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• Six Groton Area Middle School students will participate in the Northeastern South Dakota Chapter MathCounts Competition on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at the Crothers Engineering Building on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings.  The results will determine which teams and individuals advance to the state competition in Pierre in March. 
• Groton has had a successful Aberdeen Area MathCounts season with several team and individual placement awards. 
• Groton Area School District has received a 3M K-12 School Partnership grant in the amount of $500 in support of the school's MathCounts program.  3M Aberdeen sponsors MathCounts in the Aberdeen area by conducting several competitions each school year.  3M engineers administer the tests and provide the trophies and medals.  They also give a t-shirt to each participant and shirts to the area teams that go to the chapter competition.  Our school district is indeed grateful for the support of 3M Aberdeen and the 3M Foundation.
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• Junior English - Mrs. Hanten
• Junior English involves the study of American literature - from the beginning of the American tradition through the modern era.    Juniors are currently studying some of the great American authors of the American Romanticism period; some of these authors include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edgar Allan Poe.  In addition to their literature studies, they continue working to improve their vocabulary usage and writing skills throughout the school year.   Daily Oral Language is a part of each class period; students are practicing their proofreading skills which are so important on the ACT test.   They have been doing periodic analysis of current news articles; reading and analyzing informational text is very integral to the new common core standards, over which they will be tested this spring.  Juniors are also required to independently read Accelerated Reader novels throughout the school year as part of their class requirements.  After completing the novel they take a computerized test to check their comprehension of the literature.  The students are using the online version of Accelerated Reader at the high school, so the book lists can be accessed on the school web page (www.grotonarea.com) by using the academics tab and choosing AR book finder.
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• Senior English - Mrs. Hanten
• "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  I remember back to my own kindergarten graduation ceremony, when we talked about our future career goal - many of my current seniors may have similar memories.  It seems quite appropriate

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