Sheila Regan

What are the unique challenges for families living in greater Minnesota? That’s the focus of this year’s KIDS COUNT Data Book, an annual report produced by the Children’s Defense Fund, with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This year, the report, subtitled “Children Across Minnesota” focused on the unique challenges that face children and families outside the seven county metro area, such as accessing health care, food, and jobs.

The Minnesota African American Museum and Cultural Center (MAAM) opened its doors on Saturday June 2, for tours of their first exhibition—Bringing it Home, a “retrospective of Black N’ Brown baseball in Minnesota”—and a day of activities and performances by storytellers, dance and step troupes, and a visit by past Minnesota Twins Players. While the museum won’t open until fall, it was a chance for the community to get a sneak peek at what MAAM has to offer.

It’s about 10:15, and North High School’s sparsely populated hallways show movement as students pass for the next period. Patricia Hosfield, stands in front of her classroom, awaiting the students coming to her I.B. Standard Level Math class. Some of them aren’t showing up. Well, it’s a week before graduation- and senioritis has perhaps afflicted even the best students. Senior Dionte Boyd, who was North’s Prom King this year, shows up, and Hosfield promptly tells him he’s two hours late for his pre-calculus class. He’s come because he needs a little bit of help. Math is, after all, his favorite subject.