31 May, 2011
Contest Contest Winners
Winning sculptures in the Western Spirit Art contest have been chosen and will be displayed at various locations until June 16 and then used for promotion for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, organizers announced.
The contestants from area high schools were given seven-foot plywood depictions of a saddle horse rider and asked to create their vision of “What does Western heritage in the Front Range mean to me?”
First place was awarded to Sand Creek High School visual arts department,Kelly Moon, art teacher. Second place went to Miami Yoder High School art department. Glenda Williams, director; and third place, St. Mary’s High School National Art Honor Society, Karen Kimkiss, art teacher.
A Western Spirit Committee press release noted that Moon said that the project helped students with social skills. “In recent years I h
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29 May, 2011
Financial Need Need
Fifty-six students from throughout Sacramento and Yolo counties received grant-funded scholarships through programs designed to help young people with financial need prepare for and enter college.
At a special May 24th ceremony inside the Secretary of State Auditorium in downtown Sacramento, 56 high school seniors representing 21 Sacramento-area schools were awarded college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $4,500 for use toward community college or four-year college or university programs.
“The scholarships being awarded tonight place higher education within reach of deserving students,” Deputy County Superintendent of Schools Sue Stickel told attendees.
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28 May, 2011
Agreement
Los Angeles Unified School District has just announced an agreement with United Teachers Los Angeles. Details from the district’s press release are below. UTLA statement after the jump.
LAUSD AND UTLA REACH TENTATIVE JOBS AND SERVICES RESTORATION AGREEMENT Los Angeles – LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy announced today the District has reached a tentative contract agreement in partnership and collaboration with United Teachers Los Angeles for 2011-12 to save jobs. The agreement calls for the union’s membership to take four furlough days, or fewer, in 2011-12 if the State’s budget picture improves.
“I want to thank UTLA for working with us to provide a solution for next year that brings stability – and the majority of our employees – back to the classroom,” said Deasy. Read full post…
27 May, 2011
Homework Homework Divide
Yesterday we received two candid – and disturbing – answers to the question: How much homework is too much?
From a middle school student: “I am a sixth grader and I absolutely hate homework. Every day I stay up [till midnight or later] doing homework. … It is very common for me to have headache and stress…”
From a high school student: “I spend between 4-6 hours on homework at night… During [lacrosse] season I get home at 7 then have another 5 hours of homework, so Im not even getting to sleep until beyond midnight. Then I wake up at 6:15 the next morning. Throw family dinners out the window. No time to walk the dog, clean my room, or do practically anything besides sitting alone studying. Let alone
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27 May, 2011
School Officials Top
South Carolina Superintendent of Education Mick Zais may not want any part of the third round of Race to the Top, but local school officials sure do.
The Associated Press is reporting that if Zais doesn’t change his mind, the state associations representing school administrators and school boards want to apply for the money themselves.
I hate to break it to them, but I can’t fathom how this would be allowed. The money is to go to states, per the federal law, not to groups within states. Remember, ex-Superintendent Ramon Cortines tried this tactic, too, for L.A. Unified, and it didn’t work. Just in case, I’m waiting for an official answer on this from the U.S. Department of Education.
26 May, 2011
I thought about this as I continued my conversation with ToriAnn Perkey. She said, “My oldest daughter has always done things in the most unexpected ways. I use the word ‘delightful’ to help me remember that ‘different’ doesn’t have to mean ‘frustrating,’ ‘exhausting,’ ‘mind-boggling,’ ‘exasperating’ . . . well, you get the idea! For as long as I can remember, she has always wanted to do things her own way. Once, when she was two, we were on a walk and she was lagging behind. I called for her to come, and she intentionally turned around and walked towards me backwards–just so that she knew I was in charge. She never wanted to do crafts, or follow instructions, or play a game the ‘traditional’ way. She was always looking for her own way to do things.
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