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Tiger Foundation inducts four

MARSHALL — The 49 people inducted into the Pride in the Tiger Foundation Hall of Honor in the past were selected because of their outstanding qualities and passion. The four 2017 recipients, recognized at an inductee celebration on Saturday at the Bello Cucina Banquet Room in Marshall, also meet those extremely high standards.

Hall of Honor recipients are selected through three categories: alumni, faculty/staff and community, and teacher/coach John Sterner, longtime elementary principal Bill Swope and longtime Marshall High School supporters Matt and Lori Coleman epitomize the best in each of those categories.

“We’re very pleased with the quality of inductee we have this year,” Foundation executive director Allan Vogel said. “Each individual represents the best of what makes Marshall Public Schools so special.”

In her welcome speech, Foundation President Janel Wartner highlighted a little bit about each of the 2017 honorees.

“Bill is a past executive director of Pride in the Tiger Foundation,” Wartner said. “His knowledge of Marshall Schools and his ability to diligently promote, raise funds and acknowledge students and staff is priceless. As elementary teacher and principal, Bill knew every student that passed through his doors. His kind spirit and heartfelt concern for everyone he meets does not go unnoticed. He is truly interested in everyone who comes in contact with him, and he always has a smile on his face.”

Warner continued, noting that Sterner is “a proud alumni of the Marshall Class of 1984.

“He was an outstanding athlete and artist,” she said. “His wrestling accomplishments are noted in the trophy cases of Marshall High School. His artwork welcomes you to Marshall. His amazing Tiger statue in the front entry of Marshall High School lets everyone know it’s great to be a Tiger.”

Wartner explained that Sterner could not be present at the banquet because of a commitment with his daughter.

“But he’s family-first and that’s important also,” Wartner said.

With the exception of the boys state basketball tournament conflict on Saturday, Wartner said there isn’t a Marshall High School activity that the Colemans have missed.

“Matt and Lori Coleman are transplants to Marshall, but you’d never know it by their Tiger pride,” she said. “Their commitment to MHS has continued, even after their three daughters have graduated and moved on. Lori just announced her retirement from owning her own daycare business after 30-plus years. She has helped raise and encourage children in the Marshall area, and now she wants to be able to help raise and encourage her grandchildren.”

Wartner added that Matt Coleman has been a longtime member of the Marshall School board.

“He has also worked very diligently, and his opinion is very valued as a member of the school board,” Wartner said. “The Colemans are proud to be involved in the community, and we are proud to have them.”

Before enjoying a chicken marsala dinner, the banquet attendees bowed their heads for an invocation by Pastor Dave Christensen.

“Dear Heavenly Father, we give thanks for the ways that you have knit us together, the ways that you create community and family, that you would encourage us through one another and we give thanks tonight for these servants: Bill, Matt, Lori and John,” Christensen said. “We’re thankful Father for their gifts, for the ways that you have used them in our lives and in our community, for the light that they have been, a light that will continue to shine for generations to come.”

Near the end of the meal, MHS senior speech competitor Kassidy Tocco delivered an informative and entertaining speech about “patternicity,” which she defined as connecting two completely random things and then believing they are significant.

“Humans are naturally inclined to see patterns that aren’t really there,” Tocco said. “We search for meaning. When we can’t find it, we create it.”

Vogel then recognized the past recipients, identifying each by name.

“Thank you for time you give to the school and to the children of Marshall,” Vogel said. “Thank you for the generous investment and extraordinary activities of Marshall Schools, and especially thank you for being here (Saturday) to help us celebrate.”

Vogel called the evening’s agenda a great celebration of incredible individuals.

“I wanted to start by reading the Pride in the Tiger mission statement: The Pride in the Tiger Foundation seeks to provide financial and other support to activities and extraordinary educational programs supporting our children’s personal growth and development in their pursuit of excellence,” Vogel said. “As we reflect on the individuals being selected to be inducted in the Pride’s Hall of Honor, just look how closely these inductees align themselves with our mission.”

The Colemans

Mark Stenson said he was honored to have the opportunity to share a little more in-depth about Matt and Lori Coleman at the presentation part of the celebration on Saturday evening.

“If there ever was a Marshall High School couple, they are Matt and Lori Coleman,” Stenson said. “The two were Illinois natives who fell in love and moved to Marshall, raised their family and in the process, cast their roots deep in the soil of Marshall Public Schools.”

Matt received a degree in animal science from the University of Illinois, while Lori earned an applied science degree in child care/teacher’s aid from Lakeland Community College in Mattoon, Ill.

Looking for a job in the livestock industry, Matt Coleman found a position with John Morrell in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Colemans moved to Marshall in 1986, when a regional position opened up in the company, which is now known as Smithfield. Matt  has been the procurement manager there for many years. Lori has been watching children for 45 years, through her own daycare for 32 of those years.

“This is a small business that has had tremendous impact on this community,” Stenson said. “Hundreds and hundreds of families and children have been blessed by this business that Lori had.”

Stenson continued, noting that the couple has volunteered in many capacities over the years while raising their three daughters (Joni, Katie and Lindsay).

“Matt is on the school board in Marshall, and is carrying on a family tradition,” Stenson said. “His father was a school board member in Illinois. And recently when his grandfather died, they found some old papers, minutes from the very first school board meeting in Bethany in 1895. What a rich tradition of education support.”

In addition to serving on the MPS board, Matt Coleman serves on the Marshall Community Services advisory board and most recently, the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative board. He also delivers snacks on Friday to Park Side Elementary students as part of the Food4Kids program. He’s a past president of the Southwest Swim Club and operates the clock for high school and club meets.

Coleman has also been involved in the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant in Walnut Grove for the past 17 summers, cast as Alec Nelson for most of those years.

The Colemans are also very active in the Cornerstone United Methodist Church, where Matt serves as a lay leader. He was a co-chair of the merger team that facilitated the combining of Albright and Wesley United Methodist churches, named Cornerstone UMC. Lori Coleman served as Sunday School superintendent for many years. She also served on many committees.

“I am so proud to know Matt and Lori Coleman,” Stenson said.

Following Wartner’s presentation of their plaque, the Colemans said a few words to everyone in attendance, noting that they had always felt that they were destined to come to Marshall.

“We both just want to thank the Foundation and everybody involved,” Matt Coleman said. “As some of you may know, Illinois’ main color is orange, so when we came Marshall, we already had an orange wardrobe, so that wasn’t a problem. Also, Bethany High School, their mascot was the Mustang, so we also had shirts that said Mustangs on them. So we were set to live in Marshall. Thanks again everyone.”

John Sterner

Speaking on behalf of her son, Karen Sterner told how their family came to live in Marshall.

“Mike, John and I came to Marshall in 1969, as immigrants to Southwest State University,” she said. “It was called Southwest Minnesota College then. I drove by here on my way to collect students in Montana that were going to come to Flandreau Indian School (South Dakota), which is just across the border from Pipestone. The sign was out on the corner — where the horses are today — and it said: Future Home of Southwest Minnesota State College. And it was just a cornfield.”

A few years later, they were in Marshall, and they’ve been here ever since, Karen Sterner said.

“I think John assumes that because it’s his hometown, everybody knows everything you need to know about him because he didn’t give me any speech to read,” Sterner said.

Instead, her son wrote a letter for her to read.

“Wow. I’m humbled by the honor and this award,” John Sterner said in the letter. “I perceive myself as a team player and one who wanted Marshall to be the best, so when coaches Pete (Lloyd Petersen), (Bill) Nieno and (Gary) Grabau told me what I needed to do to be prepared, I tried to go beyond their expectations. I viewed Marshall Schools as my family and wanted to do right by them. I’m very humbled and honored.”

John Sterner was a standout athlete in football, wrestling and track, accumulating multiple accolades in each sport. He finished his MHS wrestling career with a school record 76-17 win/loss tally, closing out with an undefeated senior season that included a Class AA State Championship at 185 pounds.

Sterner competed collegiately in all three sports as well, becoming a national champion in wrestling — the SMSU’s first — in 1989. Since then, Sterner has devoted his life to coaching, teaching and art, the three positions which have allowed him to give back so much to the community and the region.

“I really want to express my gratitude for my parents, Karen and Mike Sterner,” John Sterner wrote in the letter. “My mom prepared my Lakota journey, taught me the meaning of being a Lakota spiritual warrior. She drove me to the weight room every day at noon, whether I wanted to go or not. I want to thank my dad for the inspiration he was and still is, always with a smile. His words ring true: ‘How can you expect them to smile if you don’t?’ “

While the inductee has held many teaching and coaching roles over the years, he’s currently the art teacher and head coach at Lakeview High School. He and his wife, Tracy, have two children: Elijah, 16, and Julia, 11.

“I used this philosophy at the junior high when I taught and coached: ‘If I leave you as you are, I’ve made you worse. If I help you to become what you are capable of, I’ve made you better,’ “ the honoree said.

Karen Sterner added that she has enjoyed hearing feedback from people whose lives were touched by her son.

“I guess I would say — what’s been fun for me — is going to the hospital and having a medical doctor say, ‘Are you related to my seventh-grade art teacher?’ “ she said. “I’m proud to say, ‘Yes.’ “

John Sterner’s final words in his letter were to the Pride in the Tiger Foundation committee.

“Again, I want to say thank you,” he said.

Bill Swope

Swope has spent his career in the service of students and education. He has an elementary education degree from Concordia University in St. Paul, and according to Swope, he’s completed all the coursework for a doctorate in educational administration at the University of Minnesota — everything except the dissertation, he jokes.

“If you go anywhere in Marshall with Bill Swope, you will run into former students he’s had,” SMSU communications director Jim Tate said. “He takes pride in his educational career and students who have grown up to be successes in any number of professional careers. He’s the consummate professional.”

Swope taught for four years in the inner city of St. Paul after his graduation. After arriving in Marshall, he worked for two years as the director of the Teacher Center for Southwest West Central Service Cooperative. After that, he was approached about a position within MPS.

“Bill spent 34 years as an elementary principal — 28 of those at Marshall Public Schools,” Tate said. “He retired in 2008, but that didn’t last very long. He served a year as a part-time elementary principal in Hendricks, and about the same time, was recruited to be the executive director of the Pride in the Tiger Foundation.”

Swope served as Foundation executive director for seven years.

“Bill took the Pride in the Tiger — during his years as executive director — into the 21st Century,” said Tate, who is currently a Pride in the Tiger board member. “He had an understanding of the inner workings of the schools, with the personalities and of the movers and shakers. He understood all of that. We’re a volunteer board, and Bill was our shepherd. He moved us light years ahead, and for that we’re grateful.”

Founded in 1999 by Karen Wiener and Tom Tapper, the Foundation has grown significantly over the years, especially thanks to Swope.

“When we started, we awarded approximately $60,000 to graduating MHS seniors at the annual banquet at the end of the year,” Tate said. “That number is now approximately $155,000. We used to award about $15,000 in fund use grants. Now that number is roughly $55,000. It’s seen a healthy growth, and Bill Swope is one of the reasons that’s happened.”

Tate added that Swope’s passion is what truly sets him apart from so many other people.

“Bill has all kind of wonderful accolades, but the thing that always struck me was his passion for what he did for children in Marshall — for the public and private schools,” Tate said.”

When it was his time to speak, Swope gave the glory to God, saying he was blessed to have been able to have the career he had. He then went around the entire room and explained how each individual — including his children (Andy and Krista) and grandchildren — had impacted his life in some way. A couple of times, his emotions got the best of him — reinforcing his genuine passion and appreciation.

“Why I went around here is because every one of you has touched my life, and every one of has made a difference for children,” Swope said. “You’ve made my job easier and I thank you for it.”

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