Jennifer Johnson
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Jennifer Johnson is the K-12 education reporter for The Grand Forks Herald. Contact her if you have any story ideas or tips and visit www.grandforksherald.com.
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International students competing at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship have been receiving a warm welcome from Grand Forks elementary students. Students from 11 elementary schools designed posters, banners and signs for each country visiting during the championship. In exchange for their work, students could attend a game at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Lake Agassiz Elementary School was one of four schools that attended a game Monday.
THIEF RIVER FALLS—At a small bowling alley in Thief River Falls last week, a big celebration happened in the middle of the day. Cheers and applause greeted student Courtney Fontaine, 14, after she bowled a strike. A special education student from Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School, Fontaine is a member of her high school's adapted bowling team, the first in northwest Minnesota. Several teammates gave her high-fives.
NORTHWOOD, N.D.—Some of North Dakota's brightest students are competing at a new state academic event Monday. Eighteen high school teams are testing their knowledge of English, science, math, social studies, current events and other topics at the North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals State Academic Olympic Competition in Bismarck. Teams represent a mix of the largest and smallest schools in the state, including Wahpeton and Fargo.
COOPERSTOWN, N.D.—The teaching license of a Griggs County Central High School teacher who was sentenced for giving alcohol to underage individuals at the Ralph Engelstad Arena will be temporarily suspended. The North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board voted Thursday to suspend the license of Nancy Mae Paintner, 59, for two weeks after little discussion, said Janet Welk, executive director of the state board. "They read through what the school had done and her response," she said. "There wasn't a lot of discussion."
Altru Health System is inviting residents from Grand Forks and Polk counties to participate in a community health survey. Through May 15, residents can fill out a confidential survey that encompasses questions related to fitness, demographics, access to care and the connection people feel with the community. Altru, the Grand Forks Public Health Department and UND's Masters of Public Health Program developed the survey to pinpoint what residents perceive to be the greatest health problems in the two counties, health officials said.
LARIMORE, N.D. -- Larimore High School went into a “soft lockdown” Tuesday as police investigated graffiti found on a bathroom wall, according to the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department. At 12:52 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office was notified of some “threatening writing” on the wall, prompting school administration to ask students to stay in their classrooms, Lt. B.J. Maxson said.
The parent teacher organization of Winship Elementary School in Grand Forks is holding a Dr. Seuss Read Every Day event from 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 19. This is the second year of the family event that emphasizes literacy through games, book giveaways and other activities, said Katie Dachtler, a member of the school's PTO. The PTO started the event as a way to reach out to working parents who are unable to attend the school's RED events, which are usually held once a month from 2:30 to 2:50 p.m., she said. Other news
More candidates are needed for the Grand Forks School Board, according to the district. Four people so far have applied for three of the five openings—a two-year term and four four-year terms. Two four-year terms still need candidates. The deadline to apply is 4 p.m. Monday. Roland Riemers, who recently announced his candidacy for North Dakota state auditor, has applied for a two-year opening that ends in 2018. Katie Dachtler, a former resettlement services supervisor for Lutheran Social Services, has also applied for the opening.
Author Daniel Maurer told an audience in downtown Grand Forks Friday that his love for drugs started with the comfort level they produced. Painkillers replicated the same feeling he had as a 6-year-old watching "Sesame Street" on television, just as his mother appeared with a freshly-laundered blanket and wrapped it around him, he said. "My experience with opiates was everything I wanted in alcohol and then some," he said.
One East Grand Forks school is aiming to improve student behavior on the bus. By embracing a bus behavior program and adding a paraprofessional to support some routes, New Heights Elementary hopes to remind students the bus is an extension of the school day, Assistant Principal Peggy Dunn said. "It's not like school is over and students get on the bus," she said. "It's an extension of the day we just carried into the bus."