Millennium Magazine_2ndEd

172 MILLENNIUM-SECOND EDITION M rs. Petra Jean Hegstad DeKrey has been retired since 2005 after spending nearly four decades teaching students throughout the state of Minnesota. Inspired to enter education by her mother and teachers who positively influenced her, she concluded her career as an eighth grade reading teacher at Horizon Middle School. Prior to this position, she was a Chapter I reading teacher and student newspaper advisor at Moorhead Junior High School, an English and reading teacher in Rochester Public Schools, and a Chapter I reading teacher at Bug- O-Nay-Ge-Shig. Mrs. Hegstad DeKrey commenced her career as a second grade teacher at Rice Creek Elementary School and Hayes Elementary School in Fridley, Minnesota. Mrs. Hegstad DeKrey received a Bachelor of Science in German and a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1966 and a Master of Science in elementary education from Bemidji State University in 1989. She has since received certifications in German, elementary education, reading consultancy, and remedial and developmental reading for K-12 in Minnesota. Mrs. Hegstad DeKrey attributes her success to her supportive parents, who encouraged her to pursue her dreams and exhibited strong family values. Passionate about her community, she has been a volunteer at Sanford Medical Center and a member of the auxiliary staff at North Country Regional Hospital since 2006. Previously she was a volunteer den mother for the Cub Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America; a volunteer for a committee to help refugees relocate in Bismarck, North Dakota; and a volunteer for the committee to establish kindergarten in the Bismarck Public Schools district. The former secretary of the Minnesota Reading Association and former president of the Northland Reading Council, Mrs. Hegstad DeKrey is a proud member of the National Education Association, the International Literary Association andKappa Delta Pi. She has been listed inWho’sWho in America, Who’s Who in American Education andWho’s Who of AmericanWomen. She also participates in church and political activities, serves an election judge, and is a member of Sons of Norway. MRS. PETRA JEAN HEGSTAD DEKREY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EDUCATOR (RETIRED) Bemidji, MN