Trustee Spotlight
Katrina Lussi Kroes
Katrina Kroes ‘87 has been a Northwood Trustee for six years. One of three siblings to attend Northwood (brother Art graduated in 1979; sister Cristina, in 1980), she graduated from Boston College in 1991. Two of her three children are NWS alums as well: Kylie ’18, now at Colgate; Lars ’21, who is a freshman at the University of Oregon this fall. Oldest son Bjorn attended Lake Placid High School and graduated from Cornell in 2021. She has been married to Rich Kroes for24 years.
Katrina joined the Northwood Board because “Northwood is an important part of the Lake Placid community. The school brings diversity and scholars to the region. I am especially proud that Northwood (through the work of Jill Walker) has engaged with other local schools in the mammal tracking project. I would like to see even more cooperation between local schools and Northwood.” She feels that Northwood’s greatest strengths lie in the relationships that its teacher/coaches have with the students and in the opportunity for athletes to play sports at a high level while balancing them with academics. She sees the aging infrastructure of the buildings as the school’s main challenge.
She believes having children had the greatest impact on her perspectives on life: “I see the world in a different way when thinking about the impact it has had on my children. I love Northwood more because it helped Kylie and Lars grow.”
At and after Northwood, Katrina was an excellent athlete, a member of the US Freestyle Ski Team, and a NOR/Am Grand Prix champion. When not working in her family’s hospitality business in Lake Placid, she golfs, skis, kite surfs, and hikes.
Her advice for current NW students: “Use your relationships to explore and grow. Everyone you meet can have an impact on you, and you can learn from them.”