June 24, 2016

Delaware

Department of Education
73 schools to participate in fresh fruit, vegetable program
Seventy-three elementary schools in Delaware will receive funding to participate in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program during the 2016-2017 school year.  Schools were awarded funding through a competitive application process.  Each year the state receives a grant from the USDA specifically allocated for the program.

Delaware Public Media
Tyler’s Camp provides 250 low-income kids with unique camp experience
250 low-income middle school students have had the opportunity to participate in new camp called Tyler’s Camp: in remembrance of Salesianum student Tyler Brown who died in a March car crash. Executive Director of the Summer Learning Collaborative Catherine Lindroth says the camp helps kids learn new things that they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so: and help them find their identity along the way.

Newark Post
Shue-Medill students make dresses for girls in Africa
Shue-Medill Middle School mentor Renee Nelson and her Empowering Young Ladies (EYL) club made more than 50 pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa. The project was part of Sigma Zeta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s Little Dresses for Africa Service Project. The EYL goal was to make 50 pillowcase dresses.

Sussex County Post
IRHS salutatorian aiming for ‘upper level’ education
Among Kayla Huebner’s most memorable moments as a student at Indian River High School: dissecting cats. “I will definitely remember dissecting cats in 11th grade. Those are very memorable times in my life,” said Kayla, salutatorian for Indian River’s Class of 2016 that graduated May 31. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that science is Kayla’s continued education challenge that begins at the University of Delaware.

The News Journal
Tech and trade summer camp readies kids for careers
Ninety-nine middle-schoolers have been trying out different kinds of jobs in a program at Delcastle Technical High School during one of their first weeks of summer vacation. The program has two tracks – one for technology and one for construction – so some students will be learning about welding while others are learning how to create computer games.

National

Associated Press
GOP leaders look to pass schools plan in Kansas Legislature
Top Republicans hoped Friday to push an education funding plan through the Kansas Legislature that would satisfy a court mandate and end the looming threat that public schools across the state may have to shut down. GOP leaders are pushing a plan to boost aid to poor districts by $38 million for 2016-17, largely by redistributing existing education dollars. Kansas faces an ongoing budget crunch, and lawmakers are seeking to avoid an overall increase in state spending.

Education Week
Educating our low-information politicians about education policy
Blog post by Dave Powell, associate professor of education at Gettysburg College
Over the course of the recently-concluded presidential primary season much digital ink was spilled over the fact that the candidates just weren’t, to the eyes of many observers, saying enough about education. Sure, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparred over the particulars as they debated the best way to bring down the cost of college—should it be tuition free or debt free?

Newsworks
English learners forum focuses on inclusivity, high-stakes tests
The conversation began with a flurry of numbers. About a 10th of students in the School District of Philadelphia are English language learners or ELLs. Combined, those ELL students speak more than 100 languages and attend nearly every district school. At 59 Philly schools, more than 10 languages are represented in the student body.

NPR
A victory for affirmative action, and for many colleges a sigh of relief
The nation’s colleges and universities have been on pins and needles waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether race can be a factor in their admissions policies. And so today’s 4-3 ruling upholding the affirmative-action program at the University of Texas at Austin brought a sigh of relief to much of the higher education world.

The Atlantic
How to get more men of color teaching in the classroom
“Start sharing. Don’t be shy,” the facilitator said at the start a training last week for Asian, black, and Hispanic men hoping to teach in the New York City school system. He’d asked them to name a movie or song that spoke to them. “Rocky,” one man said. “The Star-Spangled Banner,” said another. “Remember the Titans,” Kwang Lee said, citing the movie about the black coach of a racially mixed high-school football team.