Bloomington: Jefferson High teacher wins excellence award

Jefferson High teacher wins excellence award Bloomington Jefferson High School teacher Elizabeth Boeser has won the 2009 National Council of Teachers of English High School Teacher of Excellence award for the state of Minnesota.

A teacher is selected from each state annually as a model for excellence in English education. The president of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, Paige Shreeve-Welle, nominated Boeser for the award because of the innovative work she's done in teaching literature using online tools.

"Using interactive online tools like wikis and Nings has allowed Elizabeth Boeser's students to be 100 percent engaged in discussing and analyzing literature," said Shreeve-Welle. "Ms. Boeser is a very serious leader on both the state and national level in English education."

Boeser has been a teacher of communication arts and literature at Jefferson for the past six years. She holds a master's degree in communication arts and literature as well as a bachelor's degree, both from the University of Minnesota.

Boeser will be recognized at the National Council of Teachers of English convention in November.

Volunteers needed to serve lunch The Bloomington public school system needs volunteers to help serve lunches to students during the school year. Retired persons and other community members as well as parents are welcome to volunteer. Volunteers will receive a free school lunch.

Day and time commitments are flexible. For more information, visit www.bloomington. k12.mn.us.

Adult Options offers classes for adults who need English-language skills (ESL classes); a refresher in math, reading or writing; or GED preparation. All Adult Options classes are free and confidential. Transportation and child-care assistance may be available for registered students.

Registrations for classes at all sites will take place in the centrally located registration office at Eisenhower Community Center, Room 228, at 1001 Hwy. 7, Hopkins.

To schedule a registration appointment or to find out more, call 952-988-5343.

Groveland to celebrate green playground Groveland Elementary families and community members will discover the school's new "Green, Fit, Fun Playground," an earth-friendly new playground that promotes inclusiveness for children of all abilities. The playground officially opens for play tomorrow.

Its playground equipment was installed by community members over the summer months. Working with Landscape Structures Inc., volunteers replaced 18-year-old playground equipment with new environmentally friendly equipment.

Volunteers helped to raise the funds for the project. Work completed this summer constituted 75 percent of the new playground. The remaining construction will be completed during the summer of 2010.

Donations to support Green, Fit, Fun can be made by visiting www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/schools/groveland and clicking on the "Green, Fit, Fun" logo. There is still room for engraved pavers at the playground.

FOX 9 News launches 'Tools for Schools' Fox 9 News is collecting school supplies at drop locations around the Twin Cities for its "Tools for Schools" campaign. The program runs through Sept. 19 and is designed to help raise money and supplies for schools in the Twin Cities area.

Shoppers at Rainbow Foods can round their grocery bills up a dollar or more to raise money for World Vision, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing fundamental needs for children and families.

Supplies needed include rulers, glue sticks, backpacks, markers, erasers, colored pencils, scissors, pencils, pens and crayons.