Connect-March 10

Students from Maple Grove Senior High School recently competed at the state DECA competition. DECA is a global, non-profit student organization that prepares high school students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Competitions allow students to test their knowledge in various business-related scenarios. At the state competition, senior Sham Manikandan and junior Owen Breitenfeldt advanced to the finals.

For several years, Park Brook Elementary School has hosted a Girls on the Run program at the school. In response to family requests for opportunities specific to boys, the school hosted a Boys Climb event Feb. 27.

Osseo Senior High School senior Renee Oh was recently awarded $2,500 as an honorable mention prize winner for Sphere Education Initiative’s essay competition in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The scholarship was designed to provide students the opportunity to share their understanding of civil discourse and its relationship to upholding the principles of liberty outlined in the Declaration.

In late February and early March, students at Cedar Island Elementary School participated in a bakery book tasting, set up by library media specialist Kortney Esper. The book tasting allowed students to sample new genres of books in a fun and creative way. Students moved around tables in the library, decorated like a bakery, trying a new genre of book at each table. Students sampled the book by reading the front, back and first few pages, filling out “menus” with three words to describe the cover, what they liked from the first few pages and giving it a rating out of five mixing spoons. Students tried new genres including fantasy, animals and adventure, science fiction, realistic fiction, humor, scary fiction and historical fiction.

On the evening of Feb. 5, in front of a packed house of their families, kindergarteners at Basswood Elementary School showed off their recent hard work with their presentation of “Cookies: The Musical.” Led by music teachers Rebecca Ricker and Cynthia Stearns, the kindergarteners performed various songs about different kinds of cookies. Each class wore hats they had made with different kinds of cookies on them.