The North Dakota Library Association conference will be held Wednesday through Friday at the Grand International Inn.
Sarah Weeks, author of "Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth," a winner in the Flicker Tale Association Children's Book award in the picture book category, will speak at the Friday luncheon and accept her award. Weeks will also give a presentation Friday morning entitled "Courting the Muse: How I Do What I Do."
The conference will bring librarians, authors and book lovers to Minot from across the state and will include a number of presentations on various topics.
The librarians will also take some time out of their schedule to help flood-ravaged Minot. Pat Slotsve, principal at the flooded Lincoln Elementary, said that a group of librarians attending the conference will help organize books in the Lincoln Library on Wednesday afternoon. Lincoln students are currently attending classes at First Presbyterian Church. The school's library was flooded. Books have been donated to help restock the school library, but Slotsve said the library is disorganized and the school is without a school librarian. Lincoln's librarian last year was forced to resign her position because of the flooding. Slotsve said that assistance will be appreciated.
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National Merit semifinalists named
Area students are among the National Merit Scholarship Corporation semifinalists announced last week.
They include John Hoffer, a senior at Minot High School-Magic City Campus; Elizabeth Burckhard, a senior at Our Redeemer's Christian School; and Cameron Kerbaugh, a senior at Tioga High School.
Semifinalists were chosen based on their scores on a qualifying test taken as juniors. To become a finalist, a semi-finalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. The semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student's essay and information about the semifinalist's participation and leadership in school and community activities.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2012: Those funded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, those funded by the college the student plans to attend and those funded by corporations. About 90 percent of semifinalists go on to become finalists. The semifinalists represent the top 1 percent of students in the state of those who took the qualifying exam as juniors.
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Golden Oaks open new school year
The Minot Golden Oaks PTA will have its first session of the year on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Minot High School-Magic City Campus.
The program topic, "Health Careers," will feature award-winning health careers teachers, Mary Keller and Brenda Demke. Principal Scott Faul will share information about the school and activities.
The officers for 2011-2012 year are president Joan Varty, vice president Nancy Langseth, secretary Adelalide Johnson, treasurer Lando Vix, city council delegate Lowell Latimer, and historian Geraldine Larson, will guide the activities of the group.
The Golden Oaks PTA membership is made up of individuals who wish to continue to support children but do not have children in school. It is representative of the entire community not of one school building.
Any interested individuals are invited to attend the meeting and consider membership in the organization.
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Program teaches about horticulture
Third-grade teachers are encouraged to sign up now for the 2012 National Bonnie Plants Third-Grade Cabbage Program at (www.bonnieplants.com)
The program provides free cabbage plants to teachers, which they then distribute to their students to carry home and grow.
At the end of the growing season, teachers select a class winner based on the size, growth and maturity of the cabbage plant and that submission is entered into a state scholarship drawing.
The state winners are randomly selected by each state's director of agriculture, and Bonnie Plants awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each state.