Clearbrook kids study rice

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Aug. 23, 1996

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

Teachers and school administrators of the Frank Lien School in Clearbrook have earned their school a $5,000 grant for an educational project involving the school's fifth and sixth grades.

The "Wild Rice Project" was an integrated learning experience involving classroom work and field work studying the local, commercial production of wild rice.

The students used the Internet, various computers, lectures from community experts and field experiments to study wild rice production, from start to finish.

"Besides making children aware of the local economy," school administrator George Linthicum said, "they used technology to study the process, and it strengthened the ties between the school and the community."

He said the school has not planned how the money will be used, but it is the donor's intention it be utilized again to expand opportunities to provide technology-enhanced education, while strengthening community relationships.

"The goal is to develop a broader image of school and generate more community input into the school," Linthicum said.

The money was awarded by the Pioneering Partners Foundation at a conference earlier this month in Bloomington, Ind. The organization met to recognize and award outstanding educators who have pioneered innovative, technology-driven projects, and to help those educators spread their ideas across the country, according to a Pioneering Partners Foundation news release.

The foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization led by Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson. It also provides educators invited to its annual seminar with specialized training, offers ongoing technical and administrative support and facilitates collaborative efforts between education, business and political leaders across the country.