By Lacey Landt
There has been a new teacher in Mini-School this fall. Ben Schultenover has been teaching Mini-School math in place of Ramona who is on maternity leave with her baby girl, Zoe.
Ben is a very experienced teacher. Before retiring the year before last, Ben had taught mainstream math at Minnetonka for 23 years, he taught 4 years in Africa, and 5 years in an alternative program at Minnetonka called School within a School {SWAS}.
In addition to teaching math in Mini, Ben went on the Mark Warren trip. He said it was an emotionally uplifting experience and was a good bonding experience with the teachers.
Ben got to know Doug and Randy when SWAS and Mini started in 1970. The three of them went on an outward bound trip to Canada that summer to prepare them to take high school kids into the wilderness. In 1974 Ben and Doug took a combined SWAS and Mini-School backpacking trip down the Grand Canyon.
Ben came back after retirement as a favor to Mini. He has done an exceptional job considering that most Mini-School kids hate math and teaching math in Mini is nothing like teaching in Mainstream.
Thanks, Ben, for helping us out. It has been great having you here.