After the severe – and bizarre – storm that came through Northfield on Wednesday night, Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott said that the community emerged relatively unscathed. With the exceptions of a few tree branches down and some Christmas decorations blown into neighboring yards, he said there was no real damage to the city.
Chief Elliott took the opportunity to remind the community about the Everbridge alert system that is used by Rice and Steele Counties to inform the public of emergency situations. By registering with Everbridge from a link on the Northfield City website, the public will be alerted via text message, email, phone call, or all of the above, about severe weather, missing persons, and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods. It will even send a reminder on the first Wednesday of every month about the testing tornado sirens.
Elliott praised the system because it is time sensitive. Everbridge is tied into the Rice and Steele County dispatch system, as well as the National Weather Service. Should a severe weather warning for a tornado or a severe thunderstorm, or a snow advisory be issued, the information will be immediately delivered to any registered device.
Elliott said many Northfielders have registered to receive the alerts, but the city and the police department would like to see many more. As the Chief of Police, public safety is always his top concern, and the Everbridge system is a perfect tool to use toward that end.
“We really encourage people to get signed up so they can be informed. We certainly feel that an informed public is a safer public. It’s better for their safety and for the safety of others. On the city website, there’s a link that you can go to and just hit Everbridge alerts, and it will bring you to that page where you can get signed up.”
He also said registration can be done in a few minutes. For more information on Everbridge, or to register, visit the Police Department page on the city website.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield police Chief Mark Elliott can be heard here
Rice County Salvation Army needs bell ringers
The Rice County Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to fill out the final week of its Red Kettle Bell Ringing campaign.
Jim Dale, the county Kettle Volunteer Coordinator said the campaign has raised $30,000, which is only about half of the goal for the year. The final week before Christmas has always been when the most and largest donations tend to be made, so Dale is confident they can reach their goal, but only if they have enough people to tend the kettles
Dale said there are several spots that need to be filled beginning this afternoon and running into next week. As of this morning the available shifts are as follows:
Northfield – 9 shifts needed
Cub Foods – 7 shifts
Friday 17th 2-4
Monday 20th 10-12, 12-2, 2-4
Wednesday 22nd !0-12, 12-2, 2-4
Family Fare – 2 shifts
Saturday 18th 4-6
Wednesday 22nd 2-4
Lonsdale – 15 shifts needed
Makenthuns
Friday 17th 2-4
Monday 20th 10-12, 12-2, 2-4
Tuesday 21st 4-6
Wednesday 22nd 10-12,12-2, 2-4, 4-6
Thursday 23rd 10-12, 12-2, 2-4, 4-6
Friday 24th 10-12, 12-2
Faribault – 16 shifts needed
Fareway -10 shifts
Saturday 18th 4-6
Monday 20th 12-2, 2-4, 4-6
Tuesday 21st 10-12, 2-4, 4-6
Wednesday 22nd 12-2, 2-4, 4-6
HyVee – 2 shifts
Friday 17th 4-5
Thursday 23rd 10-12
WalMart – 4 shifts
Saturday 18th (2 doors)
Pharmacy 12-2,2-4
Grocery 12-2, 2-4
He reminded people that a donation placed in a Rice County Red kettle goes to help people right here in Rice County. He said writing a check to the National Salvation Army is a wonderful thing, but that donation is then spread out across the country. Those concerned with helping their neighbors should donate directly into one of the county kettles.
For more information on how to volunteer, visit registertoring.com.
School Board adopts new strategic plan
On Monday night, the Northfield School board adopted a new five-year strategic plan that Superintendent Matt Hillmann said is vital to the operations and success of the Northfield School District.
Hillmann said the planning process began last spring. Members of the board met with district staff and special advisory groups to hear the concerns that might have occurred over the past few years and to read the community priorities for the school system. The school board then met several times to distill and refine the information they received.
One of the changes they made was to the school district’s vison statement that now reads “We will prepare every student for lifelong success by developing critical thinkers who are curious and ready to engage in our society.”
The priorities named in the plan are People, Learner Outcomes, Equity, Communication, Stewardship and Partners.
Hillmann said it was important that each of the priorities be clearly defined, but he felt one was especially important on which to elaborate. Equity is key to the foundation of the plan, he said, because it’s really just about basic human decency.
“Sometimes in education we’ve heard this word ‘equity’ used in a variety of different ways. I just want to define what we mean by ‘equity.’ Our statement around equity is ‘we ensure that every (underlined every) child has a fair opportunity to reach their full potential. So that means we are trying to remove barriers for kids to be able to be able to pursue the American Dream.”
The plan then identifies a number of benchmarks that will be used to measure the plan’s progress. He said the district used many of the same benchmarks identified by Northfield Promise, and then modified them to fit the specifics of the community’s expectations. Among the way the ways progress will be measured will be by ascertaining if young children are ready for kindergarten, looking at students’ connections to the community, making sure they can read and do math at grade level, looking at the physical, emotional and social health of all students, ensuring they have a close connection to an adult that isn’t one of their parents, and more.
The plan will be evaluated several times over the year, he said. He personally will take a strong look at things each September as he prepares his State of the District presentation. He said more than half of the benchmarks are also a part of the State’s World’s Best Workforce program. As required by state statute, the district will report on them in a public hearing every October.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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