MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The Esports craze could soon reach a budget-constrained Minneapolis elementary school, with the help of a click of your finger.

“So this is where the magic happens,” said Hall STEM Academy physical education teacher Rachel Stewart.

Magic in sports

Hula-hoops and tennis rackets are magicians’ tools in Stewart’s gym class.

Dig deeper into her class closet, and you’ll find pickleball equipment — the first sign that this isn’t the same P.E. class from a generation ago.

“My goal for our kids is to expose them to the things that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to,” Stewart said.

Most students, 92%, at Hall come from low-income families, but they have cross-country skis ready for winter, and bikes to ride all year.

Pedaling towards success

Stewart is getting elementary school students ready to push for brighter futures.

“She’s always been about the kids, always been about how do we provide amazing opportunities for our students,” said Jesse Ross, a community partner to the school.

Her next innovation could move P.E. to a computer lab, but only if she wins a Wisconsin furniture company’s giveaway.

If you take the school’s old, unused computer lab, and you add $40,000 worth of new furniture, what you get is a state-of-the-art Esports classroom.

Why Esports?

Esports is a billion-dollar-a-year industry with a high barrier to entry because it often requires fairly expensive equipment.

“That’s the benefit of the Esports classroom because it evens the playing ground, and it gives all kids a chance to be leaders and to be successful,” Stewart said.

And not just in gaming.

Stewart is hoping to connect the P.E. class with some of the STEM lessons, so kids can see the connection between coding and game design.

Creative finances

But with Minneapolis public school budgets shrinking this year, the school had to get creative to find funding.

“If we have challenges, and we have barriers, whether it’s financial or otherwise, we still believe in the purpose of providing the best education for our students,” said Hall STEM Academy principal Sherrill Lindsey. “And so we are constantly trying to find other resources.”

Stewart’s design was picked as one of 12 finalists out of more than 500 from teachers across the country.

How to help

You can help Hall make this dream a reality by casting your vote in the contest here. 

HENNEPIN CO. (FOX 9) – Homeowners across Minnesota started getting their property tax assessments this week, but some are also getting sticker shock when they open their mailbox.

Taxes rising

The city of Minneapolis proposed the largest property tax hike in 16 years, 8.1%, while the school board passed a maximum levy of 4.5%.

That’s in addition to a separate $20 million school technology levy which voters approved.

St Paul and its school board also set maximum levy increases of 7.9%.

Add in county and park board levies and some homeowners are seeing double-digit increases.

“It’s actually not even just Minneapolis and St Paul. I think we’re finding that cities across the metro area, across the state are going to see this as well,” said Andrew Babula, the director of the real estate program at the University of St Thomas.

He says property taxes are going up because rising labor costs have made it more expensive for cities to provide services like street repair and public safety.

Some municipalities have also extended the number of services they provide, like investing in housing or revitalizing their downtown.

“The wages of city employees, which is good for city employees, but also then is bad for the taxpayers,” said Babula.

Babula says the falling value of downtown office buildings as more people work from home has shifted more of the city’s financial burden from commercial building owners to homeowners, but inflation is the major contributor to the property tax hikes.

“Cities are in a tough spot because they’ve got to provide the services. They don’t want to raise taxes either, so they’ve got tough decisions to make,” said Babula.