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GF Middle, High School Students Prepare for Math Track: Competition to Be Held Saturday

Posted on: Monday, 30 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Paulette Tobin, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Jan. 30--The understanding of sines, cosines, fractions, formulas and other things mathematical will be the key to success Saturday as hundreds of middle school and high school students compete in the 10th annual Grand Forks Math Track Meet.

Individual competition will begin at 9 a.m., followed by team competition at 10 a.m. at Red River High School. Awards will be presented beginning at 11:20 a.m. in the Red River theater.

From 40 to 50 four-person teams are expected for the event, Red River math instructor Allen Janes said. The teams represent Schroeder, South, Valley and Twining middle schools, and Central and Red River high schools.

The competition was organized by the Grand Forks Secondary Mathematics Teachers with support from the school booster clubs and parent teacher organizations.

The contest will include two 10-question individual competitions involving both routine and non-routine math problems using calculators at every level of competition, and two 10-question team competitions. Students will compete at four levels: Grade 6, grades 7 and 8, grades 9 and 10, and grades 11 and 12.

CMS Exploratory Day

East Grand Forks Central Middle School's 400 students will participate in a variety of classes and activities outside their curriculum - they may even pick up a new hobby - during Exploratory Day on Thursday.

The day will introduce students to activities such as card and board games; hobbies such as basket making and scrapbooking; technology such as making "iMovies" on Apple computers; arts such as mask making; and sports such as curling, billiards and racquetball. About 100 students will go to the water park at Seven Clans Casino near Thief River Falls.

Special education teacher Dawn Lyste and band instructor Jenny Loer organized the day's activities, which include quarter-day, half-day and full-day events. Some activities are free; for others, there is a fee. Students were encouraged to sign up for something they've never done before, Lyste said.

"A lot of our kids don't have opportunities to go and do something different," Lyste said. "Some families are just very limited on their budget. Or, if the parents don't do (an activity), the kids don't get a chance to do it."

Every teacher at CMS is involved in the day's activities, too, she said.

Open enrollment deadline

North Dakota K-12 students who wish to enroll in another school district for 2006-2007 under the state's open enrollment law must file applications by Wednesday.

The law enables students to attend school in a district other than the one in which they live or currently attend. They can pick up application forms from the school district in which they reside or where they want to attend.

The district of residence must receive applications by Wednesday and has until March 1 to review them. Receiving districts must review and approve applications no later than April 1, and students must be notified of their status by April 6.

Info: Tom Decker, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, (701) 328-2267.

Poster contest

North Dakota students in grades 1 to 8 and special needs students can be part of the 2006 Keep North Dakota Clean Poster Contest. Each school is asked to send in one winning poster from each grade and special needs by March 15.

Contest winners, their immediate family members and teacher will be invited to an April 21 awards luncheon with the governor, or his representative, at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, N.D.

First-place state winners will receive $100 and a gold medallion, and their posters will be made into billboards. Second- and third-place state winners will receive $50, a certificate and a silver or bronze medallion. School winners will receive a tree seedling from their local Soil Conservation District.

Go to www.state.nd.us/dot/kndc.html for contest rules. Info: Contest co-chairs Glenda Fauske, (701) 228-5446; Jean Monroe, (701) 328-2581.

Teacher of the year

Among the nearly 120 teachers who have been nominated for 2006 Minnesota Teacher of the Year are Nyla O'Connell of Lake of the Woods at Baudette and John Lang of Roseau.

The winning teacher will be announced May 7.

Tobin reports on education, teen news and special events. Reach her at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or ptobin@gfherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)

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