West school briefs: Jefferson cheer team places at national

The Jefferson High School Cheer Team placed third at the National High School Cheerleading Championship recently at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

The Jaguars earned one of the top two scores in the competition's preliminary round, skipping the semifinal round and heading straight to the finals.

This year's championship bid marked the team's seventh year taking part in the national competition. The team is led by coaches Kelly Gerleve and Brooke Binsfield.

Each year, the championship is nationally televised on ESPN and ESPN2 to more than 100 million homes nationwide and 32 countries.

To view the Jefferson Cheer Team's performances at this year's NHSCC, visit bit.ly/JHScheer and search for "Bloomington Jefferson High School."

Nominations are now being accepted for the Education Foundation of Bloomington 2015 Prodigy Awards, which recognize teamwork that improves the educational environment.

Prodigy Awards will be presented to one group of colleagues that demonstrate outstanding teamwork in each of the following categories: administrative teamwork (administrators and support staff of schools and the district office) and staff teamwork (all other nonadministrative staff; may include parent volunteers, students or community members as part of the group).

Nomination forms are due by 4 p.m. on April 24 and can be found at www.educationfoundationofbloomington.org/prodigy.

Mayer Lutheran High School, a college predatory school located in Carver County, will host an open house from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21.

Guests will be able to tour the campus, meet teachers and admissions counselors, learn about the academic program, and find out about the school's tuition assistance program.

Families of eighth-grade students who visit receive a voucher that waives the application fee for the 2015-16 school year.

For more information, contact MLHS at 952-657-2251, go to www.lhsmayer.org or visit Facebook (www.Facebook.com/MayerLHS and Twitter at (MayerLHS@Twitter.com).

The Hopkins High School Orchestra is gearing up for its Orchestra Spotlight Concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, in the Hopkins High School Auditorium, 2400 Lindbergh Dr., Minnetonka.

Once again, the concert will feature a special musical guest. Students are currently collaborating with singer/songwriter Chris Koza through an artist-in-residency project. Koza will perform with the students on select songs during the concert.

This is the second time the orchestra program has collaborated with Koza. The Minneapolis singer-songwriter shared the stage with Hopkins students back in 2013. To prepare for this concert, Koza, along with drummer Bobby Maher, rehearsed with students weekly.

Koza performs as a solo artist, as part of ensemble shows and with his band, Rogue Valley.