Alumni group announces 2024 ‘distinguished’ honorees – Austin Daily Herald

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Gertrude Ellis Skinner. Photo courtesy of Mower County Historical Society

Baskin and Skinner will be Honored at AHS Homecoming

Austin High School Alumni Who Graduated More Than a Century Apart to Be Honored later this month during this year’s homecoming festivities.

Jason Baskin (Class of 2002) and the late Gertrude Ellis Skinner (Class of 1881) are the 2024 Distinguished Alumni selected by the Austin High School Alumni & Friends Association.

A school assembly is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, at Austin High’s Knowlton Auditorium, where Baskin will address Students will be joined by Mower County Historical Society Executive Director Randy Forster, who will speak about Skinner. Members of the public who wish to attend should register at the main office by entering through the high school’s main east entrance.

Later Thursday, Baskin and Skinner’s representatives will attend a 6 p.m. dinner in the Austin High commons area outside. from the Knowlton Auditorium, with a reception starting at 5:30 p.m. The public is also invited. Tickets for the dinner are $25 per person and must be purchased to be reserved by Friday, September 20 by contacting Alumni President Jeni Lindberg at [email protected] or 507-433-4557.

Baskin and Skinner will also be honored on Friday, September 27, during the afternoon parade and evening football game.

Baskin, of Austin, is the marketing director for SPAM at Hormel Foods Corp., where he has worked since 2006. Baskin has worked in sales and was director of corporate strategy for Hormel in addition to leading brands such as Hormel Chili, Hormel Black Label bacon and Natural Choice deli meats.

While attending Austin High, Baskin won the state debate championship; placed seventh in the national debate competition and was a National Merit Scholar semifinalist.

Back in her hometown, Baskin has He has been significantly involved in the Austin community, particularly since 2018 in his elected role as a member of the Austin City Council.

Skinner, who died in 1960 at age 94, graduated from Austin High in 1881 and returned to Austin nine years later after be elected as Mower County’s first female superintendent of schools.

She held that position for a decade, overseeing 130 school districts; 150 teachers and 4,068 students. She established 90 school libraries in Mower County and six summer schools. Skinner contributed organizing the Austin YWCA group that advocated for women and girls; leading the local Red Cross during World War I; and helping to serve clothing and necessities to people before Austin had a Salvation Army.

She was honored in 2019 as a Pillar of the City of Austin.

Baskin volunteers in numerous ways in the Austin community, including as a youth softball coach and high school speaker. courses and judges for regional and national debate tournaments. Baskin is chair of the Austin Port Authority’s Economic Development Committee and a board member of the Development Corp. of Austin.

He previously served as chairman of the Austin Board of Trustees. Human Rights Commission and Vice President of the Mower County Red Cross.

Baskin’s wife, Dr. Katie Baskin, is the executive director of academic and administrative services for Austin Public Schools, and they I have two daughters, Ava and Olivia.

His advice to students is to understand that they can do anything if they are willing to work hard enough.

“Austin gives you a great foundation,” Baskin said. “You have the power to open incredible doors for yourself.” Baskin encourages students to focus their energy on the people and things that make them happy and fulfilled. “When I look back on my time at AHS, the memories that last nearly 20 years later are the good ones: the friends I’m still with.” “I got exposure to activities I loved, teachers who had an impact,” Baskin said. “All that concern about being cool and being popular It doesn’t matter, because it only lasts a short time. Spend your time and energy on things that give you back. It’s just one of the many things you can do. “Enter your life journey.”

Skinner was born in 1865 near the then city limits of Austin, which is now land that includes Ellis Middle School which was named in honor of his parents – the Ellis family – who lived there for more than 50 years.

After graduation, Skinner taught elementary schools in Austin, California, and Hawaii. In 1888, she completed a 14-month tour Europe, Palestine and Egypt, then became a school principal in Omaha, Nebraska, before being elected in 1889 as mayor of Mower County. superintendent of schools.

In 1900, she married John Skinner, editor of the Austin Daily Herald. She resigned as superintendent before her marriage because, at the time, Minnesota’s teacher regulations specified that “female teachers who marry or engage in improper conduct shall be punished.” “She was fired.” In 1917, she was appointed by the governor of Minnesota to a committee to improve the state’s school system.

She worked for 20 years as an assistant editor of the Herald, and in 1921 she was a member of the League of Women Voters, a year later Women gained the right to vote in the United States.

In 1956, Skinner was chosen as Austin’s “Centennial Queen” as part of the city’s 100th anniversary celebration.

“Gifted with rare eloquence and a remarkable memory, she spoke without notes and was constantly in demand as a lecturer civic and social clubs,” the Herald wrote in 1966. “His extensive travel history, his experience as a journalist and his His dedication to literature and art allowed him to speak with authority.