People: Aug. 20

• Mercedes Leininger

Mercedes Leininger
• Grace Hoeft

Grace Hoeft

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Staci Lieffring has accepted a University of Minnesota Law School scholarship for $22,000 for the coming academic year. The scholarship is renewable for each of her three years of law school at the University of Minnesota.

Staci was the valedictorian of the Class of 2006 at Two Harbors High School. She is the daughter of Dan and Cindy Lieffring.

She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota in May with degrees in marketing and political science. She was also named the “Outstanding Senior Marketing Student.”

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Mercedes Leininger and Grace Hoeft of Two Harbors recently completed eight weeks of service with Conservation Corps Minnesota. The Corps’ youth development and natural resource restoration program, Summer Youth Corps, is based at St. Croix State Park near Hinckley. Leininger and Hoeft were part of 85 teens, ages 15 to 18, selected from across the state to participate.

Leininger and Hoeft were part of crews with five other teens, with two adult leaders, and completed restoration projects such as improving hiking trails, planting trees, installing rain gardens and removing invasive plant species. They also learned about ecology, water and land management, food production, American Sign Language, and natural history. They also improved professional skills such as resume writing and job interviewing.

The crews spend most of their summer camping in tents and working in state and national parks after completing a week-long training at St. Croix State Park. They did 35 hours of conservation work each week, cooked their own meals, washed their own dishes and enjoyed outdoor recreation when not doing conservation work.

For more information on Conservation Corps programs, call (651) 209-9900 or visit www.conservationcorps.org.

Tags: two harbors, community, people