Linda Vanderwerf
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I cover education issues for the West Central Tribune and have worked for the paper since 1995. I have worked in journalism since 1981.
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Bonnie Davis shocked herself when, after a couple decades of teaching, she looked at two male students who were late to her ad-vanced literature class and immediately made assumptions about them in her mind. That Asian boy had probably stayed late at his calculus class to talk to the teacher, she thought, but when she looked at the black boy, spo-rts came to mind. It made her think, "What am I capable of doing that I may not know I'm doing?" Davis, author of the book "How to teach Students Who Don't Look Like You," spoke to the Willmar School District staff last week.
WILLMAR -- The Willmar business community took the first step Thursday toward deciding whether to endorse the Willmar School District operating levy. Superintendent Jerry Kjergaard spoke to members of the Willmar Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday afternoon at The Oaks in Willmar. Kjergaard explained why the district will ask the voters to rescind an existing levy and adopt a new one that is $400 larger, raising property taxes on homes and businesses about $10 a month for each $100,000 in value. The new levy would add $1.77 million in revenue to the district's annual budget of about $4
Class sizes may not go up as much as they might have in some area school districts, and some laid-off teachers might be back this fall, at least for this year. Kids who need it may get more help in math or reading. All those things could be possible because of a one-time infusion of federal money to save education jobs. The Minnesota Department of Education applied this week for $167 million in funding from the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund approved by Congress in early August. The fund, called Ed Jobs, is intended to save the jobs of teachers and other school staff who work with early c
WILLMAR -- The Willmar School District has won the latest round in a long effort to recover the cost of repairing shoddy work done on the roof drainage system at Willmar Senior High School. The Minnesota Court of Appeals said in an opinion filed Tuesday that Kandiyohi County District Court Judge Michael Thompson was in error when he ruled in 2008 that the school district could not go to arbitration on a claim against the roof warranty because a statute of limitations had expired. A group of contractors had filed suit in 2007 seeking to stop arbitration proceedings on the roof problems.
WILLMAR -- Students at Willmar Senior High have scored their highest composite ACT score since the school opened 16 years ago. The 159 students who took the test had a composite score of 22.5 on the college entrance exam.
WILLMAR -- When school starts on Sept. 7, Willmar students will be riding big yellow buses that have gone "green" under the hood. Fifteen of Willmar Bus Service's diesel school buses were retrofitted with filters and catalyst mufflers that will reduce their emissions by 50 percent. "We felt it was the right thing to do," said owner Ken Inselmann.
ATWATER -- A 64-year-old Atwater man was arrested Friday morning after allegedly threatening to shoot and kill the people he lived with in a house on the east side of Diamond Lake. The Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office Tactical Team responded to a 7: 40 a.m. 911 call about the alleged threats at a house in the 6600 block of 159th Street Northeast. No one was injured in the incident. The man is currently in the Kandiyohi County Jail awaiting formal charges.
Write-in candidates may be filling a number of area school board seats next year. A number of school districts in the area have more open school board seats than they have candidates. Ballots for the Nov. 2 general election are set, now that filing has closed for school district and city offices. In races without enough candidates to fill all seats, write-in votes will determine who wins the open seats. The Montevideo School Board has three seats open, but only two candidates filed.
WILLMAR -- Some major road projects are on the schedule for Kandiyohi County in the next year. The County Board heard a description of the upcoming projects Tuesday from County Public Works Director Gary Danielson. Danielson provided a five-year plan for the county's roads. Among the major projects for 2011 is a $1.6 million resurfacing project on County Road 7 from state Highway 7 to Raymond.
WILLMAR -- Brian F. Bollig of Willmar, Dan Croonquist of Kandiyohi and Nathan R. Streed of Willmar filed to run for Willmar School Board on Tuesday, the last day for filing. They will be joined by five other candidates in running for three open seats on the board. The general election is Nov. 2. Other candidates are Bill Fenske of Willmar, Jill J.H.