East Side People

Simley High School student Abby Guggisberg will be featured in Circus Juventas’ Nordsaga, July 28-Aug. 31 under the Big Top in St. Paul. 

Joleen Hartung Durken of Inver Grove Heights recently received the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Harold J. Fitterer Service Award from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The Minnesota Council on Economic Education honored Phalen Lake Hmong Studies Magnet Elementary School teacher See Vang at its annual “EconFest” celebration on Nov. 3 at 3M Corporate Headquarters in Maplewood.

There are three candidates in the biennial race for Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes Ramsey County, St. Paul and parts of Washington County out to the St. Croix River.

The Major League Baseball and Minnesota Twins Baseball Organizations chose Ramona Arreguin de Rosales of St.

The Athena Awards Committee asked St. Paul area schools to nominate their top female athlete for the award. The schools obliged, and 43 girls, representing city and suburban, public and private high schools were selected to receive the award.

The number of candidates far exceeded the expectations of many of the staff and board members of the Payne-Phalen District Five Planning Council at the April 26 annual meeting held at the Arlington Hills Community Center.

Ray Widstrand does not remember the night he was brutally and randomly attacked on the East Side.

Harding teacher shares his philosophy on how to connect with students 

“I just really love working with kids. They just make me happy,” says Koua Yang, a Harding High School instructor, coach, and one of 11 finalists for the Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award, an award that celebrates Minnesota’s teachers and their work.

For 16 years, Yang has been a social studies teacher at Harding High School. He currently teaches Asian American studies and human geography, and coaches the boys and girls tennis teams.

“It was instilled in me early on that education was important by my mom. My mom was my greatest teacher,” Yang says.

Elementary teacher Juanita Ortiz uses her cultural background to help her students

Juanita Ortiz realized she wanted to be a teacher while she was working in the Head Start program.

“I didn’t know until I stumbled into it,” she says.

Ortiz says she began noticing she had more success with the Latino children because she knew their language and culture, and could communicate easily with their parents.