Staff Pages :
Chance Adams : Ronda Wookey : Maria Bernabe-Bjorklund : Deborah Carlson-Doom
Talia Debenedet : Alison Drietz : Diana Eason : Kathryn Enright : Kirby Ganske
Kristin Gustafson : Erica Harmsen : Jeff Jones : Jennifer Laitala : Dan Mckeon
Greg Moen : Kari Munson : Mike Munson : Michelle Neal : Lydia O'Beirne
Russell Persson : Jennifer Roy : Andrew Wiggins

Alison Drietz - Student Support Coordinator - adrietz@treknorth.org

I am the Title One and Student Support Coordinator at TrekNorth. I provide support to the students whose performance in reading, math, and writing is below grade level. I am also the person who administers the student testing at the school, i.e. basic skills tests, MN assessments, measures of academic performance (MAP), PSAT, PLAN. I arrange for students to take college entrance exams (ACT, SAT), I have college scholarship information, and I arrange for college representatives to visit TrekNorth.

This is my third year at TrekNorth. I was here when the doors opened on the first day in 2003 and my job description has changed every year. I started out as the school secretary, and then I became the registrar and PowerSchool administrator, and that leads me to this position. I have also been apart of the outdoor adventure program. With a wilderness first responder certification, I am able to led (and co-lead) trips that expose students to the outdoors and teach them skills and activities they will use throughout their life. I have been to Grand Marias, MN; Sitka, Juneau, and Kenai, Alaska; the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, and Itasca State Park.

I attended college at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, MN, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in the social sciences. My work experience after college includes: a facilitator at a Boys and Girls Club in St. Cloud, special education paraprofessional at an elementary school in Avon, MN, social worker in Montevideo, MN, and a sales associate in Sitka, AK. There was also a brief time when I moved back home and refreshed my skills of working my parent's dairy farm.

I grew up in Southwest Minnesota (a long way from the north woods of Bemidji) on a dairy farm near Porter. I attended high school in Canby. I have five sisters and three brothers. They all live around Minnesota and I make a huge effort to see them and, of course, my nieces and nephews. I also enjoy running, cross-country skiing, gardening, and being outdoors.

TrekNorth is the first time I have worked with high school students. I love being able to learn something from each student, and getting to know the characteristics, traits, and style of each student. I love their sense of humor, their outlook on life, their ideas, and their craziness. My goal for the students who attend TrekNorth is that each one will morally know what is right and wrong, they will be kind to everyone they meet in their lives, and they will gain the skills needed to pursue outdoor activities beyond high school. Thank you for taking the time to read about TrekNorth.