Rechelbacher Congratulates CHS Graduates

Addressing the graduates of Hennepin County Home School, Aveda Corporation Founder, Horst Rechelbacher, said that a crisis in one's life presents the opportunity to excel.

"And the most important thing is to get the opportunity," he said.

Rechelbacher was one of the guest speakers at the CHS graduation ceremony on June 10 and said that students should seek out mentors to help them reach their goals.

"Choosing a path is very important, focusing on a path is equally important, and sticking to the path is even more important, because I don't believe in luck," he said.

He urged the graduates to break the rules, not to be average.

"To be average, it's boring, there's no excitement in being average," Rechelbacher said. "There's a lot of average in America . . . it's not just true in America, it's true in every country."

Rechelbacher first visited CHS last August, promoting products from Intelligent Nutrients, a company he founded based in Minneapolis. At the time, he expressed interest in mentoring students in cosmetology and organic farming.

At the ceremony, 10 students each received $5,000 in post-secondary scholarships donated by Rechelbacher and he has pledged to continue to donate a total of $50,000 in scholarships each year with funds from the Horst Rechelbacher Foundation.

Rechelbacher said he chose to support the CHS residents because "it's a social responsibility."

CHS Superintendent Fred Bryan said some of the graduates are already enrolled in post-secondary educations and working on their degrees at either community college or four-year schools and the fact that they're receiving a scholarship is going to be beneficial right away.

"For those kids that plan on enrolling in a two-year program or a four-year program, they'll have this scholarship kind of in-the-bank, so to speak, so when they do enroll and provide the information that they have enrolled and the scholarship will be released to them, they'll be able to access the funds at that time," he said.

CHS is a residential juvenile facility located on 14300 County Road 62 in Minnetonka and is a part of Intermediate District 287, It is operated on behalf of the Hopkins School District. Students spend an average of three to nine months at the facility, learning academic as well as cognitive and behavioral skills.