This year at Fargo North we are losing a very dear staff member, our principal Andy Dahlen. After 8 years of teaching math and computer science, 3 years in the district office, 2 years assistant principal, and 28 years as principal, he has decided to finish his career in education. Dahlen has been working at North since February of 1994, when the current principal decided to retire.
Principal Dahlen said that his reason for retiring was that it was, “Time to do some other things.” Something that he is very proud of doing during his time at North was getting a variety of good teachers. He stated that he will miss the people here most when he is gone.
Something Dahlen wishes he could have done more of was coaching and teaching.
“I do like to teach mathematics. . . I have always missed that part,” said Dahlen.
One thing Dahlen misses from when he was a teacher and a coach is getting to know the students on a more personal level.
Dahlen said, “When you teach and when you are an advisor or coach, you get to know kids on a daily basis.”
One of Dahlen’s favorite things about Fargo North is seeing the school spirit among staff and students. His favorite memory comes from Homecoming in the 2000, in a tradition that no longer happens at North, which is the Homecoming parade. In this parade, North students would drive to Concordia for the football game. These parades were always fun, but ultimately had to be stopped due to safety reasons. The parades always began safely, with students sitting and driving at a good speed, but as they continued on their way to Concordia, it would get more reckless.
“Those kids [in truck beds] were no longer sitting, they were standing. Van doors were wide open, kids screaming and yelling going about 40 on Elm,” Dahlen said.
They tried getting a horse to help lead the parade in a slower manner, but this however did not work either.
He will not miss having to file reports and do paperwork for the school, but he does not intend on completely leaving education.
“I’m actually kind of still interested in doing something. I’m not sure what it’s going to be yet. . .I’m not ready to just be done with work,” Dahlen said.
He is still thinking about going back to teaching, but this time in Minnesota, and obviously not as a full time career.
The announcement of Dahlen’s retirement has been met with mixed reactions from the student body. Some of the students are happy that he won’t be the principal at North anymore and others thought that he did a good job at leading the school.
“I believe Dahlen is a great principal and has given many kids opportunities they would never have had without him. Of course he’s made mistakes, nobody is perfect, but he has put his entire life into his career and loves all the kids at North like his own,” wrote one North student.
The general consensus is that many people do not have much of an opinion on Dahlen, as they have not had many interactions with him. Most people who dislike Dahlen think that he could have done more for the students at North.
The search for the new principal at North is still ongoing. Some things that the students at North want to see the new principal do are focus more on the mental health of the students and educate people on mental health. A lot of students want a principal who is more understanding, less intimidating, and someone who interacts more with the students. Some students want nothing to change and for the next principal to be just like Dahlen. Other students want everything to change from the dress code to the enforcement of the senior parking lot rule.
This is the end of a chapter for Dahlen and the beginning of a new chapter at North. Mr. Travis Christensen was announced to be the new head principal at the end of March.The student body at North is excited to see some change at the school. Change can be scary for some people, but it can also be good. Congratulations to Mr. Christensen and we all wish Mr. Dahlen the best in his retirement.