South school briefs

Instructor, student take home national business honors A teacher and a student at Dakota County Technical College have each won national business awards. Bob Voss, a business entrepreneurship instructor, received the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Faculty of the Year award. Mary Glock, one of his students, won the New York Times/NACCE Student Essay Contest.

Community garden plots available A Northfield community garden at Greenvale Park Elementary School will start accepting applications on Feb. 1 for its 2008 season. The garden, in its second season, has full- and half-plots available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The cost for a full plot is $25, and water is available.

The community garden is a joint project of Greenvale Park Elementary, the Northfield School District and the Northfield Community Gardeners.

Application forms are available at:

• Greenvale Park Elementary, 700 Lincoln Parkway.

• Northfield Community Services Office, 1651 Jefferson Parkway.

• Northfield Public Library, 210 Washington St.

District seeks new school board member The District 196 school board has laid out the process for appointing a new board member to take the place of Bruce Endler, who resigned this month.

District 196 residents who meet the criteria to hold the office may apply by Jan. 31. Applicants must be eligible to vote, be at least 21 by March and cannot be registered sex offenders.

The board will choose finalists from submitted applications and interview candidates on Feb. 25. The district aims to fill the seat by March, and the new board member will serve through Jan. 4, 2010.

For applications, call the superintendent's office at 651-423-7749.

Parents can pay for school lunches online Starting this week, parents of students in District 196 can add money to their children's school meal accounts by going to the district's website.

Online payments can be made with major credit cards or bank account transfers. Users will be charged a 4.29 percent fee that goes to the service provider.

To make payments, go to www.district196.org and click on "Parent Portal Services."

Kids 'n Kinship, a mentoring organization that pairs children and adults in Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Lakeville, Rosemount and Farmington, is looking for adult mentors, particularly men. It has 86 children between ages 5 and 16 hoping for a mentor -- which can be an individual, couple or family -- in their lives. If you are interested, call Jan Belmore at 952-892-6368 or go to www.kidsnkinship.org.

Oratorical contest The Prior Lake Optimist Club is looking for students to participate in the 2008 Optimist International Oratorical Contest. This year's topic? "Why me? Why not?"

The contest is at 7 p.m. on March 18 in the lecture hall at Prior Lake High School, 7575 150th St. W., Savage. Students under age 16 as of Dec. 21, 2007, are eligible to participate.

The registration deadline is March 1. Applications can be found at the Prior Lake-Savage district office, 4540 Tower St. SE, Prior Lake, area libraries, area schools or by contacting Sue Heaton at 952-212-3759 or heatonjorenby@mchsi.com.