Red Lake County Central Retirements at Elementary and High School

By Jeremy Kruchowski, Isaiah Aquino, and Eric Gieseke

Red Lake County Central Elementary School will have two individuals retiring at the end of the school year and the High School will also have two. They include Bernadette Rosten, Mark Bagaason, Bonnie Cote, and Anita Bachand.

Bernadette Rosten 

After 35 total years of teaching Bernadette (Bernie) Rosten is retiring from RLCC Elementary school where she has taught Kindergarten for two years. She previously taught Kindergarten/Title I in Pequot Lakes for one year, half time Kindergarten in Thief River Falls for two years, First Grade in Melrose for one year, and Kindergarten at Warroad for 29 years. Growing up she worked on the farm, babysat, waitressed, and sorted mail at Bemidji State University.

Rosten attended BSU for her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education with concentrations in Reading and Early Childhood. She went into education because she had great teachers and has always loved learning and helping people. She wanted to pass the love of learning on to the students while having fun.

In Warroad Rosten was secretary for the Education Minnesota Warroad Association. She was on committees for Read Across America night, Teacher of the Year teas, Life Teen Core Team member, ECFE Board Member, and was also involved in the RLCC Family Fun Nights with playdough, and the book fair.

When asked about what has changed in her years of education Rosten said, “Today’s Kindergarten is what first grade used to be when I began teaching. Kindergarten went from identifying the ABCs and numbers to 10. Now Kindergarteners come to school already naming the ABCs and most of the sounds. Kindergarteners practice putting letter sounds together to read and write words in a sentence that goes with their picture.”

Rosten said she will miss “working together to share ideas, celebrating the big and little moments with staff and students.” When asked about highlights and memories of teaching she included nursery rhyme plays, Kindergarten graduations, making applesauce, carving pumpkins and field trips. For field trips she mentioned going to the post office as well as the fire station where the kids used a fire hose to spray at and move a toy vehicle. She also will miss taking the students to Northland Community College Aviation because the kids loved to go in the airplanes. Another memory was “Kindergarten in the high school, Instrument begins with I - we went to the high school band room to hear them play Christmas music.”

When asked about having any advice for new teachers coming into the profession Rosten said, “Congratulations! We are happy and excited for you! We’d love to hear your thoughts and are always here for you!”

Rosten’s first husband, Dave Larson, was a car salesman at Lake Country Chevrolet. They had two children, Joseph and Annette. Joe married Andrea Olson and they have one son William. Joe works in Product Placement at Digi-Key, and Andrea is a para at the high school in Oklee and is almost done with her Elementary Education degree. William was only a month old when Dave died of a rare form of kidney cancer. Her daughter Annette is a Physician Assistant at the North Dakota Cancer Center of America. Rosten is now married to Steve Rosten, a farmer just outside of Plummer. He has some cattle and many acres of wheat and soybeans.

For retirement plans Rosten said, “I’m going on my first cruise, subbing, and definitely spending more time with family and friends.” She loves the outdoors, walking, biking, snowmobiling, four wheeling, working with flowers, mowing, year round fishing “when they are biting,” reading, and baking when she has time. 

Rosten said, “I’m very thankful for the two years at RLCC!! The staff and students are friendly and good to work with. My time here was shorter than I had planned, evidently God has different plans for me.”

Mark Bagaason

Mark Bagaason attended University of Minnesota Crookston for two years and earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Jamestown College. Bagaason originally “just wanted to play college basketball” and follow in his brother’s footsteps as a basketball player and break all his high school records from the mid-60s. Bagaason only remembered his brother through stories as he passed in the Vietnam War when Bagaason was only four. After a home game at Jamestown College Bagaason was invited to an elementary school to join physical education classes and sign autographs. “I immediately went to my advisor and changed my major to elementary education.” 

Bagaason started his teaching career in Oklee from 1986-1992. After that he taught at Clearbrook/Gonvick from 1992-2011 and was the Elementary Dean of Students from 2003-2005. During 2011-2015 he was the women’s head golf coach and the women’s assistant basketball coach at Bemidji State University. From 2015-present Bagaason has been teaching in Plummer at Red Lake County Central Elementary School. Throughout his years in education Bagaason has taught third through sixth grade but is now a RTI math specialist for grades K-6. Bagaason has been coaching girls’ basketball since he’s been at RLCC. One thing he noticed that has changed during his years of teaching and coaching is technology.

There will be many things Bagaason said he will miss when he retires such as “all the relationships I have developed with my coworkers and with students and athletes.” Being around youth is what kept him in education. Bagaason also thinks teachers become teachers because they love what they do.

Bagaason’s family includes his wife Pam who teaches sixth grade at Clearbrook/Gonvick, his daughter Kayla and her husband Mark who live in Blaine with his granddaughter Lyla, and his other daughter Cassie who lives in Rice and is getting married in August. 

His retirement plans are to possibly teach “a couple more years here and there” but also to travel. One of their trips will be to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Some of Bagaason’s favorite hobbies that he will have more time for are playing basketball, golfing and taking care of his yard.

Bagaason added that “Coming back to RLCC has been a fantastic decision for me!”

Bonnie Cote

Bonnie Cote has worked at Oklee High School/RLCC High School for 40 years and plans to retire after this school year in June. She stated, “I will have seen my 40th class of students graduate.” 

She started working at OHS the summer of 1979 and has worked many different jobs within the school. She helped to start the Academic Banquet 25 years ago and also has been the medical person all 40 years.

Cote attended Rochester AVTI for LPN and has held a LPN license for years. She attended a few semesters at Mankato State University. She was previously employed at Methodist Hospital in Rochester in Dermatology, Cancer ward and as a float nurse for over three years. Cote then worked at the Thief River Clinic as an LPN for about a year and a half. She also worked six months at Pioneer Memorial Home before she came to the school.

When she was first hired there were three people working in the office and she mainly worked with the principal on the student end of things along with helping special education students. Three and a half years ago Cote moved over to the financial part at the school while helping with the student items as well. She was responsible to do ordering, balancing and the spending of the student activity accounts, and is the “go-between the bookkeeper in Plummer and our site.” She also coordinates the senior scholarships and oversees some of the leave for staff.

She has worked with many administrators over her years at OHS/RLCC including seven superintendents: Marvin Bronken, James Christianson, Lloyd Fandrich, Mike Novak, Dale Salberg, Galen Clow and James Guetter. She worked with eight principals: Walt Aanenson, Charles Bishop, Lloyd Fandrich, Mark Coulter, William Reusch, Ardis Hofstad, Mike Bergevin and Randall Pederson. Five other people in the office she has worked with are Iona Berry, Lucy Christianson, Joy Eck, Sue Berberich and Suzie Gunderson. 

One of the things she most enjoyed about working at the school was that the students and staff were great. She enjoyed watching the students’ progress through their high school lives then seeing what they are doing in their adult life. A highlight of working at RLCC was having the annual dedicated to her in 1996, 2004 and co-dedicated in 2010. Other memories included “Sharing events the youth are involved in. Close knit workings of staff. The well wishes I received during my ‘journey’ nine years ago with cancer.” 

She will miss the students, staff, administration and parents the most. “They have all been a big part of my life. But they will remain in my heart forever.”

Cote has a husband, Dale. They have a daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and John Van Dam and granddaughters Caitlyn, Olivia and Alexandra Van Dam. Cotes have a son and daughter-in-law, Douglas and Tracy Cote.

Cote’s plan for retirement includes helping on the farm more, traveling more, spending more time with her grandchildren, doing things she has not been able to do while she was working and maybe volunteering. Some of her hobbies include scrapbooking, biking, walking, relearning new interests and crossword puzzles.

Cote stated, “These forty years have brought me so much satisfaction and memories I will cherish. Every day was a ‘new day’ as my job never was the same day-to-day with all the hats small school employees wear.”

Anita Bachand

Anita Bachand began teaching in Oklee where she was hired to teach Family and Consumer Science formerly called Home Economics. She attended North Dakota State University where she received her Bachelors degree in Home Economics Education. In the late 1980s she took classes for Parent Educator and worked with Susan Lee starting Oklee’s Early Childhood Family Education program. The summers of 2001-2002, she took Microsoft Office User Specialist classes for teaching computer classes.

When asked about what has changed during her years of teaching, she commented how technology has changed teaching and education. “Not much is done today without the use of technology, everything from how curriculum is delivered to how parents and students can have instant access to students’ grades.” Another change was bringing of the two school districts together as RLCC.

Bachand said she has enjoyed the variety that comes with teaching. “No two days are ever the same. No two classes are the same either.” Since she has worked with ECFE age children and high school children, she also has enjoyed “working with them as preschoolers and now teaching them as teenagers.” She has had a lot of variety in what she has taught including FCS, computer, and school newspaper classes. That variety has kept things interesting and fun for her.

She will miss the day-to-day interactions with students, watching them grow into young adults ready to go out into the world. Bachand also will miss the people she has worked with at the school. “It has been a wonderful place to work. The people are caring and work well together. Our school has been blessed to have supportive community, one that values education.” 

Bachand has been involved in RLCC Education Association where she has been the secretary for a number of years. During her first years in Oklee, she also taught hardanger and several craft classes through Community Education.

She and her husband Jerome live in the country. They have two children. Their son Ryan is married to Kayla Zimmer and they live in Moorhead with their dog Zoey. Their daughter Kayla is married to Andrew Branam and they live in Green Bay along with their daughter Annika.

In her free time, she quilts, sews, does hardanger, crochets, and other hand crafts. She likes to walk, bike, and cross-country ski. Another thing she enjoys is spending time with family. During the summer she spends a lot of time mowing their yard and gardening.

Her plans for retirement including spending more time with their family, especially to be available when their second grandchild arrives this summer. She is also looking forward to being more involved with the quilting group at her church. Bachand also hopes to complete unfinished projects and have time to quilt and craft, bike on more of Minnesota’s biking trails, cross-country ski, and go on “more adventures with Jerome.” There are new challenges and projects she would like to take on, too. She also looks forward to the next chapter the Lord has planned for her. Bachand commented, “I really believe that God is orchestrating today and tomorrow, and now has a new chapter for me!”

She commented, “I feel blessed to have been part of this school, to have had the opportunity to take on new challenges in my job. I am so thankful for my coworkers, both past and current. To work in a small school, to work with people who have the students’ best interest in their hearts, to know everyone by name is a joy.”

Editors Note: Over the years I have worked as editor of the Oklee Herald, I would like to say that Anita Bachand did a wonderful job with the RLCC Journalism class and guided the students to produce great articles and photos for their school pages, the Mustang Stampede.