by Melissa Marolf | Aug 8, 2020 | Central MN Stories, Education
I’m a high school English teacher at an extraordinary high school with a brand new building. I work exclusively with second language learners, and I thought that I had been through the wringer when my colleagues and I had to utterly reconfigure our instructional model...
by Melissa Marolf | Oct 10, 2019 | Central MN Stories, Community, Education
I marvel, daily, at the new Tech High School, which I now have the privilege to call my new workplace. It is a gift from the greater St. Cloud community to its high schoolers, and, yes, also to its middle, elementary, and preschool students. It’s a gift to my...
by Melissa Marolf | May 29, 2019 | Central MN Stories, Community, Education, Muslim
I am wowed. It is Ramadan, Week 2, and my 90 high school students, all but one of whom are Muslim, are demonstrating that they are faithful, loving, and dedicated youngsters. Ramadan began on May 5 and ends the evening of June 4 in 2019; it falls at different times...
by Melissa Marolf | Jan 28, 2019 | Central MN Stories, Community, Education, Immigrants, Refugee, Somali
My 90 students are refugees and immigrants. They are funny, kind, brilliant, strong, wise, brave, courageous, and chock full of perseverance. I am fortunate to work with them because, after working amongst them for the past twelve years, I know that they are waiting...
by Melissa Marolf | Nov 4, 2018 | Politics
I lost a friend this morning. She did not die, thankfully, but I saw that she unfriended me on social media. We were best friends in Ohio when our children were young; they were of the same age and loved one another deeply, as I loved my old friend. We moved away to...
