Schools
Odyssey continues for junior high team
A team of Southwest Junior High School students and their robotic Lego contraptions are headed toward the world finals in this year's 2001 Odyssey of the Mind contest.
The students, under Amy Weishaar, instructor in the gifted student program, took a second-place finish out of five teams in Saturday's state competition in Manhattan. A team from Neosho Rapids took first place, Weishaar said.
Normally, only the first-place team goes to the finals, but the rules state that a team finishing second with a difference of five or fewer points also advances, Weishaar said. The Lawrence students were only 1.5 points behind the winning team, she said.
The students competed with a robotic king cobra snake and cat made of Legos. They also had to solve a "spontaneous problem" by building something from a bag of items they were given.
"Everybody was thrilled," Weishaar said. "They did very, very well."
The world finals will be held June 2-5 at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Team members are Daniel Zehr, James Dean, Aaron Ideus, Kyle Mendenhall, Andrew Killen, Trent Allen and David Turvey.
City commission
Spring break cancels meeting this week
The Lawrence City Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled for Kansas University's spring break.
The commission next will meet at 6:35 p.m. March 27 at city hall, Sixth and Massachusetts.
Schools
Project Graduation seeks donations
Parents of Lawrence High School and Free State High School seniors are working on plans for Project Graduation 2001 and are seeking donations from parents and businesses.
Anyone interested in donating to Project Graduation should contact Barb Willoughby at 842-6975.
The alcohol- and drug-free overnight party will be at The Granada, 1020 Mass., following graduation on Sunday, May 27. The theme is "2001: The Odyssey's Begun."
Kansas University
Faculty member named Carnegie scholar
A Kansas University faculty member has been named a member of the fourth class of Carnegie Scholars by the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Tracy Russo, assistant professor of communication studies, was one of 30 faculty members in the nation to be named to the class.
According to CASTL, scholars serve a one-year term during which they investigate and document work on issues in the teaching and learning of their field. They also spend two 10-day summer sessions together at the Carnegie Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif., and work with scholars from previous classes.
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