OVERCOMING CHALLENGES LEADS TO TRIUMPHANT RISING STAR & FUTURE LEADER

Nindaanis Benjamin receives honor of State Officer for MAAP STARS

By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor

When a shy and timid 17-year-old young lady who was about to give up on her education a few short months ago transforms seemingly overnight to become one of the Hinckley-Finlayson school district’s rapidly rising stars and future leaders, that is a pretty good indication of a successful alternative learning program. The Empower Learning Center has been around for over 10 years, serving students ages 16 to 21, and while Nindaanis Benjamin has been in the program for a few short weeks, she has recently been elected as a State Officer for MAAP STARS.

MAAP STARS is a statewide student leadership organization under the larger Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs (MAAP) organization. Many alternative and charter schools in Minnesota, including Empower, have their own local chapters of MAAP STARS. Empower has had a MAAP STARS chapter since 2015.

In the years of having a STARS chapter, Empower has never had a student run for MAAP STARS State Officer, according to Valerie Kunze, Coordinator/Teacher/Advisor for Empower Learning Center at Hinckley-Finlayson Schools. “We are excited and proud to announce that this year, senior Nindaanis Benjamin made the brave decision to run for office,” Kunze said.

During the evening session of a student leadership conference, Benjamin took the stage alongside the other officer candidates in front of over 100 other students and advisors from a number of different schools; she gave a three-minute speech discussing her educational journey and her qualifications and desire to be a state officer. At the conclusion of the second day, election results were read, with Benjamin earning a seat at the table as a newly elected MAAP STARS State Officer.

Her journey

She was a shy and timid young girl with an arduous childhood. She moved from house to house, not really having a home of her own. “We just lived with family members,” she said. Because of that, she recalled she had been in roughly 13 different schools, and possibly more from early childhood. “I’ve never really spent more than a couple months or up to a year in most schools. The school I most frequented was McGregor because that's where my grandma lived.”

Bouncing from place to place and not having a place to call home is difficult for anyone. The family would often leave and return again. Each time she returned to her school in McGregor, classmates would ask her why she had left. “It was hard when they would ask this because I didn’t want anyone to know why we moved so much,” Benjamin said. “It was really difficult for me when we moved because I had to leave my friends and teachers behind and start all over every time.”

She was bullied often in her younger years. Rumors spread like wildfire through middle school and high school. One lie told by one classmate can quickly burn out of control, leaving a blowback of bullying from classmates. She said she also carried the weight of having a last name with a reputation of kids being “aggressive, of being a fighter, of being a bad kid. So before I even met the teachers, they already had a bias against me. I would constantly get questions like, ‘Are you So-and-So’s kid,’ or ‘Are you related to this person?’ But I wasn't that kid. I tried to do the work and be a good student, but sometimes the teachers just wouldn’t care; they didn’t even give me a chance. I would get into trouble for things that I didn’t do because of my last name.”

And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and students were removed from classrooms and shifted to online studies. This was more than challenging for many students, and Benjamin was one of them. Her study skills began to waver; she fell behind in credits and fell way behind other students, she said. Not to mention her social skills were non-existent. When schools reopened for in-person learning, she was afraid to ask questions, or ask for help to catch up. “I didn’t want to seem dumb in front of my classmates,” she said. But as a result, she fell further behind.

She made an attempt at online learning in the 10th grade. But “things only got worse,” she said. “I never wanted to do anything because I felt I wasn't smart enough. After a while, my parents re-enrolled me to return to in-person school. My social skills were nonexistent, my learning and motivation wasn’t all there, my self-esteem was really low because I gained some weight. I had no belief in myself.” In her junior year, she was ready to give up, drop out, maybe get a GED, and get a job, because at that point, she believed she wouldn’t graduate on time anyway and “making money was a better plan.”

That is when one of her teachers, Ms. Vickstrom, told her about the Empower Learning Center. The Empower program is built to have a small teacher-to-student ratio so that we have the opportunity to really get to know students on a personal level in order to serve them best. Each student has their own individual credit plan and their learning is tailored around their interests and future goals. They incorporate as much hands-on work and experiential/community learning as they can while also focusing on post-secondary planning as a big part of what they do.

Benjamin had to wait nine months to get into the program due to the long waiting list. But once she was in, she dug her feet in and has made remarkable improvements.

“She has really stepped into her potential since starting here,” Kunze said. “When she first started, she was shy and worked quietly at her desk. Now, she is an active participant in all of our activities. She came in hoping to graduate this year, but not too sure if she could. She now is 100 percent confident in her ability to do so. I have been a MAAP STARS advisor for many years and I knew instantly upon meeting Nindaanis that she possessed the potential to be an amazing leader. With a little coaxing, she agreed to try for a state officer position.”

As a peer-elected State Officer, Benjamin will have the opportunity to attend specialized leadership training and will represent MAAP STARS and MAAP as a student ambassador at statewide events. She will be a representative for alternative schools across the state and will be a voice for the students in alternative education. She will have the opportunity to speak to legislators at Legislative Day, preside at the spring MAAP STARS Conference, the fall MAAP STARS Conference, and the MAAP Teacher/Administrator State Conference, as well as promote MAAP STARS throughout the year at various events.

“Empower Learning Center is very proud of the work Nindaanis has already done, and is looking forward to the great things she will accomplish this year as a MAAP STARS State Officer,” Kunze said. “It has been an absolute joy to watch her confidence grow in the short amount of time she has gone through this process.”

“Empower has helped me figure out what I want to do later on in life and they’ve helped me find a college I want to go to,” Benjamin said. She is also participating in an apprenticeship with the Early Education school in Hinckley and loves the kids and teaching. She is looking forward to a career in Early Education.

Her confidence level is extraordinary for a 17-year-old who has overcome so many challenges, beginning the program as the shy and quiet introvert and emerging as a strong, powerful leader with a voice that is calm, confident, and courageous. She is excited about becoming an officer in the program and is encouraged by the opportunities and experience. “I love the idea of meeting new people and getting out of my comfort zone so I can have new experiences,” Benjamin said. She also likes to be involved and volunteer wherever she is needed to help “my people or community,” she said.