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First North Dakota teacher named Albert Einstein Fellow from West Fargo Schools, but denied leave

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First North Dakota teacher named Albert Einstein Fellow from West Fargo Schools, but denied leave


WEST FARGO — West Fargo Excessive College instructor Michelle Strand can be spending 11 months in Washington, D.C., the place she may have the prospect to assist affect training coverage for the nation as the primary North Dakota instructor to be named an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow.

Nevertheless, Strand, who has taught physics and AP physics on the college for 12 years, could not have the ability to return to the highschool after her fellowship is over. Her request for an unpaid go away of absence was denied by the district.

District officers haven’t granted any long-term go away of absences this yr because of the present instructor scarcity.

West Fargo Public Faculties Spokeswoman Heather Leas stated coverage prevents the district to talking a couple of particular instructor’s go away request, however she spoke to the district’s total scenario.

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“Go away requests had been dealt with in a different way this yr. As a result of extreme labor scarcity that we (together with so many employers) have skilled, (West Fargo Public Faculties) has not authorized any prolonged go away requests this yr primarily based on the problem we had been already experiencing in filling persevering with contracts,” Leas stated.

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program gives the chance for Ok–12 STEM educators from across the U.S. to use their classroom information and experiences whereas serving 11 months in a federal company or U.S. congressional workplace in Washington, D.C., engaged within the nationwide STEM training area.

Federal companies and U.S. congressional places of work profit from fellows’ real-world experiences as lecturers. In return, Einstein fellows acquire an understanding of the function of the federal authorities within the U.S. training system, information of assets accessible to college students and educators and broader views on nationwide training points that may be utilized to the classroom or to management positions of their districts or elsewhere.

Solely 15 lecturers are named Einstein fellows every year. This system assigns 10 fellows to a federal company, and 5 can be assigned to a U.S. Congressional workplace.

Strand will function one of many 5 in congressional places of work, the place she may have the prospect to pay attention to committee conferences, be part of discussions on coverage and report again to a congressman or congresswoman about matters relating to training. She can be answerable for getting data, doing analysis and assembly with nationwide influences.

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“We’re the voice within the workplace for training,” Strand stated. “It will get extra thrilling each step of the method.”

This system is managed by the U.S. Division of Vitality Workplace of Science’s Workplace of Workforce Improvement for Academics and Scientists in collaboration with the sponsoring companies and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Training. Sponsoring companies for this yr’s fellowship embody the Division of Vitality, Library of Congress, Division of Protection, U.S. Geological Survey, Nationwide Science Basis, Division of Homeland Safety and the Nationwide Aeronautics and House Administration.

This system has been working for 32 years, but Strand’s nomination is the primary time an educator from North Dakota has acquired the fellowship.

Strand acquired the Presidential Award for Excellence in Arithmetic and Science Instructing in 2016, one other elite recognition of her work as a science instructor. Since then, she typically receives emails about open fellowships, awards and packages that she could also be eligible for.

“Usually, I delete these emails. For no matter motive, this one, I did not delete it.” Strand stated. “I spent a couple of month going again to that electronic mail and studying it repeatedly.”

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Strand mentioned making use of together with her colleagues at West Fargo Excessive College and her household, all of whom had been supportive of her making use of for the fellowship, together with Principal Jennifer Fremstad and her fellow science division lecturers, who had been keen to assist cowl again on the college the place they might.

After making use of and being named a semifinalist for the fellowship this spring, Strand was notified of her award, which is able to formally start Aug. 15 and run by July 14, 2023.

Strand just lately returned from a visit to Capitol Hill, the place she met congressional representatives and toured the services.

“It was very surreal final week truly being within the Home, being of their cafeteria, and realizing that is the place I’m going to spend the following yr,” Strand stated.

As of press time, Strand has not discovered which workplace she can be assigned to. Nevertheless, she does know which instructional matters she wish to tackle throughout her time in Washington.

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“I’m actually involved about instructor burnout and instructor retention,” she stated. “I feel it is already beginning to turn into an actual downside, and it will be the largest disaster public training has seen, if issues do not change.”

The subject of instructor retention hits near Strand’s coronary heart after the denial of a go away of absence, which she stated is an ordinary yr of unpaid go away accessible to lecturers.

“My division needs me again, however I am nonetheless (pondering) do I need to return to a spot that does not help a once-in-a-lifetime alternative like this,” Strand stated.

The district has three insurance policies that enable for prolonged go away: for baby care, well being and a long-term skilled go away of absence for instructional coaching and different skilled progress expertise. In response to coverage, the go away is granted on the sole discretion of the superintendent.

The factors for granting such a go away consists of the instructor’s software, and the instructor or workers member should have a minimal of three consecutive years of expertise throughout the district.

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Skilled workers members making use of for the primary time for long-term skilled go away shall be given precedence over these skilled workers members requesting both an extension of a granted go away or an extra go away after having beforehand been granted a long-term go away.

To ensure that the superintendent to approve a go away, an acceptable substitute as decided by the superintendent should be accessible. The go away is offered for not lower than one semester and as much as two years.

Since she was not granted a go away of absence, Strand selected to not renew her educating contract after June 30. Whereas she could return to West Fargo and reapply for a educating place, Strand will go away the door open for now.

“I’ll put all my effort into having fun with this chance, and we’ll see what occurs,” she stated.

Readers can attain West Fargo editor Wendy Reuer at

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wreuer@forumcomm.com

or

701-241-5530

. Comply with her on Twitter

@ForumWendy

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North Dakota

'False promise' or lifesaver? Insulin spending cap returns to North Dakota Legislature

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'False promise' or lifesaver? Insulin spending cap returns to North Dakota Legislature


BISMARCK — A bill introduced in the North Dakota House of Representatives could cap out-of-pocket insulin costs for some North Dakotans at $25 per month.

The bill also includes a monthly cap for insulin-related medical supplies of $25.

With insulin costing North Dakota residents billions of dollars each year,

House Bill 1114

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would provide relief for people on fully insured plans provided by individual, small and large group employers. People on self-funded plans would not be affected.

“I call insulin liquid gold,” Nina Kritzberger, a 16-year-old Type 1 diabetic from Hillsboro, told lawmakers. “My future depends on this bill.”

HB 1114 builds on

legislation

proposed during the 2023 session that similarly sought to establish spending caps on insulin products.

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Before any health insurance mandate is enacted,

state law

requires the proposed changes first be tested on state employee health plans.

As such, the legislation was altered to order the state Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS, to introduce an updated bill based on the implementation of a $25 monthly cap on a smaller scale.

The updated bill — House Bill 1114 — would bring the cap out of PERS oversight and into the North Dakota Insurance Department, which regulates the fully insured market but not the self-insured market.

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Employers that provide self-insured health programs use profits to cover claims and fees, acting as their own insurers.

Fully insured plans refer to employers that pay a third-party insurance carrier a fixed premium to cover claims and fees.

“It (the mandate) doesn’t impact the entire insurance market within North Dakota,” PERS Executive Director Rebecca Fricke testified during a Government and Veterans Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Vice President Megan Hruby told the committee that two-thirds of the provider’s members would not be eligible for the monthly cap, calling the bill a “false promise.”

“We do not make health insurance more affordable by passing coverage mandates, as insurance companies don’t pay for mandates. Policy holders pay for mandates in the form of increased premiums,” Hruby said.

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She touted the insurance provider having already placed similar caps on insulin products and said companies should be making those decisions, not the state government.

Sanford Health and the Greater North Dakota Chamber also had representatives testify against the bill.

Advocates for the spending cap said higher premiums are worth lowering the cost of insulin drugs and supplies.

“One of the first things that people ask me about is, ‘Why should I pay for your insulin?’ And my response is, ‘Why should I have to pay for your premiums?’” Danelle Johnson, of Horace, said in her testimony.

If adopted and as written, the spending caps brought by

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House Bill 1114

would apply to the North Dakota commercial insurance market and cost the state around $834,000 over the 2025-27 biennium.

According to the 2024 North Dakota diabetes report,

medical fees associated with the condition cost North Dakotans over $306 billion in 2022.

The state has more than 57,200 adults diagnosed with diabetes, and a staggering 38% have prediabetes — a condition where blood sugar levels are high but not high enough to cause Type 2 diabetes.

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Nearly half of those people are adults 65 years old or older.

North Dakotan tribal members were also found to be twice as likely to have diabetes compared to their white counterparts.

Peyton Haug joined The Forum as the Bismarck correspondent in June 2024. She interned with the Duluth News Tribune as a reporting intern in 2022 while earning bachelor’s degrees in journalism and geography at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Reach Peyton at phaug@forumcomm.com.





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North Dakota edible bean farmer hosts international visitors to his farm

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North Dakota edible bean farmer hosts international visitors to his farm


Building international connections is an important aspect of the agricultural industry.

This year, farmer

Rudy Dotzenrod

hosted visitors from the Big Iron International Visitors Program to his farm to showcase his crops and Reinke irrigation systems.

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Rudy Dotzenrod leads members of the Big Iron International Visitors Program around his farm.

Jed Brazier / Northarvest Bean Growers Association

“They were looking for a place to kind of showcase some of their swing-arm technology at the end of their pivots,” Dotzenrod said. “I’ve got a couple of them here, so they wanted to come.”

There were visitors from all of the world, including Turkey, Guatemala and Africa.

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Lindsey Warner, deputy director of the North Dakota Trade Office

Ariana Schumacher/Agweek

“We bring in anywhere from 50 to 150 international visitors every year,” said Lindsey Warner, deputy director of the North Dakota Trade Office. “The goal of that is, first and foremost, have agriculture machinery buyers learn more about North Dakota, our agriculture, our agriculture practices, the machinery that’s manufactured here.”

They got to see every part of the farming operation.

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“I took a lot of them, and we walked around the farm, we went to different buildings and we looked at all sorts of different kinds of machinery, you know, from getting the ground ready, to planting, to spraying it, to harvesting it, just kind of looked at everything,” Dotzenrod said.

With Dotzenrod also being a black bean grower, that was beneficial to the visitors from Guatemala.

“They were very interested in irrigation and black beans,” Warner said.

2024 Dotzenrod ND Trade Office Visit (20 of 22).jpg

While members of the Big Iron International Visitors Program were interested in Rudy Dotzenrod’s edible bean production, they were more interested in corn when they visited in September 2024.

Jed Brazier / Northarvest Bean Growers Association

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However, most were interested in his corn production.

“I was kind of surprised, I thought there may be a few more questions on edible beans, but it was mostly in corn,” Dotzenrod said.

Bringing international visitors directly onto the farm is a big part of the tour.

“We live in a global world. A lot of the commodities that are produced within our state are exported outside of the U.S., so I think it’s really beneficial for people to see where their food is coming from, whether they are North Dakotas or they are international consumers of these products” Warner said.

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“People kind of want to know where their food is coming from, you know, and if they can try and put a face on that or an environment, that gives them a better understanding of where it’s at,” Dotzenrod said. “A lot of this is beyond the economics of it. It’s relationship based. If they feel like they’re buying something from somebody they like, I think it makes it a lot easier for them to go ahead and do that.”

Ariana Schumacher

Ariana is a reporter for Agweek based out of South Dakota. She graduated from South Dakota State University in 2022 with a double major in Agricultural Communications and Journalism, with a minor in Animal Science. She is currently a graduate student at SDSU, working towards her Masters of Mass Communications degree. She enjoys reporting on all things agriculture and sharing the stories that matter to both the producers and the consumers.





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North Dakota bill seeks to put the Ten Commandments in every classroom

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North Dakota bill seeks to put the Ten Commandments in every classroom


FARGO — A bill has been introduced at the North Dakota Legislature requiring a new addition to every public classroom in the state: the Ten Commandments.

House Bill 1145 is proposing the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom and every higher education classroom. That goes for all state educational institutions and public schools.

Ultimately, what’s being proposed is that the text of the Ten Commandments would be placed in every classroom, but some are worried about the message that would send to students and their families.

Those behind the bill claim North Dakota’s Constitution was based on values that derive from the Ten Commandments.

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“It just seemed not only important and necessary, and it just kind of dovetailed into being able to put the Ten Commandments back into the public square,” Sen. Jose Castaneda, R-Minot, said.

And while North Dakota’s newest legislative session just got underway, the topic is not new to the state.

A similar discussion took place in 2021 in North Dakota, passing through the state House and Senate, but that bill didn’t require the text be posted. And the Ten Commandments monument in Fargo has long stirred controversy.

Castaneda argues placing the text of the Ten Commandments in every classroom will instill North Dakota’s values in children.

“It’s important for everyone to be able to see them, and where do children spend their time? It’s in the classrooms,” he said.

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The commandments would need to be displayed on an 11-by-14 inch poster, and the state Board of Higher Education would be allowed to spend money to purchase the displays.

“To get a high degree of something, there needs to be a lot of repetition, and where children receive that on a daily basis — in the classroom,” Castaneda said.

But some are worried about whether the bill violates the separation of church and state section of the U.S. Constitution.

“Public schools are not Sunday schools, and they are not for religious instruction,” Cody Schuler, the North Dakota advocacy manager with the ACLU, said.

Those against the proposal say the words of the U.S. Constitution should matter in this discussion.

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“Really, by the state putting into law mandating one particular version of a religious document, it is showing preference, and that would be a violation, in our opinion, of the separation of church and state,” Schuler says.

The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee.

A bill with similar language was passed last summer in Louisiana before being struck down by a federal judge.

A lawmaker in South Dakota is also proposing the Ten Commandments be posted and taught in public schools.

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Isak Dinesen joined WDAY-TV as a reporter in September 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist at WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin for three years. He graduated from NDSU in 2020, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Sports Communication at MSUM.





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