West metro school briefs

MINNESOTA

Carleen Gulstad, who teaches at Hopkins North Junior High, and Diane Weiher, who teaches at Lake Harriet Community School in Minneapolis, are among 10 finalists for the title of 2008 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.

Other finalists are: Joe Beattie, Hastings High School; Rose Regan, Pine Bend Elementary School in Inver Grove Heights; John Bade, Northfield Middle School; Julie Buryska, Wilson Elementary School in Owatonna; Gordon Westendorf, Proctor High School; Steve Brehmer, Mayo High School in Rochester; Lynne Meyer, Greenleaf Elementary School in Apple Valley; and Derek Olson, Afton-Lakeland Elementary School in Stillwater.

The Teacher of the Year will be named at a banquet in Brooklyn Park on May 4.

SARAH LEMAGIE

CHASKA

The Chaska School District's boundary task force will hold a public forum at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at Chaska High School, 545 Pioneer Trail, Chaska, to discuss changes to its secondary attendance zones.

The growing Carver County school district will adjust its elementary and secondary attendance boundaries to prepare for the fall 2009 opening of its second high school, Chanhassen High, and a third middle school.

During the meeting, school officials will discuss tentative boundary maps and answer residents' questions about the proposed changes.

Earlier this month, Chaska parents learned that about 170 students, or 4 percent of the district's elementary population, could be moved to balance enrollment among the elementary schools.

For more information about the changes or to review the proposed boundary maps, go to www.district112.org or call Chaska's community relations director, Nancy Kracke, at 952-556-6121.

HOPKINS

The Hopkins Community Education program will host a workshop about the signs of addiction in adolescents and intervention options for parents, students and other adults who work with youth at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, at Hopkins High School, 2400 Lindbergh Drive, Minnetonka.

The workshop costs $10 per adult but is free for students and staff members. Participants must register by Friday, April 4. Workshop organizers will discuss growing concerns about the lure of alcohol, drugs, gambling, eating disorders and other addictive behaviors for today's adolescents and intervention strategies.

For more information or to register, go to www.hopkinscommunityed.org or call 952-988-4070.

HOPKINS, MINNETONKA & ST. LOUIS PARK

Adult Options in Education's GED graduation ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet.

Organizers said there is still time for adults to pass the required tests needed to participate in the ceremony.

Adult Options in Education offers GED preparation and testing services in the Hopkins, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park school districts. The tuition-free adult basic education program is supported through the community education departments of the three school districts as well as the Hennepin County Adult Correctional Facility.

For more information about the program or to register for GED classes, call 952-988-5343 or go to www.adultoptions.org.

PATRICE RELERFORD