A twist to this year’s fifth-grade lesson on creating businesses meant each of Dylan Gehrke’s 23 students went through a “Shark Tank-like” experience.
“We want our students to know what it is like to create a product or service and have customers to sell it to,” Gehrke said.
“We also want them to understand the logistics and all the numbers behind creating a business and how that works.”
Based on the reality show of the same name, students or student groups presented business ideas to an “investor,” to consider supporting.
“I thought the idea of the ‘Shark Tank’ would be fun for students to have an investment from a shark and work together to create the best-selling business in the fifth grade,” Gehrke said.
The “investors” panel included principal Todd Holthaus, paraprofessional Lexi Moore, teacher Shelly Fischer, Tyler Bush with Security Savings Bank and Gehrke himself.
“Students had to answer tough questions from the Sharks about how much money they have already spent so far, how much they will spend making their product, and what their profit goal was,” Gehrke said.
“They were also asked about the quantity of their product they will have available on the day of the Entrepreneur Fair.”
Monday’s Entrepreneur Fair in the Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary gymnasium was the testing ground for the young entrepreneurs.
During their recess periods, students and staff from kindergarten through fourth grade spent no more than $5 among the 12 businesses.
Together the businesses garnered $622.50, which earned investors $74.95.
Gehrke invested in the best-selling business: REKkers of Stress because he liked their idea. He invested $10 for 12.5 percent of the business’ profits. Gehrke’s investment was the highest of three bids for the business.
The business, named after the three founders — Ruby Susie, Ella Rheault and Khloe Susie, sold palm-sized stress balls made from balloons filled with Playdoh and glue.
“It’s called a fidget toy and fidget toys are very popular today,” Rheault said.
The trio estimated they put in six to seven hours making the 120 stress balls they brought to Entrepreneur Day to sell. They also baked two dozen cookies, also available for sale, which expanded their customer base.
“If they don’t like stress balls, they could buy a cookie,” Khloe Susie said.
REKkers of Stress sold $121.25 of product, paid their investor $15.15 and pocketed $35.36 per person.
“We thought we wouldn’t get anyone to invest with us,” Ruby Susie said.
An added lesson for the entrepreneurs is that they paid taxes on their goods and services, which Gehrke estimated would comprise about half their profits.

After an 18-month hiatus, Luverne High School drama students will perform “Grease” to a live audience starting June 3.
Director Shawn Kinsinger chose this spring’s production from student feedback.
“Last summer, the students asked me if the next musical could be ‘Grease,’” he said. “They really enjoyed producing ‘Footloose’ in the fall of 2019 and wanted a similar experience.”
However, the coronavirus pandemic canceled all in-person performances since that 2019 production. As of Friday, all capacity restrictions related to the pandemic are lifted.
“We’ll be able to put ‘Grease’ on in front of a full house,” Kinsinger said.
Students began practicing in March for the six performances scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on June 3-5 and 10-12. There is no Sunday matinee.
The extra practice time was built into the schedule due to all school activities shut down last fall, and winter activities were pushed forward into the early spring months, Kinsinger said.
The calendar cleared in June for the later-than-usual musical performances.
“June provides a few advantages,” he said. “It is after most of the other school activities have wrapped up, but most importantly it allowed us more time.”
He said the time has allowed for vaccine distribution and, in case of a COVID-19 outbreak, the production could shut down for a couple of weeks without losing the overall number of rehearsals.
The musical coincides with Luverne’s Buffalo Days set for June 4-6. Luverne Area Chamber assisted in covering some of the costs for costumes.
Kinsinger said the local production captures elements from the 1972 broadway play and the 1978 movie.
“Recreating the iconic moments from ‘Grease’ is a lot of fun,” Kinsinger said. “In some instances, we put our own spin on it, in others we try to stay as faithful to the movie as possible.
“There are so many moving pieces to this show. When it all comes together and I see the students making it happen — how excited they get — it’s contagious.”
The production received a special license to include four of the movie’s most recognizable songs, “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” “Sandy,” “You’re the One that I Want,” and “Grease.”
“It’s worth it because the audience expects to hear those songs,” Kinsinger said.
The musical, set in 1959, begins with summer romance between two incoming high school seniors: A greaser named Danny (portrayed by LHS senior Xavier Carbonneau) and a good girl named Sandy (senior Josie Golla).
After believing their summer love is at its end, they both end up at Rydell High School where they navigate highs and lows of school while trying to recapture that summer romantic magic.
The LHS production brings in “The Burger Palace Boys” or Danny’s group of friends. In the movie they are called “T-Birds.” The local production won’t include the cinematic drag race.
“The show is so good that the audience won’t miss it,” Kinsinger said.
Character names (and the students portraying them in the local musical) include:
Rizzo (Rylee Gee), Kenickie (Pierce Cunningham), Frenchy (Mia Wenzel), Marty (Sophie Holmberg), Jan (Zoe Perkins), Doody (Parker Carbonneau), Roger (Luke Thorson), Sonny (Griffen Jarchow), Eugene (Chance Tunnissen), Patty (Miles Trimble), Vince Fontaine (Camden Hoven), Cha Cha DeGregorio (Anna Boltjes), Johnny Casino/Teen Angel (Simon Boyenga) and Miss Lynch (Joelia Lopez-Bomstad).
Ensemble members are Grace Ingebretsen, Elise Jarchow, Grace Sandbulte, Destiny Matthiesen, Jocelyn Hart, Hannah Vaudrin, McKenzie VanGrootheest and Zoey Berghorst. Egypt Forrest handles light production along with Creedence Petroff.
Assisting with the production are band instructor James Jarvie and choir instructor Seana Graber, who are working with individual students during lesson times during school, and workshop instructor Darrell Van Aartsen whose students are building the sets during their class time.
Tickets can be purchased at the Palace Box Office or online at palacetheatre.us. Cost is $4 for students and $6 for adults.

By 9:30 Monday night, the Rock County Veterans Memorial at the courthouse will be aglow with hundreds of red solo cups with small American flags and battery-operated candle votives.
According to Luverne Chamber Director Jane Wildung Lanphere, a Monday evening service at the Courthouse Square will replace the usual Sunday candlelight vigil on the evening before Memorial Day.
“With Sunday being graduation, we didn’t want there to be conflicts,” Lanphere said.
She said Memorial Day services Monday morning at Maplewood Cemetery will be the same as usual, with the American Legion and VFW and speaker Mike Welch.
Monday afternoon services at the Veterans Memorial begin with a 3 p.m. federal government-initiated national hour of remembrance to officially remember those who were killed in KIAs and MIAs.
“That is when you are officially asked to remember KIAs and MIAs,” Lanphere said.
“We will present the wreath and read the names of the fallen at the Veterans Memorial at 3 o’clock followed by taps,” Lanphere said.
 
Sampson exhibit opens in Military Museum
Following that, the Herreid Military Museum will open for the new exhibit of Father Frances Sampson, whose story is told through the 1998 movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.
Sampson was a military chaplain known for staying with the enlisted men he served during World War II, including during the invasion of Normandy.
His ties to Luverne are through his mother, Philomena Ryan, who was born and spent her childhood in Luverne. Sampson’s father ran a hotel in Luverne, and his mother worked there, too.
She is buried in St. Catherine Cemetery, where Sampson also chose to be laid to rest next to her when he died in 1996.
A 6-foot-tall quartzite monument marks his grave and tells the story of his military career.
Now, the Herreid Military Museum will expand on that story with artifacts and details of his service and life contributions.
 
Red solo cups and American flags
From 3 to 8, members of the public are invited to come to the veterans memorial to pick up luminaries to participate in the evening observance.
“We will give them a red solo cup with sand in it and an American flag, and they can set it on the paver of any deceased veterans at the veterans memorial,” Lanphere said. “Starting at 8, we will begin putting little lights in the cups.
From 8:30 until the next morning the luminaries will remain lighted.
“Our goal is to have hundreds of lights out there,” Lanphere said. “By 9:30 at night it’s going to be gorgeous.”
The Memorial Day schedule at the Courthouse Square is as follows:
•3 p.m. — National Hour of Remembrance with the placing of the wreath and reading of the names of Rock County KIAs and MIAs, followed by taps.
•3:30 to 8 p.m. — Placing of luminaries. The public is invited to place luminaries on pavers of deceased veterans.
•4 p.m. — Opening of Father Francis Sampson exhibit in the Herreid Military Museum (open until 8 p.m.)
•8:30 p.m. — Lighting of the luminaries.
•9 p.m. — Moment of reflection.

The annual elementary school Respect Lunch became a Respect Picnic Monday when the event moved outdoors.
Traditionally Respect Lunch happens in the elementary commons where tablecloths are used and food is passed “family style” around the table.
Students speak quietly and politely saying “please” and “thank you,” and live piano music is played.
This year students took their corn dogs, french fries, apples, baby carrots and milk outside.
“The kids were very excited,” said Amy Chapa, president of PPIE (Parents, Partners In Education).
The state of Minnesota lifted pandemic restrictions on outdoor events earlier this month, but Respect Picnic organizers kept students separated by grade levels by setting picnic tables on the north and south lawns of the elementary schools.
Students brought their lunch baskets outside and sat with adult volunteers at tables brought in by city Public Works employees
Students played Respect Picnic bingo, and winning tables received special treats.
“This year has brought a lot of changes, but it has been fun coming up with new ideas to still make it happen,” Chapa said.
“We couldn’t have asked for better weather. I think the kids really enjoyed the picnic-style lunch and the respect bingo.”
The picnic lunch began at 10:30 a.m. and ended at 12:55 p.m. with each class having 40 minutes outside with adult volunteers.
“We had so many wonderful volunteers who made the event possible,” Chapa said.

Luverne City Council members met in closed session Tuesday, May 18, to consider purchasing property at 102 S. Kniss in Luverne.
The property on the southwest corner of Main Street and Highway 75 is owned by members of the Dennis and Norma Remme family.
It was the location of Remedez Hair Salon, started in 2007, and the business office for Remme Construction.
It closed in January and the 7,348-square-foot lot was listed for sale in March for $162,500.
At last week’s meeting, the council authorized City Administrator John Call to make an offer on the corner lot.
As of Tuesday’s press deadline, a purchase agreement hadn’t been signed.
The Remedez lot borders a property to the south at 108 S. Kniss that the city bought from the VanderPoel family for $39,900 on Oct. 15, 2019.
The Remedez lot borders a lot to the west that the city purchased in 2015 from Dale and Karen Bosch, Beaver Creek, for $70,000.
The house between Remedez and the municipal liquor store on the lot was demolished and the property has been held for future development.
The intent for the Remedez lot, if the city buys it, would be to lease it to an interested business.

Last year the Luverne High School Class of 2020 jumped into vehicles after commencement exercises and followed a fire truck through Luverne.
On Sunday the LHS Class of 2021 will celebrate in similar style.
“Last year was a big hit with many loving it, so the seniors asked to have it again,” said high school principal Ryan Johnson.
“It was fun for the community to support them — waving at them and shouting out congratulatory remarks — made them feel special and accomplished.”
The parade begins at 3:30 p.m. with participating graduates in vehicles starting and ending at the middle-high school parking lot.
Johnson said this year’s parade route is shorter than last year’s event but long enough to give the public lining the designated boulevards the opportunity to congratulate students as they are chauffeured along the route.
The route from the school heads south on Donaldson Street, east on Main Street, north on Blue Mound Avenue, west on Veterans Drive and south on Highway 75 back to the school.
Commencement for the 90 students comprising the LHS Class of 2021 begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 30, in the Luverne Elementary School gym.

The Rock County Historical Society Board announced Tuesday that Wendel Buys, Luverne, has been hired as executive director, a new full-time paid position with the organization.
“We’ve never had an executive director,” said Historical Society President Betty Mann. “I’m very, very excited.”
She said Buys will oversee operations of the History Center and the four historical buildings in the community. They include the Hinkly House and the fairgrounds properties — the schoolhouse, summer kitchen and two barns.
“This means I can spend more time getting things written down,” Mann said.
“I have so many things in my head from research for my talks, but I just have notes. I want to get it written down.”
Buys currently teaches at Southwest Christian High School in Edgerton and previously taught in Hills.
“He has wonderful qualifications and has an interest in history,” Mann said Tuesday morning.
She said the board made the hiring decision at their Monday night meeting and selected Buys from among 19 candidates.
“Many of them were excellent applicants,” Mann said. “It was not an easy decision.”

Officials with the Hills-Beaver Creek School District are seeking seven teachers before the start of the 2021-22 school year on Sept. 7.
As of Monday night, two of the six positions are filled.
The H-BC board approved the hiring of Danielle Kneip and Lydia Hildebrandt as elementary teachers for the 2021-22 school year.
At their May 10 meeting, board members accepted the resignations of two teachers — Jeanette Vanden Hoek, 25 years at the secondary school in science, and Diane Vanden Hoek, 31 years at the elementary in second grade.
Current sixth-grade teacher Renee Edmundson was approved to transfer to the elementary school to fill Diane Vanden Hoek’s position.
District officials are seeking to fill the middle school position and the K-12 art instructor.
“No applicants,” is what Superintendent Todd Holthaus said for the art instructor.
At Monday’s board meeting, the board accepted the resignation of secondary teacher Nora Wysong effective at the end of 2020-21 school year. Band instructor Steve Olson’s resignation was also accepted.
They also accepted the resignation of Steve Wiertzema as teacher/athletic director at the end of the current school year.
Bus drivers are also needed in the district as driver Ron Rauk’s resignation was accepted by the board Monday.
Filling the open positions may be a challenge for the rural district, which has 375 K-12 students.
Holthaus said a report released through the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board continues to show a decline in people entering the education profession.
The report indicates not only are there fewer new teachers, 10 percent of them exit within the first five years on the job.
“Rural schools articulated a greater difficultly and impact of the shortage compared to suburban and urban districts,” concluded the Minnesota Rural Education Association in a recently released report.
 
In other business from Monday’s meeting, the H-BC board:
•assigned Angie Hageman as summer 2021 extended school year speech/language teacher, and Samantha McGaffee as summer 2021 extended school year special education teacher and as summer office assistant.
•set the secondary advisory period coordinator position at $1,200 for the upcoming school year.
•directed the business manager to sell or dispose of miscellaneous kitchen equipment as excess property.
•accepted the resignation of paraprofessional Drew Carver, effective at the end of the school year.

Wednesday night free community meal
The Luverne United Methodist Church will host its monthly free community meal at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 26, with a pickup option available. Call 507-283-4529
 
Car parade planned for LHS graduating class
A car parade at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, May 30, will feature the Luverne High School Class of 2021 following the 2 p.m. commencement in the elementary school gymnasium.
The Luverne Volunteer Fire Department will lead the parade of graduates around the city of Luverne. The parade starts and ends at the high school parking lot. The route consists of vehicles traveling south on Donaldson Street, east on Main Street, north on Blue Mound Avenue, west on Veterans Drive and south on Highway 75.
Community members are encouraged to congratulate students along the parade route.
 
Memorial Day programs
The Hardwick American Legion Post #478 Memorial Day Program will be at 10 a.m. Monday, May 31, at the Veteran’s Memorial. The program includes a speech by Matt Niessink, staff sergeant and recruiter for the Army National Guard, a reading by Chance Tunnissen, 2021 Boy Stater and music by Maddie Oye and Julia Berg. Bring lawn chairs.  
The Luverne American Legion and VFW will host a program at 10:30 a.m. May 31  Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne featuring speaker Michael Welch and music by the Luverne High School Band. Bring your own chairs.
 
The Rock County Veterans Memorial will be the location of an evening service from 3 to 9 p.m. May 31 featuring luminaries on pavers at the memorial, placing of the wreath to recognize KIAs and MIAs, 4 p.m. opening of the Father Sampson exhibit in the Herreid Military Museum and an 8:30 p.m. lighting of the luminaries. See www.luvernechamber.com for details. 
The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs will host a 30-minute virtual Memorial Day program, “Reflections: Memorial Day 2021,” at 8 p.m. Monday, May 31, on TPT’s Minnesota Channel.
 
Parade entries sought by May 31
Entries are being sought for the Hills Friendship Days parade 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 12. Pre-registration deadline is Monday, May 31, to kaelbers@alliancecom.net or by calling Keith at 507-962-3433 or Annette at 507-962-3432. Questions can be directed to same email address and phone numbers.
 
Blue Mound Quilters’ show June 5
Blue Mound Quilters Show will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 5, in the Hinkly House at 217 N. Freeman in Luverne. The show will feature quilts from the Blue Mound Quilters and from the 2021 Quilter of the Year Millie Lais. Also on display will be the Hospice Cottage historical quilts and the 2021 hospice raffle quilt. Face masks are encouraged.
 
Community Education announcements
Luverne Community Education will offer the following activities and classes in coming weeks. Call 507-283-4724 to sign up. See comed.isd2184.net to view the brochure and list of offerings.
Take the Beginner 8 Hour Defensive Driving Classes (for adults 55 years of age and older) in order to save a significant amount on your car insurance.  This class (offered only twice a year) will be held 4 hours on June 10 & 17  at 5:30 pm.  
Distance Learning with Clay open to all ages.  Fee is $20.  Register by June 1.
Friday morning Hands on Science Adventure Day Camp will meet on June 4 — for grades 1-4 as attended during 20-21 school year.  Fee is $15.
Professional fisherman Mike Frisch returns to Luverne on June 7 to share his fishing knowledge with students grades 3 -12 (as attended during 20-21 school year) at School of Fish.  After a classroom portion, students will actually fish at The Lake with their new fishing rod and tackle (over $50 of gear goes along with class registration).  An adult fishing buddy is welcome to come to class, too.  Fee is $30/child.  Luverne Optimist Club provided a donation to help lower class fee.
Saturday, June 12, kids ages 3 through grade 3 (as attended 20-21 school year) and adults will enjoy Nature Crafts at Blue Mound State Park.  Fee is $17 per child.
 Kids currently in grades 1-3 can sign up for Paint and Snack Classes on May 27, June 24 and July 22.  Sign up for one class or for all 3. Fee is $33 per class.
Defensive Driving Classes allows adults 55 years of age and older to save on insurance premiums. The Beginning Class – June 10 and 17 (4 hours each evening). Refresher 4-Hour Classes are May 27, Aug. 19.
Sign up for Get Fit, Stay Fit on May 26 with tips and advice from Physical Therapist, Michelle Schuman. Fee is $5.
 
Hospice event date change
Sanford Luverne Hospice is changing the date of the Hospice Dinner & Auction to Thursday, Aug. 26, to better accommodate summer weekend plans. Note: Auction donations are currently being accepted thru June 21. Contact the hospice office at 283-1805 or email: helen.saum@sanfordheath.org.
 
Crisis Center needs board members
The Southwest Crisis Center is seeking passionate community members to serve on its Board of Directors. The group encourages applications from people of diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and professional skills to oversee the organization's general operations. For more information, visit mnswcc.org or email sara@mnswcc.org.
 
Take and Make bird treat kits
Stop by the Luverne Area Chamber at 213 East Luverne Street to pick up one or more Take and Make bird treat kits. Kits are free, but a $5 to $10 donation is welcome to benefit Project Food Forest in Rock County. (Or donate online at https://donorbox.org/support-pff)