We visit with innovative Educator Leigh Anderson, Principal Mark Menier and some remarkable 4th Graders from Willow Lane Elementary School in White Bear Lake about the Minnow Tank Program
Greetings and welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where it is our goal to give the world a dose of the Minnesota nice that it's so desperately needs. We have a very special event happening today. I am here at Willow Lane Elementary and White Bear. and I'm here with Lee Anderson. I have known Lee for many, many years. Our boys played sports together growing up, and uh, Lee invited me, uh, several months ago to participate in a program called Minnow Tank. And it turned out to be one of the most, uh, enjoyable experiences, I've had in a long. and, we're gonna be visiting with some of the, uh, the people, the young people that were involved in Minnow Tank, and I think it's gonna be a show that you all will enjoy tremendously. Lee, tell us a little bit about yourself. Why, uh, you, uh, do what you do and how you came up with this great idea. Well, I am a teacher at Willow Lane Elementary. I'm the Outreach Coordinator Act, actually, and I'm always looking for ways. To decrease the opportunity gap that that exists with kids. There's a lot of kids that don't get to play on sports, they didn't, don't get to, um, go to summer camps. And it's often in those opportunities where we meet our mentors, where we learn how to work with the team, where we learn how to win and lose with dignity. And, and so I have the most wonderful job where I can create those opportunities within. And so the Minnow Tank, um, evolved from kind of that idea, and it's a spinoff of the Shark Tank and the Shark Tank people, um, present entrepreneurial ideas to the Sharks and hope the sharks that hope the sharks, um, support them financially. And so what the Minnow tank is, the kids get together in teams. and they learn all about service. That's a big part of the minnow tank, learning about service. And, and we tell the kids that everybody has a gift. Everybody has the, the power to give back and make the world a better place. And so we really hit service and teamwork hard. And the kids get into teams and they, um, they first identify an area in the world or something. If they could make the world a better place, what would it be? Very cool. And from there, We identified four themes, um, environment, poverty, childhood disease. and So, um, the kids kind of picked their theme and then they were put in, in teams based on the themes that they chose, and we really worked hard on teamwork. And, um, in their teams, they presented to the minnows. The minnows were five judges that came in from the community, and the kids put together a PowerPoint with a coach just as like yourself. Uh, we had coaches from the community support each team, and they worked together for six different session. And the kids just did an excellent job presenting to the minnows. And, um, then the minnows decided which, where the money was gonna go, which four charities won. The team that I was with, um, I discovered. I kind of felt like it was unfair cuz I felt like I had four CEO types, on my team and, you know, I watched the other teams and, you know, there might be a few squirrels in the bunch mm-hmm. I just love the group of kids that I worked with and I understand, uh, later on today we're gonna be interviewing some of the, uh, the kids that were involved. In fact, one of the people from my team, my team took third place, which I am. Pleased with, but I'm looking into a congressional investigation as to how Marty Rath Mander's team did better than mine. That's, that will, uh, irritate me for, for all time. And The charity that I got to work with coincidentally was the Masonic uh, cancer Center. And when I first was, uh, introduced to my team, I said, well, you know, why are you interested in this charity? And the, the stories that they told were just so heartwarming. And some of them had been personally touched by cancer. Tell us about some of the charities that your, uh, that your team supported. And, uh, can we, uh, can we discuss who might have won the Shark Tank? The first place Award? Yes. Age two Oh for life. To cold to home. The, the gold. Um, second place. Marty, yeah, Marty had the beds bed for everyone or something like that. Uh, my, my very own bed, my very own bed, third place was, um, Masonic Cancer Center. Yeah, yeah. Congressional investigation forthcoming Yeah, many, many of the themes were represented. So of the 2000, we had a$2,000 pot. So that money was divided then among the four charities. And where does the money come from? Donations. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah. This year, um, Subaru has been just fabulous. They have been so good with, with Willow. And, and that's one thing when people wanna donate to Willow, that's, you know, I, we talk about one of the ways to break the cycle of poverty is to empower, not enable. So when we do get donations, we use those donations to find empowering opportunities. So wonderful, because they. How can we help Willow? And so we use that money that they donated for this activity. And Subaru, is it the, the local White Bear Subaru? Yes. Those clowns that do those commercials. Yeah. They seem like really good guys. Oh, they're, they, they are so supportive of the community in many different ways. That's wonderful. I see them a around town. They are, they're very, very much about white bear legs. Oh yeah. how do you find your minnows? Uh, just different community members. Um, we have Lee put me in a choke hold at a party and said, we need some mentors or coaches for these kids, and, you know, how can you resist these? Uh, yes, yes. Well, we have 80 reading buddies here at Willow. Um, and they work individually with their students, and so I sent something out to the reading buddies, to the Rotary, different community members such as yourself, who I. um, wanna serve the community mm-hmm. and, and also have a gift in working with kids. Wow. So, um, it was a real honor. Yes. Well, you and I enjoyed it tremendously. Well, you were fabulous. I hope you come back. I won't disagree. No, Jesus Um, so today we have planned, we're going to be, uh, visiting with some of the young people. Uh, Steve Brown will be joining us here shortly, and there's also a big check presentation today. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Why don't you tell us about how that all came about? Yeah. The one wish. Who represent, they're the team of, um, the Masonic Cancer Center. So they will be presenting, um, the Masonic Cancer Center with the check the money that they earned. They're gonna do their PowerPoint for'em too, so they're Oh, are they really? They're gonna get to see the, the sales pitch. I can't wait to see it. Yep. And, uh, we'll be back right after this message. And we are back, and this is a big, big day for us. Very big round. Steve has joined us and with us right now we have two of the four champions from the Minnow Tank. Wow. We've got Oliver and Diana. Can you tell us which is which? What's start with you? Who are you? I am Oliver. Hello Oliver. And tell me what was the charity that you guys were raising money for? Uh, the bed fighters. We had the bed fighters with Coach Marty. Yeah, I, that guy we raised$400. Are you kidding me? Yes. That's fantastic. I'm not kidding. You're not kidding. No. And who are you? I am Diana. Diana, let's listen to Diana's voice. Diana has a great radio voice. So Diana, tell me about your charity. Um, I work for people, serving people and Oh, yeah. Very nice. We just met with Mrs. Anderson. Mm-hmm. she's fantastic, isn't she? Yes. I mean, we are very fortunate at Willow Lane to have Mrs. Anderson. I'm the staff and, uh, I feel so grateful that we get the opportunity to talk to you, you guys today. Mm-hmm. you know, this is on the Kindness Chronicles, which is a program that goes all over the world. but our job is to give the world a dose of the Minnesota nice that it desperately needs. Mm-hmm. You guys ever heard of Minnesota? Nice? Uh uh. Yeah. Yeah. We got kinda, yeah. Kind of a couple times. So, Oliver, let, let's start you. Okay. You don't seem like a guy who is a is You're not afraid to talk a little bit. No. So why don't you talk a little bit about the bed. What do you call the bed fighters? Yeah. Tell us about the bed fighters and, and. How that all worked. Oh, by the way, kgs on the line with us. Kg, are you there? Yeah, I'm listening in. And these kids are doing a great job. You're right about the voice for radio. They've both got a very nice voice. I know. Thank you. So thank you. Kg. Where are you today? You is there Minnesota Wild. Have a game today. They have a game. I'm in Minnetonka right now preparing for Sad game and I, I just would like to ask both those kids if they could give us a couple of, uh, quick answers as to who inspired them to be, um, so charitable, is it somebody in their life? Yeah. Let's start with all of a great starting question. Yeah. well, I'm gonna give you a hint. Hmm. If you use your mom or dad, that's probably a good place to start. They'll appreciate that probably more than, so we'll start with them and then we'll go to, we'll go somewhere else. Yeah. Um, it, it actually did come from my mom. Uh, she is a, a wonderful woman. Very nice. Why do you say that? What's your favorite thing about your. That she loves me and my sister, and that she takes care of us all day. Wonderful. Oh, well, how about you, Diana? Who's your kindness inspiration? Well, it has to be my mom. Well, it doesn't have to be, but it's nice that you say that. Moms are scoring good right now. Moms are, moms are two and oh right now. Yeah. So tell us about your. Uh, Why is she so nice? Yeah, because she gives us money when, uh, we're done with chores. Oh, nice. There you go. So you, so you got that figured out. Yes. So you understand, you appear to have a couple of little holes in your face here. What, how did those happen? Or those dimples? Yes. Oh, those are, those are, those are serious dimples you got going there. Oh. And man, when she giggles, they really get deep. It looks like when you were born, they grabbed your face and pulled you out by those two little holes in your face. So you're, so let's go back to Oliver. Tell us about the, uh, the bed fighters. Bed fighters. So, um, who is on your team? there are three other people on my team. One of them is, uh, a Adriana Laier, I think. Yeah. We could just do their first names. Okay. So you got Adriana and then Torian. Okay. And then Holly. Holly, yeah. I, that was a pretty good team. Mm-hmm. I was watching watching you. Working with Coach Marty. Mm-hmm. you know, coach Marty is my friend. Well, he was my friend until he beat us. He came in second place and we came in third. Yeah. So tell us about what, what is it that your charity does? Yeah. we give beds. To people who are moving into stable housing. Wonderful. Wow. Yeah. Can you imagine what it would be like not to have a. I, I actually didn't have a bed for a night, so I really Wow. So I have a personal connection to it, personal connection to it. So did you sleep on the floor? No, I slept in a drawer. No, Okay. I, I, I slept in my mom's bed, but, but still, I could have slept on a mattress. To be clear, just to clarify for our listeners to, you're not actually fighting beds, right? You're not. We're fighting. You have nothing against beds? No. We are fighting with the beds. For the beds. For the bed. For the beds. It for the beds. Beds. That's a clever turn. That's really smart. That's a good, catchy, catchy name too. I like that. And I think you came in second place. Ooh, that's good. That's pretty good. And. We also did this, uh, in third grade. Oh. And I also came in second place that year too. So it was just crazy consistent record, though. That's great. Very consistent. Diana, tell us us about your charity. Uh, my charity name is People Serving People. Uh, but we call it, uh, the Helping Hands. Helping Hands. Okay. I like it. And, and what does people serving people. um, I betcha they serve people. Mm-hmm. Yes. Huh? It comes from the name. It comes from the name. Another smart name, Just, just like my very own bed. My, you know what they are clever. That's marketing is what that is. Yes. Plus, uh, people serve in people and, uh, my very b own bed together. No, no. You're kidding. Yes, we do like, um, my very own bed if, if they run out. If P s P runs out of, uh, beds, we, um, the people at, uh, my very own bed actually send them a fee. A few. Really? Wow. Yeah. They got some, some deals working. That's really smart. Cool. Yeah. So, uh, people serving, people tell, what did you learn about people serving people? homeless people that, uh, are like, uh, at, at the facility, they sleep in the facility. Oh. Um, yes. So that's, that's how, so do they feed them there? Yes. Oh, they do. Nice. So like, people that are ho So it serves the homeless population. Mm-hmm. And do, do you know where it is? I think it's like in the Twin Cities. It's in the Twin Cities. Okay. Or like Minneapolis St. Paul. Yeah. Minneapolis St. Paul. Yeah. So it, it's, it provides them a place to stay. Mm-hmm. and it provides them with food. Yes. Okay. And tell me about who is on your team. Yeah. My team is Aaliyah Zakia, and. Melanie? Yeah. Yeah. Melanie. Melanie. Okay. Yeah. We can't forget Melanie. Okay. Yeah. Got it. So, you know, it's fun. I'll edit all that up. Melanie will be Boom, right there. There you go. You might even start with Melanie Cool. Yeah. Yeah. Well, terrific. Um, do you guys have any, uh, uh, other thoughts about the, uh, the, the Minnow Tank program? was John fun to work with or was he Well, he, I, I got to work with, uh, one of our next guests. Got it. Okay. On my team. That's right. Your team. Okay. That's right. Chloe will be visiting with her shortly. Tell us what your, what your thoughts are, how this went. Um, was it fun? Yeah, it was, it was really fun. Uh, it was researching about, about our charities and, uh, it, it was definitely a challenge, so nothing is ever easy. Exactly. Well, we've got, go ahead. It was okay for me and well wait a second. Let's say that over. It was just okay for you. Yeah, it was awesome. So how was it? Awesome. awesome. Very good. But there was just a few errors with the like spelling and what, what did we, what do we care about that no errors happen. Mm-hmm. Steve and I make'em all the time. Look at how cool we turned out. Yeah. That, that. Back when I was your age. All errors, All mostly errors. Well, it has been a pleasure learning about your charities, people serving people in my very own bed and, uh, congratulations. Yeah. Kevin, do you have any final questions for these two, uh, brilliant leaders? Well, I just, I think that maybe feeling good about doing something for somebody else at a young age. Does that give you. Inspiration to do more of these type of things as you get older kids. Yeah. You know, when you're on the radio shaking your head, nodding your head doesn't work. Kevin, can you have to use words? Cause this isn't tv. I know. He's just trying to say, he's trying to say, keep going. It's really cool that you're doing this cuz you're, you don't realize the ripple effect. You're showing other people the cool things you're doing. And so that's gonna inspire them to do good things too. So the last question I have is, Oliver, what do you want to be when you grow up? Um, I have like, so far a top, top three. Let's hear em. Um, uh, an astronaut. Okay. There you go. Um, a photographer. Okay. Or, uh, wait, that's it. I just understand you've whittled it down to two. Maybe it could be an astronaut who owns a. Mm. Picture who takes picture. You can take picture photos from space. From space. Nice. Yes. Huh? Yes. Good combo. Astronaut, photographer, There you go. Yeah. Irv picture. Mar the the, if you're an astronaut photographer, does that mean you take pictures of astronauts? Wait a second. Okay. How about you, Diana? What do you want to be when you grow up? I have a top one. You have a top one? Um, of course it is an artist. Oh, right. Yeah. She, I love drawing. Really? Yes. Yes. She, she draws I draw. Nice. She too much. You draw too much Yes, but she draws if you enjoy it. And it sounds like you're pretty good at it. Yes. I would just keep doing that. Yeah. Pursue that dream. Yes. Well do it when you have your first, um, art exhibit, make sure that you invite me and Steve cuz he's got a lot of money. and invite Kevin cuz he'll get people with even more money to come and buy your very beautiful artwork. So you like to draw. Do you ever paint? Uh, barely, but I still do. You do. Terrific. Yeah. She draws a lot of dragons though. Dragons cool. Yes. Really? Yeah. Well, very cool you guys. This has been super fun. You guys did awesome. Let's see if these next two can do quite as well. Yes. And we'll be back right after this. And we are back. We are back with two of the finest people I know. Well, at least one I know. The other one I'm just getting to know. We've got Introduce yourself, sir. My name is Denver. Hello, Denver. And who are you? I'm Chloe. Now. I know Chloe because Chloe was on my team. What was the team name? Chloe. Tell us the team name. Uh, it was Masonic Cancer Center. Well, that was the charity, but Oh yeah. The team was the one Wisher. That's right. Nice. You were the one Wishers. One wishers. And Denver. What was the name of your team? Each show for life now, H two oh for life. As I understand it came in first place. Is that true? Yes. Tell us who was on your team? Me, Macy. Alden. Brielle. And what, uh, was it about your team that you think won the big prize? Um, at the end, I. A translation cause it was really windy when they, so we did a video. Okay. Ah, there were kids at a school in Ghana and they were talking about how they had water crisis, uhhuh, and then they needed help at the end. I had to like translate it cuz it was really windy and no one could really hear it. Well, very interesting. Which did you see? Wasn't that interesting how his voice kind of faded out when he said no one could really hear it, Very, that was weird. So, um, I just want to mention that Mr. Manier is, uh, is here and who is he? He's our principal. Oh boy. Oh, does that mean? Oh, we either did something really good or we're not in trouble. We're not in trouble at, nobody gets in in trouble at this school. Mr. Manir happened to be the athletic director at Mai High School, and my children were there. And, uh, fantastic guys. You are lucky to have him, uh, as the leader of this fine school. Denver. Tell us a little bit more about H two oh for life. Um, Did I get the name right? Yeah. Okay. And what did you, what did you do to that made you guys win? What, what, what is it? What's, what's it all about? What's the secret sauce? Yeah. Well, we had fun with it. We didn't argue the entire time. We good. Mm-hmm. That's good. Very good. Now I need to talk to Chloe because we were teammates, correct? Yeah. Now, tell us about the one wishers. Who were the, the people on our team, Jacob, Adrian, and Lauren, and also me. And as I told, uh, your teacher, uh, Mrs. Anderson. I felt like our team might have been a little unfair because we had four, what I would consider CEO types, you know, high level. Performers on our team and you guys, uh, put together a plan to raise money for the wine wishers. And what was the charity? Masonic Cancer Center. And why did you choose the Masonic Cancer Center? Because like, I know, like that being sick isn't ever really good cuz my cousin had cancer, but she doesn't have it anymore. Oh, good. So she was, uh, she was treated for cancer. And what, uh, what did you learn about the Masonic Cancer Center while you were there? Well, they like help lots of people and they're, they share a lot of their, their discoveries with people. Like other charities. Yeah. Yeah. What's unique about the Masonic Cancer Center is the, the, it's a research institution and the stuff that they learn in their labs, they share with people all over the, all over the world, really. So it's an organization that truly helps people all over the world, as does H two O for life. H two oh for life. You're providing fresh water for people, did you say in Ghana? Well, not just in Ghana. All around. It was North America, south America, Africa. Wow. That's a lot of water. That's a lot. It's a lot of areas where people don't have water. Right. And it's not just drinking water. Okay. I have to ask you, um, who is your coach? Mr. Mark And Mr. Mark? This was, he's done this for a couple of years, isn't that correct? and uh, I just wanna say that he seemed very proud of the fact that he came in first place so much that he liked to remind us that he came in first place. And I have decided I'm going to ask for a congressional investigation, as to why the one wishers did not come in first place, cuz. I, I, you guys were great. You sound like a sore loser a little bit. John Okay. Maybe I am a sore loser Kevin. Sounds like they're all doing good stuff. Kevin. We got people here that are providing water for, uh, for folks all over the world, and we got someone here that's supporting cancer research that helps people all over the world. Do you have any, like a win-win all? Do you have any questions for these, uh, young entrepreneurs? Yeah, I'd like to ask them. Um, moving forward, what did they learn? Giving and how it made them feel. Yeah. Tell us, how did it make you feel to, uh, to, to raise money for a charity? I honestly felt, felt pretty proud and Well, do you think it's something you want to do again? Yeah, I would totally do it again. Wonderful. Cool. That's good. How about you, Chloe? It made me feel very proud of myself and proud of my friends that are on my team, and especially my coach. You that, oh, how about that? I just, can I read this? Yeah. This, you know what, why don't you read this? Okay. Okay. Chloe wrote me and, and the reason I'm sharing this, well, one is it makes me feel really. But the importance of writing thank you notes to people, handwritten thank you notes. I will save those thank you notes forever. That is so meaningful. But read it because let's hear it. Yeah, let's hear it. Dear Coach John, thank you for being my coach. You're really funny because all you say makes us laugh. You're also really smart. I've read your book and it's awesome. I've learned that cancer is more serious than I thought it. One thing I'll never forget is how cool and nice you are. Also, I'm sorry you couldn't make it to the party. You're super nice and thank you for being my coach. Well, now you understand why I wanted her to read that. Yeah, because let's see. Super funny. Super nice, smart. I think you did, you handsome is handsome. No, no. Not part of it. Not part of it. Well, wait a second. You seemed awfully, uh, energized about saying no about handsome. Come on, Chloe. Uh, maybe. Okay. Come on. No, but this is, this just is so important to be grateful and it's seriously something that I'm going to, uh, to save for the rest of my days. I also want to point out the fact that there are no spelling errors. No punctuation errors. Wow. Because I was gonna take out a big red pen and do all the corrections and I don't need to. So thank you for that. You're welcome. Yeah. Very, very. So we asked the last group, yeah. You know, what is it that you want to do when you grow up? Denver? Work at H Shore for Life. Whoa. Wow. That gives you, gave me goosebumps. That's pretty cool. We're gonna teach you guys something. You know, when you see something nice being done. or you, you do something nice yourself. You know how that makes you feel. So, Steve, what do we call that? Well, there's a, there's a chemical reaction that happens in your body called, uh, you get a boost of serotonin. Whether you, whether you're doing something for someone or you see someone new, something for someone, or someone does something for you, everybody wins. You get, and oxytocin, it's healthy and it's good for you. It's healthy and it's good for you. So being nice is good for you. Being nice not only makes you feel good, but when people witness it, it makes them feel good. So pretty cool. Be nice. How about you, Chloe? What are you going to be CEO of the world? I, I'm not sure, but uh, one of them is probably be a therapist. Oh, what kind of a therapist? I don't know, just one that talks about PE talks to people about their feelings. Oh, cool. Wow. Yeah. I, I picture big things outta you too. I think the future is very bright here at, uh, I'm feeling good about all of our candidates. Absolutely. What are you gonna be when you grow up, John? I'm still thinking about it. Kevin, how about you still working? Kevin, what are you gonna be when you grow? Retired re retire. Oh, retired. That sounds like a good job, Well, I just want to thank both of you. Congratulations Denver, to congratulations in the first place. Congratulations, Chloe. Make sure that you tell your teammates how grateful I was for the experience and that I'm still pursuing legal means to find out how it was that we came in third place. I can't believe Mr. Marty Rath Manor, uh, came in second. I don't understand how that happened. But, uh, we're looking into it. Okay? Okay. And I think we're gonna see if Mr. Manier, the principal, will join us after this break. Thank you guys. Thanks everybody. All right, we are back and we are back with the man, the myth, the legend, the principal Oh, of Willow Lane Elementary. It's a pretty big deal. Mr. Manier. Mr. Manier, introduce yourself and tell the, uh, the, the thousands of people listening, uh, who you are and why you're here. Sure. My name is Matt Manier. I'm the principal of Willow. Elementary and have been the principal here for, uh, the better part of two years. And, uh, like, um, like, like you heard, I, I've, I've served in lots of different leadership roles over at my time. It's included being an activities director at a high school. It's, that's right. It's not athletic director, it's no activities. Forgive me at college, it's an athletic director. Oh, okay. But, you know, we wanna make sure. That we represent everybody, that people that are in the plays are just as important as the people that are on the field. Absolutely. It's arguable music, theater, music. Come on now. Uh, but, but then, uh, I moved from that to be able to work, um, in White Bear Lake where our kids go to school. And so I was lucky enough to be the assistant principal at the school where many of these kids will go. Uh, sunrise Park, oh, uh, middle school. And I served there for about six years and had the, uh, opportunity to see each one of our three kids at some point in their career at Sunrise. So, uh, white Bear has been home for many years for us, and, um, then a. Couple of years ago, the district approached me and said, would you like to take on the role of being the principal at Willow? And I said, I've never worked with elementary school kids. I think that they're snotty and I think that they want what? And I don't like either one of those in this. That can't be true. So they said, well give it a shot. And I said, sure, I'll give it a shot. And, uh, immediately this was during Covid, right? So everything was kind of, oh yeah. Everything was kind of funky. Mm-hmm. and everything was a little weird and we had to have masks on and um, but as soon as I was able to get to interact with the kids, I was like, oh, I love elementary school kids. I like that. I get hugs. I like that. I'm able to make them laugh. Not that you can't make kids in high school and middle. Laugh, you just have tougher eyes. You had to work just a little bit harder. A little bit harder. Yeah. Yeah. This, this crew that you got here, they are, uh, they're a fun bunch. I, I will tell you that, you know, uh, during the, the, the process, we had the, uh, the fellow coaches and I had the opportunity to talk about the, this place and it was unanimous. There's something magic going on here. I mean, sincerely. Mm-hmm. There is an energy when you walk through the hallway and it's not like a squirrely energy, this place is just, it's, it's magic. Yeah. And I just want to acknowledge Lee Anderson. Mm-hmm. Um, I have known Lee as an educator in kind of the broader community. I know that she was, uh, working in Maita at St. Andrews for some time. She is absolutely a, uh, a gem. And, you know, tell us a, here's an opportunity to talk nice about Lee. Tell us about and, and just how long is your podcast podcast? Cuz I can, let's go forever. Let's go. Uh, so ironically, Lee and I met for the very first time when I was serving as the activities director at Monte because her kids were involved in activities and I know how important that is to the Anderson family and. Great kids. Um, and so, but the, the power of Lee is, you know, like sometimes when you're the principal or you're the ad or whatever it is that you are, like, people are reluctant to, to talk to you. And I don't know why that is. I think that I'm a pretty approachable person, but there's something about that role. that I think sometimes people get like, oh, I can't talk to him. Right. Well, Lee was not at all that She, she came up and we started chatting and then, um, because our kids were going to white bear schools and she was working in White Bear, but sending her kids to Monte Mii schools, we had this kind of, this little bond. And so every time that that Lee and I, uh, were able to see each other. it was really nice because we could just talk about education because we're both in that field or we could just talk about anything. Right. And, and we know Lee, um, is just one of those, the, the most kind people. And I said to myself like, if I ever get the chance to work with Lee Anderson, I'm gonna take that chance. Right. And so, you know, our paths cross again about seven years later. And then to see her working with our students on a daily basis and. When we think of schools, we think a lot of times about reading and writing and math and all of that stuff is important, but we are really teaching the whole child. And that's the gift that that Lee brings is talking about leadership, um, setting themes for our, um, month. So like this month is talking about bravery and standing up for what's right. Last month was about. And so we really have an opportunity to reach kids on lots of different levels. And you got to see the power of Lee. You bet. Most recently with the Minnow tank presentations that were done. Right? That's something that she helped a shepherd. It's something that she's passionate about. And you know, now we've got these great connections, not only with, uh, these organizations that we did yeah. But, uh, organizations coming in to help our students. reading buddies that she's integral in making sure happens in, uh, the ways that we have, uh, churches from around the community helping to support our causes and being very kind to our staff. Um, she's just, uh, sh you don't come around. People that just like, they're truly like themselves, right? Like, you know it when you. And Lee is that, well, I would say that the, uh, the young people and the families, uh, have hit the jackpot with Mr. Manir as well as, uh, Mrs. Anderson. And really there is a magic here. Kg. I've never heard you be this quiet for so long. you must have a question, uh, for the, uh, former activities director and current principal. Well, man, I just, I'd love to hear your perspective. I long, long time. I was a grade school fire ed teacher and, and the energy around those kids was just unbelievable. But what do you learn about your students when you see them team up? And, and get involved in something on the charitable side of things. Well, you, you know about teams, right? I know that your past history as a goalie and, and how you've been. Oh God bless. Stop. Let's stop. I'm a fan of Kevin Gordon talking. Permit me that Get ready. But, but we know the value of teams, right? And that, that comes out very clear in youth athletics. Um, and so while we have students that participate in those, um, so many life lessons are able to be gathered and gained through that. The thing that I like is that when a team comes together at, at the youth level, you just kind of take 12, 13 kids. You kind of pop'em together, and then you really start to see. Leadership that starts with the coach, but then you hope extends into the kids. Right. The coach can only do so much. It has to, the, the kids have to take on that responsibility. And I'm certain that some of the groups that formed for the minnow tank, uh, you know, not, not every kid probably like got along together, but for the, for the common good, they had to come together. You bet. And work with one another. And that can be hard, right? One person wants to do it one way, the other person wants to do it another way. And so what we're doing, especially at the elementary level and with these kids is, okay, so it's okay to have differences. It's okay for us to be able to like, Dis, uh, like, um, agree to disagree. Right? That's that's real life. Yeah. But to be respectful in doing that, right? Yeah. And so I guarantee the kids that you've talked to today, I'm sure that some of their, um, ideas didn't come to pass because as a group, they decided, well, we're gonna go this way. And that's a really good life lesson. And it's something that we try to, to, to instill in them that we're, that we're. All needing to, to compromise to come to the greater good. And so to your question, Kevin, I think that um, the more that we can do that at school, then the more that that radiates into their homes, into their other teams, into their other activities and interests. Makes great sense. That's awesome. Now, where are you from originally? Well, I grew up in Roseville. Oh. So I'm not far. That's not far. No. Yeah. And um, did you go to Roseville area high school? I did, yeah. Okay. Class of 93. Go Raiders. Go Raiders. basketball player. Yeah. Yep. And it had to have been. Yep. And so, but the thing that I liked, again, going back to the activities thing, is I, I didn't, um, you know, like I did play basketball, I played football, I ran. Uh, but I was also in the musical, I was in choir. I, you know, even as geeky as being in a barbershop quartet, which we had at Roseville. Oh, wow. But I, but I, I love to sing and I love to act. I love to be kind of a am Are you agreeing that that's geeky junk? Not at all. It's not geeky. It's not geeky. So, Mr. Manier, uh, Steve Brown here was the lead singer in a band called Johnny Clueless, which was a Oh, I've heard that was Johnny. Oh, you still are. I know, but. Big deal back in the nineties. not as big as, as a, as a hockey star as Kevin was, but, um, no, but yes. So singing's music's big to me too. Oh, I love it. It's so important for kids. I love it. Yeah. I'll even sing on the announcement sometimes when Oh yeah. See, Chloe's not, so he's a show. Music takes over So he's got the music in him. Yeah. All right. Kg, any, uh, do we wanna have him talk more about his, uh, admiration of you and your life in the eighties? No, no, we've, we've gone down memory lane far enough, but, uh, you know, the Roseville Raiders back, back when I was a hockey coach, that was a tough out when you headed over to the, the Roseville Ice. When my, my, uh, mountains view Mustangs, uh, took him a chin time and time again against his, uh, Homa mater. So was that the, so memories are not good, but they're fresh. Was that the girls team that you were coaching or the boys team? That was the B Mount view, uh, Mustang Boys varsity. And we actually shared that rink with Roseville back in the mid to late nineties because Mounds View didn't have a home rink. This was before the the Super Yeah. Came into existence and. um, we'd go there and what was called a neutral site and get spanked by Roseville, who had a very, very good goal of it there in the nineties. Yeah. We had, we had, uh, some fun, I remember having to go to the Coliseum for the section finals. Oh yeah. Right. I wasn't a hockey player, but it sure was a fun environment to be able to be at the Coliseum too. yeah. Usually lose, like, we usually lost like in the section final, but one year we went to stay. That was pretty fun. And wasn't Roseville, uh, like legendary for their girls hockey team? I mean, like, is that the land of Winnie bro. And the curtains and, and uh, I mean they were the pioneers really. The legends. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was the one that really, when when girls hockey came into existence, it was Roseville. With the players you just mentioned. Mm-hmm. It was Eagan with Natalie. Darwin, yeah. They really helped. Build girls hockey in the early days. Shepherd it in. Well, as every episode seems to go, we always end up talking about hockey with kg So we're gonna shut her down for now. But, uh, Mr. Manier, it's Matt, correct? Yeah, it is. Yeah. Yeah. Mr. Manier to his closest friends. Yeah. Right. And my wife. Wife, ironically. That's good. That's weird. That's good. Do you request that of her, or, well, she just knows. Oh, she knows. She knows not to make direct eye contact. There's a whole protocol. But how old are your children? It's understood. Uh, 21, 18, and 15. Oh, really? Yeah. So what, where are they at? Uh, my son's at the u. Okay. My daughter is a badger. Oh. And, uh, so that, that's created a little bit of. Yeah. Yeah. The ax is a, it means a little bit more when the gophers play the Badgers. My daughter just got into Madison and we were out there, listen, this past weekend, in fact, to show her my support because I was not a fan. Not a fan. Yeah, right. I ordered a Wisconsin shirt that came in the mail today. Uhhuh? But she's either gonna go to Michigan or Wisconsin. Okay. We wanted her to go to St. Thomas, like my two boys, but she's too cool for that. Apparently. kg. What do you think of that? Too cool for St. Thomas's. Make their own choice. Oh, whatever. I'm gonna edit this out. Comment. I reluctantly wear my badger sweatshirt too, too. Yeah. I just, red is just, that doesn't, it's not very slimming It's not slimming enough. we'll be back right after this. And we are back the final segment of this week's show. We have with us a couple of, uh, uh, very special guests. We've got Dr. Chris Pinnell and Christie Flanagan Velar. If you've been listening, you heard her a couple of weeks ago. Thousands of downloads, you know, lots of all kinds of, uh, very positive comments. So we're gonna see if she can. Replicate her excellence as she did the last time she was on. But, uh, Dr. Pinnell, uh, welcome to the Kindness Chronicles. And also welcome to Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries. This is a crossover event. Ooh. Sort of like, uh, when, when, uh, Chicago Med and Chicago. Uh, pd, you know, the Dick Wolf, you know, he's the executive producer. This one is not produced by Dick Wolf This is produced by John Schwetz, produced by John Schwetz. So, Dr. Pinnell, you, uh, just, uh, tell us what, what just happened upstairs. Uh, Well, we are at the Willow Elementary School and a, a group of students called The One Wishers, presented a check to the cancer, the Mason Cancer Center for$400. It was a community, um, service and outreach effort on their part. I don't know how they raised$400, but they did with your help. And, um, it was great and they were really excited and, um, I couldn't be more happy. This is just wonderful. Lots of great questions were asked, one of the questions. Uh, was specific to, uh, you were informed the team or the people there that you can make mice glow in the dark. Yes. That really got their attention. And then the, the one young guy actually, he was on the podcast earlier today. That was Oliver. Oh, Oliver. He was Oliver. He was, yes. He was wondering if you could do that to people. And when you mentioned, I, I just thought that his response was so clever. Yeah. It really was. Um, technically we could make people green. Probably shouldn't, probably shouldn't. And I mentioned that and I said, well, one reason would be that they would make fun of me because I'm green. And I think, uh, wasn't the Hulk, wasn't he? Yeah. There were gamma, gamma rays or something caused the Hulk. It works out for some people. Yes, you're You're exactly right. But not for everybody. Exactly. But then Oliver said, well, if we were all different colors then nobody would make fun of you if you're green. And I thought, that's brilliant. It is. You know the guy, he even positioned it. What's on the horizon. Yes, I know. I know. What's on the horizon. So Christie, you, you get to, uh, participate in a lot of, uh, you know, check presentations, you know, how does this one stack up? Number one, I would imagine that would be the answer. they're such budding philanthropists and they came with a business plan. That's the other thing. I mean, we're gonna have to be able to report back on what the ROI was from the special gift. That was a lot on their part. So very fun, very special check presentation, very special. One of the things that I think, uh, they impressed upon the, uh, the judges, the minnows, like in Shark Tank, was the idea that, uh, you know, that, that you can. Turn philanthropy into more money. Can you just explain how that works? Yes. So the power of philanthropy is really everything, and I'll have to just share. The Masonic Cancer Center hit an all new record this year. They garnered more than 90 million in federal support. Holy cow. That's never happened before. I think last year was maybe 85 million, but if you think about where that starts, it's the$400. It's the couple hundred thousand dollars to get the data set that you then have to be able to get approved by the NIH or the nci. And then leverage that dollar for the ROI to get. So for example, 90 million, that is a huge lift. And much of that got started by philanthropy at the Masonic Cancer Center. Huge shout out to the Minnesota Masonic charities. Oh, that was well done. Thank you very much. And many other donors, many other donors, and I'm, I'm an example of that. So I got a grant from, um, about$50,000. The philanthropic fund in the cancer center, and I was able to leverage that into a$2.75 million grant. Holy. So it's, you know, it's, it's a huge, I'm not great at math, but that sounds like some pretty creative math. It is, and it was exactly like Christie said, it enabled me to get enough information to convince the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute that yeah, I had something here, and that it was worth the investment. Very cool. It is. Well, I just wanted to thank you for making the trip out here. I know that, uh, my team, the one wishers were super excited about the, uh, the opportunity to meet a real doctor. Dr. Pinnell is wearing a, uh, a, a a lab jacket. Is that what we call that? Lab? Lab coat? Lab coat. That. Clearly has never been worn before, cuz it still has the, the creases in the, uh, Christie offered to iron it, which I thought was very kind. It's the right logo. It is the right Sonic Cancer Center, university of Minnesota. Yes, he's got the right logo. And, uh, we were suggesting maybe he should wear that around more often. he seemed to get more respect with it on. He did. Yeah. So professional. I know I might start wearing a white bathrobe around and just see what people think of that. Think what, think what Rodney Dangerfield could have done with this. Exactly. Think of the respect he could have gotten. Exactly. Long overdue. Well thank you very much for making the time and uh, off we go.