Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Buffalo Jones Elementary School in Garden City, Kan., beat out 200 entries and received a majority of the 129,000 total public votes to be named the winner of the first Healthy School Makeover Contest. SPARK™, provider of the world’s most-researched and field-tested physical education program and a division of School Specialty, awarded Buffalo Jones Elementary School with the grand prize totaling up to $45,000 in products and services from leading organizations. The contest was sponsored by SPARK, Sportime, AAHPERD/NASPE, Healthy Kids Challenge, Skillastics, Healthy Lifestyle Choices, GenMove, The First Tee, Polar, and the ANNIKA Foundation.

“I am just so thrilled for what this will mean for our kids,” said Kerri Steelman, the Buffalo Jones Elementary School teacher who nominated the school for the contest. “I’ve talked to other teachers in other districts who say the SPARK program is the best equipment, programming and training they have ever used. The kids stay engaged and enthusiastic because everybody participates. It is incredible to think that it was a nationwide competition for a single $45,000 grand prize and our school won. “

Buffalo Jones Elementary serves approximately 350 students in grades Pre-K-4. The school will now have access to products and services to help educators promote wellness and healthy habits in students to improve their health and overall educational experience. A special event will be held at the school after the winter break to allow pro golfer Annika Sorenstam to present the school with their prize.…Read More

eInstruction, a global education software and technology company, today announced the three grand-prize winners of its sixth annual Flip Your Classroom – eInstruction Classroom Makeover Contest. The winners, representing the top video submissions from more than 250 entries from across the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec), were selected by a guest judging panel and nearly 20,000 votes submitted by the general public on the contest website, http://flipyourclassroom.einstruction.com.

The complete eInstruction Classroom Makeover is valued at approximately $75,000, with the prize packages featuring cutting-edge instructional technology from eInstruction, Adaptive Curriculum, Fablevision, InFocus, and Starrmatica. Each of the three winning classrooms will be transformed into engaging, collaborative learning environments where instructors and students can interact with each other and quality lesson content to enhance comprehension and drive student achievement. In addition to the classroom technology, winners will receive a $500 cash prize for hosting a celebratory party for the entire school.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Prince George’s Community College a $5 million National Advanced Technological Education Center continuation grant for its National CyberWatch – Cybersecurity Education Solutions for the Nation project. Funding over the next four years will promote cybersecurity education at community colleges nationally. “The award is a testament to the hard work and accomplishments of the CyberWatch team at Prince George’s Community College,” said Charlene M. Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College. “The grant extends the CyberWatch Center’s scope and prominence and serves as validation of the great work already done,” she added. The grant will allow the National CyberWatch Center, headquartered at Prince George’s Community College, to build a culture of collaboration, grow program and faculty capabilities based on models of excellence and promote the cybersecurity profession nationally.  In addition, it will help strengthen student aptitude and expand career pathways, as well as advance research in cybersecurity education across the country.

The University of North Alabama College of Nursing and Allied Health has just received a grant of $2.1 million from the U.S. Department of Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant will pave the way for disadvantaged students, particularly underrepresented minorities, into UNA’s new OPEN (Opportunities for Entry Into Nursing) program. “OPEN is a program designed for the success of students as well as communities,” said Dr. William G. Cale Jr., UNA president. “The students admitted to this program would not otherwise have the opportunities they will find at UNA. In turn, they will benefit communities that are currently underserved by trained medical professionals like the ones these students will soon become.” The $2.1 million grant will be awarded over a four-year period, beginning this semester. It will support about 67 scholarships for pre-nursing and nursing majors in its first year, and about 80 scholarships by year four. Scholarships will cover up to nine credit hours for pre-nursing students and up to 15 credit hours for students in the nursing program.

Dr. Elizabeth Samet, Professor of English at the United States Military Academy at West Point, is the 2012 recipient of the $50,000 Hiett Prize in the Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.  The award, which recognizes an emerging leader in the humanities, was presented to Dr. Samet at the Dallas Institute on October 19, when she made a public presentation. The Hiett Prize is among the nation’s most prestigious honors in the humanities.  The $50,000 annual award was created by The Dallas Institute in 2005 in collaboration with philanthropist Kim Hiett Jordan to recognize a person who has not yet reached his or her full potential, but whose work in the humanities shows extraordinary promise and is already making a difference in the way we think about the world. The purpose of the Hiett Prize is to encourage future leaders in the humanities—recognizing their achievement and their promise and assisting their work through a cash award. Overall, it represents the counterpart of lifetime achievement awards by aiming at the discovery of new talent in the humanities on its way toward full maturity.

The Buick Achievers Scholarship Program, funded by the General Motors Foundation, in September announced scholarships totaling approximately $4.2 million to 1,100 recipients during the NBC News Education Nation Summit in New York City.  The students, who come from all 50 states, were honored for excelling in the classroom and the community. They will receive financial resources to pursue a college degree within the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), or other related fields of study.  As one of the largest in the country, the Buick Achievers Scholarship Program is noteworthy because it grants 100 students up to $25,000. The grants are renewable for up to four years and one additional year for qualified five-year engineering programs.

Moon Soe, 25, and Virginia Wilson, 58, have each been awarded a $2,500 scholarship as the 2012-2013 recipients of the Mary Cone Barrie Scholarship Award. The scholarship is awarded each year by Toronto-based education technology firm Destiny Solutions as a means of recognizing the struggles and sacrifices made by non-traditional students.

The U.S. Department of Education announced the award of more than $9.8 million in grants to 16 states to operate 25 Parent Training and Information (PTI) Centers for parents of students with disabilities. The Department also awarded $1.1 million to provide funding for 11 Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) in nine states and Puerto Rico. With the new grants, the Department now funds 101 information centers for parents of children and youth with disabilities. Every state has at least one PTI that assists parents as they work to ensure their children receive a free, appropriate public education as guaranteed by federal law. In addition, CPRCs provide services to underserved parents of children with disabilities in targeted communities throughout the country.