West school briefs

Schools honored for health/fitness Four Hopkins schools have received national Bronze Awards from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for their focus on healthy eating and physical activity.

Representatives from the four schools -- Eisenhower Elementary/XinXing Academy, Hopkins High School, L.H. Tanglen Elementary and Meadowbrook Elementary -- received the awards last week in New York City.

In all, 178 schools from across the country were recognized this year by the alliance for their efforts to become healthier places for students and staff.

The four Hopkins schools were the only Minnesota schools on the list.

School staff won the award based on their efforts to create healthy eating and physical activity programs that met or exceeded standards set by the Alliance's Healthy Schools Program.

The program offers free support and technical assistance to more than 9,000 schools nationwide to help reverse the childhood obesity trend.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation was founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Kurr received an honorable mention from the SpotLight awards for her performance in the Wayzata High School fall musical "South Pacific." She was chosen based on a live audition at Hennepin Stages last month as the top high school actress from Minnesota.

Irvin was named the top high school actor for his performance in the "The Scarlet Pimpernel."

They both will perform with other students from across the nation and will also receive private coaching, master classes and interviews with theater professionals and compete for additional prizes.

The SpotLight Musical Theatre Program is the flagship education initiative of Hennepin Theatre Trust, a nonprofit organization.

School board to vote on 2010-11 budget The Eastern Carver County school board is scheduled to vote Thursday on the proposed 2010-11 budget, which includes about $1 million in spending cuts.

Class sizes will remain at the same level as the 2009-10 school year, Superintendent David Jennings told the school board earlier this month.

The proposed budget for the upcoming school year includes a general fund of $79.5 million. That compares with last year's general fund budget of $79.9 million.