2023 Inductees

Carissa (Jahner) Swartz is a 2003 graduate of North High School. Swartz competed in basketball, soccer, and track and field at North, earning all-Eastern Dakota Conference honors in basketball four times and soccer three times. She was a member of the 2002 Spartans girls basketball state championship team and the 2003 state runners-up. Swartz was named North Dakota Miss Basketball, North Dakota Miss Soccer, Gatorade North Dakota Basketball Player of the Year, North Dakota Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year, North Dakota Athlete of the Year, NDHSCA Outstanding Senior for girls basketball, NDHCSA Outstanding Senior for girls soccer, and was named girls basketball state tournament MVP in each of her junior and senior seasons.

Swartz went on to play basketball at the University of North Dakota from 2003-07 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2008. She played in every single game of her four-year collegiate basketball career, as a starter from her sophomore year on. She was named to the All-North Central Conference Team twice, was named NCC Defensive Player of the Year three times, won the NCC Inspiration Award her senior year. She was on the Dean’s List, the 2007 Academic All-Conference team, and the NCC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.

After college, Swartz moved back to Fargo where she was a registered nurse at Sanford for 10 years. She worked in many departments at the hospital, including surgery, bariatrics, gastroenterology, and dermatology. She married Dr. Travis Swartz in 2013 and the couple has three sons, Jaxton (5), Kyler (4), and Maddox (1). They now reside in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Bradley Bachmeier was an art teacher at North High School from 2001-08 and at Ben Franklin Middle School for three years before that. He developed a North art program that grew from one full-time teacher to three full-time staff. He developed the first Visual Art program in N.D. to offer AP courses in Visual Art and developed the Mailloux Gallery, the first functioning art gallery in a N.D. public school. The art department took on large public art projects to improve building aesthetics and student pride in the building, including murals in the Fitness Center, the library hall, and both the graffiti and brick relief sculpture Spartan heads by the south entrance. In 2002-03, Bachmeier was recognized as the Fargo North Teacher of the Year.

While teaching at North, Bachmeier earned a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of North Dakota, and in 2008 accepted a position at Minnesota State University Moorhead as the Program Director and Professor of Art Education. He also initiated and coordinates the school’s Art Therapy program. He was recognized as the Minnesota Higher Education Art Educator of the Year and was recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as a nominee for the U.S. Professor of the Year Award. He was awarded the state’s highest recognition in Art, the bi-annual N.D. Council on the Arts Governor’s Award in 2009.

Prior to his time at North, Bachmeier taught elementary and middle school art in Litchfield, Minn. while also opening Bachmeier Pottery and Sculpture. Bachmeier Pottery ceramic work is collected nationally and internationally and can be found in public and private collections in all 50 states, including prestigious collections such as the N.D. Governor’s Mansion, The Microsoft Permanent Collection, The N.D. Museum of Art, the S.D. Museum of Art, numerous National Park collections, and Michelle Obama’s personal collection. Bachmeier and his wife, Susan, have four children, Mackenna, Addison, Clay, and Kyler.

Timm Sharp is a 1997 graduate of North High School. He was active in drama, speech, and choir in high school. During high school, Sharp participated in as many theater productions as possible, not only at North, but also at the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theater and at Trollwood Performing Arts School. During his senior year at North, Timm helped teach drama at Ben Franklin Middle School as a teacher’s assistant.

After graduating, Timm attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where he earned an associate degree and began to work as a professional actor. In October of 2000, he landed a leading role on the television series Undeclared on FOX and moved to Los Angeles, where he has been living and working as an actor since. He has acted in 21 movies and more than 40 TV shows and has worked with actors such as Seth Rogan, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, Laura Dern, Kaley Cuoco, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Rosario Dawson, Amy Poehler, Brian Cranston, and Patrick Stewart

Sharp thanks former North faculty, Bill Lucas, Anne McSparron, Jon Loy, Steve Raab, Dale Lammi, Andy Dahlen, for their service and encouragement. He would also like to thank the current staff and faculty of North High for their continued support for the arts.

Jason Spencer is a 1997 graduate of North High School and was the senior class president. Spencer was always passionate about performing and had a dream of working in the movies. He was heavily involved in theater, both at North and Trollwood Performing Arts School. He was also involved in choir and speech, winning two speech state championships. Spencer took a video production class during his sophomore year, which helped to shape his future and propelled him into achieving his cinematic dream.

Spencer attended Minnesota State University Moorhead, majoring in theatre, and later transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. While attending MSUM, in 2000, he worked as a production assistant on the film ‘Wooly Boys,’ starring Peter Fonda and Kris Kristofferson, which was filmed in Medora, N.D.

After graduating from college, Spencer was cast as an actor with the Boston-based educational theatre company, Chamber Theatre, where he met his wife, Alexa Polmer. In 2003, Spencer moved to New York City and transitioned from acting to a career in film and television editing. He studied film editing at the School for Visual Arts in New York City and eventually became an accomplished film and television editor. Spencer has edited numerous television shows, including "The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” "Inside Combat Rescue," "Mystery Diagnosis,” and "Dr. Oakley: Yukon Vet." He also was the assistant editor on feature films, including "The Other Guys," "College Road Trip," and "The Savages." Spencer lives with his wife, two children, and puppy in Silver Spring, M.D. He is the original video content director at PBS KIDS, where he creates and directs children’s programming for broadcast, YouTube, and social media platforms – including the Emmy Award winning series, "PBS KIDS Talk About."

Marcene Malusky taught at Ben Franklin Middle School and North High School for 38 years, retiring in 2014. She was a Health and Family and Consumer Sciences teacher for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders at Ben Franklin for 15 years, and a ninth grade health teacher for 23 years at both Ben Franklin and later at North, when ninth graders moved to the high school. She was named the North Dakota K-12 Health Education Professional of the Year in 2005, the Central District K-12 Health Educator of the Year in 2007, and the National Health K-12 Health Professional of the Year in 2007.

Malusky served as the department chairperson and as a representative on the District curriculum committee. She also served on the Fargo District Coordinated School Health Grant Committee. She was an FPS and State AIDS/HIV trainer for 10 years. She was active with the North Dakota Roughrider Health Promotions Conference for many years, earning the Roughrider Award at the 21st state conference in 2007. She helped design and coordinate worksite wellness activities and health screenings for FPS staff and obtained grants to incorporate new community health programs and resources for the District seventh and ninth grade health classes. Malusky served on the North Dakota Board of Directors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention representing education during the last two years of her teaching career.

Malusky graduated from North Central of Barnes High School in 1969 and North Dakota State University in 1973, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Science. She holds a minor in foods and nutrition with an emphasis in extension education. She later completed a health education certification and a middle school endorsement. She is married to Jack Malusky, who is a computer specialist. They have a son, Jason, a daughter-in-law, Jennifer, and two grandchildren.