Christmas should be a little sweeter for a Fargo family, thanks to the help of students at South Campus II.
Steve Tiedman's ninth-grade English students, along with the students of two other teachers in the same "house," or learning group, helped raise $250 in the past few weeks by buying lollipops sold by the teachers in a fundraiser.
The money, in the form of gift cards, will go to a single mom and her two sons after it was learned that the woman had lost her job and was worried about making ends meet at Christmas, Tiedman said Thursday.
The oldest child, now 13, had been in a homework and play program Tiedman had worked with several years ago while the boy's mother was attending adult English Language Learner classes at Woodrow Wilson school, he said.
"I'm impressed, quite honestly," Tiedman said. "A lot of them asked if they could donate money outright, and a lot of them did."
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Some of the students gave $10 or $20, he said.
"It was an amazing thing they did," SCII Principal Marcy Blikre said. "The students, they just took ownership. And they did see the need of helping someone else."
Brodeur elected
Luke Brodeur, a junior at Fargo South High School, was named president of the North Dakota Association of Student Councils on Tuesday at the closing of that group's state convention in Bismarck.
Alaa Koleilat of Bismarck High School was elected the Class A schools representative, and Sam Vanorny of Oakes High School was elected Class B representative.
Lauren Lyngstad of Fargo North High School was elected a member-at-large. Katie Weatherspoon of Minot's Jim Hill Middle School and Carter Hill of Jamestown Middle School were elected middle-level representatives.
Two other middle-level representatives are on the council. They are middle-level president Nate Janes of Grand Forks' South Middle School, and member-at-large Danni Askew of Bismarck's Walter Middle School.
Their positions will be up for election at the middle-level convention this spring, said Les Anderson, the executive director of the North Dakota Association of Student Councils.
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Off to nationals
Park Christian senior Matthew Porter qualified for the National Forensic League tournament in Last Vegas next June.
Porter, the son of Will and Laura Porter, will represent the Northern Lights District in the national competition after receiving a second-place Speaker Award in the NFL Student Congress competition in Brainerd, Minn., earlier this month.
Park Christian was one of 17 schools taking part. Other Park Christian students recognized at the contest were Jordan Hogness and Drew Eggers.
Fast on their feet
The Moorhead High School boys and girls cross-country teams are fast on their feet in more ways than one.
Both teams not only advanced to the state meet - the boys placed seventh at state and the girls tenth - but they were also honored by the Minnesota Coaches Association for achieving top academic scores in Region 8AA.
Readers can reach Forum reporters Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583
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or hschmidt@forumcomm.com and Mila Koumpilova at (701) 241-5529
Students' kindness to family 'amazing' Helmut Schmidt and Mila Koumpilova 20071214
