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To more students participating in activities and sports with the Albert Lea school district.

Albert Lea Area Schools’ activities director Dave Langerud on Tuesday told the school board that student participation is increasing in extracurricular activities and sports in the district.

Whether it’s a sport like football or one of the 53 other activities that Langerud oversees, there are lots of opportunities for the youth at the high school, and more opportunities are coming forward at the middle school.

As Superintendent Ron Wagner pointed out at the meeting, there is a correlation between higher participation in activities and overall attendance.

For this reason and many others, we applaud those who are making efforts to increase participation, as well as the students who are stepping up and joining activities. We think most students would be pleasantly surprised how much fun they have by being involved with activities, not to mention the friendships they make and the lessons they learn.

We hope the rise in student activities participation continues to increase in the coming years.

To fall-like temperatures moving in.

Temperatures are dipping in the overnight hours, and all week there has been a feeling of fall in the air.

Soon enough the leaves on the trees will be changing colors, pumpkins will be out and then it will be official.

Until that’s the case, we hope you take advantage of the nice daytime weather and get a head start on outdoor projects while you can.

This weekend is scheduled to be a beauty with sunny skies and upper 60s on Saturday and mid-70s on Sunday. Temperatures rise back into the 80s Monday and Tuesday.