Tom Frericks – WKS Alumni

The pride Tom Frericks has for his gardens, students and the community of Silver Bay was very apparent as he gave me a tour of the school grounds one Sunday morning in late September. I found myself having to hurry my step as we “walked” across the football field toward the school orchard.

Tom, a Kelley alumnus (1977) and 5th grade teacher is personable and very energetic. Throughout our visit he stressed his desire to keep learning, keep moving and that working together with others is the most fun way to get things accomplished. His successes are visible throughout the town.

Following his high school graduation (after being a member of the 4th place state basketball team and 1st place state track and field team), Tom attended St John’s University in St. Joseph, MN. His first teaching position was at St. Anne’s School in Wabasso, MN and shortly thereafter, Tom came back to Silver Bay, the community he loves, where his family lives and reaps the benefits of his accomplishments.

Tom has taught 5th and 6th graders but most recently his joy resides in the 5th grade curriculum. A grandson of farmers, he connects his love of the environment to the classroom in multiple ways:
- As coordinator of the Bird Hill School Forest (on Penn Blvd in Silver Bay), he organized the construction of the boardwalks and signage for all of us to enjoy. I encourage you to explore it the next time you are in Silver Bay.
- As the school garden coordinator, he uses the gardens he helped build to provide hands-on experiences to his students in how to grow food. The gardens include a greenhouse, strawberry and raspberry patches, apple and plum trees that surround the football field and a terraced garden where old football bleachers once stood. Vegetables, herbs and spices are growing abundantly. Sunflowers, beans, tomatoes and grapes abound. The Three Sisters Garden teaches a Native American farming method which is thousands of years old.
- At harvest, the 5th graders sell some of their crops to the community. Some of the harvest goes to the school’s food service for their use. Some gets used in the nearby brick pizza oven which Tom built with his father and a

neighbor. Constructed 2 years ago, the pizza oven has baked bread, simmered soup and cooked pizzas which, at times, have been sold to the community.
- Tom has organized 5 trips for students, parents and staff to the WKS sister school in Costa Rica. While there, the travelers see how their sister school uses their land and exposes the students to another environment and climate.

In 2016, Tom was awarded the MAITC (Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom) Outstanding Teacher Award. The award “recognizes a Minnesota teacher, K-12, who teaches their students about the importance of agriculture through their regular course of instruction in their classroom and through the community they teach in”. In 2015, he was invited to address the School Garden Conference at the University of Minnesota Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota. In 2014, Tom was presented with the Outstanding Community Service Award of Merit which recognizes meritorious service to horticulture.

These awards highlight Tom’s recent achievements but his students are the real winners. Former student and featured alumnus, Brett Mensing (Class of 2013), said of his 5th grade teacher whom he interviewed recently on Fox21: “We were always out hiking at the School Forest site during my 5th grade year. Tom was very hands on and always wanted us to be outside. I think it was super cool to be able to interview my 5th grade teacher. I was part of constructing the school greenhouse and it was so cool to update the entire Northland about the progress of this success. Déjà vu!”

Many alumni of William M. Kelley Schools, like me, have moved away from their home town of Silver Bay. Others, like Tom, decided to move back. His accomplishments are a shining example of how alumni keep contributing to the quality of life in Silver Bay….a place many of us still call home even though we may not live here.

Written by Mary Stefanich Hoffman (Class of 1975)
September, 2017