• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Subscribe
Program Guide
Watch Live

CCX Media

Skip NavigationMenu
  • News
    • Close
        • CCX News
          • CCX News Home
          • News Stories
            • CCX Daily Newscast
          • CCX Media Schools
        • Feature Segments

          • Business Matters
          • School Spotlight
          • Standout Student
          • Weekend Showcase
          • Newsmakers
        • News Tip

          Send us a story idea or news tip!
          Facebook Instagram Twitter
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
        • Apple News
    • Close
  • Sports
    • Close
        • CCX Sports
          • CCX Sports Home
          • Sports Tips
          • Hall of Fame
          • Upcoming Event Coverage
          • Play of the Week
        • Sports Coverage

          Adapted SportsAdditional SportsBaseballBasketballFootball
          GymnasticsHockeyLacrosseSoccerSoftball
          Swimming & DivingTennisTrack & FieldVolleyballWrestling
        • Social Media

          Facebook Twitter Instagram
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
          Shop/Order
    • Close
  • Cities
    • Close
        • CCX Cities
          • CCX Cities Home
          • Cities Stories
          • In The Community
          • Our Town’s Story
          • Community Resources
          • CCX Media Schools
          • City Meetings
        • Your City

          Brooklyn Center Local News and Events
          Brooklyn Park MN Local News and Events
          Crystal
          Golden Valley
          Maple Grove
          New Hope
          Osseo
          Plymouth
          Robbinsdale
        • Social Media

          Facebook Twitter
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
    • Close
  • Create
    • Close
        • CCX Create
          • CCX Create Home
          • Channels
          • Resources
          • Meet The Create Team
          • CCX Create Virtual Tour
        • Get Creative

          • Launch Your Creative Vision with CCX Create
          • Free Classes
          • Contact Us
          • Polka Spotlight
          • Diversity Minute
        • RueShare

          • Member Login
          • Member Guide
        • Social Media

          Facebook Twitter Instagram
          Watch Live
          CCX1 | CCX2 | CCX3
    • Close
  • Subscribe
  • Program guide
  • Watch Live

School Spotlight: Cedar Island Elementary

2:00 PM | Thursday, December 21, 2017

At least once a week, students in Angela Bailey-Aldrich’s fifth-grade class at Cedar Island Elementary in Maple Grove gather in a circle for a community-building exercise. They focus on breathing to get everybody calm, then turn to today’s topic: why friends are important.

“We feel that relationships are really important,” said Leona Santillan, behavior intervention specialist at Cedar Island. “We’re trying to teach them how to listen to each other, how to speak from the heart. How to share their ideas, how to be respectful.”

Santillan says when kids feel like they belong, it helps.

“It does add up to kids being able to solve problems themselves,” she said. “There’s definitely less referrals, less trips to the office.”

Principal Dan Wald says when kids are engaged in what they’re doing and feel that they belong, they learn better.

“When students are excited to learn, it’s easier to teach the basics. When they’re active it’s easier to teach the basics.”

One way Cedar Island tries to engage students is with a year-end vocabulary parade where kids choose a word they learned during the year and parade in a costume.

“It’s such a popular event, over 90 percent of our parents come to the vocabulary parade every year to watch their students,” Wald said.

Volunteers key to school success

Volunteers like Beth Burggraff are another part of this school community. She works for a living, but finds time to visit the school her son, Jake, attends to help stay in the know.

“I can get to know who Jake is hanging out with, I can get to know the other teachers so I know what’s happening,” Burggraff said.

Burggraff is one of 250 volunteers who put in more than 4,000 hours on all kinds of projects including a book fair, a first day of school meeting with families of new kindergarten students, and “kindness in chalk,” an event where families decorate sidewalks with words of encouragement.

“We get a lot of work done, we make a lot of connections, so that’s really what its all about,” said Barb Lindsay, the volunteer coordinator.

The volunteering also extends to students. The Bobcat Council involves fifth-grade students who organize service projects like a food drive and bringing in their own change to donate for the care of a leukemia patient.

“It means something if they’re the ones contributing,” said Wald. “That’s really what we’re getting at is giving the feeling of giving.”

Cedar Island has been part of the community since 1970, making it the oldest elementary school in Maple Grove. Wald, who’s in his 15th year as principal at Cedar Island, says it’s important to teach young students what community means.

“We have a chance to create citizens,” Wald said. “We want our children to be good citizens when they grow up so we have a role in teaching that.”

Sponsored

School Spotlight

Related Stories

Osseo School District Approves New Attendance Boundaries:  About 2,000 students in the Osseo Area… Read More
Rush Creek Elementary Fourth-Grader Takes First in Statewide Fire Poster Contest:  Rush Creek… Read More
How Birchview Elementary Principal Changed a School’s Culture:  As the school year winds down, it's… Read More
Minnesota High School Grad Rates Reach Record High: How Local Districts Fared:  Osseo Area Schools has… Read More
Brooklyn Center Elementary Rewards Students for Good Choices:  Brooklyn Center Elementary Assistant… Read More
Crest View Elementary Repurposing Plan Shifts to New Construction:  Enrollment at Crest View… Read More

Footer

NAVIGATE

  • CCX Media
  • NEWS
  • SPORTS
  • CITIES
  • CREATE
  • Job Opportunities
  • Meet the CCX Media Team
  • ABOUT CCX MEDIA
  • Annual Programming Reports
  • CABLE COMMISSION

SUBSCRIBE

Get email updates for daily story previews. “Week in Review” video links, and programming previews.

Subscribe Today

CONNECT

HAVE A NEWS TIP? CALL OUR TIPLINE AT:  763-533-1710
Send us story ideas and comments!
Get in touch with us
  CCX MEDIA     SPORTS
 NEWS                SPORTS
SPORTS.           SHOP/ORDER

LOCATION

CCX Media
6900 Winnetka Avenue North
Brooklyn Park, MN 55428

Main Phone:  763-533-8196

CCX Media serves the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, including Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.
Copyright © 2025 CCXMedia | All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Statement
Web Design and Development by CEL Marketing PR Design and BizzyWeb | Log in