E21-Ortonville HS Profile (NewTech High)

Good afternoon, NewTech High listeners!

Today, we hosted Ortonville's leadership team on the weekly podcast. I am so excited in the work they have done. They are working to be a transformative district. Kris Evje, Superintendent, and Trevor Keller, HS Principal, come from two distinct positions and experience with the District. Like me, Kris has been at a number of different places, in different roles, before becoming Superintendent. Trevor has mostly been at Ortonville and has built himself into this leadership position, mostly while living in the same house. Each of them has merged into a collective voice that can influence the District, staff and students for a long time afterward. Their decision to join NewTech High last summer was one I was really happy that they made, and I think you will find, one that they were also happy to have made. 

Take a listen at their enthusiasm for the future of their District; their desire to have their strategic plan grow in their district. While well-planned, they seem to have an orientation that will allow their GROWS vision to become a living, breathing document in the Ortonville school district. 

Each of our meetings has been unpredictable; but always dynamic. Most of those have gone long. By the time we have left the meeting, we are always looking forward to the next one. We talk about their District, their future, as well as the meaning of education changing as we plan for the future. I believe this podcast reflects the work they have done in the past year. 

Ortonville Podcast


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

E5--An Interview with Dr. Joseph Goins, "Pass the Baton"

Image
Episode 5: NewTech High Podcast / Blog Good afternoon, Everyone!  October 1, 2025 We had an exciting podcast this afternoon with Dr. Joseph Goins and Tom Ahern from Pathway to Careers, or P2C.  If you would be interested, you would be able to get some ancillary benefits that other schools just do not -- volume pricing, PD, etc. I would say it is because NewTech High has been working with P2C for almost two years to gain momentum in Minnesota. This is because it is a great product that meets several components of change, innovation, relevancy and engagement. At minimum, P2C is an exciting product that you all should take a look at. At the end of the session, it was great hearing from Bob Wedl, former MDE Commissioner and Jay Haugen, former Minnesota Supt, in their testaments to personalized, student-centered practices.  P2C Interview / Podcast Today Next Podcast: Tuesday, October 7, 4:30pm Cory Steiner, Fargo Public Schools Superintendent. The best way to introduce Cory, w...
Read more

E30-Janelle Field Podcast

Image
NewTech High Podcast,  April 1, 2026 Good afternoon, everyone. This afternoon, we welcome Janelle Field, currently working as a Continuous Improvement Coach at Resource Training and solutions out of St. Cloud. Today's Podcast with Janelle Janelle has had a more than 30 year career in education, including working as an elementary teacher at both Rockford and BBE schools, being a lead 1:1 Tech Integrationist at BB Schools. Later, she took on the role as the Engagement coach in the district. Eventually, her expertise led her on to a Lead Instructional Coach at SWWC positions in the co-ops working with regional schools on teacher center work on optimal school environment, overall school improvement and instructional change. If I had only one person to start any educational institution, innovation or idea, Janelle would be among the people at the top of the list without question. Above anything else, Janelle has incredible passion for her work, no matter what she is doing. She possesses...
Read more

E14-Whitney McKinley (World Savvy)

Image
December 10, 2025 Podcast This afternoon, we were pleased to have Whitney McKinley from World Savvy to join us. Whitney did such a great job of explaining the pillars of what World Savvy works on with schools. In a sense, we all want to work on them, but it is a coaching aspect that most of our high schools don't have access to. Thank you Whitney for sharing about your beliefs and your organization!  Whitney McKinley, World Savvy Learner-Centered Update Learner-Centered Collaborative believes it starts with reimagining how we give learners the agency to joyfully, purposefully drive their own learning. Let go of standardization. Embrace learner agency. When students “think freely and move freely,” stressful schools become joyful learning communities. More than 30 public school districts and over 250,000 learners have begun to center learners by design. In this final episode in this fall’s learning series, Devin Vodicka and Katie Martin share their  Brief But Spectacular...
Read more