Minnesota
OPINION EXCHANGE | Counterpoint: It's not Finland or bust: How Minnesota schools can evolve
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Minnesota should “adopt the Finnish education model,” Jon Olson wrote in his Feb. 13 commentary “10 bold initiatives for Minnesota.” Ted Kolderie quickly shot down the idea, calling it an “impossibility” (“Delving more deeply into ‘bold initiative’ No. 1,” counterpoint, Feb. 16). I heard an all-or-nothing approach in these two perspectives. However, I see a middle ground as a U.S. teacher and parent living in Finland.
The North Star State should neither import nor brush aside the high-performing Finnish model. Instead, Minnesota schools can draw inspiration from Finland while exercising caution.
In the early 2000s, the Finnish education system gained a reputation for high student achievement on a set of standardized tests called the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). However, Finland’s PISA scores have gradually declined. No one can definitively explain the country’s downward trend, but theories abound. In recent years, Finnish schools have struggled to address the low performance of immigrant students and a wide gender achievement gap.
Despite its blemishes, Finland’s efficient model still produces solid academic results. Finnish schools offer shorter school days, fewer standardized tests and less stress than I have found in U.S. districts. Elementary school students in Finland enjoy multiple recess periods per day, a balanced curriculum and very little homework. Finnish teachers, who typically hold a master’s degree in education, experience significant autonomy within a collaborative teaching environment.
Copper Island Academy, a Michigan charter school I work with, borrows best practices from Finnish education. For example, it implements hands-on programs (including studio and culinary arts), frequent outdoor breaks and teacher-powered leadership. Educators at this K-8 school also minimize homework and standardized test prep.
In 2023, Copper Island emerged as a top performer based on its high Michigan School Index score, placing it among the top 10% of the state’s public schools. Their Finnish-inspired model has quickly gained traction in their local community. The school expects enrollment to rise in the fall — from 340 to more than 400 students in just a year.
Finnish inspiration takes different forms. Sure, it can look like starting a school from scratch, but it can be much less ambitious than that. Since I wrote my book “Teach Like Finland,” U.S. educators have told me about Finnish-inspired changes they have made in their classrooms, such as giving students more responsibilities and incorporating more movement. But if I could implement just one practice in all U.S. schools, I would choose Finland’s approach to recess.
Elementary school children in Finland usually get a 15-minute break built into every hourlong lesson. Several times per day, teachers send their students to the playground for free play after 45 minutes of instruction. (Copper Island Academy sticks to a similar schedule.)
A vast body of research supports Finland’s recess strategy. Researchers, including Anthony Pellegrini, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, have shown that regular breaks help children to focus during the school day. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, recess is necessary “for optimizing a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.”
A veteran educator in St. Paul told me that elementary school students in Minnesota usually receive about 15 minutes of recess per day. The state Department of Education even calls providing at least 20 minutes of daily recess to all K-5 students a best practice. The Finns I know would be shocked to hear this.
To their credit, Minnesota policymakers recently improved recess practices across the state. The “Recess for All” law went into effect this school year, prohibiting recess detention (i.e., removing or excessively delaying a child from a scheduled break for disciplinary reasons). However, the law’s title is misleading.
Like most U.S. states, Minnesota does not guarantee daily recess for elementary school children. State law only recommends it. But many states — including Rhode Island, New Jersey and Florida — have mandated daily recess over the last decade. Rather than adopting the entire Finnish model, what if the Minnesota Legislature drew inspiration from Finland and simply guaranteed daily recess to K-5 students?
Even better, Minnesota could require its elementary schools to offer multiple recess periods per school day, Finnish style. This reform is doable. Arizona already requires its public schools to provide K-5 students with two daily recess blocks. Minnesota could be next.
Timothy Walker is a U.S. educator and author living in Espoo, Finland. He began a paid partnership with Copper Island Academy in 2023.
Minnesota
Texas man swindled northern Minnesota woman out of $100K in gold bars, $36K in cash, charges say
MARSHALL COUNTY, Minn. — A 23-year-old Texas man faces charges for his role in swindling $36,000 in cash and $100,000 in gold bars from a northern Minnesota woman.
Charges filed in Marshall County say that a 66-year-old woman said she sent the money to a man in Texas because he had told her he had access to her Social Security number. She said she’d sent the cash in $100 bills and tucked the money into books, which she sent to two different CVS stores in Texas.
She added that he had also bought $100,000 worth of gold bars online in August of last year. The man told her he would pick the gold bars up outside her home on Sept. 1, charges say.
That day, she received a phone call and the man told her to bring the gold bars outside and put them in the backseat of a white car sitting outside her home. Once she did so, the car drove off and she couldn’t see who was driving.
Documents say the suspect was apprehended in McKinney, Texas. He was seen on video footage picking up the packages from the CVS stores.
He admitted to collecting the packages and delivering them to an unknown individual, charges say. He said he knew what was in the pacakges, and had picked up roughly 40 of them between August and September of 2023.
He said he had been coerced into picking up the packages, and he was being compensated for his work, according to documents.
The suspect was charged with two counts of theft. The theft charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.
Last week, Jabez Reeves, a sprinter at Minnesota State University – Mankato, stretched by himself on the end of the school’s track. He then ran three full-speed sprints, as his coach at Mankato watched on.
Three days later, Reeves was on a flight to Paris, where he’ll compete on the Liberian Olympic men’s 4×100 meter relay team.
While the team members are clearly tied to Liberia, they also share a strong connection to Minnesota.
“I have a lot of family toward the Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park area. So for them, just having people that are from Minnesota, putting on and trying to take our name internationally is pretty huge for them,” Reeves said. “It’s just more like an honor thing, just being grateful that I’m allowed to be in this position now.”
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Reeves grew up in Woodbridge, Va., but transferred to MSU when another Liberian sprinter — Emmanuel Matadi — recruited him.
Matadi is also the veteran of the Liberian relay team. He ran at Johnson High School in St. Paul. Akeem Sirleaf was a sprinter at North St. Paul High School and now runs for North Carolina A&T State University. And then there’s Joseph Fahnbulleh, who ran for Hopkins High School in Minnetonka and then raced for the University of Florida.
Jabez Reeves in Mankato before heading to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News
All three of them have state high school championships under their belts.
“When we all talk, we’re all like ‘Yeah, I’m from this part of Minnesota, I’m gonna do what I gotta do to represent this part of Minnesota,’” Sirleaf said. “But when we all come together on that relay, none of that matters. We just focus on the goal, which is to make it to the final and get a medal.”
While the team has a strong Minnesota connection, they rarely get to run together. Getting timing down and baton passes right will be something they’ll work on in Paris before their first race.
But at Olympic Qualifiers in May in the Bahamas, the team looked like a well-oiled machine.
The top two teams in each heat get automatic bids. Liberia was in fifth place as the last leg of the race came, but Fahnbulleh exploded in the anchor leg, pulling his team into second, edging out Switzerland by a hundredth of a second.
The ecstatic team ran to each other on the track, hugging each other.
“That whole relay was just amazing,” Sirleaf said. “I feel like it was a steppingstone for us to put our name out there to the world, to let the world know that, yeah, we’re a small country, but we’re coming.”
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Sirleaf is nursing an injury and will be an alternate in Paris. John Sherman, a 19-year-old from Middle Tennessee State University, will run in place of Sirleaf.
As the Olympic ceremonies open Friday in Paris, the team will come out waving the Liberian flag, a celebration both of their journey and Liberia’s Independence Day, which is the same day.
In 1991, the U.S., and specifically Minnesota, began resettling refugees from Liberia, who were fleeing civil war. Today, Minnesota is home to one of the largest Liberian populations in the U.S., estimated at around 30,000 people.
“The Minnesota connection is really strong,” said Momodou N’Jie, Joseph Fahnbulleh’s cousin and manager. N’Jie grew up with him in the Hopkins area. He says the community is excited to watch the Liberian-Minnesotans compete in Paris.
“There’s a lot of different watch parties, not only obviously here in Minnesota … Rhode Island’s another big place and obviously in Liberia,” he said. “I think it’ll be very cool to see all these different watch parties.”
As of Thursday, the exact location of those watch parties hasn’t been announced.
Many families will also be traveling to Paris, which wasn’t a possibility at the Tokyo Olympics because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“I feel like it’s big, because my mom is going to be there. Because [Liberia’s] her native country. So for her seeing me there in Liberia gear, and us on the stage and being the flag bearer and things like that. It’s kind of just huge for her.”
He said racing for the team, representing the country his mother grew up in, will be an honor.
“I grew up around so many Liberians that it almost feels like a duty,” Reeves said. “I kind of felt like I had to run for Liberia just because of where I’m from. And it’s kind of like my birthright, kind of like something that I feel had to be done.”
Jabez Reeves warms up at Myer’s Field House in Mankato.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News
He said it’s not only his family that’s excited, but the broader Liberian-American community.
“The very first time we qualified, I had almost 1,000 messages, just about ‘Congratulations. We’re so proud of you,’” he said. “I’ve had a couple of run-ins at the airport, like MSP, where people are like, ‘Oh, you’re the Liberian guy!’ It’s super cool to see people happy and excited that we’re doing something for not just ourselves, but for them as well.”
The first race for the relay team will be on Thursday Aug. 8. Fahnbulleh will run the first round of the 200 meters on Aug. 5. Matadi will run the first round of the 100 meters on Aug. 3.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings’ already sparse cornerback room got a little more barren Wednesday when Mekhi Blackmon went down with an injury.
The second-year player tore his ACL, according to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, so he’ll miss his sophomore season. The tragic death of rookie Khyree Jackson dealt another blow to the position group.
Blackmon, a third-round pick a year ago, ended up playing 43% of defensive snaps last season and was an emerging presence for Brian Flores’ unit. With him now out, the only sure thing at cornerback is Byron Murphy. Behind him, there are a lot of question marks: free agent addition Shaq Griffin is on his fifth team in as many seasons; third-year players Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans have yet to show much consistency; and recent signing Duke Shelley has flashed at times, but is undersized.
The Vikings did add depth CB Jacobi Francis on Thursday, but they may look to make more moves at the position before the season begins. Here are a few options if the Vikings decide to sign another cornerback.
Xavien Howard
Howard is likely the best free agent corner on the market; he’s a former All-Pro with 29 career interceptions. Beyond that, he’s a natural fit for the Vikings’ defense, having played under Flores in Miami. Howard is 31 and suffered a foot injury at the end of last season. He may also be looking for more money than the Vikings care to offer. But he’s about as good an option as they’re likely to find this late in the offseason.
Stephon Gilmore
Gilmore, 33, is a former Defensive Player of the Year on the tail end of his career. He’s nowhere near the player he once was and has bounced around the league over the past few seasons, but it’s not like the Vikings have their pick of the litter this close to the season. Last year in Dallas, Gilmore started all 17 games, logging two interceptions and 13 passes defended.
Patrick Peterson
Peterson makes the list solely because he’s a familiar face, having played for the Vikings from 2021-2022. At 34 years old, Peterson’s lost the athleticism that once made him a premier player, but he still has a nose for the ball. In 11 of his 13 seasons, he’s grabbed multiple interceptions, including the last two in Pittsburgh and Minnesota. Last season, he started 16 games for the Steelers.
J.C. Jackson
Jackson, 28, looked like a rising star in New England before signing a huge deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. In L.A., though, he struggled greatly, and got traded back to the Patriots midway through his second season. The Pats then cut him at the end of the year. Jackson will likely never again be the premier player he was in New England, but if Flores can get him back on track, he could be a solid contributor for the Vikings.
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