Tartan Junior Olympics Volleyball Team Seeks Support for Florida Trip

The girls are set to take on some of the nation’s best teams next month.

A group of young Oakdale volleyball players are looking to raise funds for a trip to a national AAU tournament in Orlando, Fla., next month. The group of seventh- and eighth-graders all plan to attend Tartan High School in Oakdale, said Jennifer Bihner, the mother of one of the players. They’re hoping to raise $3,000 total for the trip; already about $1,200 has been collected. Expenses include travel, lodging, tournament fees and team gear. The girls plan to leave June 18 for the June 19-22 tournament, at which they will test their bumping, setting and spiking skills against some of the top teams in the country. “It will be a really good experience for them because we’re playing teams from all over the country,” Bihner said. Practices have…

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Link: Fundraiser for Oakdale Family Planned

An Oakdale Patch story.

Post Your Oakdale Prom Pics on Patch

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Transfiguration Students’ Posters Win Spots in National Online-Safety Calendar

The girls—Madeline Sevigny and Amy Vievering—were recognized during an assembly Friday at the Oakdale school.

Posters created by two Transfiguration Catholic School students will be featured in 2014 calendars about online safety. Madeline Sevigny, 11, and Amy Vievering, 14, are among 12 students from across the country whose artwork was chosen as part of the National Cyber Security Alliance competition. The initiative, promoted through state officials with the Department of Homeland Security, aims to “get kids thinking about cyber safety,” said Christopher Buse, chief information security officer for the state of Minnesota. “It’s pretty cool,” he said of having two Minnesota students win the nationwide contest. “This school does a really phenomenal job. Miss Terri Preiner—I’m so impressed by her.” The Oakdale school recognized the students during …

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Kris Janisch

5:13 pm on Monday, May 6, 2013

Katherine Schindler, 5th grade, was also a state winner.   more ›

Parents Talk

Hey Mom and Dad: What Is Your Prom Budget?

A new Visa survey says families are spending over $1,000 for their child to go to prom. What price works for you, and how do you agree on a limit with your teen?

It has gotten more expensive to do most things in life, so we shouldn't be surprised that it has gotten more pricey to go to a high school prom. On average, parents and teens will spend $1,139 on prom this year. This is only a slight increase over last year but a 40 percent increase from the $807 average of 2011, according to a new Visa survey. The list of "needed" items can be endless: dress, tux, shoes (one pair formal and one for the dance?), corsages, limo, dinner, actual prom tickets and after-prom activities. "Prom is the new wedding," said Kit Yarrow, a consumer research psychologist, in a CNN Money article. "I think that every society has to have a rite of passage into adulthood for young people, and prom has become that."   Have …

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Mike B.

6:39 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2013

Scott, there is no such thing as "liberal ideals." Liberals are pro-abortion, pro-taxing people to death, pro-homosexual marriage, pro-kicking God out of the classroom.... these are not "ideals." These are evil beliefs.   more ›

Oakdale Family Displaced by Fire is ‘Starting Over,’ Skyview Looks to Help

A benefit for the Vang family, whose townhome collapsed during a fire last month, is set for May 14 at the Oakdale school.

The Oakdale family whose townhome was destroyed by fire last month “pretty much lost everything,” according to Deanna Wuotila, a fifth-grade teacher at Skyview Elementary. The school is hoping to change that. A May 14 benefit is planned at Skyview to assist the Vang family, one of several displaced by the April 9 fire on Hillvale Avenue North. The Vangs are currently living with other family members, said Wuotila, who actually has three children from the seven-unit townhome complex in her classroom. “I feel really passionate about helping these families out,” she said. While all the families were affected by the blaze, the Vangs are “starting over,” Wuotila said, adding that Hope Church in Oakdale is also working to assist the families. …

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Eagles as Neighbors, Chuck E. Cheese, New School Administrators: East Metro Rewind

A quick look at the top headlines from last week around the Twin Cities east metro area and Hudson.

Below is a collection of stories from east metro Patch sites: Oakdale, Woodbury, Stillwater and Hudson. In Woodbury, Down Goes the Dome The city held a dome-deflation ceremony Monday afternoon, marking a major step toward a $21.8 million expansion project. Chuck E. Cheese Plans to Come to Woodbury It’s part of the next wave of development at the Commerce Hill site, near the Woodbury SuperTarget. Starbucks Plans, Dickey’s Fire, Library vs. Jail Bookings: Editor’s Notebook Here are a few items that came across editor Kris Janisch’s desk lately.  MnDOT Announces Lane Closures for I-94 The work is set to begin May 1. New Principal on Deck for Skyview Elementary in Oakdale Current Principal Carol Erickson is retiring. New Oakdale Preschool …

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