Minnehaha Academy Seniors Return To Campus Before Graduation

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Members of the class of 2018 will graduate from a high school they hardly stepped foot in this year.

An explosion flattened part of Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis last summer, killing a janitor and secretary.

Since then, students have spent the school year at a temporary site, but it is not the physical building that bonds them.

After tragedy struck on Aug. 2, 2017, there was no school year at Minnehaha Academy. The only evidence of seniors on campus were signs that read "You can't shake our foundation."

"It's not this building I have the closest connection to, it's the community," said senior Forrest Ahrens. "It's made for an interesting year but not a bad one."

A community of students and faculty that spent the past 10 months in Mendota Heights. They were forced to move into a former college campus just days before the school year began.

"The title of our year book was, 'And Then Life Changed,'" said senior Mikayla Williams. "What I really saw in my classmates was that resilience and willingness to lend a hand."

Minnehaha seniors got a chance to reflect on what exactly that means, as part of their Senior Honors night.

For some, it was the first time back on campus since August. They remembered secretary Ruth Berg and custodian John Carlson, who both died in the explosion.

"There isn't a manual that comes when something really catastrophic like this happens," said school counselor Kristin Overton.

She was eight-months pregnant and in her office when the building exploded, causing a ceiling to fall on her. She made it out safe, and weeks later she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Kristin is looking forward to what the future holds for both her son and the senior class she admires.

"I carry that memory that we were able to get out OK. That's not lost on me," Overton said. "That's a huge blessing. I'm really grateful for that."

Seventy-six Minnehaha seniors will graduate on Sunday. That graduation will take place at Bethel University.

The Upper School is going through a rebuild, and school officials expect to return to campus by fall of 2019.