Do-Say-Be Crossroads Families and Friends! My name is Desmond Rakestraw. I am better known throughout the building as Mr. Desmond. I am the Student Support Specialist for the Montessori and I will be going into my fourth year in the building and third year in this position. I got my Associate of Art (AA) degree in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences from Saint Paul College in 2015. Then, I earned my Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Recreation and Sports Management with an emphasis on Program Planning and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities at Saint Cloud State University in 2016. I concluded my academic career by earning my Master of Education (M. Ed) degree in Sport Management with an emphasis on Sport Sociology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2018. I have worked with young people in different settings for almost seven years and still love every minute of it! Previously, I worked as a Group Leader for Discovery Club at Crossroads. It was here that I knew I wanted to work with students throughout the school day on a larger scale. I hope to bring a unique perspective as it relates to Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) as well as holding students accountable by challenging them daily to the motto I learned in high school of DOSAYBE: DO good things, SAY good things, and BE a good person. I also hope to model to the students to always strive to learn different things because knowledge is power and we all have the potential to do amazing things if we learn as much as we can early and often. My interests are history, English, science, animals, geography, and, of course, sports, especially football SKOL Vikings!

Do good things

Say good things

Be a good person