New FFA officers installed

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Albert Lea FFA Chapter has installed its new officers for the 2007-08 school year.

The successful candidates are:

Brandi Modene, Cassie Bangert, Laci Brune, Derek Heideman, Ben Manigold, Maddy Ruble, and Joe Hubly.

Email newsletter signup

Author&8217;s tea set for June 1

At 2 p.m. on June 1, Sandi Sorenson&8217;s, Jacque Sorensen&8217;s and Sonya Zieske&8217;s classes at Lakeview will be having an author&8217;s tea. The students have read two books by the same author and then write a research paper about the author.

They will present their project to parents and grandparents at the tea.

State testing done for the school year

The state accountability tests, the MCA-II&8217;s, are officially over for this year.

All students in grades three through eight plus grades 10 and 11 took math and reading tests as required. Other writing tests were given as well. Test results will be announced in August.

MCA science field testing happening

Fifth-graders and biology students will be participating in MCA science field tests the next two weeks. These are computer-based tests of science information based on the state science standards. These new tests will be taken by all fifth-, eighth-, and 10th-grade students next year for more No Child Left Behind requirements.

Summer school registration open

Registrations are being taken for students who need to participate in summer school. Credit recovery courses are offered in June and July through the Area Learning Center at Brookside and at Southwest.

Students in Glenville, Alden, and NRHEG are also eligible to apply if they need to make up lost credits needed for graduation.

Courses run based on sufficient enrollment.

Contact your own high school counselor for more information.

Extended learning times now available

Elementary students in Albert Lea schools will have an opportunity for extended learning time June 18-29 at each of the elementary schools if they are identified as needing a little more time to work on grade level reading or math skills. Teachers will run small programs for students in grades K-5 if enrollment permits.

Parents with questions should contact their child&8217;s classroom teacher.

Advanced Spanish students teach to elementary students

Spanish 4 and 5 students from Albert Lea High School taught Spanish to first-graders at Lakeview and Sibley Elementary schools in the last two weeks.

The high school students taught lessons about animals, colors, sports and other topics.

Southwest class writes survival guide for incoming students

When this year&8217;s sixth-graders visit Southwest Middle School in May for their annual tour, they will be greeted with an extra special gift.

One seventh-grade English class researched and wrote the &8220;Southwest Survival Guide.&8221;

What makes it special is that the seventh-graders brainstormed fears and questions they had when they started school at Southwest and then addressed those fears and questions in the guide to help sixth graders through their transition.

This isn&8217;t a book about what teachers and principals want the students to know, it&8217;s about what the students want to know.

Mostly, what the seventh-graders want the sixth- graders to know is that Southwest is a lot of fun and is not scary at all.

Ciota accepted into orchestra camp

Senior Alexandra Ciota was accepted to the 2007-08 Minnesota All-State Orchestra All-State Camp on Aug. 6-11. It will be on campus of Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minn.

ALHS symphony presents senior recognition concert

The ALHS Symphony presents its 2007 Senior Recognition Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the high school auditorium. Admission is $4 for students and $6 for adults.

ECFE takes field trip to zoo, children&8217;s museum

The Community Education&8217;s Early Childhood Family Education took 42 parents and their 3- to 5-year-old children on a field trip May 11 to the Minnesota Children&8217;s Museum and Como Park Zoo in St. Paul.

It was a day of new discovery and learning at the Children&8217;s Museum in downtown St. Paul.

Children and parents participated in hands-on activities that provided wonderful opportunities for interaction and learning.

A swing by the state capitol on the way out of downtown allowed the children to be awestruck at the beauty of the lawns and capital buildings with the shiny gold horses at the top.

They were on to the Como Park Zoo for a sack lunch and finding out about all of the animals at the zoo.

They learned what each animal looked like, what the animals eat and what sounds the animal makes.

This was a wonderful day for learning that provided experiences that are the foundation for understanding what the children will be able to read about later on.

A child who has seen and touched a sheep, for example, will learn the words sheep, wool, and, of course, baa.

Foreign exchange students tour college

Florencia Saez-Bugmann (Chile), Gabriele Girardi (Italy), Christophe Collard (Belgium), and Ulrike Vera Pfautsch (Germany) recently toured St. Olaf College and met with a college counselor.

These students along with Jules Novena (France) have participated in all aspects of school and community this year.

ALC celebrates Cinco de Mayo

The Albert Lea Area Learning Center again celebrated Cinco de Mayo, on May 7 (May 5 was a Saturday).

Linda Lares from Southeast Minnesota Community Action Agency (SEMCAC) made pico de gallo and other salsas for the students, all the while discussing her experiences growing up Mexican-American in Albert Lea. Enchiladas, salad and fruit were part of celebration, as well as the breaking of the pi&110;ata. This has been a long tradition at the ALC, and Lares has been a part of that tradition.

Fifth-graders celebrate American Revolution

Halverson fifth-graders celebrated &8220;Famous Faces of The American Revolution&8221; on May 11. It was the culmination of a six-week unit on the Revolutionary War.

As a final project students picked a famous person from the Revolution to research and prepared a Power Point slide on that person. Students then dressed up as their person and introduced themselves to their classmates via the Power Point presentation. Next, students paraded among the other grades and introduced themselves and why they were important. Finally, students enjoyed playing period games such as Chuck Farthing, Graces, Marbles, Jacks and Continental Checkers. They enjoyed root beer floats as a finale.

Geography classes to plant rain garden in Shoff Park

Jerry Bizjak&8217;s eighth-grade geography classes, with assistance from the Shellrock River Watershed District and the City of Albert Lea Parks Department, will be planting a rain garden at Shoff Park and performing maintenance on the previously planted one in Lakeview Park.

They will do this today with the rain-out make-up date being May 22. This activity ties in with the class&8217;s curriculum on how people can positively affect their local environment. This is the third year students have planted a rain garden and the fifth consecutive year students have done a community service project involving the lakes.

Second-graders to tour county museum

On Thursday, Halverson second-graders will take a field trip to the Freeborn County Museum to coincide with their pioneer unit.

Students are studying the differences between the pioneer times and today.

What did the children do for chores then vs. now, what games did they play and daily life in general.

Albert Lea students attend Young Writers Conference

On Thursday one student from each fourth- through sixth-grade classroom will be attending the Young Writers Conference in Rochester.

They will be attending an opening session and four break-out classes on writing.

Community Ed offering baby class

Community Education&8217;s Early Childhood Family Education is offering a baby class that will meet every Thursday morning from 11 a.m. to noon through May 31 in room 204 at Brookside School.

Parents will learn important parenting information, spend focused time with their baby and meet other parents. Included is a baby&8217;s handprint flower activity for Mother&8217;s Day labeled &8220;Our Love Grows Everyday.&8221;

Do you know what a sixth-grader knows?

(Submitted by Cammie Tennis&8217; sixth-grade art classes at Halverson Elementary)

Question: When an artist signs a print &8220;10/30,&8221; what do the numbers mean?

Answer: A print labeled &8220;10/30&8221; means this particular print is the 10th print out of 30 printed from one plate.