When it comes to education in Edina, 2008 was a year of individual and school-wide successes.

Edina High School was one of 21 Minnesota high schools listed among the top 1,300 secondary facilities in the country, according to Newsweek magazine. EHS was ranked 91 overall.

In December U.S. News and World Report named EHS a Silver Medalist School due to its high performance on state assessment tests and its college readiness score. That ranking put Edina among the top 2 percent of high schools in the nation. Edina was one of 13 Minnesota high schools that received a silver medal ranking, and of those schools, Edina had the highest college readiness score.

A strong school is made up of strong students, and 2008 graduate Tom Diehl is one example of Edina's many outstanding students. Diehl was named the Region 6AA Triple A award winner. The award is given by the Minnesota State High School League and recognizes students who excel in academics, athletics and the arts.

It was the first time since 2000 that an Edina student was selected as the regional Triple A award recipient.

"We have some students who excel academically," Tom's guidance counselor Mike Holbach said. "Some who are excellent athletes, others have great musical talent and others are great leaders. Rarely do you see students who combine all four. Tom Diehl definitely does that."

Here are some other stories that stood out in 2008:

- Edina High School's production of "West Side Story" was recognized with six awards and three honorable mentions from the SpotLight Musical Theatre Program.

- In February Paul Beverage announced that he was stepping down as principal of Cornelia Elementary School to return to teaching. The school board hired Chris Holden to replace Paul Beverage as principal.

Assistant Superintendent Chace Anderson left the district to become superintendent of the Wayzata School District. Instead of replacing Anderson, the district divided his responsibilities among department directors and hired an administrative services assistant and a human resources assistant.

- Valley View Middle School students got a visit from a member of the original group of African-Americans who trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. Kenneth Wofford spoke to students as part of the school's commemoration of Black History Month. The airfield was established in 1941 as a training ground for a segregated Army Air Corps.

- The EHS competitive cheerleading team placed 10th in the Super Large division of the National High School Cheerleading Championship in February in Orlando, Fla. The team competed against the top 40 teams from around the nation.

- For 2008 graduate Sophia Kim the number 36 has special significance. Kim scored a 36 on the ACT exam, the highest score possible. She was one of 63 students in the nation - out of about 500,000 who took the test - to achieve the top score.

- Students of Highlands Elementary teacher Michael Seaman were pleased when the Edina Education Fund awarded a $1,148 grant to the class to purchase a weather station. The station monitors wind speed and wind patterns at the school, and will be used to determine if there is enough energy available to warrant construction of a wind turbine at the school.

"The idea is to come to the School Board with data on the benefits of wind power at Highlands," Seaman said.

- Seven Edina High School alumni and three former staff members were inducted into the Edina Education Fund's Alumni Hall of Fame. Inductees included a former CIA agent, a doctor of cardiology at Washington Adventist Hospital in Maryland, and the chairman of Yahoo! Inc.

At the ceremony Jim Joslin (Class of '53) and several other graduates from the 1950s pledged $100,000 to EHS to integrate a behavioral finance economic curriculum in ninth through 12th grades. Other donors then stepped up and brought the total donation to $200,000

- Calvin Christian School opened an expansion at its Edina campus in the fall, providing the school with a new media center, a new main entrance and improved traffic flow. It also connected the campus' east and west buildings.

"For years we've seen a need for a larger library media center," Calvin Christian School Superintendent Steve Groen said. "It's also meant to tie the two buildings together architecturally or aesthetically."

- In August the state announced that Edina High School did not make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. Neither did Valley View or South View middle schools. However, all Edina's six elementary schools did make AYP.

In response, the district set improvement goals for each of the district's schools and added additional math classes at the high school to help students who are struggling with the subject.

- Edina students visited the polls Tuesday, Nov. 4, as part of the first-ever Kids Voting Edina program. Assistant City Manager Heather Worthington said about 3,300 students from public schools participated in Kids Voting Edina. That's means about half of Edina students cast a ballot.

"I think it was a really good showing

for the first time," Worthington said.

- The school district implemented an alternative compensation program in the fall, commonly known as QComp. Under the program teachers can earn additional money by meeting student learning goals, site achievement goals and professional growth plan goals.

Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.

- For 2008 graduate Sophia Kim the number 36 has special significance. Kim scored a 36 on the ACT exam, the highest score possible. She was one of 63 students in the nation - out of about 500,000 who took the test - to achieve the top score.

- Students of Highlands Elementary teacher Michael Seaman were pleased when the Edina Education Fund awarded a $1,148 grant to the class to purchase a weather station. The station monitors wind speed and wind patterns at the school, and will be used to determine if there is enough energy available to warrant construction of a wind turbine at the school.

"The idea is to come to the School Board with data on the benefits of wind power at Highlands," Seaman said.

- Seven Edina High School alumni and three former staff members were inducted into the Edina Education Fund's Alumni Hall of Fame. Inductees included a former CIA agent, a doctor of cardiology at Washington Adventist Hospital in Maryland, and the chairman of Yahoo! Inc.

At the ceremony Jim Joslin (Class of '53) and several other graduates from the 1950s pledged $100,000 to EHS to integrate a behavioral finance economic curriculum in ninth through 12th grades. Other donors then stepped up and brought the total donation to $200,000

- Calvin Christian School opened an expansion at its Edina campus in the fall, providing the school with a new media center, a new main entrance and improved traffic flow. It also connected the campus' east and west buildings.

"For years we've seen a need for a larger library media center," Calvin Christian School Superintendent Steve Groen said. "It's also meant to tie the two buildings together architecturally or aesthetically."

- In August the state announced that Edina High School did not make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. Neither did Valley View or South View middle schools. However, all Edina's six elementary schools did make AYP.

In response, the district set improvement goals for each of the district's schools and added additional math classes at the high school to help students who are struggling with the subject.

- Edina students visited the polls Tuesday, Nov. 4, as part of the first-ever Kids Voting Edina program. Assistant City Manager Heather Worthington said about 3,300 students from public schools participated in Kids Voting Edina. That's means about half of Edina students cast a ballot.

"I think it was a really good showing

for the first time," Worthington said.

- The school district implemented an alternative compensation program in the fall, commonly known as QComp. Under the program teachers can earn additional money by meeting student learning goals, site achievement goals and professional growth plan goals.

Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.