West school briefs: Jefferson honors Hall of Fame inductees

Jefferson honors Hall of Fame inducteesBloomington Jefferson High School has announced its 2012 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees: Teri Witcraft Roder, Robert "Doc" Smith, John "Jake" Lynch, Robert Ohno, Marrisa Kimbrough and Richard Bird.

Roder, Class of 1993, excelled in soccer, basketball and golf, earning a combined 10 letters in the three sports, and she went on to play basketball for the University of St. Thomas, earning three MIAC Championships, two Final Fours, and two-time all-conference and captain selection. Roder later became Jefferson's girls' basketball and golf coach, and the athletic coordinator. She currently teaches physical education at Jefferson.

Smith was Jefferson's first principal when the school opened in 1969, and supported teams that produced more than a dozen state, regional and conference championships from 1970-1985 in both men and women's programs.

Lynch was a Bloomington teacher and coach from 1968-1997. He taught and was the assistant football coach at Bloomington's Lincoln High School (1968-70) before moving over to Jefferson, where he taught and coached until retiring in 1997.

Ohno, Class of 1982, is the first Jefferson athlete to earn nine letters in soccer, hockey and baseball. Ohno played in three MSHSL State Hockey Tournaments and was a state champion as a junior before going on to play hockey at Harvard University. Ohno currently works for the PGA Tour.

Kimbrough, Class of 1995, lettered in volleyball and track and was named to the All Metro Volleyball Team (1991-95); she also earned all-state honors each of those years. She was co-captain for the Jefferson volleyball team in 1994 and 1995 and holds the school record for career kills with 2,380.

Bird is a 1965 graduate of Bloomington High School, where he was a two-year letter winner in football and track. After college, Bird coached numerous Bloomington Athletic Association (BAA) teams and served as a volunteer football coach at Kennedy High School in 1965. He became Lincoln High School's football and track coach (1969-70) before coaching football, track and baseball at Jefferson from 1970-2001. He also served as Jefferson's athletic coordinator from 1998 to 2006. He continues to work part-time as a sports coordinator and supervisor for the City of Bloomington.

i-Learn@EP initiative sessions offeredEden Prairie Schools has unveiled a new initiative called i-Learn@EP, focused on transforming how students learn and teachers teach by creating an individualized and engaging digital learning environment.

To solicit input from parents, several opportunities have been scheduled at all district schools throughout the early fall.

At each session, leaders from the district's Learning and Teaching Department will provide a brief presentation on i-Learn@EP and the district's current plans for implementing an individualized and engaging digital learning environment.

Following the presentation, participants will be asked to share their input and ideas about the district's current plans. The session schedule:

• Central Middle, 7-8:30 p.m. Sept. 26-27. • EPHS, 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 1, Oct. 15, Oct. 29. • Oak Point, 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 2. • Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion, 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 8. • Forest Hills, 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 11. • Eden Lake, 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 25. • Cedar Ridge, 7-8:30 p.m. Nov. 8. • Education Center, 1:15-2:45 p.m. Nov. 13.

Normandale Elementary honoredThe U.S. Department of Education has named Normandale Elementary a Blue Ribbon School, one of only seven in Minnesota and 269 nationwide to receive the honor.

This is the second time the French Immersion School has been awarded the Blue Ribbon School distinction, previously earning the recognition in 2005.

Schools earned the designation based on their overall academic excellence or for making progress in improving student academic achievement levels. Normandale was recognized in the former category, being named an exemplary high-performing school.

As a Blue Ribbon School, Normandale Elementary is invited to send a representative to attend a formal recognition ceremony on Nov. 12-13 in Washington, D.C. A local celebration will be held at the school later this fall.

Hilltop Primary receives top honorsThe U.S. Department of Education has named Hilltop Primary School in the Westonka School District as a National Blue Ribbon School.

Hilltop was one of only seven Minnesota schools to receive the honor this year.

St. John gets grant to help with recyclingSt. John the Baptist Catholic School in Excelsior was awarded $2,375 from Hennepin County's Department of Environmental Services School Recyling Assistance Program.

The St. John the Baptist Recycling Project will use the funds to increase the amount of materials recycled by the school and decrease the amount of waste produced. It will initiate on-site composting, create homemade notepads from recycled paper, and use finished compost to grow crops in the school garden.

The program will be headed by fifth-grade teacher Molly Roith.