A leader at West

Former West Principal John Barnett came back for Kelliher’s visit, saying Margaret Anderson was a memorable student from a memorable class.

“The class of 1986 — the year Margaret graduated — was a very interesting class,” said Barnett, who had doubts about the new seniors in the fall. “By the end of the year, it was one of the finest classes we’ve had.”

Barnett remembered Kelliher and other students coming to him with a plan for “Peace Week” to be held that spring. Skeptical at first, he listened and agreed. Developed completely by the students, the event included inviting a group Vietnam veterans who were in counseling together with a Mankato psychologist.

Virtually every student at West attended, listening to their stories and asking questions. The event, scheduled to last 50 minutes, stretched to two hours as the veterans spoke frankly about war and its aftermath, about drug dependency and broken marriages.

At the end, 1,000 students gave a standing ovation, Barnett said, and the veterans — tears streaming down their faces — said it was the first time anyone had shown them appreciation for their service.

Former teachers also talked about how Kelliher’s leadership and organizational skills showed clearly even as a teenager. Retired speech and theater teacher Pat Ryan said he scoffed when reading a letter to the editor of a Twin Cities newspaper that the Democrats had selected another urban liberal as speaker.

Ryan talked about Kelliher growing up as part of a large family that ran a dairy farm adjoining Minneopa State Park and served as 4-H state president.

“In The Wizard of Oz, she played Auntie Em,” Ryan said. “I mean, Come on!”

Public school education

Kelliher said she credits her years in Mankato public schools for her success and her priorities.

She spent kindergarten and the first four grades at Hoover Elementary. Bus routes were changed and she found herself headed toward Roosevelt. Not wanting to leave her friends at Hoover, she tried in vain to drum up opposition to the bus-route changes.

“I didn’t want to be a Roosevelt Raccoon,” she said. “So I organized this petition drive. ... This is when my Mom says she knew I was political.”

As it turned out, the move to Roosevelt taught her a lasting lesson about how smaller class sizes can make a huge difference in kids’ lives. There were 46 students in her 4th grade classroom at Hoover.

With class sizes like that, the best students still do fine and the struggling students often get the special attention they need, she said.