Moorhead High School Hall of Honor inducts three members for 2015
November 12, 2015
A retired teacher, a graduate, and a graduate who was also a retired teacher were inducted into the Moorhead High School Hall of Honor at a recognition ceremony Oct. 3 at Minnesota State University Moorhead. The 2015 inductees are Darvin C. Miller, Peter Rogness and Shirley J. Tweten.
Moorhead High School Principal Dave Lawrence welcomed people to the dinner ceremony, and Superintendent Lynne Kovash shared remarks prior to the induction ceremony.
“Our district has remained strong in educating the whole child,” Kovash said. “When district leaders had to make difficult choices, they held firm to the mission of developing the maximum potential of every learner to thrive by continuing to provide opportunities in the arts and technical fields and in supporting students to learn English.”
Kovash said the honorees have helped bring the district’s mission statement to life. While she was assistant superintendent, Kovash supported teacher Darvin Miller and his efforts to gain national certification for the automotive program.
“Peter Rogness, a graduate of Moorhead High School, demonstrates the reason why the arts are so vital to the students in our schools,” she said. “As we continue to work to provide opportunities to students, Peter’s career in film shows how much the arts add value to our world.”
Kovash also worked with Shirley Tweten, a graduate and retired teacher, who worked to ensure every student she taught had the opportunity to learn.
“As our district emphasizes lifelong learning, these honorees certainly exemplify the idea of lifelong learning and teaching,” Kovash said. “We honor them for those qualities.”
Moorhead High School Hall of Honor committee members were recognized for their work, and the corporate sponsors for the Hall of Honor were acknowledged for their support. Sponsors are Bell State Bank & Trust, Moorhead Public Service and Gate City Bank.
The three inductees were recognized, and plaques were presented to each honoree or representative. Identical plaques will hang at Moorhead High School.
During their remarks, the inductees or their representatives shared reflections on their experiences connected to Moorhead High School and Moorhead Area Public Schools.
Darvin Miller said he appreciated the challenge of beginning the automotive program at Moorhead High School in 1970 and the support he received. “I got the help I needed, but they let me go ahead with it,” Miller said.
Under Miller, the Moorhead High automotive program earned National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) certification in 2002 and became Minnesota’s third Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) certified program in 2003.
Miller said highlights for him were the students, working with people from industry, the building addition to create space for the program, getting the program nationally certified, and working with students on the troubleshooting competitions. Miller coached students for state and national automotive contests for 22 years.
He taught at Moorhead High until retiring in 2006. Miller said it was hard to retire, but he was glad to leave the program in capable hands.
Accepting the plaque on behalf of Peter Rogness, Dorothy Suomala described how she met Peter through her friendship with his parents, who encouraged his life in the theater and the arts.
“I met Peter through his parents before I ever met Peter,” she said.
Rogness, a 1978 Moorhead High School graduate, was unable to attend the ceremony in person because of his work as an art director for film and television. He was working on “Gold,” an upcoming movie starring Matthew McConaughey, during the time of the induction ceremony, but shared remarks via video.
Rogness is credited as the art director for 28 films and has credits as assistant art director for six more films. He received both a 2011 Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie and a 2012 Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design award for the HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce.”
In his remarks, Rogness noted his concern over the lack of commitment to arts education in many schools. Rogness has volunteered with ASAP! (After School Arts Program) in Washington Depot, Ct., which attempts to replace the arts education that has disappeared from public schools in that area.
“I know it’s important because the education in theater that I began to receive at Moorhead High resulted in a direct line to the career I have now, and for that I am extraordinarily thankful,” Rogness said of early exposure to the arts. He said his work in film is both a creative endeavor and a problem-solving endeavor.
Rogness said too many children are being educated in this country without being exposed to the arts. “Not enough people realize what productive, interesting, rewarding and deeply satisfying work can come out in the long run from that small investment in early exposure to the arts,” he said.
Accepting the plaque on behalf of Shirley Tweten, who died in 2010 at age 73, were her husband Milton and her youngest daughter Jill Walker.
Walker explained that her parents both graduated from Moorhead High School in 1955, making 2015 her parents’ 60th class reunion year, which seemed a fitting time to honor her mother.
Tweten, a 1955 Moorhead High School graduate, taught ESL at Moorhead High School from 1984 to 2009. From 1981 to 2010, Tweten also taught evening classes for Moorhead Community Education’s Adult Basic Education.
“She was working with ESL students, and those students became part of our family,” Walker said. “She showed them how to live in a world very different from the one they came from.”
Tweten was named Moorhead High School Teacher of the Year in 1992, and she is a 2005 recipient of the City of Moorhead’s Human Rights Award for Education.
About the Hall of Honor
The Moorhead High School Hall of Honor recognizes alumni, faculty, staff and other community members who have demonstrated notable accomplishments or provided significant contributions to their school, community or society. The nominations committee is now considering candidates for 2016. Nominations are continuously accepted for the Hall of Honor. Nomination forms are available at www.moorheadschools.org or Moorhead High School. Nominations may be submitted online. Nominations previously received are kept to be considered for future recognition.
Photo caption:
Three new members were inducted into the Moorhead High School Hall of Honor for 2015 — Milton Tweten accepting for graduate / retired teacher Shirley Tweten, Dorothy Suomala accepting for graduate Peter Rogness, and retired teacher Darvin Miller.
Categorized under: School