Shortly before Northfield Public Schools went on holiday break, a trend occurred across the Tik Tok social media platform that was
encouraging students to commit violence in their schools on a specific day. The trend became so concerning that many school districts across the country, including Farmington and Lakeville, shut down for the day. While no violence occurred that can be directly tied to the trend, and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety issued a press release stating that they could not find a credible threat in the state, parents across the country, in Minnesota, and indeed, in Northfield were alarmed and concerned about the situation.
Superintendent of Northfield Schools, Dr. Matt Hillmann, said the district was aware of the trend and worked closely with the Northfield Police Department, particularly Chief of Police Mark Elliott and School Resource Office Bart Wiese, to ensure that there were no issues within the district, and it was safe for kids to attend school that day.
Hillmann did say, however, that the school district takes all situations of this nature seriously and is prepared to deal with anything that might occur. The district conducts five lockdown drills each year, and the doors to each school are secure. However, Hillmann said that it is important to balance the security of the school with making sure that Northfield schools are welcoming, inclusive spaces, and not fortresses.
There are things the community can do as well to help prevent a dangerous situation. Relationships, he said, are important tools in cases like this. One of the district’s top priorities is to ensure that every Northfield student has a relationship with a trusted adult that is not a parent or a family member.
“Why is that important? Because if a kid trusts an adult and they hear something where there could be potential harm, we know that kids will tell them. Not in every single case, but in the vast majority of cases, kids will share something with a friend or with this trusted adult at school. And that network of relationships really is the most important piece for us.”
Dr. Hillmann said community vigilance is important as well. If a person knows that someone plans to do harm, they should call 911 without hesitation. Rice County also has the Tip 411 program in place which is a safe and anonymous way to alert law enforcement of suspicious or potentially harmful activity.
Finally, he said, the City of Northfield and Rice County have a wealth of mental health resources available to those who are struggling. The key is to get people help when they need it.
“We have to make sure that when we see a student or a neighbor in crisis,” he said, “that we understand that it is our duty as a neighbor, a friend, or just as a human being, to help people.”
Percy discusses Summering and preparations for Sundance Film Festival
Local writer Benjamin Percy is set for a particularly busy January. He has a new novel coming out, as a writer with Marvel Comic Books he has a ten-week event focusing on the character of Wolverine that will begin in January, and alongside his friend James Ponsoldt, he has written the screenplay for a movie called Summering which will debut at the end of next month at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
Percy said the movie is a “quest story,” centered around four girls during the last days of summer before they enter Middle School. The girls make a disturbing discovery that according to the film’s synopsis on the Sundance website “changes everything“ for them.
Percy said he wrote the movie for his daughter, to whom he had read his favorite books and shown his favorite movies. He said she enjoyed them, but asked him “Where are all the girls?” Percy realized that all of the stories he had shared with her were heavily dominated by male characters, noting that JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit has exactly one female pronoun in the entire book. So, he said, he wrote a story that had some adventure and intrigue to it but is also a coming-of-age story.
Percy said he was deeply involved in the production of the movie. He and his family visited the set while the film was shooting last summer, where he marveled at the detail that goes into the making of feature film. He said the postproduction process has been handled largely online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. He and the director and the editing crew have gone through hundreds of hours of footage, he said, to create an 87-minute movie.
Summering was directed by James Ponsoldt, who cowrote the movie with Percy. Ponsoldt is best known for having directed another coming-of-age film, the critically acclaimed The Spectacular Now. In a video on the film’s Sundance page, he too said that he wanted to make a movie for his daughter that would tell a story that she could relate to.
Percy has published six novels, including the upcoming The Unfamiliar Garden, and has written comic books for DC and Marvel since 2014, but this is his debut as a feature film writer. He said to see his first project debut at Sundance is a great thing, and he intends to take full advantage of the experience.
“This will be my first time. The big film festivals are Sundance, Toronto and Cannes to premier this at Sundance really is a dream come true. I will be there with my wife, and we’ll hit the red carpet and hit some parties, hopefully. And we’re going to stick around for a few days afterwards and try to cram as many other movies into our eyes as we can.”
Last year the Sundance Film Festival was forced to go virtual because of the global pandemic. This year, the plan is for the festival to be both a live in-person event and offer online viewing of the films as well. The ten-day event begins on January 20th, and Summering will debut in the theater on January 22nd. Those interested in viewing the film online can watch on January 23rd at 5pm or on January 25th at 9am. Percy said he hopes the film will be available in wide release sometime this summer.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Benjamin Percy can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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