Education Briefs: Sept. 18, 2010

SMSU to visit MW

WORTHINGTON — Brittany Krull, an admissions counselor from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, will visit the Worthington campus of Minnesota West Community and Technical College at 9 a.m. Sept. 27.

Information on financial aid, tuition, academic programs, housing and campus life will be addressed. All interested students and parents are invited.

MW celebrates Hispanic Heritage

WORTHINGTON — Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus will host a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday. There will be presenters from different Spanish speaking countries, entertainment and refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information please contact Le Lucht at (507) 372-3423.

Scholarship offered for student bloggers

WORTHINGTON — The Lenovo Department of World Wide Education has launched a national writing initiative available to all undergraduate and graduate students who are entering or attending an accredited college or university.

The University of Bloggers Back to School Program calls upon students to go to enroll in the program at LenovoBlogU.com, pick a goal, and start a blog about it, with consistent updates on their progression to success.

All blogs will be monitored and judged based upon their creativity, popularity and activity (amount of updates). The grand prize winner will receive a $20,000 scholarship; other prizes will also be awarded. The grand prize winner will be announced Oct. 10.

For more information, visit the website or call James C. Leonard at (661) 264-6031.

World Market participants sought

WORTHINGTON — Minnesota West Community & Technical College will be hosting a World Market day for new and returning students on Oct. 5 from 12 to 1 p.m. Minnesota West offers businesses and organizations the opportunity to celebrate our diversity in products and services available in southwest Minnesota. There is no charge to participate in the event.

Interested participants should contact Le Lucht at (507) 372-3423 or le.lucht@mnwest.edu. Space is limited.

High school essay contest opens

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. high school students and their teachers are invited to compete for nearly $115,000 in prize money by participating in the Bill of Rights Institute’s fifth annual Being an American Essay Contest.

Top prize winners and their teachers will also receive all-expenses paid trips to the nation’s capital and cash prizes.

Students are asked to share their thoughts on American citizenship by answering the following question: “What civic value do you believe is most essential to being an American?”

The contest is administered by the Institute, a non-profit educational organization in the Washington, D.C. area devoted to educating children about the Constitution and Founding principles. Sponsors include the History Channel and the Stuart Family Foundation.

Visit www.BeingAnAmerican.org for more information.

Students raise tobacco awareness

MINNEAPOLIS — At the Sept. 10 Minnesota Twins game, a dozen members of the statewide Start Noticing coalition joined together at the Community Kiosk behind home plate to raise fan awareness of an issue pertinent to their communities: the influence of tobacco advertising and promotions.

Working with youth, parents, local community leaders and retailers, Start Noticing serves Cottonwood, Jackson and Redwood counties, northwest Hennepin County, and southeast Minnesota.

The group distributed 1,200 neon green necklaces to fans at the game as a reminder that 1,200 people die from tobacco-related disease every day in the United States.

In support of Start Noticing’s campaign, 190 fans signed a petition asking retailers to remove tobacco ads from in and around convenience stores. By signing the petition, signers oppose tobacco companies’ marketing tactics that could impact young children.

For more information, visit www.StartNoticing.org.

MnSCU launches veterans service

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has announced a new online service to help veterans and members of the armed forces identify whether their military training can count for college credits.

Information about military credit transfer options can be found at www.veterans.mnscu.edu.

To determine whether military credits can be accepted for transfer, veterans and service members can use the new service to match military occupational specialty codes with programs offered by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and get estimates of the number of credits that could be awarded for that military occupation. Information about wages and job outlook also is provided.

Credits for military training are awarded using guidelines established by the American Council on Education, a coordinating association of higher education institutions. Currently, the transfer system can identify awardable credits for military training in four large occupational areas – law enforcement, diesel and truck mechanics, administrative and human resource assistants, and paramedics. More occupational areas, such as health care, will be added to the system as they are reviewed and deemed appropriate for transfer.

BBB scholarship open to students

ST. PAUL — The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota is still accepting applications from high school seniors in Minnesota for the 2010 Student of Integrity Scholarship Awards sponsored by Best Buy. Two scholarships, one for $10,000 and one for $5,000, will be awarded to individuals who demonstrate an understanding of the impact of ethical choices in their lives, as well as a commitment to integrity.

Students must submit essays detailing times in their lives when they were faced with ethical challenges and how they dealt with them. The deadline for submission is 4 p.m. Monday.

The essays need to be 1,000 words or less and must be accompanied by a personal information page, one letter of reference, transcripts from sophomore and junior years, employment history, a list of extracurricular activities, and any post-secondary education plans.

Visit http://minnesota. bbb.org/student-of-integrityscholarship/ for more information.

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