Congratulation to the Aitkin High School's Business Professionals of America (BPA) on their outstanding achievement! They competed in the region meet in Park Rapids where their hard work and dedication paid off. Most notable are two 1^st place finishes in Presentation Management and Prepared speech as well as two 3^rd place finishes in Small Business Management and Podcast Production. I applaud their hard work and celebrate the skills they have gained to be successful.?

The Little Falls DECA teams also sent 22 of their students to the state conference after impressive performances at the regional meet. These teams include Employment Interview, Financial Literacy, and Innovation Plan. It?s great to see so many young people taking a proactive role as future entrepreneurs and innovators.

More bill introductions have come across my desk this week for projects in District 10A. Two of them are important bonding projects HF 919 and HF 920 that will fund these local investments. The first is to address the high water faced by Lake Shamineau by constructing the infrastructure needed to address this issue. The next is funding for the Camp Ripley Museum to help keep this important collection available for the public to observe and learn from. History is key to learning from our predecessors and museums like this provide a great opportunity for anyone to observe the artifacts of our past.

The last of my bill introductions this week is HF 617. This legislation gives the city of Aitkin the option to add a local sales tax to help fund the construction of a new municipal building as well as maintenance for the parks and trails system in the city. These are important pieces of infrastructure for everyone to share and improve our great community.

While I am working hard to build our communities and helping families prosper, the majority party continues to introduce bills with detrimental consequences to our area.? One example is the comprehensive sex education bill.? This bill mandates the topics to be taught related to gender, sexuality, and consent in our public schools.? Minnesota students consistently perform lower on reading and math scorces than other states?we need to improve academic skills first.

The Memorial Ice Carousel Extravaganza is only one weekend away! Every year it is great fun to be out on the ice enjoying building an igloo, riding the carousel, or any of the other great activities. The event is held February 11th and 12th on Green Prairie Fish Lake. I can?t wait to see you on the I.C.E.

Thank you to the many people who have contacted me. Please feel free to reach out with any legislative concerns and follow me on Facebook for more updates from St. Paul.