City Pages: 'My Friends Tried to Save My Soul with Christian Metal'

Chris Strouth recalls a 1980s musical misadventure and his time at Fridley Middle School and Totino-Grace High School in his City Pages blog 'Makes No Sense at All.'

  City Pages music blogger Chris Strouth again touches on his Fridley roots in his weekly blog titled Makes No Sense at All. Last time, Strouth sent a jab Fridley's way, calling his former hometown "a continent away from cool." This time, Strouth reveals he doesn't have the fondest memories of middle school (but then, who does?). In any case, his essay focuses on high school years in the 1980s anyway: When I was in ninth grade, my parents transferred me out of the living hell that was Fridley Jr. High—yes, Fridley Patch, I feel the angry stares coming my way—and into the Catholic Prep School wonderland that is Totino Grace. It was sort of easy to be there and be not particularly Catholic. Sure, there were masses and classes but as long as …

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Copper Street Brass Quintet Has Valentine's Day Date at Fridley Middle School

They'll perform, hold clinics and conduct an "informance" Thursday morning.

Instead of chocolate or roses, Fridley middle schoolers are getting brass for Valentine's Day. The Copper Street Brass Quintet, five professional brass players from the Twin Cities, will visit FMS on Valentine’s Day for a half-day workshop with band students.    Here is the group's schedule at the middle school: 8:05–8:25 a.m.: Performance in the front gym 8:30–10:15 a.m.: Clinics in music wing 10:45–11:30 a.m.: "Informance" in the band room The Copper Street Brass Quartet's visit is made possible by a $2,000 grant from the Target Corporation.

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Fifty Fridley Students Attend 'We Day'

Others at Wednesday volunteerism event in Minneapolis included the Jonas Brothers.

Students from Fridley were among hundreds from around the Twin Cities at a "We Day" event on Wednesday at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis. Surprise guests at the volunteerism event: The Jonas Brothers. Some from Fridley showed up in a Star Tribune photo prominently positioned in the next day's newspaper. According to a Fridley School District spokesperson, "About 50 of our high school and middle school students attended the We Day launch event yesterday. The middle school participants  are the Learners of Distinction (a distinction earned by exemplifying the International Baccalaureate - IB - Learner Profile), the broadcast class, and a few additional students." Thanks to Shirley for the tip about Fridley students' participation. …

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Fridley Middle School National History Day Thursday 5:30–8:30 p.m.

Theme is 'People, Ideas, Events.' Seventh graders are participating for the first time.

See what Fridley Middle School students have come up with for National History Day in response to the theme People, Ideas, Events on Thursday, Feb. 7, 5:30–8:30 p.m. For the first time, seventh graders will take part, and ninth graders will also be on hand to show off their projects. According to an announcement from the Fridley School District: All 7th and 8th grade Humanities and Language A classes and some 9th grade Humanities classes will be sharing their History Day projects. Students have worked very hard and are excited to share their projects with family, community members and staff.

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Fridley on YouTube: Clips from Fridley Schools

Students and schools show off and have their say.

Fridley Public Schools and students keep up a steady stream of videos they post to YouTube. Here are four from this week alone:

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Let Fridley Middle School Actors Take You to 'Funky Land'

Catch the performance at the Fridley School District stage at 7 p.m. Saturday.

PHOTO: FMS Gingerbread-House Artists Do It Again

It's the 19th year that sixth graders at Fridley Middle School auctioned their creations to benefit Southern Anoka Community Assistance (SACA).

Related:

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'Veterans' Voices' Is Theme of Fridley Middle School Program

School's annual Veterans Day event is on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012.

All are invited to Fridley Middle School for the 27th annual Veterans Day program on Friday, Nov. 9, 2:15–2:50 p.m. It's an event dedicated to honoring and giving respect to veterans who have served the country in times of war and peace.  The program will be in the middle school’s front gym.  The theme this year is Veterans' Voices—recognizing the sacrifices that servicemen and servicewomen have given and continue to give. The program includes: Note: The school asks that you park in the center lot away from the bus loading area.

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Fridley on YouTube

Fridley on YouTube: Emily and Hold Your Horses

Hippotherapy helps a Fridley Middle School student.

Here's a recently posted YouTube video about a visit by Emily, a Fridley Middle School student, with Hold Your Horses, a program offering therapy through contact with horses. The music in the first part of the video is Meet Emily, a song with words by Mark Schirmacher. An excerpt (full lyrics at YouTube): She's 14, goes to Middle School, in a suburb called Fridley. Loves music, and horses, and does a thing called 'hippotherapy'. Now, this is not with hippos, as the name might imply, It means she rides horses-sittin' up way high That's Emily. She's a girl, a daughter, a sister, a neighbor, a lesson in mystery. Her dad says she gives the doctors a real run for their money, Yeah, that's Emily. Now she can teach us a thing or two about …

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Fridley Middle School Students Take On Bullying

Students enrolled in the school's special education program have been educating elementary students about the dangers of bullying.

A group of Fridley Middle School students, taking on the name “The Bully Bosses,” has created a program to combat bullying, Minnesota Public Radio reports. The students wear “Bully Bosses” t-shirts during visits to elementary schools where they target incoming middle-schoolers, educating them on tactics to deal with bullying and assigning them worksheets. Minnesota Public Radio gives background on the project: The Bully Bosses' effort got its start at Fridley Middle School in the Project Star classroom. The class is for students with behavioral problems who struggle academically. They also have problems with speech and language skills, and some have attention deficit disorder. They've faced their share of bullying from other students, and …

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