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Charge!

Subhead
Last year superintendent inspired staff to 'Be Great;' this year he calls for personal to 'Charge'
Lead Summary
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By
Mavis Fodness

A year after he encouraged staff at Luverne Public Schools to “Be Great,” Superintendent Craig Oftedahl inspired employees at Monday’s in-service to continue moving forward positively.
Charge!
“One word. Very simple,” he said to the 200 people gathered in the Luverne Elementary School commons. “And everyone knows what it means.”
As an illustration, staff members watched the opening scene of the movie, “Dances with Wolves,” in which actor Kevin Costner plays a soldier during the Civil War. In an 1865 battle Costner takes inventory of the stalemate between the Confederate and Union soldiers. His decision to ride horseback in front of the Confederate troops inspired his own soldiers to resume and win the battle.
Oftedahl encouraged staff to make different assessments to make a student’s day more positive. His examples ranged from just a smile to studying test data to see why a student is struggling academically.
“Hit it head-on and charge forward,” he said. “It’s OK to make a mistake; failure is not defeat unless you give up.”
As a reminder of his message, all employees were given charging adaptors for phones, computers and other technological equipment. Imprinted on the black zippered cases were the words “Luverne Cardinals.”
A year ago Oftedahl encouraged staff members to “Be Great.”
The two words were emblazoned in white on the back of red T-shirts given to each employee last year, Oftedahl’s first year as superintendent.
 “Be Great” promotes a positive learning environment and encourages staff members to recognize each other and students for their positive actions.
“I don’t want us to be complacent and lose our momentum we started last year,” he said.

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