School briefs

Student semifinalists in top science contest New Prague High School student Stephen Jerome Trettel, 17, is one of three Minnesota students named semifinalists in the 67th Intel Talent Search.

The talent search is a scholarship competition that rewards the nation's top young scientists for their research. Six former competitors have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Intel took over sponsorship of the talent search in 1998.

Trettel won recognition for research dealing with electrohydrodynamics, the study of ionized particle motion in relation to electric fields.

Melody Yin Hu, a student at Wayzata High School, and Winona High School's Ariah Aram Klages-Mundt were also chosen as semifinalists.

Judges chose 300 semifinalists from 1,602 entrants representing more than 500 high schools. Each semifinalist wins $1,000 and a chance to be chosen among the 40 finalists who will be named Jan. 30. Finalists will attend the Science Talent Institute in Washington, D.C., in March and share $530,000 in scholarships.

Eastview student wins state debate title For the first time in school history, an Eastview High School student won the state title in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Senior Akshar Rambachan took home top honors at the state tournament at Rosemount High School Jan. 18 and 19.

District 196 contributed six of the 60 students statewide who qualified to participate in the tournament.

Principal to retire after long career After four decades in education and 12 years as principal of Farmington High School, Monica Kittock-Sargent said this week that she will retire at the end of the school year.

Kittock-Sargent ran the high school during a period of explosive growth. Her first year, 660 students in grades 10-12 attended Farmington High School, compared with nearly 1,200 students this year. She also played a key role designing and preparing for a new high school that will open in 2009.

District seeks travel award nominations District 196 is accepting nominations for the 18th Andrew Christopher Randall Memorial Travel Award, a prize given annually to a district employee who fosters respect between students and school staff.

The award was founded by former District 196 Superintendent Ruth Randall Benson in memory of her grandson, who died of cancer in 1990 at age 14. The prize, $2,000 this year, is tagged for travel because it was an activity Andrew loved.