West school briefs: Wayzata team wins Mega Math Challenge

Students on the Wayzata High School Math Team took first place in this year's Moody's Mega Math Challenge out of 1,054 submitted papers.

The team earned first-place after its 15-minute presentation to a panel of professional applied mathematicians on April 29 at Moody's headquarters in New York City's financial district.

The team won the top scholarship prize from the Moody's Foundation's of $20,000 for the team. Team members in this competition include seniors Jenny Lai, Abram Sanderson, Amy Xiong, Lynn Zhang and Roy Zhao. The team is coached by math teacher Thomas Kilkelly.

The goal of the Moody's Mega Math Challenge is to showcase the relevancy and power of mathematics in solving real-world issues, as well as inspire students to pursue careers in STEM-related fields.

Every five seconds, Americans use 60,000 plastic bags and consume 2,000 bottled drinks, and the math students across 29 states who participated in the contest devised methods to quantify and manage this waste.

Each group had to quantify the plastic waste filling the nation's landfills, come up with the best recycling methods for U.S. cities to implement based on their demographics, and recommend guidelines for nationwide recycling standards.

Wayzata Community Education is offering a wide variety of technology classes for both beginners and more experienced users.

• Picasa: This free image editing software is a great photo editing tool for beginners. May 15, 10 a.m.-noon. Fee is $39.

• Adobe Photoshop Elements: This powerful image-editing program allows you to do intricate work with photos on your computer. May 16, 9 a.m.-noon. Fee is $55.

All classes meet at Central Middle School, 305 Vicksburg Lane, N., Plymouth. Register at www.ceregistration.wayzata.k12.mn.us or call 763-745-5213.

Blessed Trinity will host a rummage sale Wednesday through Saturday, May 8-11, with more than 450 households contributing merchandise.

Come to Blessed Trinity's Nicollet Campus Gym at 6720 Nicollet Av. S. in Richfield.

Call 612-869-5200 or visit www.btcsmn.org for more information.

The Benilde-St. Margaret's drama department will pre­sent this year's spring musical, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," Friday through Sunday, May 10-12.

Show times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students and seniors. Children under age 5 can get in for free.

Purchase tickets by visiting www.BSMschool.org/drama. Directions to BSM are available at www.BSMschool.org/directions.

The ACS team recently qualified for the international RoboCupRescue competition. A group of 16 BSM seniors will compete against collegiate participants in the Netherlands June 24-30.

The BSM team's robot will be in action at the open house.

For more about BSM's ACS program and its accomplishments, go to www.BSMschool.org/ACS.

Robbinsdale Middle School recently received a boost for its STEM magnet program from Cargill.

A check for $10,000 will be used to purchase an Apple iPad mobile learning lab and 20 iPads.

The recipients will receive graduate school tuition and access to personal and professional development programs.

Gates Millennium Scholarships are awarded to 1,000 students nationwide from a pool of around 54,000 applicants. Students are required to complete a rigorous application process that includes writing eight essays, acquiring extensive recommendation forms and completing other paperwork to verify their eligibility.

Founded in 1999, the Gates Millennium Scholar program has awarded more than $763 million to 16,000 students since 2000. Funding comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

A mock crash demonstration for Bloomington juniors and seniors is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Jefferson High School.

The demonstration will include Bloomington police responding to a mock 911 call along with Allina Medical Emergency Services and the Bloomington Fire Department.