April Wahlstrom
Anyone who knows head cross-county running and track and field coach April Wahlstrom knows she is a can-do person embodied with a sense of compassion and love for her athletes. She pushes kids, but doesn’t break them. Not an easy task when you are dealing with kids who sometimes don’t know their own limits.
So it should come as no surprise that April was awarded “Most Positive Girls Coach” in Minnesota.
April has been head coach of both programs for eight years, and was the assistant coach for both sports for many years before that. In 2017, she was named Polar League Cross Country Coach of the year. In addition to coaching track and cross-country, April, the mother of a two year old and five year old, teaches science at I.S.D. 166 and coaches envirothon and the varsity knowledge bowl teams.
Vice Principal Mitch Dorr nominated April for the award.
Scott Pederson, president and CEO of Positive Athlete wrote, “We receive hundreds of coach nominations each year for Positive Athlete, and the fact that we have selected this coach as a winner of one our awards is very significant. What this says is this is a trusted adult worth investing your time in, and that they are someone that you can have a great deal of confidence will be an asset to your organization.
There are seven definitions that define a positive athlete, and April is a role model for each of these attributes: Optimist attitude; heart for others, encouraging teammates, admits imperfections, puts team first, servant leader and always gives 100-percent.
In his letter, Pederson further stated, “This individual has been vetted by not only our organization, but by their school and organization they have served, in order to receive this honor. The best way I can describe them is that they are a high-character, teamwork-oriented leader, who has experience winning and losing, and has shown a heart for their school and community.”
April hits those marks on all of those fronts.
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