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Casey Hoiland, who is starting second grade in Luverne Elementary, smiles for Lifetouch photographer Jessica Kodada Thursday evening, Aug. 20, in the elementary gym. His dad, Stuart Hoiland (left) observes as Donell Henckel helps to make him smile. Yearbook photographs were part of the district-wide open house for teachers, students and families to get acclimated to school and prepare for the upcoming year. According to school staff, the 2015 event was the best-attended school open house they’d ever seen.
In honor of the start of school, Superintendent Craig Oftedahl had red-and-white T-shirts made for all school employees. Pictured here, technology coordinator Susan Beers (from the back) and high school secretary Diana Ouverson work the front desk at the open house. On the front of the shirts are the words “Cardinal Pride,” and on the back are the words, “Be great.” Oftedahl said he ordered more than 250 T-shirts from Print Express in Luverne at $7.25 apiece. “We wanted to create a sense of pride in our school through hard work and challenge our staff to be great,” he said about the shirts ordered for all school personnel, from maintenance staff and bus drivers to teachers and administrators. “Good isn’t good enough,” Oftedahl said. “Let’s be great.”
He said he hoped the T-shirts would generate interest from district residents and families. “They help send the message to everyone – we’re unified, we’re here for the kids and we’re going to be great. We’re doing our best every day,” Oftedahl said. “We’re all in this together, and we all want what’s best for the kids.”