Come for a night full of fun and signing! Members of ASL Club and the Deaf community will showcase a variety of entertainment including signing songs, performing skits, and showing a short documentary about having a Deaf parent. There will also be several speakers presenting important topics in Deaf culture.

Don’t know ASL? That’s okay! Grab a passport and travel to different tables to learn some basic signs and hear about topics in Deaf culture. A filled passport gives you a chance to win a door prize! Come learn about American Sign Language and Deaf culture, have fun, and eat free snacks!

Hope to see you there.

ASL Club

Sorbo will be at Barnes & Noble Saturday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. in Fargo signing his memoir, “True Strength–My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal–and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life.”

In addition to the book signing, MSUM will host a Book Fair Feb. 16 at Barnes & Noble with Storytime at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and an appearance by Scorch; Bookmark Craft at 11:30 a.m.; and free balloons and dragon tattoos.

Mention MSUM when you make a Barnes & Noble purchase that day and 10 percent of all sales will support Founders Scholarships for the School of Teaching and Learning. So stop by and mention MSUM when you check out!

Can’t make it to the book signing? You can still support MSUM scholarships by shopping online at BN.com/bookfairs. Use ID number 11016292.

Sorbo is the guest speaker tonight at the 5th annual Founders Scholarship Gala. The Gala is one of MSUM’s largest scholarship fundraisers.

Pizza, pop, desserts and door prizes will be provided.

Information will be shared on careers in education including: Early Childhood, Elementary Education, Special Education, and Secondary Education.

Open to any student who wants to learn about careers in education and learn about pathways to teaching through MSUM’s teacher prep programs.

When: 5-6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20
Where: CMU 101, Comstock Room

Notable outcomes of this planning effort include:

1. The establishment of strong partnerships with two-year institutions, regional service cooperatives, and local school districts
2. The development and piloting of a recruitment plan for STEM majors to consider teaching
3. The design of mentoring, administration, and evaluation plans with the expectation of our submission of a five-year phase I teacher scholarship proposal in 2014

http://nsfnoyce.org/

Andrea Noonan, an English language/art teacher at Cheney Middle School in West Fargo, left, was presented with the North Dakota's Teacher of the year award by Superintendent of Public Instruction Wayne Sanstead, right, and Gov. Jack Dalrymple, middle, at Cheney Middle School on Wednesday in West Fargo. Carrie Snyder / The Forum

Andrea Noonan, English Teacher Education, 2004, was named the 2013 North Dakota Teacher of the Year.

By: Helmut Schmidt, INFORUM

WEST FARGO – Andrea Noonan, an eighth-grade language arts teacher from Cheney Middle School, is North Dakota’s 2013 Teacher of the Year.

Noonan was honored Wednesday at the middle school in a ceremony presided over by Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

“This is just a huge honor. … It’s very overwhelming. It’s a humbling experience,” Noonan said.

Noonan’s voice cracked with emotion as she addressed the dignitaries, state education leaders, fellow teachers and Cheney eighth-graders, and she battled to hold back tears.

“I am very proud to say I am from West Fargo, North Dakota,” Noonan said. “Thank you very much for this honor.”

Noonan is now the state’s representative in the national Teacher of the Year competition, Superintendent of Public Instruction Wayne Sanstead said.

“I know full well we have one of the strongest candidates North Dakota has ever put forward,” Sanstead said.

“Andrea exemplifies North Dakota’s outstanding teachers who are dedicated to education excellence and to helping our young people achieve their full potential,” Dalrymple said.

The other three finalists for the award were:

• Scott Johnson, a chemistry and anatomy teacher at Bismarck Century High School.

• Phyllis Kadrmas, an English teacher at Devils Lake High School.

• Linda Hope, a science teacher at Langdon High School.

The 31-year-old Noonan has taught eight years, all of them in West Fargo schools, she said.

She is a leader in and out of the classroom, West Fargo Superintendent David Flowers said

“She’s a kind of amazingly accomplished educator at a young age,” he said.

Cheney Principal Don Lennon is proud to have Noonan on his staff.

“Andrea is one of those teachers that get her students engaged,” and is a leader among her peers, Lennon said.

Noonan is a member of the National Council for Teachers of English and was chosen to present the West Fargo School District’s Common Core State Standards curriculum work at its national convention this November.

She’s also seeking national board certification, an advanced teaching credential, Flowers said.

West Fargo Assistant Superintendent Louise Dardis called Noonan “a dynamo.”

“She’s innovative. She is a continuous learner. She’s a thirsty learner. And she’s always pursuing what she can do to make education better for her kids,” Dardis said. “Andi’s top-notch.’ ”

Dakota Draper, president of the North Dakota Education Association, said Noonan’s youth signals a changing of the guard in teaching ranks.

“”It shows the profession is bringing in a new generation,” Draper said. “It’s really exciting.”

Noonan’s grandfather, Jim Noonan, was a superintendent for Moorhead and East Grand Forks, Minn., schools.

He died in February, just a couple of months before his granddaughter was named West Fargo’s Teacher of the Year.

“He’s smiling right now, I know it,” Noonan said.