Author: Juliana Allen

Students from the International School of Minnesota (ISM) worked hard to make the holidays a little bit brighter for six Twin Cities families through their annual holiday season “Adopt a Family” service project. ISM partnered with Minneapolis-based service organization Good in the Hood for this initiative, which involved fulfilling wish lists of needs and wants for local families in need. “The goal of this program is to support local families from the Twin Cities who are in extreme need, especially this time of the year,” Sarah Bianucci, ISM’s student life coordinator. “Good in the Hood is an organization that provides daily…

Seven members of Eden Prairie High School’s (EPHS) debate team qualified at section tournaments and are heading to the state tournament, to be held this weekend at the University of Minnesota. State qualifiers are Lalitha Gunturi and Siona Kaura, a Public Forum team, Tavishi Chakraborty and Frantz, a Public Forum team, Srijani Datta, Lincoln-Douglas, Harshan Chandrasekar, Congressional Debate, and Nikhil Kori, Congressional Debate. Gunturi, Kaura, Chakraborty, Frantz, and Datta qualified after strong debate performances at Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) 6AA Section Debate Tournament at Eagan High School on Jan. 6-7, where Sophia Lin also represented Eden Prairie in…

Eden Prairie High School’s (EPHS) dance team (EPDT) hosted several other schools at a home meet on Thursday, Jan. 5. EPDT’s B squad, junior varsity (JV), and varsity jazz teams each placed third in their category. “We had great performances from all three teams (B squad, JV and varsity) at our home conference meet,” said Caitlin O’Leary, EPDT’s co-head coach. “We [are] in a very competitive conference that continues to challenge and push us to be the best athletes and team we can be.” Meet results for B squad were: Edina High School first, Wayzata High School second, and EPDT…

Eden Prairie High’s (EPHS) boys swim and dive won their meet against Wayzata 95-86 on Jan. 6 at Eden Prairie’s Aquatic Center. Kelly Boston, the team’s head coach, said it was an “outstanding team effort” as EP faced a tough challenger. Wayzata and Minnetonka had tied Minnetonka in December—“the two teams leading the charge for the Lake Conference title,” she said. “Our top end is a little stronger than the other teams in the Lake,” she added. “We knew it was going to take our 2-3 athletes getting better for us to compete for the Lake title. The boys have…

Pet goats and a dairy princess are among the visitors that members can meet at a new Agriculture Exploration (AgEx) club at Eden Prairie High School (EPHS). The club was founded at the start of this school year by EPHS junior Nora Takes. “My goal for this club was to help this giant suburban high school with a bunch of kids who were raised in the cities to have a bigger connection to farming and where their food comes from,” she said. “I want to help them understand how agriculture really affects their everyday lives.” The club’s kickoff event in…

Eden Prairie High School’s (EPHS) boys swim and dive team delivered a commanding win over Buffalo-Maple Lake on Friday night in a thrilling first dual meet of the season. The Eagles broke an astonishing seven out of the pool’s 12 existing event records during the event held on Dec. 16 at Buffalo Community Middle School. The varsity boys won their meet 102-78, and the junior varsity (JV) won 100-53. Kelly Boston, EP’s longtime head swim and dive coach, said she was pleased with how the team performed, as well as with the enthusiasm and support the swimmers showed each other.…

Craig Lee Hollenbeck, a former Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) teacher, pleaded guilty Dec. 16 to a charge of gross misdemeanor endangerment of a child, which experts in the field refer to as child grooming. The charge stems from an inappropriate relationship Hollenbeck had with an EPHS student between Feb. 1 and June 1, 2021. Eden Prairie Police received a report in September 2021 from a mandatory reporter about the inappropriate relationship. Hollenbeck, 51, is charged with violating Minnesota statute 609.3781(b)(1), which states, “A parent, legal guardian, or caretaker who endangers the child’s person or health by intentionally or recklessly…

The Eden Prairie School Board approved the administration’s proposal at its Dec. 12 meeting to reinstate a popular academic graduation honor that had been removed this summer. Board members voted 7-0 to approve the Superintendent Consent Agenda, which included a proposed student handbook change reinstating the availability of red academic recognition cords for the graduating class of 2023. There was no discussion. In the past, graduating students who had a 3.5-grade point average (GPA) and above and had earned at least six credits in certain designated advanced courses by the end of the third quarter of senior year were awarded…

This story has been updated to include Dec. 16 comments from Eden Prairie Schools. David Flom, Eden Prairie High School’s head boys varsity basketball coach, was reportedly suspended by Eden Prairie Schools last week due to inappropriate remarks made to his team during a classroom session. According to a Monday report in the Star Tribune, Flom used racist language in a discussion of social media with his team during a classroom session last week. The Star Tribune reported that Nick Ravn, which it referred to as the team’s former assistant coach, sent an email to players, family and alumni that…

The Eden Prairie School Board tonight appears to be ready to consider the future of an Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) policy eliminating a popular academic graduation honor. Many parents, and their students who have worked for years to attain the honor, have expressed their disapproval of the policy. Although the change was codified in the most recent school handbook released last summer, many students only discovered the change on Nov. 30 when EPHS Principal Nate Gibbs emailed seniors to explain the decision. The resulting anger and backlash have sparked criticism of the administration’s decision to withhold the honor, and…