News Stories

The Centennial Hall of Fame Class of 2025 represents Centennial's values of making connections with our communities, providing opportunities for students to achieve, and preparing our students for a successful future.

Many educators have launched their teaching careers at our schools, but few have had the opportunity to help shape Centennial Schools at the beginning of its history into a district with a tradition of excellence that prepares students for a successful future. Dr. Charlene Behene, a "pioneer" of the school district,  was hired just three years after the creation of Centennial. She is honored for her work to raise the level of education standards by overseeing curriculum and putting Centennial on the academic map. With a love of sports, she also created recreational opportunities for the community along with the late Dick Lasch, Hall of Fame Class of 2016. (Dick's creation of the district-wide fifth grade track and field day which brings all students together continues on, and we're gearing up for that event this month.) In addition to teaching, Charlene served her community as a board member of the Centennial Area Education Foundation, a Sunday school teacher and superintendent at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, and after retirement, followed her love of reading and worked at the Anoka County Library.

This year's induction came full circle: Mehmet Konar-Steenberg, Centennial High School Class of 1987, was a student of Charlene's at Golden Lake Elementary. After graduating from Centennial High School in 1987, Mehmet continued his academic journey at the University of Minnesota and then at Georgetown University Law Center, earning a Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1995. Mehmet is a professor and is the Taft Stettinius & Hollister/Xcel Energy Chair in Energy and Environmental Law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where he teaches U.S. and comparative constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and property law. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Bergen in Norway last spring. He is honored for his oversight of the creation and launch of the nation's first hybrid law degree program and for his work in the areas of energy and the environment to benefit us all. He has made significant contributions through public service, including serving on the Minnesota Environmental Quality  Board and his pro bono work with local communities.

Watch the 2025 Hall of Fame Induction