Nineteen of us gathered (not physically) via Zoom and after the normal pleasantries we only had one person bragging, Anthony Nordan about his "miracle baby son" who just turned one year old. Brad Hoganson was then introduced to tell us about what is going on at Hillcrest. He started out by thanking Dean Monke and Jeff Drake for their great comradery. He recalled that on March 9th there was a parent meeting at the school to discuss plans for taking students to Seattle and Chicago. Then the Norwegian government decided that its visiting students had to be on a plane home by the following Sunday morning and everything changed. Now, everything is unprecedent, a word Brad is getting tired of hearing. Families are being told that Hillcrest is there for its students, now through on-line delivery of their education. Many students stayed at the school over spring break but then many went home; right now there are about 15 students in the dorms, from Nigeria, Kenya, China, Korea, Florida and California. The campus is closed to visitors. Even before the pandemic the school was streaming many chapel services and that continues. Classes were finishing up last week, but there are no finals this year. They are going to have a virtual graduation, with 25 of 38 seniors in the local area. Last Friday they set out signs on those local graduating seniors' yards congratulating them for their accomplishment. Brad has been doing class conversations and he described the on-line teaching as exemplary. He feels like this will be the longest summer ever. The school is already having regular contact with Homeland Security about next year, as currently there is no travel between the United States and Norway. Brad also stated the students have been grieving for sometime and there was no normalcy in saying goodbye; students crave human interaction and they want to be back. Some students are staying in the area over the summer because they are afraid if they go home they won't be able to get back for fall classes. Hillcrest did receive a PPP loan and no one has been laid off. Where the school will take a hit (as will Fergus Falls) is the loss of the graduation/alumni weekend.
Over the summer the front steps to Hillcrest will be restored. It is still planning to move ahead with the Morning Sun consolidation. For the first couple years Morning Sun will continue to use its current facility but the intent is to then build an elementary school on Hillcrest's campus. Bethel Church is purchasing Hillcrest's soccer field to make it into a parking area to accommodate the church's planned construction; the soccer field will move to behind the football field. The on-line approach to teaching will not become the new norm as part of the program is character shaping; school is about relationships. (Dean commented the public school has some concern that students will move to on-line providers.)