‘That’s not my job’ Isn’t a Thing: Inside the thriving Menoken School (ND)

Menoken School, a small K-8 building located just south of Interstate 94 about 10 minutes east of Bismarck, North Dakota, is a place of multiplicity. If one arrives during midday, as the Rural Schools Collaborative team did during a visit this October, the school’s largest room will be used for an orderly but energetic lunch. Later in the day, though, it's likely to be used for reading intervention sessions, small group work, or arts and crafts projects taking place with some of the school's ~50-odd students. That same variety goes for Menoken's teachers, staff, and schedule, embodying rural flexibility and adaptability.

Mandy Zabel, who serves as both a teacher and principal at Menoken, has seen many iterations of herself and the school over her 19 years teaching here. Initially an elementary teacher for half of the school's 11 students, she became the lead instructor before transitioning to serving as both a teacher and the principal. Under the guidance of Mike Heilman, RSC North Dakota Hub lead and an area superintendent for small rural schools, Mandy completed her graduate degree during the pandemic and now mentors other emerging principals.

“When Mike started coming on, he was a big mentor for me. I wouldn't be the leader that I am now without Mike. He really was good at making sure that not only were the teachers supported, but the admin in the building were supported as well. Because sometimes you kind of forget that in these small schools, that leadership can look very differently in these small schools, because you do dual roles.” Dual roles might be putting it generously; Mandy, alongside her four other teachers and additional support staff, specialize in generalizing at Menoken.

A few years ago, Mandy and her team transitioned to a schedule where the students remain in one room, but for half of the day the teachers rotate classrooms to deliver science, math, and language arts instruction to the students in 2nd-8th grade (the K-1 instructor stays with her kids throughout the day). Bailey, an 8th grader who also recalls how school was before the change, is glad for the new setup: “now, they switch rooms, and it really helps, because they want to get everything done in a period, so you're not, like, pumped full of information at one time that you don't understand.” This allows each educator to work with all of the grade levels, necessitating dynamic instructional skills and helping build the palpable family atmosphere at Menoken.

That starts with the relationships between building adults, which is buoyed both by the collaborative structure of the day and remarkable retention that has led to longstanding relationships. “When our load is getting higher or lower, they'll step up and be like, ‘you know what? Let me do that for you. . . It never feels like you're doing things on an island here. I like that. I think our culture is really good, and the fact is that people enjoy working here.” This was evident throughout the day, as teachers flitted between classrooms and an aura of intentional, controlled chaos burbled through the school’s short hallway.

Mandy also notes that this ethos is reinforced at the beginning of each week: “We meet as a family first thing on Monday morning and really get on the same page. And the staff, I would say, is also really good, having everybody treat each other like family, because we do spend so much time together, and we have worked together for so long that that is really important, is to keep that in mind when we're when this is our passion, this is what we do.” On this sunny October day, Jenni Braun, who teaches 4th and 5th grade and specializes in science, was showcasing her passion for the natural world by bringing in pinecones and other nature items for the students to use in projects.

The positive atmosphere includes relationships with and between students, who unanimously agree that the school feels like one big family (often because, as is the case in rural schools, it is). Mandy describes the “family-like atmosphere in Menoken. There's lots of cousins and brothers and sisters and things like that. But just overall, through the whole building– whether you're actually related or not– we are very family focused.” One 8th grade student, Jones, notes how that manifests itself in the building: “We do a lot of partners, like groups and stuff, and they'll pick partners and let us do group stuff by ourselves, and they'll kind of just let us talk about normal kid things.”

When the teachers notice an uptick in excitement around those ‘normal kid things,’ teachers lean into their interests and build standards-based lessons around that curiosity. Mandy describes how “we notice, for example, that our kids are really into the Titanic. . . Then we'll create some kind of project or thing based on the Titanic. Now, in another bigger school, I don't know if that would necessarily be allowed. Whereas out here we can kind of go based on the kids' interest, to align both their interest and their engagement piece with the standards. . . It just really increases the learning opportunities that they can have. But that flexibility takes a lot for the teacher to see it, observe it, and do something about it.”

This student-centered focus includes leaning into the heritage, culture, and rurality that is part of daily life for the students who attend Menoken school. While not all students live in or around Menoken proper– some are from nearby Bismarck– the lived experiences of the families play a crucial role in education: “So we're constantly having their parents come in and speak, whether it's their job in town, or that's their dad that's a farmer. Just having that connection to have them bringing that information into the building. We also use [their lives] as examples all the time. Social studies is a great example: when we do North Dakota studies, they're talking about how they're using those farming techniques. They're the ones teaching us more than we're teaching them and connecting” describes Mandy.

While Bailey, with the wisdom of attending this school for nine years, notes that not all of her peers would admit it, she is sure that each student has a reason to be excited to come to school each day. Whether they come for the close-knit relationships that are fostered within the building (or outside, as Menoken features a raucous recess period), the personalized learning environment, or something else, students and teachers alike are proud to call Menoken School their home. For Mandy, this community, this school, and this life are what it’s all about, no matter how high her stack of hats gets: “I am so proud– of this building, the school, and the people that work here.”

Rural Schools Collaborative is deeply grateful to Michael Heilman for helping to facilitate the visit to Menoken School. Through his leadership at North Dakota Small and Organized Schools, Michael supports rural schools and districts across North Dakota. Rural Schools Collaborative would also like to thank Steven Johnson, a tireless advocate for rural schools in North Dakota and beyond.