1. Fall semester is always an excit-
ing time as students return to
campus, energized and ready to
start a new academic year.
Whether returning students or
new entering students, the
energy on campus is palpable
and the Green House is no
exception. Each fall we take
time to re-connect with our
students,
coaches,
faculty/
staff and
adminis-
trators at
our fall cook out. We appreci-
ate the opportunity to “break
bread” with our university fam-
ily and
share our
passion
for the
success of
our students.
And that success is our mis-
sion! To provide those aca-
demic support and develop-
ment services that facilitate
opportunities for our students
to enjoy success in the class-
room and beyond. Our suc-
cess over the years has not
been the result of one, or a few
people. Since the inception of
Athletes for Success in the
Classroom, we have had an
amazing team of students who
have contributed to our growth
and success.
This past spring
we initiated our
very own
Green House/Athletes for
Success in the Classroom Hall
of Fame to recognize those
who have had a major impact
on our efforts. The computer
lab now doubles as our official
Hall of Fame. Enshrined in
our inaugural class are 56 indi-
viduals who always answered
the bell. Join us in acknowl-
edging and thanking the Class
of 2016 for their contributions
to student success!
—Shawn Kakuk
The Director’s Chair
Hall of Fame class of 2016
Sarah Strohschein, Curtis
Washington, Jesse James,
Chris Buckel, Corey Miller,
Rodney Walker, Corey
Tollefson, Andre Stevenson,
Jenny Kimman, Isaiah Harris,
John Derlein, Harry Jackson,
Ramon Nunez, Adrienne
Higley, Amy Harris, Keith
Heckendorf, Danielle Simons,
Mariann
Gabrawy,
Rich Pryd,
Bianca
Rhodes, Lamont
Townsend, Ben
Wagner, Frank
Ayers, Megan Har-
dy, Angela Mayers,
Nick Peterson, Jodi
Tarasewicz, Mark
Henderson, Andrew
Syverson, Melanie
Pudsey, Fatma Abdi-
nasir, Dan Kamin,
Cory McLouden, Me-
ghan McGee, Ryan
Koch, Liz Solberg,
Bintou Jatta, Heather
Miller, Cameron
Pham, Thoa-Ha Phan,
Krystal Scott, Rachel
Solgon, Zach Stover,
Sarah Wuotila, David
Kamin, Tony Parker, Damon
Spurlock, Helmie
Teketay, Jon Ammer-
man, Courtney Jo-
sephson, Matt Asmus,
Talisha Barlow, Jason
Terres, Teresa Gazich, Nicolas
Harris-Rioux and Taylor Witt.
—Shawn Kakuk
Accolades
2016 Fall Semester
Volume 5 Issue 2
Athletes for Success
Inside this issue:
The Director’s Chair 1
Accolades 1
Meet the RGHers 2
Coach’s Box 2
Making a Difference 3
Faculty Forum 3
Where Are They
Now?
3
Pup’s Corner 4

2. Senior hammer thrower,
Stephanie Waletzko is majoring
in biomedical sciences, minor-
ing in chemistry and psycholo-
gy with an emphasis in biome-
chanics/exercise physiology.
Stephanie is the president of
the Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee (SAAC), along with
being the Co-president of the
North Star STEM Alliance,
STEM scholars too.
We have been lucky enough to
put this incredible woman’s
talents to use the past three
years here at the Green House.
One can certainly claim that
she stays busy. In fact, almost
any time a visitor might stop
by at the Green House, Steph
can be seen studying, or help-
ing one of the many students
she assists in her challenging
field of study! Steph thanks the
Green House for allowing her
the opportunities to learn best
how to focus and manage her
time and, and for giving her a
very well rounded college ex-
perience overall. When asked
what she finds to be special
about the Green House she
said: “We are such a diverse
group that all have a common
goal: to excel, on the field and
in the classroom.” How excel-
lently put!
Senior Biomedical Sciences
major, Adam Josephson is
studying Pre-Veterinary Medi-
cine and plans to attend veteri-
nary school next fall. He also
participated in football and will
join the wrestling team in the
spring semester. On top of
athletics
and
aca-
demics,
he has
worked
at the
Green
House
for
three
years! It
is no wonder that he has
learned how to effectively
manage his time, as well as
how to work with, and com-
municate with students so well!
When asked why he values the
green house Adam said: “The
best part about the Green
House is that while it offers a
great place for students to
study and receive tutoring, it
also really helps in building the
‘Husky Family’ that we all talk
about. By being a place to
study together, we get to meet
other athletes and build a ca-
maraderie where we would not
otherwise have that opportuni-
ty with everybody’s busy
schedules.
We will certainly miss Adam
and his work ethic next year
once he departs from our
husky family, but we all will
celebrate his accomplishments
as he continues down his aca-
demic path! Thank you, Adam,
and good luck!
—Emma Konopasek
ibility of tutor scheduling al-
lows our student-athletes the
opportunity to maximize time
in their busy schedules.”
Former Husky Hoopster,
Green House attendee and
current assistant men’s basket-
ball coach Mahmoud Abdelfat-
tah cited the Green House’s
flexibility and structure con-
tributing to academic suc-
cess…believing student-
athletes who are given free-
dom, yet still held accountable
and responsible for their aca-
demic performance, will learn
far more than the academic
material. “I view the Green
Head coaches talk about the
importance of a staff being “on
the same page” when it comes
to strategical and technical
concepts. After talking with
Huskies assistant coaches,
coaching staffs are also on the
same page when it comes to
the Green House. Soccer
graduate assistant Sierra Bon-
ham, whose team placed 12
student-athletes on the Fall
NSIC All-Academic Team,
appreciates the quality and
availability of tutors at the
Green House: “Our women
have access to some of the best
tutors on campus, and the flex-
House as a place that provides
student-athletes the opportuni-
ty and freedom to study on
their own time and master their
own study habits. The Green
House helps student-athletes
prepare for life after college by
developing life skills such as
time management, communica-
tion, decision making, problem
solving, and many more.” It is
clear that our coaches are on
the same page with one thing:
the positive impact the Green
House has on developing suc-
cessful students and future
leaders.
—Carley Jeffery
Meet the RGHers
Coach’s Box
“The best part about the Green
House...is it really helps in
building the ‘Husky Family’
that we all talk about.”
-Adam Josephson
Page 2 Athletes for Success Volume 5 Issue 2
“We are such a diverse group
that all have a common goal to
excel on the field and in the
classroom.”
-Stephanie Waletzko

3. Making a Difference
Where Are They Now?
Faculty Forum
The slogan for Division II is,
“Make It Yours”. As a senior,
I am able to look back on my
time at St. Cloud State and
how I “made it mine”. As a
student-athlete at St. Cloud
State, I have become very in-
volved with the Student-
Athlete Advisory Committee
(SAAC), being the president
for the past two years.
Through SAAC, I have had the
opportunity to give back to the
St. Cloud community through
different volunteer opportuni-
ties. These include, working at
the Salvation Army food shelf,
organizing campaigns again
drunk driving, and working to
break down the stigma that
surrounds mental health. The
Green House provides leader-
ship training. In conjunction
with their Green House posi-
tions, the staff is involved with
outside endeavors. On staff at
the Green House are student
athletes also involved in SAAC.
These students use their excep-
tional leadership skills and
roles to help the greater good
of the campus and the commu-
nity. Through the Green
House and SAAC, student-
athletes have the great oppor-
tunity to “Make It Ours.”
—Stephanie Waletzko
reasonably well dramatically
increases your likelihood of
having a successful college ex-
perience.
OK, so you’re sold on the idea.
Now what? How do you get
started? What do you talk
about? The most obvious an-
swer is to talk with faculty
about material from your cur-
rent class. Is there something
from class that struck you as
interesting? Or that you are
not sure you fully understand?
Faculty really do want to dis-
cuss the material with you and
these questions can help your
professor to know where to
start. They may also be able to
help you focus your study hab-
its in a way that helps you mas-
ter course material.
—Dr. Dan Macari
College Counseling and Student Development
“Talk to your professors.”
You’ve all heard that, right?
Whenever we talk about being
a successful college student we
always suggest that you go talk
to your professors – before
class, after class, and most im-
portantly during office hours.
This is truly good advice. In
fact, research suggests that
having at least one faculty
member on campus know you
laid the foundation that allowed
me to become a successful col-
lege student. It gave me the
tools to develop good studying
habits and taught me how to
manage my time between
school and sports. The Green
House also helped me stay mo-
tivated through the tougher
times whether it was on or off
the ice.”
Nicolas’ efforts in the class-
room landed him a position as a
tutor in the fall of 2008. “Being
a Green House staff member
helped me become a better
leader in many ways. The first
one is leading by example. A
good work ethic will rub off on
your peers and will be beneficial
“The college journey of a stu-
dent-athlete is not always easy
but knowing that I had people
around me who were willing to
help and were there to keep me
on track really had a positive
impact on my success. ”
Former Green House and
Husky Hockey team member,
Nicolas Harris-Rioux knows
these words well. Turn back
the calendar to fall 2007 and
Nicolas realized the im-
portance of having people sup-
porting him in his journey as a
student-athlete. Of his experi-
ence, Nicolas said, “The Green
House made my transition to
college easier because it gave
me the structure I needed and
to each members of your team.
Secondly, I got to help people
from different cultural back-
grounds. Since my first lan-
guage is French, I had to work
on my communication skills
and tutoring people gave me
the confidence I needed to
strive in my new home.”
Since graduation, Nicolas has
played professional hockey in
Texas, Illinois/Iowa and the
United Kingdom. Now retired
from hockey, Nicolas is pursu-
ing his MBA at the Universite
Laval in Quebec. We expect
Nicolas to continue leading by
example and we thank him for
the example he set with us!
—Shawn Kakuk
“Research suggests that having
at least one faculty member on
campus know you reasonably
well dramatically increases
your likelihood of having a
successful college experience.”
Page 3Athletes for Success Volume 5 Issue 2
Back Row: Emma Turbyville, Adam Josephson, Brindley
Theisen, Jon Averkamp, Stephanie Waletzko
Front Row: Natalie Gottschalk, Alyssa Coletto, John
Solberg

4. Our goal is to aid in the development of student athletes at
St. Cloud State University, increasing productivity through
academic support, academic advising and encouragement.
Physical Address: 827 4th Avenue South
St. Cloud, MN 56301
Mailing Address: 720 4th Avenue South
St. Cloud, MN 56301
www.stcloudstate.edu/asc/
The second
ingredient is
the commit-
ment to work-
ing hard. Nat-
ural talent only gets a person
so far. To be great, we have to
strive to constantly better our-
selves. We have to work hard
to run a route faster, to field a
ball cleaner, to land a higher
note in order to create the per-
fect sound. Without the ability
to persevere and work hard,
natural talent will always lead
an individual to fall short of
success.
Lastly, in order to be success-
ful, the recipe must contain
passion. Without passion, natu-
Success is a simple recipe.
There are three key ingredients
to a fulfilling livelihood. The
first component is natural tal-
ent. For some people, mathe-
matics is simple; for others,
writing an essay is painless and
enjoyable. We are all gifted
with special abilities, which we
must use to our advantage. An
artist shouldn't force them-
selves to be a lawyer, a brilliant
mechanic shouldn't be obligat-
ed to drag themselves through
medical school, and vice versa!
As we travel down our road to
destiny, we need
to remember to
embrace what we
are good at.
ral talent and hard work are
tasteless. If you do not enjoy
the process, a job will become
work, your schooling will be-
come mind-numbing, and
practice will become arbitrary:
a cog in a machine going
through the motions. Remind
yourself why you love to do
what you do. As you finish this
semester, take some time to
reflect on what you have ac-
complished and what you must
improve on to reach your
goals. Stand tall, be proud, and
indulge in a small slice of your
impending success.
—Sydney Kakuk
Pup’s Corner
Phone: 320-308-5392
Fax: 320-308-1525
E-mail: sakakuk@stcloudstate.edu
Education for Life
Richard Green House