Springfield Elementary celebrates excellence
Soon after Springfield Elementary School was notified that they were among only 297 school nationwide to receive the coveted designation as a Blue Ribbon School from the US Department of Education, they hosted a ceremony honoring the distinction and their students.
The celebration included many speakers including the Minnesota Commissioner of Education, Dr. Heather Mueller, Senator Gary Dahms, Springfield Mayor Lowell Helget, Robert Fink, retired elementary teacher, Superintendent Keith Kottke, 6th grade students Sophia Simon and Logan Shoen. Special guest included Jeff Kretch, School Board Chair, School Board members Justin Roiger, Mike Vogel, Ramsey Beyer, Sarah Groebner, Lori Groebner and Jessica Potter, PAWS members and more.
The ceremony began with the Springfield High School Band performing a rousing rendition of The Victors, followed by Springfield Elementary students and staff doing the Tiger Cheer.
Principal Kuehn began the ceremony by congratulating all the students for their Blue Ribbon achievement. “This is a great honor and it doesn’t happen by accident. That’s because you guys do such fantastic work each year in the areas of reading and math.”
He explained that he’s been blessed working at Springfield Elementary. “People make the difference, people that have high integrity, people that care, people that want to succeed, people that want to pursue excellence in everything that they do and that something that we’ve got. People that have high energy people that have enthusiasm . They love what they’re doing, they care about you and they want to see you succeed,” said Kuehn adding, “ The teamwork we have here is outstanding. Our teachers work together in teams and support one another.”
Special guest, Dr. Heather Mueller, Minnesota’s Commissioner of Education spoke directly to the young students saying, “I am so excited to be here on a day to celebrate you and your teachers and all the hard work you’ve done to get to this point!”
She continued saying, “Every day that you come through these doors, you are an individual that’s valued for everything you bring. That says a lot about Springfield and a lot of the pride of the Tigers.”
See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.