A slew of Republican bills, including those that allowed discrimination against transgender people and gave public school teachers a green light to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, were vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday. Hobbs, who has made it clear that she’ll use her veto power on any bills that don’t have bipartisan support — and especially ones that discriminate against tLGBTQ+ people — vetoed 13 bills, bringing her count for this year to 42…
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Thursday morning at Tohopekaliga High School in Osceola County, signing two bills he said would help enhance the student experience.
“It (the legislation) provides students with even more resources to be able to help them through difficult times, make the most of their own lives, realize all their opportunities and dreams,” DeSantis said.
The bills, HB 1317 and HB 931, will authorize Florida school districts and charter schools to host representatives of “patriotic organizations” to speak to students and to allow volunteer, faith-based school chaplains, respectively. Both will take effect July 1.
“When education in the United States first started, every school was a religious school. I mean, that was just part of it. Public schools were religious schools,” DeSantis said of HB 931. “You know, there’s been things that have been done over the years that veered away from, I think, that original intent, but the reality is, I think what we’re doing is really restoring the sense of purpose that our founding fathers wanted to see for education.”
ClickOrlando.com is currently updating this story to reflect the latest information.
DeSantis on Wednesday signed a bill in Hialeah Gardens, which will add “history of communism” instruction in public schools starting in the 2026-27 school year.
Caden O’Kellylee, 12, remembers what it was like sitting in his elementary classroom when temperatures hit 90 degrees for hours a day.
“It’s pretty exhausting,” he said, thinking back to his time at Teller Elementary, one of more than 30 schools in Denver Public Schools without air conditioning. “Sometimes it’s hard to think.”
There was a portable AC unit in the window, “but they were very loud and weren’t very fun to listen to.It was just uncomfortable.”
Denver Public Schools has gradually added traditional AC units to most of the schools. This November, voters may decide on air conditioning for the remaining 30 schools.
When O’Kellylee learned about an efficient way to both heat and cool in the same unit, something called a heat pump, he wondered: “Why don’t we have these?”
O’Kellylee is a member of Earth Rangers, the middle school extension of DPS Students for Climate Action, which is comprised mostly of high school students. They are lobbying for climate-conscious heat pumps to be installed in schools that don’t yet have air conditioning. They hope to get this option on the city’s November ballot.
Earth Rangers Oscar Park, Caden O’Kellylee, Calloway Jackson, Halle Jackson (left to right), and DPS Students for Climate Action members Amelia Fernandez and Farah Djama pose for a picture after speaking at the DPS Community Planning and Advisory Committee in support of heat pumps in school buildings on April 9, 2024.
Get the gas out
“It’s more efficient and it uses electricity instead of fossil fuels,” said Earth Ranger and sixth-grader Halle Jackson.
The kids did their research. Earth Rangers knew that focusing on heating and cooling in their schools would have the biggest bang for the buck. Energizing buildings accounts for 84 percent of DPS’s carbon emissions. Forty-one percent comes from heating through natural gas, said Jackson.
They toured DPS’s Evie Dennis multi-school campus in the city’s northeast. It has solar panels and is heated and cooled using geothermal high-efficiency heat pumps. They take the place of natural gas boilers and traditional air conditioners.
Aerial photo of solar panels on the roof of GALS Denver school. Students would like Denver Public Schools to make use of Inflation Reduction Act incentives for more solar panel projects like this one.
Water is pumped into the ground through a set of large pipes and they split into a series of smaller horizontal pipes, kind of like radiant heating in a home. The pipes then either transfer heat to the ground or absorb heat from the ground.
“The pipes switch back and forth and allow heat exchange,” said Adam West, a DPS energy engineer. “So, you’re either pushing heat into the ground or allowing heat to be exchanged in the ground when you’re in cooling mode — or when you’re in heating mode, you’re absorbing heat from the ground and putting it into the buildings.”
Most schools use natural gas heating and traditional AC units. A heat pump is two in one.
Control box for one set of heat pumps at the Evie Dennis campus of DPS schools on April 9, 2024.
“When the district adds AC, it gives us an opportunity to electrify heating,” West said. “Using electricity to heat our schools allows us to power heating with renewable electricity or carbon-free electricity from the grid.”
The cost of installing heat pumps can vary compared to AC units depending on the school system, said West. The district currently has about 20 buildings with some use of heat pumps.
Students are asking that when an HVAC system is updated or if new AC systems are installed, the district uses climate-conscious heat pumps. They say that’s consistent with the DPS Climate Policy and the DPS Climate Action Plan, which came about through student advocacy. The plan has a goal to reduce the district’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2050 from 2010 levels. One of the key strategies to doing that is eliminating the use of natural gas in DPS buildings.
If you ask any child or youth about climate change, anxiety often comes pouring out. Many of the students in Earth Rangers or DPS Students for Climate Action remember exactly when they realized the depth of the crisis.
At the beginning of the pandemic, O’Kellylee discovered a book in the library on climate change.
“I just couldn’t stop,” he said. “I checked out more and more and more and then I realized the problem that we were creating for ourselves to deal with.”
Listen to the radio version of this story
Amelia Fernandez, 16, said she learned about the climate crisis at age 13.
“I knew I had to do something. I started very small.”
She said climate anxiety among youth is very prevalent.
“We are inheriting a crisis that is threatening our very existence, it’s threatening the existence of all the creatures that we could coexist with.”
DPS Students for Climate Action members Farah Djama and Amelia Fernandez (left to right) advocated for DPS’ climate policy and the DPS Climate Action Plan on April 9, 2024.
Farah Djama, 17, recalls that when she was 15, she had a lot of climate anxiety. A friend advised her to attend an online conference with The Climate Reality Project. Djama eventually joined DPS Students for Climate Action and advocated for the district’s climate plan, one of the strongest in the nation. She said that the plan can inspire students around the country.
“Thinking back to when I wasn’t involved how much anxiety I felt and how powerless I felt. Now I feel a lot more empowered.”
Her school Thomas Jefferson High hasn’t finished installing traditional AC. She remembers sweating and being distracted at the beginning of the school year. She said in the winter, the heating system didn’t work when her friends on the robotics team met on weekends.
“They had to wear parka coats with gloves … that are flammable. And for anyone who works with power tools or electricity, that’s a hazard. Someone could get hurt.”
The students have their sights on heat pumps in all DPS schools. They are starting with a first goal of getting heat pumps for the 30 DPS schools that still need air conditioning.
Will heat pumps for schools go before voters?
One recent Tuesday, students showed up to where any child wants to go on a Tuesday night – a DPS Community Planning and Advisory Committee meeting!
The 72-person committee will decide what goes on a potential bond ballot measure this November.
“Electric buildings are the future and we want Denver to lead the way in making that future a reality for school children everywhere,” sixth-grader Oscar Park told the committee.
Sixth graders Oscar Park (left) and Caden O’Kellylee (right) speak in support of installing heat pumps in 30 school buildings without air conditioning at a DPS CPAC meeting that decides what will go into a proposed bond measure. April 9, 2024.
Amelia Fernandez, 16, encourages the district and bond committee to investigate federal Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for solar and geothermal power on April 9, 2024. She is a member of DPS Students for Climate Action.
A cost analysis found that for 13 of the 30 schools, heat pumps would be cheaper than traditional AC. For eight more schools, it’s still cost-effective but would require the district to tap into another fund for an extra $7 million.
The district has proposed spending $247 million to add AC to 21 of the 30 schools. For the remaining nine, the analysis found it would take another $43 million for construction costs.
Fernandez wants heat pumps in all 30 schools. During the CPAC meeting, she asked the district to consider tapping federal tax credits for solar and geothermal through the Inflation Reduction Act, which could help with upfront costs. If the district waits, “it’s just going to make the climate problem worse.”
But the bond is a flat amount, and DPS has a lot of capital needs districtwide. It’s up to the committee to decide next month how to allocate the money.
“I fully understand where students are coming from with saying, ‘let’s do all 30 schools,’” said the district’s energy engineer West. “Ultimately, funding schools for climate action can’t just be done locally, especially in Colorado.”
He said it would take municipal, state, and federal support. He estimates that changing out160 plus main school buildings with electrified heating will be a multi-decade effort.
Adam West, an energy engineer with Denver Public Schools, stands in the main heat pump room at the Evie Dennis campus in northeast Denver on April 9, 2024. A heat pump either absorbs heat from the or pushes heat into the ground to warm and cool a building. It is much more efficient than a traditional AC system and natural gas boilers and dramatically reduces carbon emissions.
The kids want to see quicker progress
They’re driven to give something back to the Earth instead of destroying it because it gives us so much, said Earth Ranger Park.
“It gives us somewhere to live, it gives us food, it gives us us,” he said. “Without it, we wouldn’t exist.”
Right now, they’re focused on getting more youth involved in the bond measure, one cog in the biggest issue of their lifetimes. They’re hoping to grow Earth Rangers (they have fun cheers like the “colossal squids,” one where they yell “chomp chomp!”) to tackle more issues like getting climate and renewable energy issues into the curriculum.
Along with the DPS Students for Climate Action, they are helping host a Climate Summit on Friday, April 19, at East High School from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All students and community members are invited. It will focus on how students can contribute to climate actions and build leadership and advocacy skills. The keynote speaker is Madhvi Chittoor, 13, the youngest UN child advisor and founder of Madhvi4EcoEthics and the EcoEthics Global Movement.
“If you are a youth right now experiencing eco-anxiety, worrying about the present and the future, you have to know that the only antidote is action,” said Fernandez. “There’s no point in wallowing in your own despair.”
The Northeast Early College 309-kilowatt solar array is a parking lot canopy that also serves as a power station to help reduce utility costs for local families. Students are advocating for more projects like this one to reduce the district’s carbon emissions.
The CoSN Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity recognizes a district that is working to address digital equity, narrow the Homework Gap and ensure that all students have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
“PWCS’ commitment to bridging the digital divide is unwavering, and receiving the Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity recognizes the collaborative efforts of our division and schools,” said Matt Guilfoyle, Chief Information Officer, PWCS. “We believe that equitable access to technology is essential, and it is our responsibility to empower our students to be digital citizens who use information technology to better themselves and the world around them.”
PWCS uses and supports technology in innovative ways. Most importantly, each school has an instructional technology coach who offers professional development and assistance to teachers, supporting a culture of innovation. The rich data culture has positively affected attendance, student support and graduation rates.
Kevin is a forward-thinking media executive with more than 25 years of experience building brands and audiences online, in print, and face to face. He is an acclaimed writer, editor, and commentator covering the intersection of society and technology, especially education technology. You can reach Kevin at KevinHogan@eschoolnews.com
More Details Regarding The Findings Related To Lunchables
According to a report published by the consumer advocacy group on Tuesday, April 9, tests ran on “12 store-bought versions of Lunchables and similar kits” revealed that they contain “relatively high levels of lead, cadmium, and sodium.”
Additionally, the group discovered that Lunchable kits served in schools contain “even higher levels of sodium” than those sold in grocery stores.
Consumer Reports that out of the 12 kits tested, only one didn’t test positive for phthalates. Furthermore, the organization notes that phthalates are the “chemicals found in plastic.” Phthalates have reportedly been “linked to reproductive problems, diabetes, and certain cancers.”
According to the report, the kit that didn’t test positive for phthalates was the Lunchables Extra Cheesy Pizza.
Here’s Why The Meal Kit Should Reportedly Be Removed From School Menus
Brian Ronholm, the director of food policy at Consumer Reports, shared a statement about why Lunchables should be removed from school menus.
“Lunchables are not a healthy option for kids and shouldn’t be allowed on the menu as part of the National School Lunch Program,” Ronholm asserted. “The Lunchables and similar lunch kits we tested contain concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals that can lead to serious health problems over time. The USDA should remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program and ensure that kids in schools have healthier options.”
The report explains that the USDA currently allows two Lunchable kits to be served in schools. The kits reportedly include the Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza.
Furthermore, Consumer Reports adds that the kits are served to almost 30 million kids “through the National School Lunch Program.” Additionally, the organization notes that sodium levels in the kits range from “460 to 740 milligrams per serving.
The level is reportedly “nearly a quarter to half of a child’s daily recommended limit for sodium.”
The report states, “The school version of the Turkey and Cheddar Lunchable contained 930 mg of sodium compared to 740 mg in the store-bought version. Similarly, the Lunchable pizza kit for schools had 700 mg of sodium compared to 510 mg in the store version.”
Lastly, the report notes that eating foods with high sodium “can lead to high blood pressure and lead to hypertension.” Children who intake higher levels of sodium “are about 40 percent more likely to develop hypertension.”
Furthermore, Consumer Reports notes that hypertension is a “risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.”
Consumer Reports Take Action As Lunchables & The USDA Shares Statement
Ultimately, the organization has launched a petition encouraging the USDA to take action and remove meal kits from school menus. To date, the campaign has received over 15,000 signatures.
Furthermore, the group is striving to garner over 25,000 signatures.
According to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Lunchables has issued a statement defending the nutritional quality of the meal kits.
“All our foods meet strict safety standards that we happily feed to our own families. We are proud of Lunchables and stand by the quality and integrity that goes into making them,” the statement reads. “According to current science, processed foods arbitrarily classified as ‘ultra-processed’ are not necessarily less nutritious. In fact, many processed foods contain added nutrients, providing even more benefits to the consumer. The classification of foods should be based on scientific evidence that includes an assessment of the nutritional value of the whole product, not restricted to one element such as a single ingredient or the level of processing.”
Additionally, the USDA shared a statement with the outlet.
“USDA takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure school meals are of the highest nutritional quality,” the statement reads. “…Importantly, USDA doesn’t allow or disallow individual food items. Our requirements address the overall content of meals – some of them on a daily basis and others on a weekly basis. So, the Lunchables described in the article would need to be paired with fruit, vegetables, and milk. In addition, a school who wanted to serve a higher sodium product one day has to balance that with lower sodium items on others. Many schools are taking steps to use more scratch-cooked and local foods, and USDA has supported these efforts through expanded grants for equipment, training, and local food procurement.”
Students have submitted more than 22 million papers that may have used generative AI in the past year, new data released by plagiarism detection company Turnitin shows.
A year ago, Turnitin rolled out an AI writing detection tool that was trained on its trove of papers written by students as well as other AI-generated texts. Since then, more than 200 million papers have been reviewed by the detector, predominantly written by high school and college students. Turnitin found that 11 percent may contain AI-written language in 20 percent of its content, with 3 percent of the total papers reviewed getting flagged for having 80 percent or more AI writing. (Turnitin is owned by Advance, which also owns Condé Nast, publisher of WIRED.) Turnitin says its detector has a false positive rate of less than 1 percent when analyzing full documents.
ChatGPT’s launch was met with knee-jerk fears that the English class essay would die. The chatbot can synthesize information and distill it near-instantly—but that doesn’t mean it always gets it right. Generative AI has been known to hallucinate, creating its own facts and citing academic references that don’t actually exist. Generative AI chatbots have also been caught spitting out biased text on gender and race. Despite those flaws, students have used chatbots for research, organizing ideas, and as a ghostwriter. Traces of chatbots have even been found in peer-reviewed, published academic writing.
Teachers understandably want to hold students accountable for using generative AI without permission or disclosure. But that requires a reliable way to prove AI was used in a given assignment. Instructors have tried at times to find their own solutions to detecting AI in writing, using messy, untested methods to enforce rules, and distressing students. Further complicating the issue, some teachers are even using generative AI in their grading processes.
Detecting the use of gen AI is tricky. It’s not as easy as flagging plagiarism, because generated text is still original text. Plus, there’s nuance to how students use gen AI; some may ask chatbots to write their papers for them in large chunks or in full, while others may use the tools as an aid or a brainstorm partner.
Students also aren’t tempted by only ChatGPT and similar large language models. So-called word spinners are another type of AI software that rewrites text, and may make it less obvious to a teacher that work was plagiarized or generated by AI. Turnitin’s AI detector has also been updated to detect word spinners, says Annie Chechitelli, the company’s chief product officer. It can also flag work that was rewritten by services like spell checker Grammarly, which now has its own generative AI tool. As familiar software increasingly adds generative AI components, what students can and can’t use becomes more muddled.
Detection tools themselves have a risk of bias. English language learners may be more likely to set them off; a 2023 study found a 61.3 percent false positive rate when evaluating Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exams with seven different AI detectors. The study did not examine Turnitin’s version. The company says it has trained its detector on writing from English language learners as well as native English speakers. A study published in October found that Turnitin was among the most accurate of 16 AI language detectors in a test that had the tool examine undergraduate papers and AI-generated papers.
PORTLAND, Ore. – (AP) – A young girl and her guardian have sued an Oregon nonprofit organization, Portland Public Schools and Multnomah County for $9 million, alleging they were negligent when male classmates sexually abused her at school and raped her during an after-school program when she was a nine-year-old third grader.
The child, who is now 11, attended a Portland elementary school and an after-school program operated by Multnomah County on her school campus in partnership with Latino Network and Portland Public Schools.
The lawsuit says the girl was subjected to multiple episodes of nonconsensual sexual touching during school hours. In March 2022, she hit a male classmate in the face to protect herself when he touched his mouth to hers, but the lawsuit said the school suspended both her and her attacker for the incident.
The next month, two other male students trapped her in a bathroom stall during recess at their after-school program and raped her, the lawsuit said. The school learned about the assault when the parent of one of the male perpetrators heard about it from their child and reported it.
The lawsuit alleges the school and after-school program failed to immediately notify law enforcement and undertook an internal investigation. It says school district personnel interviewed the girl without notifying law enforcement or her parents of the sexual assault or about their interview.
The school suspended the two males for one day and said they would stay in school with a safety plan. But the girl’s father didn’t believe this would keep his daughter safe and so enrolled her and her younger brother in another Portland public school. Both the girl and her brother missed almost one month of schooling as a result.
The lawsuit said Portland Public Schools should have known that the plaintiff was vulnerable and at risk of continued sexual assault by male students. It alleges the school district was negligent in failing to adequately train and teach students about appropriate sexual boundaries and how to report abuse.
The lawsuit alleges the school system made the plaintiff feel that she would be reprimanded if she protected herself from unwanted sexual contact. It says the school system was negligent for failing to report the student’s vulnerabilities to after-school program staff and to train employees to monitor, recognize and report child sex abuse.
It alleges Latino Network and Multnomah County were negligent for failing to maintain awareness of students during the after-school program and adequately train after-school program employees to monitor, recognize and report child sexual grooming and abuse.
Portland Public Schools said in a statement that it learned of these new allegations when it received the lawsuit, and it is investigating. It said it is required to report any instance of possible child abuse and neglect to the Oregon Department of Human Services, and such reports are confidential.
“We take our responsibilities as mandatory reporters seriously and follow the law around reporting,” it said.
Multnomah County said it does not comment on pending litigation. Latino Network said the news of the lawsuit is “painful” to the organization, which is committed to trauma-informed practices.
“We take the allegations very seriously and are working with our legal representation to provide counsel to our organization,” it said.
The lawsuit was filed on March 20 in Circuit Court in Multnomah County.
A center that provides free food, clothing, mental health support, workforce training, and more to students and families at six public schools in Denver will close in less than three months.
The middle and high schools served by the resource center are known as “pathways schools” and work with students who have struggled at traditional schools or are at risk of not graduating. Three years ago, the resource center — called The Village — opened at Contemporary Learning Academy, one of the pathways schools.
The Village was launched with grant funding and is now paid for by federal pandemic relief known as ESSER earmarked for schools, DPS spokesperson Scott Pribble said. The Village cost $771,690 to run this school year, he said.
But with that money expiring, Denver Public Schools must commit the last of its pandemic relief dollars by Sept. 30. Pribble said The Village is slated to close June 30.
School districts are in a precarious state. Post-pandemic, institutions are still grappling with learning recovery, teacher shortages, and other societal struggles. Never have those in positions of management been so vital. Susan Enfield has been there. And in her opening keynote, she intends to help. She indulged eSchool News with some starting points. Susan delves into lessons learned with the rapid deployment of technology during COVID, the necessity of equitable access to devices and digital resources for students, and the importance of embracing discomfort to foster innovation. Have a listen:
Dr. Susan Enfield is the former superintendent for the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada. Prior to this, Dr. Enfield spent a decade serving as superintendent for Highline Public Schools outside Seattle, Washington. Under her leadership, Highline worked to deliver on its promise to know every student by name, strength and need so they graduate prepared for the future they choose.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been sued by an ex-employee who says that the controversial rapper made discriminatory remarks and compared himself to Adolf Hitler while running his Los Angeles-area private school, where he allegedly wanted children to be locked in cages and have shaved heads.
Trevor Phillips filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, accusing Ye of creating a hostile work environment and then retaliating when Phillips spoke up about unsafe work conditions and other issues at Donda Academy.
Representatives for Ye did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
According to suit, Phillips was first hired by the rapper to work on Yeezy, his apparel brand, around November 2022, at a time when multiple businesses were breaking ties with Ye for going on a series of antisemitic tirades in public.
Phillips was then brought on at Donda Academy. In the suit, he says that while working for the school, he heard Ye make various remarks targeting gay and Jewish people, such as: “Yeah I am going for the gays! FIRST the Jews, THEN the gays.”
He also says that he was ordered to do dangerous electrical work at the campus, and that he saw the rapper treating Black members of the school’s staff “considerably worse than white employees.”
Ye is shown in Los Angeles in November 2022. A former employee alleges that the rapper created a hostile work environment at his Donda Academy.
Phillips claims he also heard Ye telling two students that “he wanted them to shave their heads and that he intended to put a jail at the school — and that they could be locked in cages.”
When Phillips raised concerns about Ye’s conduct, the suit says the musician “responded mercilessly, with incessant harassment, humiliation, and attempts to both mentally control, and destroy, Phillips.”
The suit includes screenshots of a text message attributed to Ye, where he tells Phillips, “I am on some complete Hitler level stuff,” before adding, “Minus the gas chambers.”
Phillips’ suit says that Ye appeared to fire and rehire him at random, but that he was dismissed for the final time during a Sunday service at the school last May.
During the incident, he claims that Ye confronted him over a garden project and screamed, “I was going to punch you in the face,” in front of dozens of staff members and students.
Phillips is seeking more than $35,000 in damages, according to the complaint.
He is not the first to take legal action related to Ye and Donda Academy. Three former teachers and an ex-assistant principal have also sued, alleging discrimination and wrongful termination.
Their complaints have revealed other strange details about Donda Academy, which allegedly served only sushi at lunchtime and banned chairs from campus.
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A few months into office, Mayor Cherelle Parker has made her picks for the Philadelphia Board of Education.
The board member nominees were selected from 122 applicants, narrowed down to 27 by the Educational Nominating Panel, a group also selected by Parker. From here, City Council will hold public hearings and vote on each nominee. If these picks are approved, the new board will start a four-year term on May 1.
The board oversees the budget, guides curriculum and selects the district’s superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia. It can also open and close charter schools in the city.
The nominees are a mix of current board members, former educators and those of different career backgrounds that Parker felt were relevant to the board’s work. Parker’s nominees are:
•Crystal Cubbage, a former NASA engineer-turned teacher. Cubbage is also the founder of Teachable Moments International and executive director of the Philadelphia Learning Collaborative. •Cheryl Harper, a former teacher and Philly native who’s worked as the director of human resources for the Philadelphia and Camden school districts. •Whitney Jones, chief financial officer at the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, a nonprofit working in children’s mental and behavioral health. •Wanda Novales, executive pastor of City Reach Church and founding CEO and principal of the Pan American Charter School. •Joan Stern, a public finance attorney who focused on state and local funding. Stern formerly served as bond counsel for the district.
Additionally, Parker selected current board members Sarah-Ashley Andrews, Joyce Wilkerson and ChauWing Lam, as well as Board President Reginald Streater, to stay on the board. Three current members applied to stay on the board but were not selected.
“I said I wanted a school board with a diversity of skills, from different neighborhoods, sectors and communities, some with deep knowledge, some with new ideas, a group that truly reflects my vision of One Philly, a United City,” said Parker in a statement. “I’m confident we’ve assembled that board, and that they are fully committed to sound governance and the best interests of the 197,000 students in our school system, as well as families, faculty and staff.”
These selections follow the resignation of board Vice President Mallory Fix-Lopez, whose last day will be April 18. Fix-Lopez announced her resignation in March, citing time commitment issues and a medical procedure she has scheduled for mid-April.
Parker is scheduled to appear at a press conference Tuesday afternoon alongside her nominees.
CLEVELAND — Seventh-grade student Henry Cohen bounced side to side in time to the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” playing in teacher Nancy Morris’ classroom, swinging his arms open and closed across the planets pictured on his T-shirt.
Henry and other classmates at Cleveland’s Riverside School were on their feet, dancing during a session of activities tied to April’s total solar eclipse. Second-graders invited in for the lessons sat cross-legged on the floor, laughing as they modeled newly decorated eclipse viewing glasses. Dioramas with softball-sized model earths and moons and flashlight “suns” occupied desks and shelves around the room.
Henry said his shirt reflected his love of space, which he called “a cool mystery.” The eclipse, he said, “is a one in a million chance and I’m glad I get to be here for it.”
For schools in or near the path of totality of the April 8 eclipse, the event has inspired lessons in science, literacy and culture. Some schools also are organizing group viewings for students to experience the awe of daytime darkness and learn about the astronomy behind it together.
A hair out of the path of totality, the school system in Portville, New York, near the Pennsylvania line, plans to load its 500 seventh- through 12th-grade students onto buses and drive about 15 minutes into the path, to an old horse barn overlooking a valley. There, they will be able to trace the shadow of the eclipse as it arrives around 3:20 p.m. EDT.
It required rearranging the hours of the school day to remain in session, but Superintendent Thomas Simon said staff did not want to miss out on the learning opportunity, especially at a time when when students experience so much of life through screens.
“We want them to leave here that day feeling they’re a very small part of a pretty magnificent planet that we live on, and world that we live in, and that there’s some real amazing things that we can experience in the natural world,” Simon said.
Schools in Cleveland and some other cities in the eclipse’s path will be closed that day so that students aren’t stuck on buses or in crowds of people expected to converge. At Riverside, Morris came up with a mix of crafts, games and models to educate and engage her students ahead of time.
“They really were not realizing what a big deal this was until we really started talking about it,” Morris said.
Learning about phases of the moon and eclipses is built into every state’s science standards, said Dennis Schatz, past president of the National Science Teaching Association. Some school systems have their own planetariums — relics of the 1960s space race — where students can take in educational shows about astronomy.
But there is no better lesson than the real thing, said Schatz, who encourages educators to use the eclipse as “a teachable moment.”
Dallas science teachers Anita Orozco and Katherine Roberts plan to do just that at the Lamplighter School, arranging for the entire pre-K- through fourth-grade student body to watch it together outdoors. The teachers spent a Saturday in March at a teaching workshop at the University of Texas at Dallas where they were told it would be “almost criminal” to keep students inside.
“We want our students to love science as much as we do,” Roberts said, “and we just want them understanding and also having the awe of how crazy this event is.”
Wrangling young children may be a challenge, Orozco said, but “we want it to be an event.”
In training future science teachers, University at Buffalo professor Noemi Waight has encouraged her student teachers to incorporate how culture shapes the way people experience an eclipse. Native Americans, for example, may view the total eclipse as something sacred, she said.
“This is important for our teachers to understand,” she said, “so when they’re teaching, they can address all of these elements.”
The STEM Friends Club from the State University of New York Brockport planned eclipse-related activities with fourth-grade students at teacher Christopher Albrecht’s class, hoping to pass along their passion for science, technology, engineering and math to younger students.
“I want to show students what is possible,” said Allison Blum, 20, a physics major focused on astrophysics. “You know those big mainstream jobs, like astronaut, but you don’t really know what’s possible with the different fields.”
Albrecht sees his fourth-grade students’ interest in the eclipse as a chance to incorporate literacy into lessons, too — maybe even spark a love of reading.
“This is is a great opportunity to read a lot with them,” Albrecht said. He has picked “What Is a Solar Eclipse?” by Dana Meachen Rau and ”A Few Beautiful Minutes” by Kate Allen Fox for his class at Hill Elementary School in Brockport, New York.
“It’s capturing their interest,” he said, “and at the same time, their imagination, too.”
Associated Press writer Patrick Orsagos contributed to this report.
Teen pupils taking their exams were not allowed to wear socks or shoes to their tests.
The bizarre measure was introduced in Bihar, an eastern Indian state, to stop cunning students slipping notes into the exam halls.
Educate and Delegate: A mother’s homeschooling adventure
Over 1.8 million Indian children instead had to take the official ‘Class 10’ end-of-year test wearing only flip-flops or sandals on their feet, according to the BBC.
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The hats prevented the students, aged 18 to 19, from looking at their fellow classmates’ answers to cheatCredit: Solent
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70 students took part during their exam on March 19Credit: Solent
SANTA FE, Texas – Parents angered after a high school junior taking a college-level psychology class is given a gender-based assignment.
They’re not the only ones sounding off. The issue has caught the attention of state officials. One state senator saying its illegal.
The assignment is called The Genderbread Person, and on it, there’s a drawing of what appears to a gingerbread man. Those raising concerns say there is nothing cookie cutter about it.
“It made me feel uncomfortable and distasteful,” Shay Cundiff, a 17-year-old Santa Fe High School Junior said.
She says her teacher gave students the assignment in their dual credit college-level psychology course that is in conjunction with College of the Mainland.
“We had to fill out our information on a paper based off of what we identify as and what we’re sexually and romantically attracted to,” she said.
Cundiff says students were also required to write an essay about how they feel about the lesson.
“I didn’t agree with the point of views that are in the paper,” she said.
Before the assignment that was due Sunday, Cundiff says the teacher hadn’t really discussed gender identity, just sex organs. The curriculum caught her and parents off guard.
“We wouldn’t have really known. I mean, she was just going through doing the assignment like her teacher instructed her to do, and unless my wife hadn’t seen what she was writing and started talking to her about it, we wouldn’t have really known,” said Shad Cundiff, Shay Cundiff’s father.
Not only are Cundiff’s parents upset, so is District 11 State Senator, Mayes Middleton.
He mentioned that in Texas, gender modification of minors is against the law under Texas Senate Bill 14, and he believes this curriculum promotes it.
“That is not right,” Middleton said. “I’m looking at it with our State Board of Education members and to me it sure looks like they’re advocating for something that’s illegal.”
Senator Middleton says he was told by a State Board of Education member the curriculum was developed by Planned Parenthood.
As for, Cundiff, she says she plans to stay in the course because the only way to avoid it is if she were to drop it, which means she wouldn’t get the credits she’s been earning.
Yesterday, a Santa Fe ISD official said they do not agree with this assignment, and it is not a part of their curriculum. She said College of the Mainland would be the one to reach out to for more comment, as it was their course.
A College of the Mainland official acknowledged that a complaint had been filed, and said they are trying to determine specifically what happened.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
The Social Institute, whose mission is to empower millions of students to navigate their social world — including social media and technology — in positive, healthy, and high-character ways, released its 2024 Student Insights Report: How Social Media, Tech, and Current Events Impact Student Well-Being. This report reflects insights shared by more than 29,000 students in TSI’s Annual Student Survey and more than one million responses from its K-12 collaborative learning platform, #WinAtSocial — making it the largest data set of its kind, spanning grades 3 – 12 in schools across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Each year, The Social Institute asks students nationwide to share insights into trending apps, positive ways to navigate common but complex social situations, everyday challenges faced online and off, and what adults should know about well-being, social media, and technology. Educators can use the insights to gain a deeper understanding of their students, helping them to improve school culture and community well-being.
Among this year’s key findings:
The majority of students are getting their first smartphone at 11 years old
73% of students say social media is the most popular way to get news
87% of 9th – 12th graders say social media helps them explore hobbies and interests
60% of 6th – 8th graders say that social media helps them learn social skills
61% of 3rd – 5th graders say social media helps them do well in school
“These insights are invaluable for educators, because the better you understand students, the more effectively you can empower them to navigate their social world — including social media and technology — to fuel their health, happiness, and future success,” said Laura Tierney, Founder and CEO of The Social Institute. “As a team of digital natives and educators, we have seen first-hand how this ever-changing, complex world of technology impacts students.”
Other key student findings include:
48 percent of 6th-grade students said they would speak up if a family member is using their phone while driving
49 percent of 7th-grade students say they feel the need to respond to a text within 10 minutes of receiving it, or even sooner
64 percent of 10th-grade students say their social media profile genuinely reflects who they are
The survey also asked students how they would respond to certain situations on social media, such as dealing with explicit content and navigating mean behavior in group chats. To learn more and view the full 2024 Report, including more insights, visit https://app.hubspot.com/documents/7235441/view/723211956?accessId=cf7165.
YouScience®, the leading technology provider dedicated to solving the skills gap crisis for students and employers, and Black Girls Do STEM, a 501c3 nonprofit organization empowering Black girls to achieve equitable Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) representation, today announced the release of the 2024 Black Students and STEM Report. This new report reveals that Black students across the nation possess the aptitudes for in-demand STEM careers, but lack interest in pursuing them. This indicates that a significant career exposure gap exists, likely due to underrepresentation in STEM careers.
The career exposure gap is measured by the difference between a student’s aptitudes and interests, and identifies which careers a student hasn’t been exposed to and which ones might be a good fit. Most notably, the 2024 Black Students and STEM Report found:
A 75% exposure gap in Advanced Manufacturing
A 57% exposure gap in Health Science
A 56% exposure gap in Finance
A 53% exposure gap in Architecture & Construction
A 51% exposure gap in Computers & Technology
The 2024 Black Students and STEM Report combines data from YouScience and Black Girls Do STEM to highlight Black student career exposure gaps for in-demand STEM careers and the importance of programs that address the gaps. The report analyzed anonymized data from 328,000 Black U.S. middle and high school students who took YouScience’s Aptitude and Career Discovery tool from 2019 to 2023. This is the only scientifically-backed tool to apply computerized performance measures of aptitudes, interests, and AI-powered algorithms to activities that help identify best-fit career matches of all students, regardless of race or gender.
Historically, there has been limited Black representation in STEM-related fields. As of 2021, 9% of the STEM workforce was Black, which was an increase from 7% in 2011. While this growth is positive, new solutions are needed to help Black students explore STEM-related education and careers earlier.
“As a Black woman in STEM, I have seen first-hand the lack of representation for women, especially Black women, in these in-demand career fields. However, I have long felt that the solution to this lies within redefining education for Black students through access to identity affirming informal learning environments; so they understand the full scope of their aptitudes, and also the full scope of what careers are possible.” said Cynthia Chapple, Founder and CEO of Black Girls Do STEM. “Working with YouScience has confirmed that notion by truly showcasing the possibilities for our students based on their unique, individual aptitudes.”
While both Black male and female students have aptitude for STEM careers, the report found that significant exposure gaps exist for female students in particular:
88% more Black female students have an aptitude for careers in Advanced Manufacturing than interest
73% more Black female students have more aptitude for careers in Computers & Technology than interest
72% more Black female students have an aptitude for careers in Architecture & Construction than interest
“For decades, Black students have encountered inequities that have impacted their pathways in education and then career. It’s imperative to recognize that Black students possess the aptitude for all STEM careers, but the glaring exposure gap remains a formidable challenge due to resource deficiencies and lack of representation. By bridging the exposure gaps and doing so earlier in education, society can help Black students understand all of the opportunities available to them and connect them with education and career pathways and programs that can foster even more skills and understanding,” said Edson Barton, Founder and CEO of YouScience. “One of the most notable programs helping to bridge the gap for students is Black Girls Do STEM. This organization and Cynthia Chapple are working diligently to provide female students with the opportunity to learn, create and build confidence in their abilities to pursue STEM careers.”
To access the complete findings from the 2024 Black Students and STEM Report as well as recommendations from YouScience and Black Girls Do STEM on how to address the career exposure gaps in STEM, click here.
Connected Nation (CN) has partnered with Utah Education Network (UEN) to release the fifth iteration of the Utah School Technology Inventory, a statewide report that compiles critical data about technology usage and gaps in UEN schools. The national nonprofit has collaborated with UEN for nearly a decade to track how technology is used in Utah’s school districts and charter schools, and the access teachers and students have to digital materials, devices and platforms. The inventory once again had a 100% participation rate.
“Starting in 2015 through 2023, UEN’s partnership with Connected Nation has conducted these inventories in the fall every other year,” said UEN Senior Project Manager Cory Stokes. “Completing these inventories helps leaders at the state, district and school levels make better decisions based on data to improve, enhance and support technology in education.”
UEN chose the nonprofit to develop the data collection portal and lead the inventory effort. They collected more than 82,600 data points, representing 1,034 schools across Utah. The final report provides a comprehensive summary of the Utah school system and an overview page for every school district and charter school in the state.
“School districts use these reports to determine how they are currently using technology funds to support their students and teachers,” said Stokes. “The data provides and accounts for how technology is supporting and helping to meet the needs of students and teachers in public education.”
The inventory found that, statewide, 7 out of 10 schools (70%) report that they deploy mobile learning devices such as laptop or tablet computers to students on a 1:1 basis.
Other key findings include:
Device-to-student ratio increased since 2015 but remain the same between the 2021 and 2023.
Google Chromebooks remain the most popular computing device for students, with schools reporting that more than 594,000 Chromebooks are made available to students statewide.
Nearly 2 out of 5 Utah schools (38%) offer mobile learning devices on a 1:1 basis and allow students to take those devices home, maintaining a similar rate from 2021 (39%).
“UEN’s focus has always been to provide equitable network services and resources to all students in Utah, regardless of where they live, how they participate in school and how they most effectively learn,” said Stokes. “This was all made possible through the School Technology Inventory report.”
About the Utah Education Network: UEN is part of the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN), which connects all Utah school districts, schools, and higher education institutions to a robust network and quality educational resources. UEN is one of the nation’s premier education networks.
About Connected Nation: The national nonprofit’s mission is to improve lives by providing innovative solutions that expand access, adoption and use of high-speed internet and its related technology to all people. They work with consumers, local community leaders, states, technology providers and foundations to develop and implement technology expansion programs with core competencies centered on a mission to improve digital inclusion for people and places previously underserved or overlooked. For more information, please visit connectednation.org.
Kevin is a forward-thinking media executive with more than 25 years of experience building brands and audiences online, in print, and face to face. He is an acclaimed writer, editor, and commentator covering the intersection of society and technology, especially education technology. You can reach Kevin at KevinHogan@eschoolnews.com
Between March 2020 and March 2021, K-12 schools in the U.S. saw an unprecedented influx in federal government aid, totaling nearly $190 billion. This funding aimed to help students recover both academically and emotionally from the pandemic. School districts across the country utilized these grants to hire counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other care providers. In theory, this should have been transformative; however, the available workforce wasn’t large enough to meet the demand, and traditionally underserved and rural districts faced the brunt of this shortage.
Subsequent follow-up funding has been deployed by the federal government in a necessary step to increase the workforce of care providers. As these funding opportunities come to a close, many districts are still left struggling to adequately address their students’ mental health needs.
According to the CDC, more than one in three high school students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, but in reality, the rate of U.S. students struggling with these challenges was rising even before COVID. The pandemic’s disruption to students’ schooling and development only exacerbated mental health issues, resulting in worsening anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues. As funds such as ESSER come to a close, schools that were able to increase care teams or introduce new mental well-being initiatives are now facing a funding cliff. The impact of this is predictable: Students will suffer as staff and programs are cut. To address this problem, the U.S. education system must look to alternative solutions.
Expanding beyond traditional approaches
Counselors, social workers, and school psychologists are the most impactful front-line resources available for supporting student mental well-being; however, these professionals are saddled with huge caseloads and demands beyond their normal purview. For example, according to a 2020 survey of 7,000 school counselors, many were required to serve as substitute teachers, perform temperature checks, and take on other tasks as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. To improve mental health support to students, we have to expand our narrow perception of what care can look like.
Looking beyond a traditional western medicine approach, school districts should consider adopting solutions such as peer-to-peer counseling, where students who have been trained can meet to support one another and address personal, social, or emotional challenges. Peer-to-peer counseling empowers students to become stakeholders in their mental health while also providing benefits such as cultural relevance, early intervention, crisis prevention, and social-emotional skill development. This effective strategy is strongly advocated for by California’s Children Trust, which has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make peer-to-peer support reimbursable for California schools through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.
Additionally, utilizing a community-based collaborative care model can further bolster a school system’s mental health resources. This type of approach is not meant to replace the role of trained mental health professionals, but it can provide Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Tier 1 and 2 for large student populations. An effective initiative of this kind may look like inviting vetted community leaders to come in and offer culturally-tailored support, a resource that’s frequently lacking in schools. When coupled with other solutions, community-based care approaches can play a central role in improving student mental well-being.
Embracing technology
While in-person methods such as professional counseling, peer-to-peer programs, and community-based collaborative care models present a range of benefits, an immediate and ready solution exists for K-12 to effectively close the gaps in its mental health resources: digital mental health products.
Technology is accessible and readily complements care providers, and dozens of culturally competent and evidence-based products are successfully being utilized in school districts. These digital products can complement in-school care providers with treatment plans and access to telehealth, assessment tools, screening, tracking, and preventative technologies, which provide education, awareness, peer support, and other non-clinical approaches.
While effective technology solutions exist, the majority of schools face barriers to adopting and utilizing them. Figuring out how to fund product implementation, choosing which products to trust, and understanding exactly what types of student mental health concerns need to be addressed are common obstacles voiced by school systems.
Proper resource allocation can help ensure a brighter future
While there are currently several mental health-focused technology products available, investment for these types of innovations is still lacking. With federal funding drying up, large VC-backed companies that haven’t previously worked in the education sector are beginning to enter the scene, and oftentimes, these companies are driven by interests that don’t meet the needs of the students they are meant to be serving.
The key to supporting school systems, and ultimately students, is to harness the power of culturally-competent and age-appropriate solutions that entrepreneurs with lived experiences are developing while also supporting school systems by helping them identify, adopt, and utilize these transformative products.
David Ball
David Ball is Global Head of Health, Education and Technology at SecondMuse leading Headstream, an innovation program that seeks to understand and address the challenges faced by youth in regard to their mental well-being.
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HOUSTON – Nearly half of HISD principals are in the hot seat after poor performance reviews.
They could lose their jobs.
Houston City Councilmember at Large, Position 4, Dr. Letitia Plummer, is concerned about the long-term effects that losing certified principals could have on our city and communities, years from now. She says it’s a setup for failure.
“It’s incredibly alarming because I believe the way in which the system is being managed right now is not going to allow us to be successful,” Plummer said.
Based on performance reviews, the Houston Independent School District says 125 principals have demonstrated the leadership qualities needed to keep their jobs for the next school year. At the same time, 120 others, nearly half of all HISD principals, must show significant improvement to keep their jobs.
“How are principals supposed to do their jobs when you’re hiring teachers that are not equipped to handle a classroom,” Plummer said.
She says the focus should be on those leading the classrooms. Teachers in Texas don’t have to be certified because of a state exemption.
“So not only are you not certified academically to teach, but you also don’t understand the behavioral challenges that you may deal with, with the kids. Social issues, challenges with the children,” Plummer said.
She says that includes medical issues such as ADHD and Autism that may be diagnosed or undiagnosed. Plummer says a process to fast-track teacher accreditation would improve schools’ performance and increase principal performance, but feels that’s not being prioritized.
“We’re just kind of giving them continuing education courses in a way, courses that give them a little bit more support but not putting them in situations where they can be accredited,” Plummer said.
Plummer says ultimately, students will suffer most. She says this could contribute to an increase in some crimes years later when some students become adults and can’t get jobs. An issue that would affect us all.
She hopes this story helps raise awareness within the TEA to review the problems and possible long-term effects.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
Virginia high school teacher Joe Clement keeps track of the text messages parents have sent students sitting in his economics and government classes:
— “What did you get on your test?”
— “Did you get the field trip form signed?”
— “Do you want chicken or hamburgers for dinner tonight?”
Clement has a plea for parents: Stop texting your kids at school.
Parents are distressingly aware of the distractions and the mental health issues associated with smartphones and social media. But teachers say parents might not realize how much those struggles play out at school.
One culprit? Mom and Dad themselves, whose stream-of-consciousness questions add to a climate of constant interruption and distraction from learning. Even when schools regulate or ban cellphones, it’s hard for teachers to enforce it. And the constant buzzes on watches and phones are occupying critical brain space regardless of whether kids are sneaking a peek.
A few changes in parents’ behavior can help make phones less distracting at school. Here’s what teachers and experts recommend.
Many parents stay in touch with their child by texting, but school is a place for focusing on learning and developing independence. Teachers say you can still reach your child if you have a change in plans or a family emergency: Just contact the front office.
If the message is not urgent, it can probably wait.
Think of it this way: “If you came to school and said, ‘Can you pull my child out of calculus so I can tell them something not important?’ we would say no,” central Virginia school counselor Erin Rettig said.
Teachers emphasized: They are not saying parents are to blame for school cellphone battles, just that parents can do more to help. Tell your kids, for example, not to text home unless it is urgent. And if they do, ignore it.
“When your children are texting you stuff that can wait — like, ‘Can I go to Brett’s house five days from now?’ — don’t respond,” said Sabine Polak, one of three mothers who co-founded the Phone-Free Schools Movement. “You have to stop engaging. That’s just feeding the problem.”
Many parents got used to being in constant contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, when kids were home doing online school. They have kept that communication going as life has otherwise returned to normal.
“We call it the digital umbilical cord. Parents can’t let go. And they need to,” Clement said.
Parents might not expect their kids to respond immediately to texts (though many do). But when students pull out their phones to reply, it opens the door to other social media distractions.
At parent workshops, Rettig, the school counselor in Virginia, tells parents they are contributing to children’s anxiety by sending messages, tracking their whereabouts and checking grades daily, which doesn’t give kids space to be independent at school.
Some teachers say they get emails from parents right after returning graded exams, before the class is over, because kids feel the need (or are told) to report grades immediately to parents.
Dr. Libby Milkovich, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, says she asks parents to consider what kids miss out on by having parents at arms’ reach during school hours.
“By texting back and forth with a parent, a child is unable to practice either self-calming or problem-solving skills,” Milkovich said. “It’s easy to text, but if I don’t have a phone, I have to go ask the teacher or I have to figure it out on my own.”
Some kids who oppose school cellphone bans say it’s helpful to reach out to parents when they’re feeling anxious or worried at school. For children with serious anxiety who are accustomed to texting parents for reassurance, Milkovich suggests phasing in limits so the child can gradually practice having more independence. She urges parents to ask themselves: Why does my child need constant access to a phone?
“Often parents say, ‘I want to be able to reach my child at any time,’ which has nothing to do with the child’s outcome. It’s because of the parents’ anxiety,” she said.
Beth Black, a high school English teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, tells parents to consider confiscating their child’s old phones.
Her school requires students to put phones in a special cellphone holder when they enter classrooms. But she has seen students stash their old, inactive phone there, and hold onto the phone that works.
Like many teachers, she says phones aren’t the only problem. There’s also the earbud issue.
“Forty percent of my students have at least one earbud in when they walk into class,” Black said. “The kids will set their phone in the holder to music and they’ll listen to music in class in one earbud.”
Parents’ reining in their texts will only go so far. So work with your kids to turn off some or all of their attention-stealing notifications.
To prove just how distracting smartphones are, Clement ran an in-class experiment where he asked students to take their phones off silent and switch on notifications for two minutes.
“It sounded like an old-time video arcade — bizzing, buzzing, dinging and ringing for two solid minutes,” he said.
Many studies have found students check their phones frequently during class. A study last year from Common Sense Media found teens get bombarded with as many as 237 notifications a day. About 25% of them pop up during the school day, mostly from friends on social media.
“Every time our focus is interrupted, it takes a lot of brain power and energy to get back on task,” said Emily Cherkin, a Seattle-based teacher-turned-consultant who specializes in screen-time management.
Teachers say the best school cellphone policy is one that physically removes the phone from the child. Otherwise, it’s hard to compete.
“When the phone vibrates in their pocket, now their focus is on their pocket. And they’re wondering, ‘How do I get it out to the table? How do I check it?’” said Randy Freiman, a high school chemistry teacher in upstate New York. “You ask them a question and they haven’t heard a word you’ve said. Their brain is elsewhere.”
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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Phenix City, Ala.— Phenix City Schools have marked a significant achievement at the Alabama State JR/SR Beta Convention, with students securing 51 top placements, a testament to the district’s quality of education and student dedication. The Beta Club, emphasizing leadership and service, saw over 100 members from Phenix City compete and succeed in one of the nation’s largest junior conventions and a highly competitive senior convention.
This accomplishment comes when educational excellence and community service are more important than ever. “Our students have worked tirelessly, and their success at the state convention clearly indicates their hard work, talent, and the strong support system provided by our schools,” Dr. Weber remarked.
The achievement of Phenix City Schools at the Beta Convention is not just a win for the district but a shining example of educational excellence in Alabama. As these students prepare for the national convention, they carry with them the pride and support of the entire state.
The state is encouraged to rally behind these young leaders, who are achieving academically and actively involved in serving and improving their communities. This story is a beacon of hope and a showcase of the potential within our educational institutions to foster future leaders.
Through this achievement, Phoenix City Schools underscores the importance of supporting educational programs that cultivate leadership, character, and service among students, preparing them for successful futures.
About PCS Phenix City Schools offers a complete, one-of-a-kind education for all students, preschool through 12th grade. Its goal is to prepare all students for a career and/or college through inquiry-based pedagogy, innovative resources, and a learning environment with immediate and future societal impact.
1212 9th Ave, Phenix City, AL 36868 PO Box 460 | 334-298-0534 | www.pcboe.net
eSchool Media staff cover education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to best practices, to lessons learned and new products. First published in March of 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.
