Minnesota’s first Korean immersion school may benefit adoptees

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Korean adoptees in Minnesota will soon have a way to better get in touch with their heritage.After seven years of planning, Minnesota’s first Korean immersion school Sejong Academy will open this year on Sept. 2 in St. Paul. The school will accept 65 students in K-6, and will serve children of Korean heritage, Karen immigrants, and any children interested in Korean language and culture.Related stories:Korean charter school – a new idea for language immersion educationKorean cultural festival raises funds for Sejong Academy charter school“It’s a brand new thing. We’re all learning from each other and starting together and the energy that we have,” said Sejong Academy teacher Yun Cho. Continue Reading

High school senior expands self-made soda company in Seward

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It’s not every day a 17-year-old creates her own soda company. Especially right before her first semester of college.Eva Duckler started Tree Fort Soda in May 2014 with her brother, David Duckler, who owns Verdant Tea in Minneapolis’ Seward neighborhood. The root beer has sold so well at the tea shop that the two are planning to expand the business to local shops such as Seward Co-op and Kopplin’s Coffee.“I never saw myself starting a business but it just sort of happened,” said Eva Duckler, “It’s a blessing.”And the blessings continue: Roughly two months after Eva developed a business plan, Tree Fort Soda became an LLC and was picked up by Classic Provisions, a local distributing company that specializes in artisan foods. In mid-August, Tree Fort Soda is planning to move the brewing operation from the commercial kitchen at Verdant Tea to its own warehouse, which will allow the business to produce roughly 15 barrels of root beer per week as opposed to its current 1,000 bottles.Eva and David come from an entrepreneurial family. Their father, Max Duckler, started CaptionMax, a closed captioning and subtitles service that also operates out of Seward. Continue Reading