GU debaters 10th in nation
The team at Gonzaga University is ranked 10th in the country in the National Debate Tournament varsity rankings.
Seniors Nick Bormann and Grace Saez competed at the Northwest Championship Tournament March 1-3 in Walla Walla. They defeated the top team at Whitman College and will advance to the National Debate Tournament at California State University at Fullerton, Calif.
All Saints technology grant
All Saints Catholic School recently received a grant of $160,000 from an anonymous donor.
The school will use the funds to buy new classroom computers, new servers, a wireless mobile lab and laptops for each teacher.
The grant, the largest the school has received, will also pay for a projection device, a document camera, more computers for the computer lab and three days of classes for the teachers to learn to enhance their curriculum through technology.
Lidgerwood teacher receives grant
Tamie King, a teacher at Lidgerwood Elementary School, has received a $10,000 Qwest Foundation Teachers and Technology grant.
King will use the funds to purchase music composition software to teach her first-, second- and third-grade students how to make their own music.
There were 19 winners of this grant announced at the Northwest Council for Computer Education Conference in Seattle. There were nine winning entries, many by teams of two or more teachers.
Drill team success
Mead High School’s dance and drill team has repeated its nationally ranked success of last year, scoring two first places, a second place and a fourth place in national competition at Anaheim, Calif., last weekend.
The 23-member Panther girls team spent four days at the United Spirit Association national championships in dance and drill competition.
The team took top prizes in the dance/drill and large military competitions; second in open dance; and fourth in open kick competition. Mead had similar successes last year at the same competition.
More than 100 teams from Western states competed this year. Mead’s performance was good enough to earn a national ranking, although that ranking has not been published yet, said team coach Tonya Axworthy. “You are competing against so many different schools from so many different states,” she said.
The team goes to a state competition at the Sun Dome in Yakima on March 21.