Innovation in Action

Seniors Griffin Gaspersich and Ryan Kollbaum got jobs at local transportation company Blaine Brothers after touring on a school visit. Through the many partnerships that connect high school students with businesses in the community, students are exploring future career paths and landing jobs.

Lions, tigers and tapirs, oh my! The annual Minnesota Zoo Enrichment Design Competition challenges students to research and design a prototype that will help solve a current problem for zookeepers. This year, the chosen animal is likely unfamiliar to most – the “tapir” from Malaysia.  

The Panther Foundation’s annual Week of Giving and Panther Party raised $120,000 to support activities and programs benefiting the students of Spring Lake Park Schools.

The Panther Foundation has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Installed Building Products Foundation to support the Construction Trades course at Spring Lake Park High School. Students in the course are building a house that will move into the community later this spring.

News alert! Westwood Intermediate and Middle School has a new Panther News Broadcast that is written, filmed and edited by a group of students who are learning new skills, exploring potential career paths and building community at Westwood.

The Panthers for a Purpose Week of Giving is February 18-25, 2023 and culminates in a not-to-be-missed Panther Party on Saturday, February 25. The Panther Foundation’s biggest fundraising event of the year supports Spring Lake Park Schools with a special focus this year on supporting Career and College Pathways.

Through the Teacher Education course in the Health and Human Services pathway, students at Spring Lake Park High School are student-teaching in classrooms across the district as they explore a career in education.

“Star Weaver” shows a young woman holding the night sky in her hands. Look closer, and concepts of trigonometry appear. Unit circle, Trig angles, Pythagorean theorem and others. The piece is a final project in senior Hanna Nur’s co-created trigonometry course, in which she’s mastering trigonometry concepts through her passion for art.

Spring Lake Park Schools haven’t just been busy with learning this year, buildings are back to hosting all kinds of visitors. Families, community and industry partners, education leaders from other school districts, and prospective families are coming by to experience and engage in the Spring Lake Park Schools approach to learning.