South school briefs: Burnsville Freestyle choir performs at jazz festival

Children 17 and younger can receive free breakfast or lunch at two elementary schools in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district this summer.

From July 6 through Aug. 13, free meals will be served at Cedar Park Elementary STEM School, 7500 Whitney Drive, Apple Valley, and Echo Park Elementary School, 14100 County Road 11, Burnsville. Both sites qualify for Summer Food Service Program funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture based on the percentage of students receiving free and reduced price meals.

Lunch will be served Monday through Friday, July 6 through Aug. 13. Breakfast will be available from July 27 through Aug. 13 when the district's Camp Propel is in session. Adults may also eat during these times at a cost of $2 for breakfast and $3.50 for lunch, cash only.

For more about summer food service, call 651-683-6957.

Burnsville High School's Freestyle Choir was chosen as one of 10 choirs to perform April 11 at the 2015 New York City Jazz Festival. The festival took place at the Apollo Theater. Only four of the choirs were from high schools; the rest were college choirs.

The last time the Freestyle Choir was in New York was in 2010, when they sang at Carnegie Hall.

The choir sang a 25-minute set, worked with vocal jazz artists and heard other ensembles perform.

Choir members include Hayley Broich, Erika Cao, Will Diedrick, Mark Fitterer, Lucas Heyne, Andra Hiebert, Nathan Johnson, Linden Kirscht, Jasmine Lim, Kallie Lyon, Tess Mueske, Maddie Mulcahy, Derek Racek and Collin Wenda.

The next installment in the "Contents" series of community discussions is "The child-nature connection: The dirt on kids and nature."

The event is a partnership between District 191 Community Education, the Children and Nature Network and the Theater of Public Policy. It will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Campus Cup Cafe at Diamondhead Education Center, 200 W. Burnsville Parkway, Burnsville.

Two experts will discuss the role of nature play and education for children. Then the Theater of Public Policy will explore the idea through improvisational comedy.

The event is free and recommended for high school students and adults. To learn more about the Children and Nature Network, go to www.childrenandnature.org. For more on the Theater of Public Policy, go to www.t2p2.net.