Rufus Elging is our most recent exchange student.  He comes from Stockholm, Sweden and from a family of four: his mother is a book editor; father is the librarian for the Swedish military, and a brother.  His host family has a mother, father, 2 sons and 2 daughters and one away at college. He is starting to get used to having so many people in the household. He says the 8-year-old “sister” follows him around like a puppy.

In Sweden, the equivalent to our high school is called gymnasium, which covers grades 10 to 12. Rufus is in the 11^th grade over there and is considered a junior here. Sweden does not have sports as part of the school system. Sports are a separate endeavor and according to Rufus, you must start in a sport when you are young. That is why he was so glad that his host family signed him up for some sports activities at his school here, including cross country this fall. He likes basketball, running and soccer (called football outside of the United States). He tasted turkey for the first time when he had a turkey leg at the Minnesota State Fair (kudos to the Miller family for getting him there on the final day). The turkey leg was so big he cradled it like a baby.

National Park Service Rangers are protectors, preservationists, archeologists, administrators, biologists, and educators. As education rangers, they excel at fostering curiosity and providing educational opportunities to interpret our nation’s special places and stories. Dan Peterson shared with us his role as an education ranger at the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway which is a unit of our National Park System.  Dan emphasized the collaborative nature of the St Croix Waterway, which includes state parks in both Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as the NPS.  Dan mentioned community Groups such as Wild Rivers and Rivers Alive as valuable resources to expand the educational and conservation work of Dan and his fellow rangers.

River Falls native, recent RFHS graduate, and incoming UWRF student Gabe Olson-Jensen described the development and pursuit of his interests in plant science.  What started as gardening in his youth has led him toward academic study and work in the field of Horticulture and Genetics.

 

Gabe started grafting plants at age 12 with help from Mark Christopher at Maple Leaf Orchard.  He contacted Dr. Jim Luby at U of M to obtain budwood in order to graft apple trees.  In 7^th grade at MMS, Gabe asked to use an inactive greenhouse at the school, and he used it to grow a variety of “bizarre” plants.  He noted with understandable pride that the greenhouse remains in use.