These lists are not meant to offend anyone.

Top 10 Holiday Songs:

1. White Christmas

2. Most Wonderful Time of the Year

3. Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer

4. Feliz Navidad

5. Let it Snow!

6. Jingle Bell Rock

7. Home for the Holidays

8. Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer

9. Winter Wonderland

10. Chipmunk Song

Top 10 Things to Do:

1. Hang with friends and family

2. Build a cool Snowman

3. Ice Skate/Hockey/Sledding

4. Drink Hot Chocolate

5. Afton Alps

6. Party it up!

7. Tour holiday light displays

8. See a Holiday Movie

9. Shop til ya drop

10. Travel

Top 10 New Year Resolutions:

1. Get better grades

2. Learn something new

3. More time with family

4. Eat Healthier

5. Exercise more

6. Travel somewhere new

7. Be less stressed

8. Volunteer

9. Have more fun

10. Break bad habits

Top 10 Signs You Are Tired of the Holidays:

1. You WANT to go back to school

2. You are almost certain you just saw the gingerbread man

3. Every morning you wake up with a holiday song in your head

4. You are ready to strangle the next Santa you see

5. You only wear holiday themed clothing

6. You say “Bah Humbug” to everyone you meet

7. Your snowmen look madder as the weeks role on

8. You’re working instead of having fun

9. Your tree is taunting you

10. Red and Green become nauseating

Top 10 Holiday Movies:

1. A Christmas Story

2. Elf

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

4. The Santa Clause

5. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

7. Home Alone

8. Love Actually

9. It’s a Wonderful Life

10. Charlie Brown Christmas

Top 10 Little Known December Holidays:

1. National Pie Day (1^st)

2. Wear Brown Shoes (4^th)

3.International Ninja Day(5^th)

4. Festival for Souls of Dead Whales (10^th)

5. Lemon Cupcake Day (15^th)

6. Maple Syrup Day (17^th)

7. Underdog Day (17^th)

8.National Egg Nog Day (24^th)

9. National Card Day (28^th)

10. Unlucky Day (31^st)

Top 10 Holiday World Records:

1. Tallest Living Christmas tree (162 ft.)

-Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, USA

2. Most Christmas tree Lights (194,672)-Malmedy, Belgium

3. Largest Winter Boot (6 ft.-660 lbs.) -Moscow, Russia

4. Tallest Snowwoman (122.1 ft.) -Bethel, Maine, USA

5. Largest Star (103.8 ft)

-Kerala, India

6. Oldest Christmas tree (124 years)-Bath, UK

7. Most Trees Chopped (27)

- By Erin Lavoie (USA)

8. Most Scuba Diving Santas

(158) -Vobster Quai, UK

9. Biggest New Year Party (2.3 million) -Brazil

10. Smallest Card (200×290 micrometers) -Glasgow, Scotland

By: Sandra Vang

WOODBURY, Minn. – It’s a sad day for students at East Ridge High School in Woodbury after losing a fellow classmate. The family of 17-year-old Braedon Hyland told FOX 9 he was  considered brain dead following a car accident on Monday.
According to the Washington County sheriff’s office, Hyland was a passenger in a car driven by 17-year-old Blake Sowle, who was also taken to Regions with critical injuries. The Woodbury teens were driving west on South 15th St. around 7:30 p.m. Monday when they either ran a stop sign or didn’t see a Dodge Ram truck when they entered the intersection at Neal Avenue and the truck T-boned them.

An adult and three small children were in the truck involved in the crash, but no one in that vehicle was injured, police said.

Hyland was officially pronounced dead on Saturday. His family is planning a memorial for Monday night, and the school is also going to host a bonfire in his memory on Wednesday.

Braedon Hyland had a lot of friends, with some visiting the crash site to grieve and others coming together to make t-shirts in his memory ahead of Friday night’s football game in Cottage Grove.

Friends of the East Ridge senior have already started reflecting on his life by posting messages on Facebook . A group of girls who knew Braedon said he loved everyone and was every girl’s crush.

While details of the accident may be fuzzy, one thing is clear: Braedon Hyland will be forever remembered and forever loved.
Read more: East Ridge Mourns Loss of Braedon Hyland in Car Crash http://www.myfoxtwincities.com//dpp/news/east-ridge-remembers-braedon-hyland-oct-14-2011#ixzz1bALwMWth

Due to the summer state government shutdown we have experienced a delayed release of student achievement data from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). However, as each new piece of information becomes available, we continue to analyze our student proficiency results for last year. Recently, we received results for the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) in math for grades 3-8 and 11, and for reading in grades 3-8 and 10. We also received GRAD results, a test embedded into the MCA-II for grade 11 in math, grade 10 in reading and grade 9 in writing. GRAD tests (Graduation Required Assessments for Diploma) are required exams for high school graduation.

Overall, students enrolled in the district continue to demonstrate a high level of proficiency, meeting or exceeding grade level expectations in reading and math, and performing well above statewide proficiency rates. However, included in these results are specific areas of concern, particularly regarding achievement gaps between student subgroups of gender, ethnicity, special education, English Learners (EL) and socioeconomic status. Both our accomplishments and our opportunities for improvement are worthy of further discussion.

The reporting of math results this year are by far the most challenging due to recalibration of the assessment by MDE, resulting in a 9 percent statewide decrease in proficiency. A decrease in proficiency was also experienced in our district, but slightly less than the statewide decrease resulting in an actual increase in relative standing in all grades tested except grade 5. Students participating in the grade 11 Math MCA-II results place the district in the top 12 across the state of those with 100 or more students enrolled. On the more rigorous GRAD test for math, Woodbury High School demonstrated an almost unheard of 22 percent increase in proficiency.

In reading, 83 percent of students enrolled in the district are proficient compared to 75 percent at the state level. There were no changes made to the MCA-II Reading test this year, so results are somewhat more comparable to last year. Reading highlights include an increase in proficiency, and with the exception of grade 7 (at 78 percent proficiency) the district now has 80 percent or more of its students proficient on the state reading standards. Again, results at East Ridge, Park and Woodbury high schools place the district in the top 14 districts with 100 or more students enrolled. In addition, Park High School demonstrated a 7 percent increase in proficiency on the GRAD Reading test, with 87 percent of students identified as proficient.

These are just some of the outstanding results. We know that the progress of our students is evidence of the focus and efforts our team places on student achievement. We will celebrate the successes of the district as a whole and for individual sites, but we also know we need to work harder to change the results that weren’t as we’d hoped.

In particular, our initial analysis efforts reveal significant gaps in performance between student subgroups. While we have successfully addressed gender-based achievement gaps in most content areas, there continues to be a narrowing gap in proficiency between boys and girls in reading, with girls demonstrating greater proficiency. It appears that some schools have been more successful than others in addressing this concern. We will continue to share internal “best practices.” With regard to ethnicity, special education, EL and socioeconomic status the gaps are more significant, persistent and consistent.

In reading, proficiency gaps between our highest and lowest performing ethnic subgroups have been reduced at many grades, but remain as large as 17 percent. In math, the gaps for ethnic student subgroups are even more significant with some gaps as high as 35 percent. Clearly, this is where our efforts and resources need to be directed this year and in the years ahead.

The issue of gaps in achievement amongst student subgroups is not a challenge unique to our district, but just as we want to be a leader in overall student achievement, we also want to be a statewide leader in closing these gaps. It is our mission to ignite a passion for learning in all students.

Mark Porter is superintendent of School District 833.

The drive-in’s 45th year ended with movie fans huddled under blankets and nestled inside their vehicles on a brisk fall night. Screening on the drive-in’s last night of the year were “Dolphin Tale” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.”

The future of the local landmark along Highway 61 in Cottage Grove was on the mind of some movie-goers Saturday. The drive-in’s owner is actively seeking to develop the property and it was not immediately clear as the season ended whether there would be a 46th year for the Cottage View Drive-In.

The possibility of the drive-in’s closure bothered some movie buffs.

“I hope not,” said Jeff Barton, who said he traveled from his home in Minnetonka to take in Cottage View for the first time. He doesn’t want drive-ins disappear. “It’d be nice if they kept a couple of them.”

[By: Scott Wente, South Washington County Bulletin]

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar met with Agbamu in Washington, D.C. on Friday to congratulate her on being named 2011 Minnesota Secondary Principal of the Year.

Former Park High School Principal Efe Agbamu meets with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Friday in Washington, D.C. Submitted photo

“There is nothing more critical than providing our children with a competitive, world-class education so they can be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow,” Klobuchar said. “Efe’s passion and dedication to her students make her an excellent choice for this award and we are proud to have her represent Minnesota.”

Agbamu received the award in January. She was Park’s principal for four years until this past summer. She left District 833 in July for a job in the St. Paul school district.

[By: Scott Wente, South Washington County Bulletin]

Jerome Detviler (Coach/Class of ‘68): “JD” participated in football and track and field while at Park High School, but is probably best known for his efforts as a long-time coach in soccer, Nordic skiing, and track and field. While his teams were very successful, his ability to bring a love for the sport to his athletes made him a great coach.
William Hare (Class of ‘61): Bill earned ten varsity letters at Park in football, basketball, and baseball. He was a standout baseball player at Hamline University and is inducted in their hall of Fame. Hare was a successful baseball coach (winning four state championships) and athletic director at Greenway Coleraine High School.
Norm Larsen (Coach/Athletic Director): Mr. Larsen was the head football coach at Park for ten years and led the 1959 team to an undefeated 9-0 season. After his coaching career, Norm continued to serve as Park’s athletic director until his retirement in 1977. Larsen was instrumental in establishing the “Citizens for Lights” committee which raised money for lights at the Oltman field and is still giving away scholarship money to District 833 students today.
Leslie (Bloedel) Mollner (Class of ‘89): Leslie was a three-year state meet participant in diving while at Park, and finished in 11th in the state her senior year. She also excelled at gymnastics, where she led her teams to two state meet appearances and was an individual state champion in the vault. Leslie twice earned All-American honors as a gymnast at Gustavus Adolphus, leading her team to four straight Division III national championships.
Tim Scanlan (Class of ‘79): Tim was a three sport stand-out all three years that he attended Park, participating in football, basketball, and track. He continued his athletic career at the U of M, as a high jumper freshman year and a member of the JV basketball team his sophomore year. Scanlan is currently the vice president of event production at ESPN, and in 2003 won an Emmy Award for Technical Achievement.

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 5:00p.m. at Mississippi Dunes on Grey Cloud Island. For ticket information, call Activities Director Phil Kuemmel at 651/768-5720. Once again, congratulations to this year’s inductees. We look forward to honoring them in November.

In an AP science course at the high school students do experiments and labs during class.  In a college course the lab is a separate portion of the class, in some classes the labs are so separate that the professor doesn’t even know what goes on in lab.  Labs are once a week for two hours.  In most cases students get a separate lab notebook and have homework due for lab as well as for lecture.  In my current physics class our homework for the week is collected in lab.

This brings us to another difference between an AP science course and a college one, the AP course is every day while most science lectures are two to three times per week.  Therefore homework is due more frequently, while in a college course more is due all at one time.  There are also various highs and lows depending on the day you schedule your lab.  For example, in my physics course the professor posts the reading and homework for the next week sometime between Friday and Sunday.  My lab is on Thursday so I have almost a whole week to finish the readings and do the homework.  I have a friend though, who’s lab is on Tuesday so she has less time to do her homework.

A similar aspect between an AP science course and a college one are lab reports.  In AP chemistry we had to write reports reviewing the procedure, outcome, and conclusions of the previous lab.  In my current physics class we write reports on the previous labs as well.  I wrote more long and complicated reports for AP chemistry than I do now for physics, but that will change as I reach higher courses.

The greatest difference between an AP science course and a college course is that the curriculum of an AP class is decided by the test at the end of the year.  The whole purpose of the class is to prepare students to take the test.  In college the professors make the test each year, therefore, if there was not enough time to cover a concept in class before a test the professor will just leave it off the test.  This also allows students to give feedback on the layout of previous tests (short answer versus multiple choice) and potentially have their opinions taken into account in the creation of the next test.  The professors can also tailor their review sessions to cover the material that is included in the exam because they wrote it and know what is on it.

An AP science course and a basic University science course share a similar curriculum, however, most similarities end there.  Each class has a different layout and policy when it comes to labs, homework, and tests.  However, this all depends on the type of science course taken, the level of difficulty and the professor teaching the class.  In the end the main goal of the class is accomplished in both environments, the cultivation of questioning behavior and the drive to discover the mysteries of the universe.

The first portion of our Girls Night Out/Gopher’s After Dark Exploration was to buy snacks at Walgreens.  The U is a lot of things but cheap is not among them.  We managed to stuff four boxes of candy and three drinks into three average sized purses, not an easy feat.  This turned out to be pretty entertaining because we didn’t even know if there was a rule against bringing in snacks, so we could have been making a large fuss over nothing.  The movie was free to get into, we didn’t even need to show our student IDs.  The theatre was a whole lot bigger than I thought it would be and the interior beautiful with large gold lights and maroon accents.  They even played trivia questions about the movie before it began.  We saw the Princess and the Frog.  It was my first time seeing it and I thought it was very cute and creatively made; Disney strikes again.

After the movie we wandered into an international music festival that was being held in a different part of Coffman.  To get in we just had to show our student IDs, no money required.  The music was awesome and the dancing was excellent.  We finished the night with a short walk around campus.  The campus was quiet because many of the students went home for the week so it was a nice relaxed end to a busy day.  I can’t wait to return to Gopher’s After Dark when the regular activities are planned.