East metro school briefs

Stillwater Area Public Schools will undergo several administrative changes this summer to save money.

Malinda Lansfeldt, currently the principal of Lily Lake Elementary in Stillwater, will serve as the Andersen Elementary principal this fall in Bayport and implement the district's new Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) program.

Mark Drommerhausen, the current principal of Andersen Elementary, will become the principal of Lily Lake Elementary.

Ginny Kruse, the interim director of curriculum and instruction for the district, will replace Dawn Wiegand, the principal of Oak Park Elementary, who recently retired.

Administrators also eliminated several central office positions and combined several others. Superintendent Corey Lunn said the district will save $350,000 from the district's central services staffing budget.

"We've done a lot of reflection on the changes being made throughout the district," Lunn said. "We always want to make sure that changes like this are right for the schools, while also moving the district forward. I'm confident we are now in a better position to focus on bold opportunities and results for our students."

Students head to international competitionSix Forest Lake students will compete in the International Future Problem Solvers competition in Bloomington, Ind., next month.

Katherine Taylor, a sixth-grader at Lakes International Language Academy, took first place at the state competition in March. The international competition will be held June 7-10 at Indiana University. Team members include Hannah Curtis, Will Ihlenfeldt, Spencer Kotys, Josh Larson and Morgan Laughlin.

Students place in auto competitionForest Lake High School seniors Dave Prachar and Luke Lennon placed second at this year's Ford/AAA Auto Skills Competition at Hennepin Technical College last month.

The students were assigned a car with 10 problems and tasked with diagnosing and fixing the problems as quickly as possible.

Both students received $23,000 in scholarships.

Forest Lake's team was coached by Forest Lake Area High School industrial arts teacher Matt Beukema.

Teacher wins artist awardLou Ferreri, a White Bear Lake Area High School art teacher, is a finalist to receive the 2012 McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists.

Ferreri won the grant in 1986 and was a finalist in 1999. In 2000, he received a fellowship from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

The McKnight Artist Fellowships for Visual Artists identifies talented up-and-coming Minnesota artists. An independent panel of arts professionals soon will select the four winners.

DAAREL BURNETTE II