Bill Mittlefehldt
As an educator, Bill Mittlefehldt worked in some of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago and New York. Following that, he spent 32 years employed at Anoka High School.
“You could say I have seen the top and the bottom of America’s educational system,” he said.
Mittlefehldt, who has a cabin on the Gunflint Trail, is retired now but he would like to see a program he helped start in Anoka continue.
“In Anoka, we engaged high school students in projects and processes that were affecting them. Then we challenged them to work and serve in ways that attempted to improve our local systems. By the time I left, we were getting 30,000 hours a year of service-learning from our students—all aimed at improving our systems,” said Mittlefehldt, who is introducing “Grounding Character in Community” programs to the North Shore communities of Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Grand Marais and Grand Portage.
After leaving Anoka, Mittlefehldt moved to Duluth where he worked for a time as a clean energy resource team (CERT) state energy coordinator for Northeastern Minnesota. In that job he recruited cities and towns to use the Green Steps Cities process, which, he said, “is another planning [free] tool available to cities in Minnesota that guides the improvement of the city infrastructure for the next generation.”
With links to students and service, Grand Marais and Grand Portage could reduce their energy waste while stimulating their local economies, said Mittlefehldt. “This would have economic, social and ecological benefits for all. This is a central goal of the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP) and Green Step partners in Minnesota.”
When a youngster volunteers his or her time, they learn about their community, gain self-esteem, and become a more productive citizen, said Mittlefehldt.
High School students in Anoka had volunteer service hours added to their high school transcripts, he said, which aided them in getting scholarships and jobs.
“I would like to bring this program to Cook County and help build teamwork and vision for students as they grow into their roles as citizens and workers. I had lots of success due to my talented partners in the Twin Cities where we did lots of this at Anoka High School. This brought state and national recognition, as we engaged kids to build American teamwork. This could involve school leaders, city leaders, health leaders, environmental leaders, faith leaders and business leaders,” he said.
When he worked with Green Steps, Mittlefehldt had opportunities to share what he had learned at Anoka “with lots of community partners in Minnesota and elsewhere.”
“Recently, I supported the city’s [Grand Marais] effort to become a Green Step City. Now there are 109 such cities in Minnesota. The director of the Green Step process is interested in this type of pilot project linking kids to mentors. This can be very powerful, grounding youth through service and recognition,” he said.
For this type of program to work in Cook County, Mittlefehldt said the program would need support from the Grand Marais City Council and the School District 166 school board.
“This would require some recognition and support from the city council. It would require some recognition and support from the school board. Students would gain service-learning hours by working on projects or events that improved community vision and teamwork. This could include projects or service to improve business health, community health, or environmental health.
“This type of social infrastructure for connecting our students’ passions and purposes to our community needs is critical to the community’s future,” he said.
Mittlefehldt recently met with leaders in Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Grand Marais, and will be back again soon to talk to officials at schools, leaders of churches, community groups, county and city officials and the boards that run them. He would lead and coordinate the program for the town or towns that took up this challenge
“I’m optimistic that one of the towns will agree to try this. I know that it can be very successful if the right people get involved,” he said.
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