STUDENTS COMPETE IN SCIENCE FAIR

Minnesota State University, Mankato which has been hosting a science and engineering fair since 1951, recently held the 64th Southern Minnesota Regional Science and Engineering Fair on Saturday, April 25th, 2015. Mr. Jimmy Thorne served as interim director for the fair this year. Beth Rorvig organized the event as the K-12 outreach coordinator. 

Local students from Lester Prairie and Holy Trinity in Winsted competed against over 900 students in grades 3 through 6 as rows of display boards filled the track in Myers Field House. The fair had 106 schools participate. 

The judges, who are scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers, and other people with an interest in science or engineering, award the students ribbons from four different tiers. The top tier being purple, then blue, red and lastly green.

Some student exhibits focused on hobbies or sports and others explored educational issues. They either use the scientific or engineering method for their project. All exhibits were entered in the categories of animal science, behavioral and social sciences, cellular and molecular biology, chemistry and biochemistry, computer science, earth and planetary sciences, energy and transportation, engineering, environmental management, environmental science, family consumer science, mathematical sciences, medicine, health sciences and human performance, microbiology, physics and astronomy, and plant sciences. 

Lester Prairie students placed as follows:

Delaney Sebora (5^th Gr) earned a 1^st place purple ribbon and a Thin Film Scholar Award for an Exceptional Project for her project on Stress & Heat in the Health/Medicine/Human Performance category.  Delaney is the daughter of Marc and Jennifer Sebora.

Alexis Kubista (6^th Gr.) earned a 1^st place purple ribbon for her project on Taste Testing Brand Name Soda and Soda Stream Soda in the Family Consumer Science category.  Alexis is the daughter of Raymond and Tabatha Kubista.

Josie Tonn (4^th Gr.) earned a 2^nd place blue ribbon for her project on Gummy Bear Science in the Chemistry category.  Josie is the daughter of Matt and Melissa Tonn.

After ribbons were awarded, the students earning top-tier honors were up for 1^st Place trophies, 2^nd Place medals, and 3^rd Place medals.  Unfortunately, none of the Lester Prairie students earned these top awards.  But, based on the number of participants, our school and community should be very proud of Delaney, Alexis, and Josie for their hard work and accomplishments.

2015 DARE GRADUATION

ERIK HENTGES MINNESOTA SPELLING BEE SEMIFINALIST

2015 Minnesota National Geographic State Bee

Sponsored by Google and Plum Creek

Semifinalist Press Release

_______________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Student Named Minnesota National Geographic State Bee Semifinalist by National Geographic Society

Student’s Name:  Erik Hentges

Parents’ Names:  Dawn and Anthony

School Name and Address:  Lester Prairie

Grade Level:  8

The above-named student has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2015 Minnesota National Geographic State Bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek. The contest will be held at St. Cloud State University on Friday, March 27, 2015.

This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, which is now in its 27^th year. School Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state Bees.

Each state champion will receive $100, the “National Geographic Atlas of the World, 10^th Edition,” a medal, and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 11-13, 2015. The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the Society.  The national champion will also travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, to the Galápagos Islands, where he/she will experience geography firsthand through up-close encounters with the islands’ unique wildlife and landscapes. Travel for the trip is provided by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. Visit www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee for more information on the National Geographic Bee.

National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD will air the 2015 National Geographic Bee Championship final round, moderated by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, on Friday, May 15, at 8 p.m. ET. The final round will be aired later on public television stations. Check local television listings for air date and time in your area.

How would you fare as a Bee contestant? At the school Bees this year, students had to answer such questions as:

Six-time Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, play football near the source of the Ohio River in which state—Alabama or Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania

Balboa Park, with more than ten museums, performing arts centers, and gardens, is located in which southern California city?

San Diego

Taylor Swift performed songs from her album Red last summer in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of which Asian country that borders the South China Sea?

Malaysia

Disney’s blockbuster movie Frozen is set in the fictional land of Arendelle, which was largely inspired by the country of Norway. Norway is located on which European peninsula?

Scandinavian Peninsula

ABOUT THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

With a mission to inspire, illuminate and teach, the National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. The member-supported Society, which believes in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to change the world, reaches over 600 million people each month through its media platforms, products and events. National Geographic has funded more than 11,000 research, conservation and exploration projects, and its education programs promote geographic literacy. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com.

Construction Class at Lester Prairie Schools

Every spring semester, the Lester Prairie Construction class taught by Mr. Scoblic builds sheds. Four are built each year. All materials are purchased from RAM Buildings. The sheds are 8’x12’ and delivered free of charge by the class. “We built a trailer in our Welding class and are able to deliver the sheds to the site” states Scoblic.

The students learn the various aspects of construction by power point presentations and then go directly out and use the knowledge just learned to build the sheds.

The class is divided into two crews. Each crew builds a shed. When completed, they turn around and build two more. “It is amazing how much faster the second two sheds get built” stated Scoblic. “If people are interested in a shed, we have custom built some. We have put windows and sun lights etc. in different ones. You just need to purchase the additional features ahead of time and we’ll put them in for you.”

Each year we custom build one for Running’s in Hutchinson.

They sell the spring/summer greenhouse items out of it and then sell it in the fall.

We have one 8’x12’ storage shed for sale now.

The 3^rd shed we are going to build is a “garden shed” with the doors on the side instead of the end, a window, and a plant box under the window. The 4^th shed would be another storage shed, unless enough people were interested, we could build 2 garden sheds.

We are asking $1200 per shed. The cost covers materials. If there is any money left over after paying the bills, it goes back into the Construction class for tools.

For additional information on the sheds, call Lester Prairie Schools at 395-2521 and ask for Joe Scoblic.