As the Northfield school district looks for voter approval of 2 new schools this November, Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann took a tour of some area high schools. He said they wanted to get some context of 
space for learning. They toured Andover High, a school with 2000 students. It’s the footprint of the building model they’re looking at for Northfield. They wanted to get the general layout/footprint of the multi-story school as it sits on a property. They toured Southwest High in Mpls, to see their collaborative learning spaces, which Hillmann says, takes a different mind set and it was very informative. They then toured Burnsville High School and looked at their,
Career Technical Education spaces, or what used to be called, Shop Class, Industrial Arts. Hillmann said the kinds of shops we had in the 1960’s buildings are very different from what they are now to prepare students for the trades. The schools are hearing from employers that that’s where the job shortages are now. The collaborative learning spaces are based on what the STUDENT needs rather than what the TEACHER needs. The differences between the learning spaces is tremendous. In particular are the collaborative layouts. An explanation of the Referendum is on the Schools website. A button at the top will link you to all the information.
Nfld’s debt “pretty standard”
Northfield has a yearly debt repayment of $1.6 million. Administrator Martig says that’s pretty standard. He said one of the positive things is Northfield’s accelerated payment plan. They’re on a 15 year plan rather than a 30, which saves 
lots of interest dollars. A 15 year payment plan is also looked at more favorably for credit scores. Martig added that it’s important to take care of your aging infrastructure. He added that, if you let that slip by year to year, it can really “bite you later”, so it’s important to be diligent on reconstruction, tec. Street projects, sewer, water, stormwater systems and the police station take up the majority of the debt. The City will set it’s preliminary levy on September 19th.
Passion for purchasing becomes Buck Thrifty
Twice a year, Sheri Israel would hold a garage sale. When 200 people were standing waiting for her to open, she and her husband decided it was time for her to open her own store! Israel, the storage locker lady, turned her passion for purchasing into a thriving business known as Buck Thrifty. She calls is “the littles shop”, the items that she hasn’t sold on an auction site, put on Ebay or local garage sale sites. Items include antiques, household goods, artwork, clothing, jewelry, hunting gear and more. It’s at Buck Thrifty. Israel is committed to the community. She holds a fundraiser once a month. Israel collects donated items from the community and 100{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of the profits goes directly to whatever charity they’re raising money for that weekend. The next fundraiser will be for Believet. Listen to Sheri’s full interview on kymn.net and get the whole story! Buck Thrifty is off Hwy 3 between Advanced Autoparts and Mcdonalds. Buck Thrifty facebook page.
