Welcome to the August 2023 Issue

It’s time. Fresh crayons. Unmarked notebooks. New shoes ready for adventures. Backpacks loaded with supplies. The rumble of school buses practicing their routes. And lists, upon lists of final appointments to make, supplies to find, clothes to purchase and schedules to memorize.

By the time this issue appears in mailboxes, the 2023–2024 academic year will be close at hand. For many, it’s a fresh start. For fewer, it’s the beginning of an ending. Incoming seniors in high school are weeks away from their final first day of school in our local school districts.

While it might be cause for a few tears, there are even more reasons to celebrate. Reaching senior year is a milestone, and it’s one we like to mark by running our annual Senior Spotlight (formerly Prep Elite) in our August issue—which happens to focus on education. The feature is an opportunity for us to highlight some emerging leaders, students from local high schools who are embarking on their senior years.

One of my favorite parts of this process is reading the nomination section where schools are asked to articulate why a student should be considered for the feature. Administrators, coaches, counselors and teachers provide incredible insight into nominated students. It’s clear that our local schools include some amazing people who truly care about supporting students. These responses are thoughtful, generous in praise and bring forth a spirit of genuineness. For those reasons and more, while we stand impressed by all the nominated students, we’re equally impressed by their nominators!

Visit Local Seniors Share Their Spark to meet our featured students, and file their names away in your mental Rolodex; we’re confident that you’ll be hearing these names again in the future.

Keep learning (and don’t forget to submit your photos to our Lens on Lake Minnetonka photo contest, which is open until the end of the month).

-Renée Stewart-Hester