South school briefs

Board candidates to speak at eventsSouth-metro voters can meet school board candidates and hear their views at several upcoming events.

In Farmington, candidates will speak during a forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday at North Trail Elementary, 5580 170th St.

In Lakeville, school board candidates will speak at a forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeville City Hall, 20195 Holyoke Av.

The Northfield Chamber of Commerce will host a forum for school board as well as city council candidates. That event will take place at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 6 at Community Resource Bank, 1605 Heritage Drive.

Candidates for seats on the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school board have been invited to an Oct. 11 forum. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the upper level of the Diamondhead Education Center, 200 W. Burnsville Pkwy.

Sioux Trail cafeteria staff wins awardTwo employees who run the meal program at Sioux Trail Elementary in Burnsville have won recognition from a statewide group.

Gale Mackey and Karra Hartog received an "E" Award of Excellence from the Minnesota School Nutrition Association, according to the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District.

The fall session starts in mid-October and runs through Jan. 14. The spring session starts in March and runs through the end of the school year.

The nursery school is held Monday through Friday from 8:35 a.m. to 9:55 a.m. Tuition is $65.

Pre-School Lab is a course at Burnsville High that gives young children a preschool experience while training high school students to teach and care for them.

To sign up or learn more, contact Marlys Thom at 952-707-2332 or mthom@ burnsville.k12.mn.us.

Craig Davis named to school boardThe Farmington school board has sworn in a former board member to serve the rest of Bob Heman's term.

Davis, a commercial airline pilot, previously served on the board from 2002 through 2006, according to school district spokesman Aaron Tinklenberg. He will fill in for Heman through December.

The school board, eager to fill Heman's seat quickly, had sought a former board member for the position. Board Chairwoman Veronica Walter said she asked Davis first and stopped searching when he agreed to step in. Board member Tim Burke argued that other former board members should have been approached, but he did not vote against Davis' appointment.

Heman had four months left until the end of his term when he resigned for what he described as personal reasons. He had filed for reelection but later withdrew from the race.

Seniors win praise for writing skillsSeven seniors in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District were among just 16 in Minnesota to receive Certificates for Superior Writing in a competitive national program.

Kerry Cahoon of Apple Valley High; Katie Feterl, Garrett Lukin, Kyra Stephenson and Nicole Wagner of Eagan High; Emily Hegland of Eastview High; and Alex Pham of Rosemount High were all recognized in the 2010 National Achievement Awards in Writing.

Nurse of the year is from Dakota HillsShelley Kilgore, a nurse at Dakota Hills Middle School, has been named Minnesota's school nurse of the year for 2010 by the School Nurse Organization of Minnesota. Kilgore's achievement was recognized by the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school board on Monday.

National Merit semifinalists namedStudents at 17 south-metro high schools were among 16,000 semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program announced last week.

They will compete for 8,400 scholarships worth more than $36 million when they are offered next spring.

The south-metro semifinalists are:

Apple Valley High: David Lauer, Jacob Thoennes

Burnsville High: Amber Funkhouser, Dylan Stoos

Eagan High: Victoria Anderson, William Cox, Jessica Hasslinger, Lars Johnson, Bokil Lopez-Pineda, Ryan Pham

Trinity School at River Ridge (Eagan): Patrick Gaffney, Peter O'Hanley

Simley: Madison Dockter

Lakeville North: Marcus Blackstad, Natalie Dokken

Covenant of the Visitation (Mendota Heights): Katherine Sercombe

Henry Sibley: William Fischer

St. Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights): John J. Ryan

Northfield High: Atticus Christensen; Merrill Lutsky, Lily O'Hara-Brantner, Haley Ryan, Lauren Wustenberg

Rosemount High: Nathan Childs

Shakopee High: Sarah Winterbottom

South St. Paul High: Leeza Ali

St. Croix Lutheran High (West St. Paul): Rachel Horzewski