Goldenvale Middle School

Goldenvale Middle School serves grades 6 through 8 — about 270 students, four sections to a grade, everyone knowing everyone by the second week of September. First bell is at 8:15; the last one lets go at 3:05.

Sixth grade keeps one main classroom teacher for most subjects, which makes the landing from elementary a little softer. Seventh and eighth rotate through their core subjects as a section — same twenty-two faces all day, different rooms.

Goldenvale Middle School with its sign and flagpole, seen from the front parking lot — **The building**Photographed from the front lot, on a morning when the sky matched the pavement.

The Office

Mr. Arne Haugen, principal — **Mr. Haugen**Principal

Ms. Diane Mercer, vice principal — **Ms. Mercer**Vice Principal

Ms. Farrow, front office — **Ms. Farrow**Front Office

Mrs. Chen, front office — **Mrs. Chen**Front Office

The office handles attendance, visitors, forgotten lunches, and forgotten trombones. Please call through the district line or stop in — the door is the one under the clock.

Faculty

Mr. Reyes, core subjects, grade 6 — **Mr. Reyes**Core Subjects · Grade 6

Mrs. Rita Halloran, core subjects, grade 6 — **Mrs. Halloran**Core Subjects · Grade 6

Mr. Toby Nyquist, core subjects, grade 6 — **Mr. Nyquist**Core Subjects · Grade 6

Mrs. Joan Petersen, core subjects, grade 6 — **Mrs. Petersen**Core Subjects · Grade 6

Ms. Halina Koski, English, grade 7 — **Ms. Koski**English · Grade 7

Mr. Wendell Rask, mathematics, grade 7 — **Mr. Rask**Mathematics · Grade 7

Mr. Curtis Aune, social studies, grade 7 — **Mr. Aune**Social Studies · Grade 7

Mr. Garrett, science, grades 7 and 8 — **Mr. Garrett**Science · Grades 7–8

Mrs. Adele Sunde, English, grade 8 — **Mrs. Sunde**English · Grade 8

Mr. Harrison, mathematics, grade 8 — **Mr. Harrison**Mathematics · Grade 8

Mr. Vernon Bellanger, social studies, grade 8 — **Mr. Bellanger**Social Studies · Grade 8

Mr. Roy Brandt, physical education and health, all grades — **Mr. Brandt**PE & Health · Grades 6–8

Mr. Emil Bauer, band, all grades — **Mr. Bauer**Band · Grades 6–8

Ms. Paulette Zimmer, art, all grades — **Ms. Zimmer**Art · Grades 6–8

Mr. Gordon Ness, industrial tech, all grades — **Mr. Ness**Industrial Tech · Grades 6–8

Mr. Carl Brennan, head custodian — **Mr. Brennan**Head Custodian

Mr. Bauer is shared with the high school and drives between buildings mid-morning, so if you pass him on the road, that is why. Ms. Zimmer is here Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and her room is open at lunch. And Mr. Brennan keeps the building running and knows it better than the blueprints do.

Not pictured, and we hear about it every year: our counselor and our nurse (both shared across the district), the media specialist, the special education staff and paraprofessionals, the rest of the custodial crew, the four in the kitchen, and every one of the bus drivers. Photo day is on a Tuesday and the building does not stop for it.

Heritage Day

Every year Mr. Aune’s social studies classes put on Heritage Day — projects on Cass County and Goldenvale history, displayed in the gym for the whole town. Mr. Harold Thompson attends every year, as he has for as long as anyone can remember, and stays until the last student has walked him through their project. If your family has old photographs, letters, or stories of the town, the school would love to borrow them (carefully) in the spring.

The Winter Dance

The gym gets the string lights and the streamers on the Friday of Ice Carnival weekend, and grades six through eight have it to themselves from seven to nine. Parent volunteers run the snack table; Mr. Bauer lends the sound system and stays near it.

Half the school dances and half the school stands along the wall, which is traditional, and both halves report having a good time.

Students dancing in the school gym under string lights and paper streamers, snack table at the side, snow visible through the windows — **The Winter Dance**The Friday of Ice Carnival weekend. The gym does not look like this the rest of the year.

Lunch

Thursday is hotdish Thursday. It has been hotdish Thursday for a very long time, and the one year they tried to change it is remembered.

This week — week of October 5

Monday	Pepperoni pizza, veggie sticks, fruit cup
Tuesday	Lasagna roll-up, green beans, garlic toast
Wednesday	Hot ham and cheese sandwich, chips, pickle spear
Thursday	Cheesy chicken and wild rice hotdish, glazed carrots, roll ★
Friday	Mini corn dogs, baked beans, potato wedges

Next week — week of October 12

Monday	Cheese pizza, garden salad, fruit cup
Tuesday	Walking tacos with lettuce and salsa, black beans
Wednesday	Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, garlic toast
Thursday	Tater tot hotdish, glazed carrots, dinner roll ★
Friday	Chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, corn, dinner roll

The menu runs on a five-week cycle, posted here and outside the cafeteria. Every day: white or chocolate milk, the salad bar, and a sunbutter-and-jelly alternative. Monday is pizza day, same as it has always been, and ★ marks the hotdish, because Thursday is hotdish Thursday. Menu subject to change when the delivery truck has other ideas.

School announcements run in the Goldenvale Dispatch and on the News & Notices page.