At a school of roughly three thousand five hundred students, Minnetonka High School is one of the largest high schools in the state. Minnetonka could not run without its staff that continues to make MHS a safe and enjoyable place. While it may be easy to acknowledge our teachers and principal staff, we cannot forget about the behind the scenes staff that dedicate their time to making our school a better place. Para Terry Brown is certainly no exception.

After working at Minnetonka for various years, he has made his mark on the overall culture of Minnetonka and continues to make students feel more welcomed and included than ever before.

Paras are a huge contributor in keeping Minnetonka running. Brown describes his job as, “[monitoring] students, [building] relationships, [guiding] students and [encouraging] them to attend all their classes.”

Brown has a major pretense in high school and is constantly cheering students up. He describes his average day as, “chatting with students about their day, weekends, classes, and seeing if I can help with anything.”

It is safe to say that almost every student at the school has had a positive interaction with Brown. Maeve Tompkins, ‘24, who used to play basketball for Brown, expresses her gratitude. “I appreciate Terry because he always knows how to make everyone laugh and put a smile on everyone’s faces,” remarked Tompkins. 

He’s not shy about his love for his job, he particularly enjoys, “building relationships with all students, comforting students in a time of need, making students laugh or smile, and greeting students every day.”

However, outside of school he enjoys other activities such as, “coaching basketball, private lessons, AAU basketball, working around the house, watching college football and basketball, and relaxing.”

Brown is very loved by his school and community. He lovingly remembered, “when [he] got 15-20 thank you cards from students this year.” It is important to show everyone, especially the staff that the work they do never goes unnoticed as they continue to make Minnetonka a better place.

When asked who in his life he is grateful for he responded, “my wife for taking care of things for our family, making sure our kids have what they need and getting to their games on time. Also, I appreciate my kids for taking my advice and doing their very best at school and sports. Lastly, I appreciate Minnetonka students for opening up to me and sharing their feelings with me.”