May 9, 2017
Delaware News
The News Journal
Four Delaware students named presidential scholars
Four Delaware students have been named 2017 presidential scholars, recognized for outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, service and contributions to their schools and communities. The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects students annually.
Chamber honors Delaware’s innovative teaching, programs
Brynn Rifino was in sixth grade at Clayton Intermediate when she was struck by something: all the paper and plastic, not recycled, but thrown away in the school’s trashcans. Thus, the War on Waste began, she said. Rifino, now in eighth grade, worked with her Principal David Paltrineri, teacher Mark DegliObizzi and Delaware Waste Industry to help improve waste management at the school.
Cape teacher: 3 bio facts kids find shocking
Carrie Evick grew up in a house with teachers, but she said she had no intention of becoming a teacher. But then in college, she found herself in a group of teachers, and that sparked an interest in education. Now, the Cape Henlopen High School freshman honors biology teacher has been named one of four Delaware Educator of the Year by DelawareBio, a non-profit trade organization representing the bioscience community within the state of Delaware.
Cape Gazette
Gabriel Martinez: Cape marketing teacher brings high energy to class
With this year’s Cape High yearbook put to bed and sent to press, Gabriel Martinez still has the energy of someone just off vacation. “I come to work every day smiling,” he said. Part of it is the students, part is the supportive administration, and part is the fact that he loves his job.
WDEL
William Penn High School students build picnic table for Troop 2 to honor fallen trooper
Students in the Colonial School District used the skills they’ve learned in construction technology class to build a handmade gift to honor a fallen Delaware State Police trooper. Students at William Penn High School built a picnic table and benches and attached a plaque to show their appreciation for law enforcement as they continue to deal with the loss of Corporal Stephen J. Ballard, who was laid to rest Friday after being gunned down on April 26, 2017 at a Bear-area Wawa.
Delaware State News
Delaware students excelling at ‘Mind’ games
This year, Delaware is sending 34 teams to the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals taking place at Michigan State University from May 24 to 27. Odyssey of the Mind (OM) is an international educational program that provides competitive, creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college.
Department of Education
Public input sought to inform statewide special education strategic plan
Press Release
The Delaware General Assembly and Department of Education seek the public’s comment on a draft statewide special education strategic plan. This strategic plan was catalyzed as a result of the FY15 Budget Bill, Section 307 Epilogue. A stakeholder group that includes family members of students with disabilities, advocates, school administrators, and community organizations wrote this draft plan.
Two schools honored as 2017 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon winners
Press Release
Brandywine School District’s Forwood Elementary and Caesar Rodney School District’s Postlethwait Middle School have earned Green Ribbon awards from the U.S. Department of Education for their work reducing environmental impact, improving health and wellness of students and staff and providing effective environmental and sustainability education. They are among the 45 schools, nine districts, and nine postsecondary institutions being honored nationally.
Students bring home awards from 2017 Delaware Technology Student Association conference
Press Release
Last week more than 1,000 students, advisers, and judges from business and industry participated in the 39th annual Delaware Technology Student Association conference. Almost 40 schools were represented in more than 65 contests. Please see the attached list for state winners. Medalists will represent Delaware at the National Technology Student Association conference to be held in Orlando, Florida this summer.
Technical.ly Delaware
This Capital One program challenged high schoolers to use design thinking to solve a sticky problem
Executives from Capital One teamed up with Communities in Schools for an event called Random Hacks of Kindness on Tuesday. Communities in Schools is a nonprofit organization that aims to surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. More than 60 students from four local high schools participated in the student hackathon, as part of Capital One’s Future Edge Initiative.
National News
U.S. News & World Report
The quiet wave of school district secessions
When a judge ruled last week that the predominantly white Alabama city of Gardendale can secede from the majority black Jefferson County to form its own school district, the decision paved the way for the eighth such secession of wealthier and whiter municipalities in the state since 2000. The judge’s ruling, which acknowledged that “race was a motivating factor” behind the effort despite its backers insistence they simply wanted more local control, garnered national attention because of a standing desegregation order the county has been under since 1965.
Education Week
Teachers weave social-emotional learning into academics
In Susannah Young’s 2nd grade classroom, the first step in a student’s writing process isn’t a rough draft; it’s a conversation with a peer. Students explain their ideas to a partner, respond to questions, and push each other to more fully explore their thoughts before they put them down on paper. Young, who teaches at Oakland’s Lincoln Elementary School, developed the approach through an unusual professional development experience designed to help a cohort of Oakland teachers integrate social-emotional learning strategies into their teaching of traditional academic subjects, like reading and math.
CBS Sacramento
California high school exit exam has one foot in the grave after vote
Lawmakers in the California Assembly have voted to permanently eliminate the state’s high school exit exam, which has been suspended since 2015. Democratic Assemblyman Ash Kalra of San Jose said Thursday the exam known as CAHSEE is outdated. It was aligned with the curriculum standards in place when the test was started in 2000. California has since adopted new Common Core education standards.
Chalkbeat
Before voucher legislation comes back in 2018, Tennessee lawmakers want a plan to determine whether vouchers work
While Tennessee lawmakers will go home this year without passing school vouchers into law, they’re not leaving the idea behind. In the coming months, lawmakers who backed the proposal to start a five-year pilot program in Memphis will fine-tune it. One goal: clearing up questions about what kind of tests students need to take so lawmakers can determine if the program is “working.”
Twin Cities Pioneer Press
Minnesota on the verge of teacher licensing overhaul
The years-long task of overhauling Minnesota’s way of licensing teachers has entered the home stretch. If lawmakers can resolve the differences in bills that have already cleared the House and Senate in a way that wins the approval of Gov. Mark Dayton they can accomplish one of the biggest reforms to state education policy in recent history.