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Ms. Jill Luoma-OverstreetRole: STEAM Coordinator & Curriculum Integrator
Started at Anoka High School: 2021
Why STEAM? We seem to really lose our love for learning in high school...I'd say that STEAM is the perfect space to fight that narrative. We need more environments that make us curious about the world around us and spaces that inspire and spark our imagination. We need to create more opportunities for our students (and ourselves!) to fail and learn from it, and to simply have fun and PLAY. That's what creative problem solving is all about.
Other Roles: Volleyball coach, Speech coach, STEAM Student Leadership Team advisor
Inspired By: Innovation, curiosity, my own imagination— but most importantly, the imagination of others!
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Mott's fruit snacks. I'll eat a whole box in one sitting if you give me the chance.
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Mr. Bakken
Role: STEAM Teacher & Music Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2017
Teaches: Digital Music Composition 1 & 2, Orchestra 1,2 & 3
Why STEAM? STEAM teaches students that many problems do not have one right answer, which opens the door for creative problem solving. STEAM also combines many different disciplines. This encourages collaboration and shows that we can overcome obstacles together that were not possible alone.
Other Roles: Chamber Orchestra Director. Spring Musical Pit Director
Inspired by: Students overcoming challenges! It is amazing to see students struggle with tough problems and come up with incredible solutions. I am amazed everyday by what our students can accomplish!
Favorite unhealthy snack: Gummies - Twizzlers, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids... you get the idea!
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Mr. Bjork
Role: STEAM Teacher & Science Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2018
Teaches: Chemistry 1, Engineering and Robotics, Engineering Smart Technology
Why STEAM? I feel like STEAM gives us freedom to break out of the mold of the traditional classroom. This allows students to put their creativity on display while solving real world problems, which is super cool!
Other Roles: Boy's Soccer Coach
Inspired by: I'm inspired by discovery - whether it's scientists making discoveries, teachers finding new ways to educate students, or students discovering things in the classroom or out in the real world.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Chips and Queso
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Mr. Bowman
Role: STEAM Teacher & Art Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: Teaching at AMSA since 2017 and starting AHS in 2023!
Teaches: STEAM Foundations: Dystopian Engineering, Digital Design Lab, Creative Problem Solving, Drawing I, Honors Design and Development
Why STEAM? I believe that all students are capable of achieving at high levels, and STEAM pushes students to high heights! Students deserve to be challenged in meaningful ways. We can do this by fostering environments that cultivate creativity through critical thinking and complex problem-solving.
Other Roles: I am an Adjunct Professor at Augsburg University, and on the teaching staff of the Rum River Arts Center. I am a husband to a wonderful wife and a dad to three beautiful kids!Inspired by: The natural world. I will forever find wonder in a fallen leaf or pinecone, the night sky, and how our planet fits into the universe we float around in.Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Nutter Butters
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Ms. EngebretsonRole: Teacher Librarian | Media Specialist
Started at Anoka High School: 2018
Favorite Books (in no particular order): So many favorites! But top of the list are All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, We are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez, and anything by Elizabeth Acevedo because I can't stop thinking about those characters!
Recognitions: Teacher of Outstanding Performance 2007
Other Roles: mom, wife, reader, crafter, baker, gardener
Inspired by: nature, travel, design, music, great books, creative thinkers and thought leaders
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: anything artificially cheese flavored
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Mr. Evertz
Role: STEAM Teacher & Science Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2012
Teaches: Outdoor Adventures, Chemistry, Honors Art Symposium: Chemistry of Art
Why STEAM? STEAM allows students to apply what they have learned in their core classes to scenarios they will see in their everyday lives. Allowing students the opportunity to increase their critical thinking skills, creativity, and collaboration skills with others in class sets them up for success for life after high school.
Inspired by: Learning and teaching how systems are connected in nature. Also- Big Muskies!!
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Peanut M&Ms
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Ms. Hale
Role: STEAM Teacher & FCS Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2012
Teaches: STEAM Foundations: Martian Metropolis, Intro to Culinary Arts, Child & Human Development, Interior Design & Housing, College Foundations of Education, Consumer Strategies
Why STEAM? I believe in the teaching and learning model our STEAM program provides - kids leading the way of their own education through choice and passion, hands-on learning, exploration, and trial and error. I also believe in the cohort nature of the program. It's fun to watch students build new relationships as they move through their four years.
Other Roles: FCS Department Leader, Educators Rising advisor, Rock Climbing Club
Inspired by: By students - their wide-open futures and untapped genius and inherent sweetness. By my colleagues - creatives that do things I could only dream of. By my family - I want to build a learning environment I would be proud to send my own children to. Outside is nice, too.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Oh gosh, Funyuns for sure.
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Mr. Heida
Role: STEAM Teacher & Tech. Ed. Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2016
Teaches: STEAM Foundations: Caffeinated Imagination, Visual Communications- Graphic Design/Photography
Why STEAM? Why not? We're here to help empower your mind to work in tandem with your hands. I'm here to help you nurture your communication tools by incorporating visual forms. Or in other words....Do you like using your brain to work your hands? C'mon in. Do you like to use images to tell a story? C'mon in. Have you got a hidden sense of creativity that needs to come out or that you don't know about? C'mon in. Wanna share your Oreos? C'mon in!
Recognitions: 1981 13expert BMX State Champion. Voted most likely to wear an inflatable Dinosaur costume to Open House 2019. Nominated for MN Teacher of the Year 2020. Semi-Finalist: 2021 MN Teacher of the Year
Other Roles: Yearbook Advisor, Nordic Ski Head Coach, Doctorate student- SCSU.
Inspired by: I am inspired by students who walk out of my classroom every day with a smile and a sense of accomplishment. I love to see mental light bulbs shine.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Oreos - Mega Stuff... Not those wimpy regular ones.
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Ms. MarcyRole: STEAM Dance Teacher, Social Studies Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2021
Teaches: Dance Technique I & II, Dance Company, Civics 9, U.S. History 11, Honors African American History
Why STEAM: STEAM is all about students learning critical thinking and problem solving through hands-on experience. Students in Dance not only learn a variety of dance techniques but they also get to create and perform their own choreography. They learn the steps artists go through to create and present work and how to put their own stories on stage.
Other Roles: African Dance Club Advisor; outside of school I coach at a dance studio in Mankato.
Inspired by: The creativity of my students! I am beyond inspired when my students are able to get on stage and perform their own work with confidence and strength!
Favorite unhealthy snack: Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee Sunflower Milk "Ice Cream"
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Ms. McSherryRole: Secondary Para / Media Para
Started at Anoka High School: 2018
Why STEAM: I love how STEAM encourages students to problem solve, be creative, and explore new ideas.
Recent Reads: Educated by Tara Westover, Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and American Royals by Katharine McGee.
Other Roles: Mentor, wife, mom, and nana.
Inspired By: AHS students, my children, grandchildren, and nature.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Chips & dip
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Ms. Neary
Role: Career and College Specialist
Started at Anoka High School: 1994
Teaches: Operates Anoka's Career Center
Why STEAM? I love the design thinking and project based approach to learning.
Recognitions: Voted MACAC's (MN Association for College Admissions Counseling) Rising Star
Other Roles: Wife, Pearl's Mom (little black pug), yogi
Inspired by: My amazing colleagues!
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Cheez-its
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Mr. Palm
Role: STEAM Teacher & English Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2018
Teaches: STEAM English 12: Dynamic Storytelling, Graphic Novels, Contemporary Writers, and Yearbook
Why STEAM? The subject of English is essentially all forms of communication: reading, writing, speaking/listening, creating, and all of those wrapped in critical thinking. All of those elements are foundational to STEAM and foundational to the future of each student. I am excited to guide students as they navigate improving their communication skills through real-world applications, design thinking, and inquiry into their own passions.
Inspired by: Critical thinkers; disruptors; compassionate, kind, and loving people.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Malted milk balls and toffee
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Ms. SandstromRole: STEAM Teacher & Business Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2013 as a student, 2021 as a teacher
Teaches: Personal Money Management, Entrepreneurship, Computer Programming, Keyboarding, STEAM Digital Communication and Design
Why Steam? I believe in creating meaningful learning experiences within the classroom, and STEAM provides us with the opportunity to do that! Through those learning experiences students develop soft skills such as creativity, problem solving, and collaboration, all of which will help students be successful in the workplace.
Inspired By: I am inspired by my students and the knowledge they bring into my classroom.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Lindor Chocolate Truffles
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Ms. WatsonRole: STEAM Teacher & English Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: 2018
Teaches: Honors Design and Development, STEAM English 11: DIY Projects, Honors English 9
Why STEAM? I love the concept of teaching our kids to think beyond what anyone else has imagined. Creative-based problem solving is the way of the future and I love knowing that I may have a small part in helping students become innovative thinkers.
Inspired by: My unbelievable Anoka family.
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Flaming Hot Cheetos
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Mr. Zahler
Role: STEAM Teacher & Art Teacher
Started at Anoka High School: As a 9th grader in the fall of 1993, as a teacher in the fall of 2003.
Teaches: STEAM Foundations: Kinetic Design, STEAM Symposium: Chemistry of Art, Various Art courses
Why STEAM? Why not STEAM? STEAM expands on what students learn in all of our courses by incorporating more hands on activities and encouraging more in depth problem solving skills.
Recognitions: Rice Lake Road Foosball Champion in 1999 and 2000
Other Roles: Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Friend, Good Guy
Inspired by: Nature
Favorite Unhealthy Snack: Depends if you count Doritos as important for my mental health, or if you consider them unhealthy. I would argue they are healthy.
