Posted: 6/7/06
Teacher of the Year uses humor to bridge the gap
 Athletic coach, referee, umpire, jokester, teacher, mentor, husband, missionary, and builder could all be used to describe North Branchís Teacher of the Year, Ralph Norrgard. A 14-year veteran of the district, Norrgard was honored to be chosen. |
By Patrick Tepoorten
In electing Industrial Technology teacher Ralph Norrgard as ìTeacher of the Year,î the North Branch school district honors a 14-year veteran of the district, and a jack-of-all-trades who, along with his classesí help is often relied upon to provide needed items for classrooms.
The Post Review sat down with Norrgard to learn a little more about what makes him tick.
Norrgard, 53 and an Army veteran, has been a teacher for 29 years. His first teaching job was in Esko, where he filled in as a long-term substitute for one year. After that he moved on to Onamia for seven years and then Milaca for another seven years. He has two teaching degrees, one in Industrial Technology and another in Vocational Building Trades.
The latter of Norrgardís two degrees has proven to be a real asset to the district, as it has allowed the district to participate in creating local housing while giving students an education in construction at the same time.
The districtís latest project, a 1,129 square foot, split level, single-family home currently under construction in the heart of town is nearing completion.
ìThe siding is up,î said Norrgard. ìWe will be insulating and sheet-rocking shortly and it should get finished over the summer.î When complete it will be the 11th such house built under Norrgardís supervision and tutelage. The money realized from its sale will finance the next residential building project.
Norrgard has many skills aside from those in carpentry though. He is also on the coaching staff of multiple teams for the district, including 9th grade football and varsity hockey, and in his spare time umpires softball at the middle school. He also spent many years as a hockey referee, untangling hockey players from the youngest competitors to the professional leagues.
Of the sports he is involved with though, he is probably most connected to hockey. Having grown up in the Cloquet area he just happened to coach some youngsters that would grow up to be household names, both in Minnesota and the nation. They include former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher, two-time Olympian and long time NHL player Corey Millen, another former NHLíer and University of Wisconsin Badger Derek Plante.
Perhaps the most famous of Norrgardís former hockey pupils is Jamie Langenbrunner, who has won two Stanley Cups in his career and played for the U.S.A. in the 1988 Olympics. He currently is employed by the New Jersey Devils.
Despite his connection to these super athletes, Norrgard insists that he coached them when they were just youngsters learning the basics of the game.
In essence though, that is what teaching is all about: harnessing youngsters, teaching them the basics of life, only to turn them loose on the world, albeit without a hockey stick and a love for body checks.
And in that, Norrgard has found much happiness. He believes that the vast majority of high school kids are good kids, despite what others might think, or even how a student might look at a particular point in his or her life.
ìNinety five percent of kids are good kids, easy to work with and fun,î he said. ìThatís why I stay in teaching and it hasnít changed.î
To keep students engaged, Norrgard relies on a honed sense of humor, which he employs not only for laughs but to teach kids life lessons as well. He uses a joke about two grizzly bears, a male and a female, who eat a Russian and a Czechoslovakian explorer in the depths of Alaska to make a point about the hazards of ìspell-checkingî programs that allow students to forego good spelling habits.
A rescue team, dispatched to learn of the explorers fate, finds, kills, and guts the female of the two grizzlies, only to find the Russian explorer inside.
ìYou know what this means,î says one rescuer to the other. ì
ìNo. What?î is the reply.
ìIt means that the Czech is in the male.î
That same sense of humor was employed when asked how many students he has in Industrial Technology.
ì124,î he said. ìAll using power tools.î
Of course, he goes on to add that, with that many students around that many sharp things, safety is first and foremost in his class. ìWe try to make sure they leave with everything they came in with.î
He and his students have left quite an impression around the district: platforms in the Main Street School bathrooms to help young kids reach the faucets, storage sheds, arrow holders for archery class, shelving units for classrooms, bean-bag games for special needs students, and the press box at the varsity football field - to name a few.
Outside of school Norrgard, along with his wife Patti, lead very active lives. They currently house a high school student who wanted to finish the school year in North Branch before joining his parents in a new area. Norrgard also teaches at Vacation Bible School and recently went on a mission trip to the Ukraine where, he said, ìpeople live more like the 1920s and ë30s.î
ìThey haul water, grow their own food, and keep goats for milk. It was quite an experience.î
Norrgard professed to be surprised at being named Teacher of the Year, an award bestowed upon him by his peers. ìItís a humbling deal, a vote of confidence that says people appreciate what you do.î
The field had been reduced to four candidates before Norrgard was ultimately chosen and Norrgard is sure that the vote was very close. ìBut,î he said through a grin, ìvote early, vote often. Thatís my motto.î
Norrgard is reaching the point in his career where the thought of retirement begins to crop up. And, although he hasnít made any decisions regarding when that might take place, he is of two minds.
While the students are what keeps him around, the politics of public education begin to take a toll. Regardless, Norrgard has already left an impression on the district, through the minds of students and their work in wood.
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