August 2011

Prep Elite | Education

As a Minnesotan and a Plymouth entrepreneur, Kelly Lucente doesn’t need to be told how valuable a booth at the Minnesota State Fair is. So when she received a coveted invite this spring to display her Bye Bye Shop children’s products at booth No.

 

Tobi Tombers knows what a great summer day looks like. Just check out her first-place award-winning image, Summer at Parker’s Lake.

 

Does the mere thought of dining out with the kids put you on edge? Do you imagine dirty looks being cast your way as your toddler starts to shriek with hunger pangs or your infant tosses a trail of food scraps under the table?

 

Ming’s Garden was named one of the top 100 Chinese Restaurants in overall excellence last year; there’s a large gold medallion hanging on its wall as proof.

 

Right now in the Plymouth area there are three very different educational programs, each doing their part to teach where traditional public schools can’t.

 

If excelling in high school were a job for which students applied and interviewed, then Plymouth would have a very deep candidate pool to choose from. There are so many students whose work reads as a what’s-what of accolades. 4.0? Check. State champions? Check.

 

It’s possible Plymouth could become the first energy-independent suburb—if some engineering genius could figure out a way to harness the energy ricocheting around the room in Plymouth’s newest hotspot: the Sky Zone indoor trampoline park.

 

Webster’s defines “passion” as “a powerful emotion or appetite; boundless enthusiasm.” Passion is exactly what drives three Plymouth women who launched second careers.  While Linda Hermann, Linda Mertens and Patti Anderson entered the new chapters of their lives at different times and for differe

 

Beware the lure of the hosta.

The plants that are a mainstay of any shade garden are grown mainly for their foliage. To the uninitiated—or, perhaps, unenlightened—they’re those ordinary, leafy green plants: boring—drab, even—and certainly no match for showier, colorful blooms.

 

Even for a growing clothing designer setting up shop in the Windy City, there’s no place like home.

 

Celia Willow wants to run!  And chew wood!  And turn back to her human, little girl self! But not until her siblings help reverse the effects of Hamster Magic, the latest book by local author Lynne Jonell.

 

Head coach Brad Anderson is looking forward to having his dedicated football players return--and seeing what more they want to achieve--after a state championship win last season.

 

Bet you didn’t know that adopting a park could really mean becoming a wedding planner for a day.

 

Fearing the end of summer more than your kids are? You’re not alone. So we tracked down someone who knows the secret to a smooth transition into the school year, professional organizer Mary Hoff.

 

Gone are the days when model volcanoes are the big hits at science fairs. Evan Chen, a senior at Wayzata High School, made his mark last spring at the Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair with an in-depth look at muscular dystrophy.