District 197 Points of Pride: Academics & Activities and Staff & Teachers

The 2013-14 school year was full of accomplishments throughout the district. Let’s look back and celebrate the notable achievements of our school community. Thanks to the students, staff and community members who helped make 2013-14 great! 

The first installment of Points of Pride highlights student achievements in academics and activities, and staff awards during the 2013-14 school year. In upcoming posts we'll feature Points of Pride regarding Community Engagement, Recognitions and Grants, Athletics, and the Arts.

ACADEMICS & ACTIVITIES 

The National Merit Scholarship Program named Sibley senior Jonathan LaBounty a National Merit Semifinalist, and seniors Matt Foman and Joe Parnell were named National Merit Commended students.

Eighteen Henry Sibley students in the Class of 2014 earned Advanced Placement Scholar Awards for their exceptional score of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams in the spring of 2013.

Elementary students from Garlough Environmental Magnet, Mendota Elementary, Moreland Arts & Sciences Magnet and Somerset Elementary competed in Odyssey of the Mind State Tournament. Several groups of students qualified to attend the World Finals Tournament. 

Henry Sibley’s Business Professionals of America team participated in the State BPA Leadership Conference. Junior Daniel Levitt who took 1st place in the extemporaneous speech category. Other students who placed were Joe Quehl and Max Aldrich in video production, P.J. Gannon in human resource management, and Emily Anderson in interview skills.

Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet began its InSciEd Out program, which integrates science into all areas of the curriculum and helps students conduct experiments. The program is possible thanks to a partnership between Moreland, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The program will expand to Heritage E-STEM Magnet School next year.

The Friendly Hills Chess Team received 3rd place in the Twin Cities Chess Championships for Junior Highs and Middle Schools.

Abi Arganbright, 8th grader at Heritage E-STEM Magnet, and Oslo Martin Risch, 4th grader at Garlough Environmental Magnet, competed in the Minnesota Seven County Metro Area Regional Spelling Bee after winning their school’s spelling bee. Both Abi and Oslo were among the 50 top performers of an online test that qualified them to move on to the Regional competition. Other winners of the District 197 school spelling bees were Kira DuPaul (Mendota), Lucas Baumeister (Moreland), Izzy Nachtscheim (Somerset), Gayathri Gajjela (Pilot Knob), and Anna Dupont (Friendly Hills). 

Henry Sibley senior Breanna Vick produced a video about saving money that won second place in U.S. Bank's "Lights, Camera, Save!" contest.  

Three District 197 students won awards for the Optimist Club of West St. Paul's essay contest. Cassie Furlong (12) of Henry Sibley received 1st place, Nick Footh (12) of Sibley received 2nd place, and Hayden Zeleny (4) of Somerset Elementary received 3rd place. This was the first year District 197 students won all three awards. Furlong later placed 2nd in the regional Optimist Dakotas-Manitoba-Minnesota District Essay Contest. 

Geography bee winners from participating schools were Erin McQuillian (Mendota), Oslo Martin Risch (Garlough), Nik Zeravica (Somerset), and Jimmy Elander (Friendly Hills). 

Henry Sibley senior Jake Jaeger was Region 3AA’s top choice for the Triple A award for his achievements in Academics, Arts and Athletics. 

The Heritage E-STEM Magnet School robotics team, Eye of the Storm, competed at the Minnesota FIRST® LEGO® League State Championship in St. Paul. They were one of the top seven teams in the state for robot design. 

Friendly Hills 7th and 8th grade students participated in the Minnesota Regional Future City Competition at the University of Minnesota. Alex Malen, Thomas Miranda and Evan Johnson's team won the special award of Engineering Excellence.

The Mendota Elementary School LEGO League team won the Design and Innovation Award at their LEGO League Tournament.

Henry Sibley students Victoria Garner and Juliana Vang were awarded 2nd place and 3rd place, respectively, for their submissions to the Dakota County Public Library's Short Story Teen Contest. 

Sibley juniors Sam Farber and Meital Gewirtz were named Minnesota Department of Education 2014 Scholars of Distinction. Farber and Gewirtz are two of just 38 students from across the state to earn this honor in 2014. 

Sibley senior Ben Golden was one of just 20 students in the nation selected to receive the Student Volunteer Award from Scholarship America's Dollars for Scholars program.


TEACHERS & STAFF

Ann Lindberg, the District's Chemical Health Coordinator, received Attorney Jim Backstrom's Dakota County Citizenship Award in recognition of her "dedication, commitment and outstanding leadership in chemical health and violence prevention initiatives on behalf of youth in Dakota County." 

Henry Sibley teacher Dann Hurlbert and Heritage teacher Jen Anderson were named TIES Exceptional Teachers for modeling technology best practices in their classroom and engaging students in learning. 

Garlough Environmental Magnet School's principal, Sue Powell, was named Magnet Schools of America's 2013-14 Region VI Principal of the Year. 

Garlough teacher Jennifer Parker was selected as a recipient of the 2014 WEM Outstanding Educator Award for Ethics in Education, which recognizes educators who embody ethical behavior and promote ethical development for students through classroom or school activities, policies or curriculum. 

Henry Sibley physics teacher Peter Bohacek was selected as a recipient of the 2014 WEM Outstanding Educator Award for Teacher Achievement. Bohacek was specifically recognized for his work developing a new curriculum for physics that uses "Direct-Measurement Videos." 

Pilot Knob 4th grade teacher Mai Yang was selected by her peers and the Eagan Rotary as an Eagan Rotary Teacher of the Year.