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Activities director discusses successes, goals

The Albert Lea school district is seeing improvement in the number of students taking part in activities, whether that be sports or other extracurriculars, though activities leaders would still like to see more.

Dave Langerud, activities director, said his office oversees 54 different activities, ranging from the astronomy club and guitar club to marching band, mock trial and various sports. He gave an update to the school board on Tuesday on what is happening with activities and goals he still would like to achieve.

He said sports participation has gone from 26% of students, or 312 students, participating during the fall of 2022-23, to 32.6%, or 326 students, in 2023-24, and 34.3%, or 343 students, in 2024-25.

For spring sports, there were 223 students, of 18.58%, participating in the 2022-23 year, compared to 267, or 26.7%, in the 2023-24 year.

“Our goal is obviously try to build as much as we can for participation,” Langerud said.

He noted there are still some activities they need to work on and noted that with some sports, they are starting to provide additional offerings to encourage students to develop their skills in the summer, such as with swimming, in hopes that will carry over into the school year.

At the middle school level, Langerud said they would like to start cross country in sixth grade for the 2025-26 school year, and they’d also like to bring soccer. But this will mean finding coaches and ordering equipment — all of which costs money. He said he planned to do a cost analysis on this.

He said outside of sports, 682 students, or 56.83% participated in extracurricular activities in the 2023-24 year.

The district has launched a new website called albertlealive.com where people can watch any activity that is live-streamed as well as a new Albert Lea activities website at albertleaathletics.com, where people can get information about activities, register and buy tickets. There is also a new phone app.

Langerud said some of his goals with the Activities Department have included developing a student leadership class for all students in ninth through 12th grade. There’s also a collaboration with the special education department for concessions and a Spirit Store.

He said it is his goal to knock down walls so that any student can have an opportunity to participate in the school’s athletic and extracurricular activities.

One barrier he talked about overcoming was getting youth who participate in after school sports or activities a ride back home afterward. He said possible solutions include a school-provided shuttle service, public transportation partnerships, ride-sharing programs, carpooling networks, after-school program extensions or other community-based solutions.

He is trying to get more students to participate in the livestreaming and the production and broadcasting of activities, and he would also like to develop new strength and conditioning.

He also hopes to create an alumni network that actively engages former students and who might be willing to get involved more with the school. In addition, he is starting an activities advisory board.

Superintendent Ron Wagner thanked Langerud for his work and noted there is definitely a correlation between students being involved and engaged to overall attendance.

School board Vice Chairman Gary Schindler thanked Langerud for his presence in the community, his professionalism and his positive attitude.