Dickinson – Page 28 – Dustin Monke

Dickinson Catholic Schools to reorganize board of education, dismisses layperson board members

Dickinson Catholic Schools is going through an upheaval and restructuring in its governance.

All seven layperson members of the DCS Board of Education were dismissed during a Thursday night board meeting. Their dismissal follows the resignation of Superintendent Kelly Koppinger, whose final day was March 29.

The board’s executive council — five Dickinson priests — have said the board will be reorganized with some layperson members eventually being brought back to the board.

“There will be some asked to come back,” Rev. Todd Kreitinger said on Friday.

Kreitinger said there is no timetable for when the board plans to reorganize with layperson members, none of whom were relieved because of wrongdoings.

“It isn’t a personality thing or a personal thing,” Kreitinger said. “It was more the restructuring.”

A three-paragraph email sent Friday to DCS faculty, staff and parents states that because the schools no longer have a superintendent, the five priests — all of whom signed the email — will collectively act as interim superintendent. The plan has the full support of Rev. David Kagan, bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck.

The email states, “This temporary structure will be replaced as soon as a new iteration of the board can be implemented.” It was signed by Kreitinger, Monsignor Patrick Schumacher and Revs. Shannon Lucht, Keith Streifel and Kregg Hochhalter, the chaplain at Trinity High School.

DCS is comprised of Trinity High School, Trinity Elementary East and Trinity West Elementary.

Kreitinger said the decision to dismiss the board’s layperson members was difficult and has been met with mixed feedback from the community.

“Each person’s opinion is not only important and valuable, but sometimes all of us can be anxious about the unknown or misunderstandings or even just change” said Kreitinger, the priest at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Dickinson. “I can sympathize and appreciate concerns. That’s how it can get kind of heated. Each person’s opinion is valid.”

In the email, the board’s executive council stated that the school system’s budget for the next fiscal year has been approved and all contracts for the 2013-14 school year will be issued within their usual time frame.

According to the DCS website, the board of education was comprised of Paul Ellerkamp, Joe Fridrich, Rich Holgard, Tina Jassek, Travis Leintz, Anthony Willer and Janet Williams, along with the five above-mentioned priests and Kagan.

Phone calls made to several former board members and Kagan went returned. Other former board members said they would not comment on the story.

A look inside Wildcat Pizzeria

Wildcat Facade — The sign for Wildcat Pizzeria is shown in the North Park Plaza in west Dickinson. The pizzeria is located upstairs and will be accessible off State Avenue. (Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand)

I got a first look inside the new Wildcat Pizzeria on March 20 thanks to owner Russell Meads.

What I got out of my impromptu tour after stopping by on my way home for lunch was that the New York-style pizzeria has the potential of being one of the coolest places in Dickinson when it opens April 12 (or sometime around there, Meads said).

Press reporter Katherine Grandstrand featured Wildcat Pizzeria on our Business page Tuesday.

One of the most interesting things Wildcat brings is, as Meads told me, is the pizzeria’s “great ingredients.” Great and interesting is more like it. You’ll be able to build your own pizza with corn, eggplant, many kinds of peppers and different tomatoes.

From all accounts, Meads’ Wildcat location in Williston has been a hit so they must be doing something right.

A native of Cape Cod, Mass., Meads’ restaurant also features New England clam chowder – the East Coast style, not my hometown’s style – Stromboli, nachos and boneless wings.

But, what the people of Dickinson will like most is the full-service bar that includes a patio area in the summer months.

photo (12) — The inside of Wildcat Pizzeria is seen March 20 while the restaurant was still under construction. (Press Photo by Dustin Monke)

Wildcat Pizzeria also happens to be in the North Park Plaza on the corner of 15th Street West and State Avenue. It’s an area where home building is booming, meaning it should do well in the long term. While it serves pay-by-the-ounce frozen yogurt, it will benefit from having Cherry Berry located in the same building.

I love pizza. Most of us do. And, honestly, Dickinson could use another sit-down pizza place now that Happy Joes is officially gone. Hopefully Wildcat will be able to fill that void.

Missing Miss Njos: Students, teachers react after beloved elementary teacher dies in weekend car crash

0326-njos-1 — A photo of Johanna Njos sits on a table in the hallway at Lincoln Elementary School in Dickinson on Monday as students sign a poster dedicated to the school’s gifted and talented teacher, who died Saturday in a car accident west of Amidon. Lincoln students also created cards, seen lying on the table.

Students and faculty at Lincoln and Berg Elementary Schools in Dickinson grieved Monday for a teacher who touched lives in Dickinson as well as on the other side of the world.

Johanna Njos was described by her co-workers as an adored teacher who devoted her life and career to serving others.

The 30-year-old educator who oversaw the gifted-and-talented program at the two schools, died Saturday afternoon when her car was struck by an oncoming semi truck after it slid into the opposite lane on ice-covered Highway 85 while attempting to negotiate a curve west of Amidon.

“There have been many tears and sadness,” said Tammy Praus, the principal at Lincoln Elementary School.

Njos, who taught 32 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, was hired by Dickinson Public Schools in 2006 after graduating from Dickinson State University.

From her first day, staff members said they could tell she was going to be a special teacher.

Continue reading “Missing Miss Njos: Students, teachers react after beloved elementary teacher dies in weekend car crash”

Former NBA All-Star Mark Eaton speaks at energy summit in Dickinson

Everyone, it seems, wants to have their picture taken with Mark Eaton.

The 7-foot-4 former NBA All-Star center said he doesn’t mind. In fact, he’s used to it. “It’s who I am and you just kind of have to accept that and use it to your advantage,” Eaton said.

Eaton’s positive attitude, fan friendliness and rich, commanding baritone voice have made him an in-demand motivational speaker in the past five years.

He spoke about businesses eliminating internal competition on Friday morning during the 2012 Energy and Infrastructure Summit at the Ramada Grand Dakota Lodge in Dickinson. Afterward, he greeted people and, of course, took side-by-side photos with whoever asked.

Continue reading “Former NBA All-Star Mark Eaton speaks at energy summit in Dickinson”

Photos from after Wednesday night’s storm

I stumbled upon this overturned pickup while looking at a torn apart apartment building across the street. That’s when I knew this wasn’t just some little storm.

This is the first house I came upon that suffered nearly an entire loss.

The remains of someone’s home.

Perhaps my favorite picture of the entire ordeal. I was amazed that the clothes stayed in the closet while almost the entire frame of the house had been ripped apart.

I walked into the Reisenauer’s apartment with them as they showed me where they were sitting when the roof tore off.

These people were great to speak with. The man who lives in this house was in his kitchen when an camper came through the wall.

The guys in this SUV were in there when the back windows blew out. They said they promptly jumped out of the car and began running for safety.

This didn’t tone well, but it’s a street entirely blocked by downed trees. Down the street is Highway 22.

I couldn’t believe how some things remained and some things were destroyed. The frame of hte house is bent, there’s wood and debris covering the entire yard, yet the basketball hoop is still hanging, as are the bicycles in the garage even though the cars were moved several feet.

These trees in Al Meier’s yard were uprooted from the storm. Luckily, that’s about the extent of the damage the Meier’s suffered.

Greg Wilkinson stands next to what remains of his home in south Dickinson.

GRESS COMPLEX DAMAGE

The banner picture of what the second field at Gress Softball Complex looked like on Thursday evening. Ryan Nelson of Dickinson Parks and Recreation said that the Miller Lite softball tournament has been canceled, all softball through next Thursday has been canceled (at least), and they hope to organize a softball clean-up effort sometime soon.