![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
On Feb. 16, many Mounds View students began reposting Instagram posts about a GoFundMe fundraiser for senior Evan Kirkland, who, on Jan. 30, suffered a tonic-clonic seizure, also known as a grand mal seizure.
Upon reaching the St. John’s Hospital emergency room after his seizure, doctors discovered Evan had a 105-degree fever and brain swelling. He also had three extremely rare blood infections, viral and bacterial meningitis and encephalitis. “[Evan is] very disciplined when it comes to his health in general, which is why this was such a scary shock,” senior Noah Hammet-Divine, one of Kirkland’s close friends and teammates, said. Under these conditions, Evan will be unable to return to school in person for the remainder of his senior year.
Evan is known as a talented athlete, among the top in the state for hurdles. He likes weightlifting and running track, but he must take a break until he’s recovered and will miss the spring season. Even with this setback, he is determined to get back to doing what he loves once he recovers.
Evan had to take medication to reduce brain swelling and had to have a PICC line surgically implanted. Insurance could not cover the medical costs that he and his family faced, such as six IVs per day, home health care, his hospital stay and multiple doctor appointments per week. Evan’s single mother, Michelle Kirkland, could not cover these costs on her own, which prompted family friend Glenda Vizecky to organize the GoFundMe fundraiser.
Helping her son through recovery has been no easy task for Michelle Kirkland. Having to administer IVs every six hours, including at midnight, has caused her to lose sleep. Hammet-Divine describes her as “an inspiration of a human being” because of her dedication to her family. “It is insane. She’s a crazy person in a good way and it shows the love that a person who raises you has,” he said.
As of March 2, the fundraiser met its goal of $50 thousand with 481 donations. “We feel extremely grateful for the love and support, and how our community has rallied around Evan and carried him through this hard time. We cannot thank everyone enough,” said Michelle Kirkland.
“It’s really actually just a very good feeling about the Mounds View community as a whole, and about all of this connection throughout the world. I guess that we have so many people who all just shared it, shared it, shared it, gave it like five, ten bucks and just kept it going around,” Hammet-Divine said.
Evan’s condition has now improved. He had his PICC line removed on Feb. 27 and no longer needs IV antibiotics. This lets both he and his mother return to full nights of sleep after 28 days of IVs. “Although Evan still has a way to go on his recovery journey, we are grateful for every step, large or small in the right direction. He continues to amaze me with this strength and determination,” Michelle Kirkland said on a GoFundMe update.
This story was originally published on Viewer on April 8, 2024.
