I decided to go to the hockey game because it was a highly anticipated game of the year but also because it gave me a better understanding of what it may be like to be a student at UND.”
College visits were popular among OHS students this year as junior Maya Miller saw MEA break as an opportunity to not only spend time with family, but to also visit a college. Her trip to Duluth was spent enjoying nature, swimming, trying different restaurants and just relaxing, while also taking the time to visit and tour the University of Minnesota Duluth. Miller enjoyed her experience while visiting UMD as it was something that she had been looking forward to. Miller said, “My college visit went really well. I got to see what college life was like and I also found out more about the major I want to study in.”
With other OHS students experiencing new activities, junior Bradyn Jamaica was able to build on memories already created from past years at The Dead End Hayride in Wyoming, MN. This was Jamaica’s third year attending the spooky experience but expressed that it gets better and better each year. Jamaica said, “I felt like the hayride was a very enjoyable experience that brought a lot of good memories and good scares with it. And I intend on going again next year.”
With fall activities in full swing, freshman Alejandra Gonsalez enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch with her family during the chilly yet cozy weather. She said, “It has become a little family tradition, and we’re also planning to carve the pumpkins we picked, which has also became a tradition.” Something that made the day fun for her was taking pictures, going through a corn maze and enjoying a relaxed day. Gonsalez knew that this was a well needed break. She expressed that she had been busy with school before break, so it was really nice to enjoy time to herself and enjoy the little things.
While some students looked forward to vacations or new experiences, junior Allison Johnson looked forward to enjoying the time off to relax. She said, “I relaxed on my couch and watched Fire Country.” With such a busy schedule, she knew the break was well needed and worth it. She took the time to catch up on sleep, spend quality time with loved ones and play softball.
MEA break was able to create many memories for OHS students as well as allowing them to relax from school. Most of the students could agree that a break was needed and gave them a chance to reset before heading back to finish up the first quarter of this school year.
