Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents

2. Family Tree

3. Autobiography: Morgan Monroe Brandt

• Artifacts

4. Biography: Shawn Marlo Brandt

• Artifacts

5. Biography: Janice Larson Monroe

• Artifacts

6. Biography: Marie Sorensen Coulter

• Artifacts

7. Historical Event: Boston Marathon Bombing 2013

• Historical Event Artifacts

8. Historical Event: Ronald Reagan Attempted Assassination 1981

• Historical Event Artifacts

Morgan Monroe Brandt

Morgan Monroe Brandt was born in Plano, Texas on March 19th, 2001. She grew up however, in New Prague, Minnesota, where she currently resides after fifteen years. She had a very typical upbringing in this small town, living with her parents, two siblings, and later a teacup maltese. Throughout her life she has been known to be into writing, reading, and athletics. All of these have shaped who she is and who she will become as an individual. Although she has had a very normal life so far, she believes there is still excitement and adventure waiting for her in the later years.

Morgan has been a big reader throughout her life, well, from second grade on. She didn’t like it before then. She finds it easier sometimes to be a different person than herself, which is why reading has clicked with her so well. It is extremely easy for her to fall in love with a world that is not her own and live a different life, even if it’s just for five minutes. Some of her favorite novels include To Kill a Mockingbird, Sherlock Holmes, and The Harry Potter series. Her room is basically dedicated to books, owning a giant bookcase from Ikea in the corner of her room, and another horizontal bookshelf above her bed, all filled with lives she has lived, and the ones still to come.

Athletics have shaped her into who she is today as well. Her teammates and coaches bring out the best in her. Eight years of dance gave her the grace and flexibility to pursue figure skating which is what she continues to do. She has been skating for seven years and continues to enjoy it more with every day. Her 2016-2017 competition piece to the music from Shakespeare in Love is one of her favorite programs. Morgan also enjoys running with the high school cross country and track teams. Both of her parents were runners all throughout college and still to this day. Her father coaches the high school girls cross country team. Most people assume she was forced into running, but she chose to do it herself.

Her faith has always been important to her and even more so in the past couple years. Confirmation was a big step in her walk with Christ and she continues to strive towards becoming closer with God. Morgan’s favorite verse is Joshua 1:9 which reads, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” It is important for her to remember that even when she is having hard time in life, that she has strength with God and that He is always with her.

Morgan enjoys high school a lot more than middle school. It was a change, but the classes challenged her, sometimes too much, but most of the time it’s just the right amount. Her favorite class is English, she is in the honors course and loves it. The discussion in class is larger and more intense as well as more papers instead of tests. She doesn’t mind writing papers but she procrastinates them most of the time and ends up writing them a little too close to the time they are due. That is something she continues to strive towards working for. Math is a bit of a struggle for her, which is hard for her to come to terms with because school has always been relatively easy for her. She continues to learn that it is okay to ask for help sometimes.

Technology has greatly shaped her high school career. New Prague High School gives out Chromebooks to students to use for schoolwork. Morgan loves hers and dreads giving it back at the end of each school year. The Chromebooks are helpful but at the same time can be a distraction for her at home. Who wants to work on a math sheet when there is YouTube? They have given her a lot of self control over situations like that. She is also able to stay in touch with her friends with Snapchat which is the top way to communicate to her friends at the moment. Her family has recently gotten Netflix, which is also somewhat of a distraction. Her favorite shows include Sherlock and Stranger Things, even though it scares her.

A story from high school that Morgan will always remember is cross country sections in 2015. She was a runner who had run on both the JV and Varsity teams that year, so at sections she was put as the first alternate. Morgan was not expected to run, but since she was an alternate she still had to warm up and be ready to race until the gun went off. After the warm up all the runners were looking good and ready to race until her dad, who was also the coach, called her over to tell her that one of the runners who had been having a hard time with her shins could not run. This was less than thirty minutes before the race. Morgan didn’t have time to panic and she ended up running her best race of the year and her career so far.

After high school, Morgan plans to attend a four year college. What she wants to major in is undecided so far but she is thinking about a major in English. Morgan is also thinking about possibly studying abroad in college, if she could, she would chose to study in England. She sometimes thinks that’s where she is destined to go. In the future after college, she can see herself working as an author, attorney, or high school English teacher. She also loves books and writing immensely as mentioned before, so what better job than an author or high school teacher? Surrounded by books and words is where she wants to be in life.

Shawn Marlo Brandt

Shawn Brandt was born in Cherry Point, North Carolina. His dad was in the Marines so they were stationed in different places. 2-3 months after Shawn was born, they moved to Hawaii and lived on the island of O'ahu. They lived there for 2 years and then moved to California for 2 years. After that, they moved to Wisconsin. Shawn started school in Racine for 2 years and continued his schooling in Union Grove for another 2 years after that. After his parents divorced, he and his sister, Renee, moved with their mom to Maynard, Minnesota for his 4th and 5th grade years.

When Shawn was in 6th grade his mother went back to school. After she was done with her schooling she got a job in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Shawn grew up in Redwood Falls until he graduated. He went to college at Mankato State University for 2 years and then transferred to Bemidji State University. Shawn does not remember a lot about growing up in Hawaii, California, or Wisconsin and most of his memories start in Maynard. Prior to living in Redwood Falls, Shawn had never lived in one place for more than two years. His fondest memories are from growing up in Redwood Falls.

A memorable childhood story of Shawn’s took place in 9th grade with his best friend Bobby Peterson. The two boys had been out for football leading up to 9th grade and Bobby realized that the other football players were all getting a lot bigger than they were. Bobby's dad was the cross country coach and he told Shawn that he was thinking about going out for the sport. He asked Shawn if he would want to go out too. Shawn didn’t really know what the sport was, but still went out. Shawn claims that decision changed his life forever.

Shawn’s academic interests growing up were centered around hands-on learning. He enjoyed industrial technology and the arts. He enjoyed being creative, solving problems, and building woodworking projects. He said grades did not motivate him, but he earned decent grades. Shawn wishes there were as many opportunities when he was in school as there are now. The millennials have a huge advantage with being able to search careers quickly and easily. He wished to have the opportunity and exposure to figure out a career path like students are able to today.

After transferring to Bemidji State, Shawn met his wife, Kara Monroe. He was running track and cross country in Makato. He followed up with the cross country coach after transferring. The first meeting of the season happened and Shawn came in late. This was the first memory of Shawn that Kara has. There were about 30 boys and girls on the team. When the season started, Kara and Shawn would sit next to each other on the vans to meets. They started becoming friends. One day they were talking about a movie they were both wanting to see, Shawn later called and left a message on her phone asking her to go with him to see it. He said he was nervous to ask her out, but that it is a normal reaction to be nervous when asking a person out.

Some of the memorable times in Shawn’s life include when he was married, joining the cross country team, and when all three of his children were born. The most memorable time in his life was meeting Kara. He claims meeting her is what formed his life with his family today.

Although Shawn has accomplished a lot in his lifetime, he is still working on a few goals to achieve. The first is to complete his administrative license, which as of 2016, he is currently working on. This is not to try and get a job in the administrative business, but to enrich his learning in his current job. He also wants to go on more family vacations to different places in the future.

The last thing Shawn mentioned was about when he and Kara decided that Kara would stay home with their kids instead of her working. They wanted to move to Minnesota to be closer to family when their first child was born. Shawn took time off to interview, but Kara stayed back in Texas. She told him to choose where he wanted to work and where he wanted his children to grow up; she would be happy wherever.

He was offered a job at all four schools he interviewed at. These included Woodbury, Spring Lake, Edina, and New Prague. New Prague was the last place that he interviewed at. By then he was tired of driving around the metro area. He started looking at the world differently from a perspective of a father and the big cities did not seem like a community. He interviewed at the middle school in New Prague and took the job there because he claimed there was something about driving through New Prague that he liked. It was much more of his pace and was similar to where he grew up. He and his family have lived there for fifteen years and have been very happy with the result.

Janice Larson Monroe

Janice Larson Monroe grew up in Watertown, Minnesota. The town is relatively close to where she lives today in the small town of Lester Prairie. She grew up on a small farm with her parents and two siblings, who were much older than her. The farm was very close to town which was nice for her because she was able to ride her bike up to town and visit her friends.

Her siblings were 11 and 13 years older than her. She remembers it as almost growing up as an only child. She got along with her siblings well. Her sister was motherly in a good way, since her mom was almost 50 years old when Jan was a teen, her sister became a kind of advisor to her. Her brother could take her places like the circus because he was so much older. She remembers always being excited for her sister to come home and her brother letting her drive at a much younger age than she was supposed to.

Jan had many chores with growing up on a farm. She remembers always having to clean the house on Saturdays, just like many people do today. When her brother went off to Korea she had to help her dad in the field like driving the tractor. She never really did the milking the cows part of the chores but she did drive the tractor. Jan also had to mow the lawn with a push mower. She said it took her a while to do all of it, but since a lot of their property was for farming, it was not too much grass to mow. She hated to clean and still does not really like it today.

Growing up she learned a good work ethic. Living on a farm required lots of hard work and that is still shown in her today. Even though she lives by herself, she does many of the chores and cleaning around the house. Of course she has the help of her children and grandchildren. With a big yard at her house in Lester Prairie, there is always lots to do such as picking up sticks, raking leaves, and hauling branches.

Throughout the years Jan has had multiple jobs. She remembers nannying for three years over the summer. She also did some general office work after college. Jan currently works at Target a couple times a week. She has thought about retiring, but continues to work there. This goes back to her hard work ethic that she learned growing up.

She met DeRoyce Monroe, her husband, at a dance. He asked her to dance and then drove her home after. Their wedding was small, but it was nice. They did not have a dance. They did, however have a ceremony and a reception following the ceremony. When asked what her advice for a good relationship is, she replied, make sure to know the person well before you commit to marriage. She and DeRoyce dated for five years before getting married. The had two children, Michael and Kara. Both Michael and Kara now have children as well.

Jan claims that moving into the technology era was a bit of a struggle. She loves that she is able to communicate easily with her friends and family. Jan thinks that social media has gone beyond what it should have gone. She has a Facebook to keep in touch with her family across the states and to see the pictures they post. She also owns an iPhone 6S, keeping up with current phone technology, even though she may not know how to always use it in every way.

Throughout her life Jan has been a hard working, kind woman. When asked what she has learned in her life she replied, the importance of Christianity and education. She is able to recognize both as having big impact on her life and how she lives her life. Both have shaped her into who she is today, an amazing woman who is looked up upon by her children and grandchildren.

Marie Anita Sorensen Coulter

Marie Sorensen Coulter was born in Baudette, Minnesota on July 22nd, 1925. She grew up, however, in Montevideo, Minnesota. Marie was the youngest of all her half and stepsiblings. Even though she did not have any full blood siblings, she loved them just as though they were. Her father passed away when she was around one, causing her mother to be very protective of her. Their family moved around a lot which made it hard for Marie to have many friends. One dear friend, a little boy who lived next door to her, would play dress up and movies with her. They lost touch as they got older, but he was always a special friend to Marie.

Her family was very poor growing up so it was the little things in her life that made the biggest impact. A special memory from her childhood was when her stepfather, who worked on the railroad, and came home late, and would bring back lunch meat when he had gotten paid. It was a specialty to have lunch meat so the family would have a party and eat. Everyone in the family was happy.

Another story from her childhood was when the family moved without telling Marie. After her stepfather had passed away, her family would move a lot because her mother was always changing jobs and looking for new places to work. She came home from school one day to find that her family had moved. It wasn’t far away and they eventually found out that she didn’t know. Even though they moved a lot, Marie liked living in Maynard and so did her mom.

Marie went to school in Maynard for a couple of years, but she graduated in Montevideo. One of her favorite things throughout her school years was reading. She could lose herself in books, part of that was because of how poor her family was. A lot of her friends only wanted to become friends with her because she could help them with their homework, especially in English, and their poems. She was also involved in the school’s National Honors Society. All of this taught her creativity and really nurtured the creative talent that she had throughout life.

The first career that Marie had was a cashier at Red Owl. In the future however, she was a librarian, taught needlework, farmer’s wife, which made her a farmer too, planned story time at the library and the summer reading program. Marie wanted to become a teacher but her family could not afford to send her to college. She also had her own ceramics and second hand store, where she taught ceramics and sold second hand items. Some of her favorite ceramic pieces were a lamp with a Native American girl and tipi, birds, especially the loon, and her absolute favorite was a nativity scene. She made one for the minister and one for herself. She had molds and poured the clay into them. Then she would put them in her two kilns, a big and little one, with Arnold, who was her husband.

She meet Arnold Coulter when he worked on a threshing team with a crew on her family's farm. Marie’s mom would send her out to bring them lunch. She was also friends with his sister Myrtle. Sometimes he would wait for her to get done with work at Red Owl and then take her to the movies. They were married in Curcoban at Minister’s house. It was just them and her sister and husband. They then went over to her mom’s house and had reception there. Minister said do you take Harold instead of Arnold. This ended up being a joke in the family for a long time.

When asked what were some admirable things that Marie did, Marilyn, her daughter, replied that she was always proud that she was the librarian. She could also write plays, stories, or anything that needed to be written. She would sometimes write funny skits for the kids to be apart of, as well as she wrote all of the Sunday school plays. When Maynard had it’s 100th town anniversary, she wrote a play for the whole community.

Marie always wanted to learn more about the new technology that was coming out, even if she wasn’t good at it. Marilyn thinks it is because of the teacher inside her, always wanting to learn new things. She bought a computer and tried to do emails on there. She didn’t however, like kids spending too much time on video games. She thought that was not good for them.

Family was most important to Marie. She wasn’t afraid to do anything for her family. She loved dogs, the one that was alive during Morgan’s life was named Lucy. Her memory was amazing, even in her final days, she could recall poems and songs that she had learned many years before. Finally, she was a good role model for her children and the people around her and her faith sustained her until the end.

Historical Research: The Boston Marathon Bombing 2013

The Boston Marathon Bombings took place on April 15th, 2013 during the 117th Boston Marathon. 26,839 runners had started the marathon with only 17,600 crossing the finish line, just over 75%. More than 100 people were injured and 3 people were killed with homemade bombs that went off by the finish line (History.com). The bombs had gone off thirteen seconds after one another. Chaos had erupted as panicked runners and spectators fled the scene (National Geographic).

The Boston Marathon is a 26.2 mile course that has been run traditionally on Patriots Day, April 15th (CBS). The route goes from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. The Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon run, dating back to the first marathon in Boston in 1897 (Ray). Hundred of thousands of people come to spectate the spectacular race each year. Qualifying times are challenging to get, men from age 18-34 need under or at 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 32 seconds. Women of the same age need 3 hours, 32 minutes, and 32 seconds. That is running at a consistent pace of 7 minutes per mile for males and a little over an 8 minute pace for females over the course of 26 miles.

It was about 5 hours into the race that the first bomb went off less than a half a block away from the finish line with the second one going off 600 feet later. The explosives were household pressure cookers packed with nails, ball bearings, and explosive substances. The bombers had used nails inside to hopefully maximize casualties. The FBI had taken the role lead in the investigation. It was considered a criminal investigation that could possibly be a potential terrorist investigation (Eligon).

The two bombers were brothers Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Four days after the bombing Tamerlan was killed in a shootout earlier in the day and after an intense manhunt, Dzhokhar was found the same day. His trial began in January 2013 with him pleading not guilty on all thirty charges against him. He was formally sentenced to death on June 24th, 2015.

The Boston Marathon brought runners and the US together. Like every tragedy, even though it may be awful, the country becomes stronger from it. The Boston Marathon continues to be run every year. In 2014, the year after the bombing Meb Keflezighi would bring back the winning male title to America, the first since 1984.

Works Cited

History.com Staff. "Boston Marathon Bombings." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.

CBS. "Boston Bombings." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.

Eligon, John, and Michael Cooper. "Blasts at Boston Marathon Kill 3 and Injure 100." The New York Times. NY Times, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.

Ray, Michael. "Boston Marathon Bombing of 2013." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 May 2016. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

National Geographic. "Facts About the Boston Marathon Bombings." National Geographic Channel. N.p., 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

Historical Research: Ronald Reagan Attempted Assassination 1981

On March 30, 1981 President Ronald Reagan was addressing the Building and Construction Union at the Hilton Hotel. Just afterwards he was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. Hinckley was armed with a .22 revolver with exploding bullets and he was only about 10 feet away from Reagan when he began shooting at him. His first shot hit press secretary James Brady, other shots hit a police officer and a secret service agent. The final shot hit the limo transporting Reagan and ricocheted into Reagan’s chest (Ronald).

Following the shooting President Reagan was taken to the George Washington University Hospital. Hinckley was taken by police car to the Metropolitan Police Department where he was given to the FBI and charged with attempted assassination of the President. After an FBI interview and being read and executed his rights Hinckley was taken to the US Marshall, Central Cell Block. (Attempted). That night the President was recorded as “good” and “stable” in the George Washington University Hospital. He had to undergo two hours of surgery but the doctors were able to successfully remove the bullet in his chest (Raines).

According to the NY Times Paper in 1981 was at first unaware that he had been shot. After hearing the news of the shooting Reagan’s wife, Nancy, and senior White House advisors rushed out to the hospital and talked to the President before he underwent surgery. At the beginning of the surgery the President had not been told of the three men who went down in the array of bullets aimed at him. Since the shot that hit Reagan did not damage his heart, he was not in any serious danger.

Reagan had only been in office for two months before he was the eighth President become the target of an assassin. Other Presidents include Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy were killed by gunmen. Unsuccessful attempts were made on the lives of Andrew Jackson, Harry S. Truman and Gerald R. Ford (Raines).

35 years after John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan, he was set free from a government psychiatric hospital. In the court session following the attempted assassination he plead not guilty by insanity. It was written that Hinckley no longer posed a threat to himself or others. Hinckley has to follow many conditions now that he is out of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and will go back if he relapses or violates his release (Hsu). It is claimed by his lawyer, Barry Levine, that Hinckley has not exhibited features of major depression or psychiatric disorder for more than two decades. Levine also thinks that by getting the help Hinckley needed he will be a good citizen and one that everyone can be proud of (Associated).

Works Cited

"Ronald Reagan Is Shot by John Hinckley, Jr." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2016.

Associated Press. "35 Years after Trying to Assassinate Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley Jr. Will Be Released to His Mother's Home in Virginia." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 1 Sept. 2016. Web. 18 Dec. 2016.

Hsu, Spencer S. "Would-be Reagan Assassin John Hinckley Jr. to Be Freed after 35 Years."The Washington Post. WP Company, 27 July 2016. Web. 18 Dec. 2016.

Raines, Howell. "Reagan Wounded In Chest By Gunman; Outlook 'Good' After 2-Hour Surgery; Aide And 2 Guards Shot; Suspect Held." On This Day. New York Times LearningNetwork, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.

"Attempted Assassination of President Ronald Reagan." FBI. FBI, 05 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.