Mrs. Cardwell's Second Grade

About Me

Hi! My name is Gretchen Cardwell, and I am 56 years young! I live in Beardsley with my husband (Darin) and our two dogs (Kato and Haizel). Kato is a 5 year old Springer Spaniel and Haizel is a 5 year old Bernese Mountain Dog. I have three kids, Noah who is married to Kendra (the Kindergarten teacher at CGB) and their daughter, Baker, who is 3 1/2 years old and a son, Bodie, who is almost 2 years old; Caleb who is an elementary PE teacher in Morris, his wife, Amber (school psychologist in Morris); and McKenna who works at the Sisseton Flower Shop and lives across the street from us. I enjoy traveling and being with friends and family. This will be my 19th year teaching second grade & my 33rd year at CGB Elementary. I am excited to make this my best year yet!

My Childhood

I grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri from Kindergarten until the middle of my 10th grade year. Then I moved to Pequot Lakes, MN where I graduated high school.

My Education

In December of 1993, I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in K-6 Elementary Education from Minnesota State University, Moorhead.

Summer Vacation

During the summer, my family and I went on a vacation to Waterton, Banff, and Jasper in Alberta, Canada. I LOVE the mountains. We had a blast hiking, enjoying the views, waterfalls, and lakes, seeing wildlife (especially moose, bears, elk, and mountain goats.) and drinking lots of coffee, but missed my son Noah and his family. They stayed home and helped take care of our two dogs. We also went on a trip to the Omaha Zoo in June for my son, Noah's 27th Golden Birthday, and to the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone National Parks in July for my niece's 40th and my sister in law's 60th birthday. I also spent a lot of time with my grandchildren Baker and Bodie, attending 2 concerts, snuggling my dogs, reading, scrapbooking and taking lots of walks. I love to spend time with my family and friends.