When families purchase books at the fair this year, they will also be helping to purchase books for the Greenvale Park Media Center. Shop chapter books, story books, graphic novels, fiction, non-fiction, books in English, books in Spanish, and more. The Greenvale Park PTO is hosting the fundraising event.

Watch the video below for teacher picks and how to cast your vote to see Principal Craft sing or dance in front of the whole school.

A selection panel of 25 community leaders chose the semifinalists from an initial field of 135 candidates from across the state.

The panel will meet again in late March to select about 10 finalists from the group of semifinalists. The current Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Jackie Roehl of Edina, will announce her successor at a banquet at the Marriott Minneapolis Northwest in Brooklyn Park on May 5.

Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member statewide educators’ union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers from public or private schools. The Minnesota Teacher of the Year Program also receives support from the following organizations: The SMARTer Kids Foundation, the Marriott Minneapolis Northwest, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, United Educators Credit Union, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, Teacher Federal Credit Union, Pearson Education and Education Minnesota ESI.

Visit http://www.educationminnesota.org and click on Events & Programs to find more information about the award.

The schools each qualified for the silver award in the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC), a voluntary certification initiative for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. The district’s child nutrition staff worked over a period of three years to help the schools implement lunch menu changes for the challenge.

The HUSSC supports first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign by recognizing schools that are creating healthier environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity.

Sponsored by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), the initiative encourages schools to take a leadership role in helping students make life-long healthy eating and physical activity choices. Schools that take the challenge work to make changes that: improve the quality of the food served; provide students with nutrition education; and provide students with physical education and opportunities for physical activity.

Kara Mitterhotzer, Team Nutrition Leader for the Minnesota Department of Education’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and Deb Lukkonen, Supervisor at the Minnesota office, will visit the three Northfield schools on Feb. 22 to present the awards. The HUSSC award celebrations will take place at the following times and locations:

Sibley Elementary – 8 a.m. in the school cafeteria
Greenvale Park Elementary – 9:30 a.m. in the school gym
Bridgewater Elementary – 7 p.m. in the school gym

Child Nutrition Director Pam Haupt led the HUSSC application process for Northfield Public Schools. A team of school professionals, including child nutrition managers, school nurses, physical education teachers, classroom teachers, a curriculum coordinator, and a Team Nutrition consultant from the state, all contributed to the application process.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has invited all schools to take the challenge and earn one of four HUSSC awards — Bronze, Silver, Gold or the Gold Award of Distinction. Winning schools receive a monetary incentive ($500, $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000) as well as a plaque signed by a USDA official, a banner to display in the school and special recognition on the USDA’s Team Nutrition website.

At this meeting, parents can talk with the school’s kindergarten teachers and nurse, as well as the cultural liaison and representatives from child nutrition services, KidVentures, Bridges to Kindergarten, and Benjamin Bus. Enrollment packets can be turned in during this meeting, and also picked up if a family hasn’t received the information.

LifeTouch will photograph students who are purchasing a package and who have their order envelope and payment ready. Families are welcome to come from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. to have family and/or siblings photographed.