New Improvements Coming to Miracle League Field in Lakeville, Minnesota

Miracle Field Lakeville MNNew improvements coming to Miracle League Field in Lakeville, Minnesota. APPRO Development, Inc., has been thrilled to be involved in the construction of the Miracle Field in Lakeville, MN. It makes us even happier to see what a success the project and programs have been !

We are happy to say that the field will serve 10 teams and over 110 players this year !!

We are presently adding some ramp and access improvements to make it easier for players and spectators to get to the field. The new bleachers being installed will accommodate the cheering friends and families of the players!

Thanks to the subcontractors donating their time and dollars, the Lakeville Baseball Association, Brian Roseen and the Miracle Field Network for allowing us to help in a small way !

I only have to recall the first “exhibition game” played on one of the regular fields at King Park – to understand the relevance of this field . I was standing near the backstop watching one of the players bat and run the bases, and as he rounded third base – headed for home, it was impossible to miss the smile on his face and the joy he felt at that moment he scored his run. He ran up to the woman standing next to me and asked – “Mom – did I do good and will Dad be proud of me?” She said “oh yes Honey – you did great and Dad will be thrilled!”. The hair on my arms stood straight up. EVERY SINGLE CHILD deserves to feel the joy of moments like that. As a bonus – she told her Son they had to leave early, so they could go pick up Dad at the airport – turns out he was returning from his tour in Iraq !

It never ceases to amaze me that whenever you commit to a volunteer effort like this – the rewards of the involvement far exceed the energy put into it. The Lakeville Community embraced this project form day 1, and continues to support it. Over 500 volunteers help in facilitating this worthwhile program each year .

Please consider stopping by the Miracle Field at King Park, on Dodd Road – and cheer on the players, they are the most gracious and happy kids that ever played the game!

APPRO Development has been blessed to be one of the many groups/people helping Miracle Field and all they do to accomplish their mission of making the game of baseball accessible to all children. If you would also like to get involved, you may visit their website at Miracle League MN for more information.

Redesigning MN: If We Engage People in Shaping Programs, We’ll All Be Better Off

Redesigning MN

By Jack Matasosky

For more than a year, I have been a part of a group of Lakeville leaders – business owners, clergy, nonprofit leaders, elected officials and others – working with 360 Communities to think differently about how our community meets its most public needs. Above all, we’re focused on finding new ways to deliver early childhood education so that our community’s programs and services are reaching more children and getting better outcomes.

We’re redesigning the early childhood education ecosystem in Lakeville to make it work better within the dollars available, even as the demand for service continues to grow, and that’s no easy feat.

But our community is rising to the challenge of thinking differently about our early childhood programs. It’s an exciting adventure to be a part of.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a meeting that brought together representatives from a broad cross-section of Lakeville early childhood programs collectively identify how we could reach more people with our existing programs. The meeting, convened by 360 Communities in partnership with InCommons, an initiative of the Bush Foundation, was the beginning of a six-month process to get our community focused on improving early childhood education and focusing on outcomes. Film crews for Redesigning MN were on-hand to capture our community-driven conversation as a local-level example of the conversations that need to take place to redesign our public services.

Our community-driven effort has continued to move forward in the weeks since this event. We’re thinking about how to make sure every child in need has access to the early childhood education programs that can help them thrive in school, and how to ensure that every Lakeville parent knows about these opportunities offered by our existing network of community supports. And we’re thinking about how we can improve the programs offered to ensure that every Lakeville child enters Kindergarten on track for success.

As a long-time resident of Lakeville, it’s invigorating to see our community coming together – people from the business and faith communities, educators, parents, and other residents – to create better opportunities for our youngest residents. I know that we’re all committed to creating a better future for Lakeville, and thoughtful conversations like the event convened by 360 Communities and InCommons are equipping us to find that shared vision and craft a collective approach to redesigning our early childhood education programs.

At the end of the day, change needs to be driven by the families that need help. We can’t fit people into programs. We need to engage them in these opportunities – and we’ll all be better off for it.

That’s what we’re trying to do in Lakeville, and I’m proud to be a part of it.