Healthy Community Initiative

Diplomas, scholarships, college acceptances — seniors in the TORCH program had many reasons to celebrate in the final weeks and months of their education at Northfield Public Schools. Thirty two out of the 33 TORCH seniors graduated on time with the Class of 2025, for a 97% graduation rate!

TORCH Senior Manager Tessa Kiesow said one graduate is participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange, one is joining the National Guard, and the rest are attending two- or four-year colleges in the fall.

• The two-year colleges TORCH graduates will attend are: Dakota County Technical College, Hennepin Technical College, Normandale Community College, and Riverland Community College. Planned areas of study include nursing, firefighting, auto mechanics, HVAC and business. 
• The four-year colleges TORCH graduates will attend are: Augsburg College, Augustana University, Concordia University, the College of St. Benedict, St. John’s University, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Planned areas of study are pre-med, pre-law, business, psychology, and education.

Kiesow noted that the TORCH seniors were awarded a total of $20,700 in local scholarships to pursue postsecondary education. The awards were presented at the senior awards ceremony on May 7 and at the Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 2.

TORCH stands for Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes. It is a Healthy Community Initiative program and a collaborative effort with Northfield Public Schools. It serves a range of students in grades 6-12 and recent grads, prioritizing services for students of color, those from low-income households, and those who would be first-generation college attendees. Since the program launched 20 years ago, 842 TORCH students have graduated from high school. Learn more at https://northfieldtorch.org/.