Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

First Lady Jill Biden Welcomes Students Across America to the Nation’s Capital in Discovery Education’s City of U.S. Virtual Field Trip to Washington, D.C.

SILVER SPRING, MD (Friday, May 14, 2021)—For many American elementary and middle school students, a field trip to Washington, D.C. is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that opens their eyes to an exciting world beyond their classroom. To ensure all students can experience Washington, D.C. this year, First Lady Jill Biden and Discovery Education invite all learners to attend a unique, no-cost Virtual Field Trip to the nation’s capital. Premiering May 26, 2021 at 1:00 PM ET at www.DiscoveryEducation.com/City-of-US, The City of U.S. – A Virtual Field Trip to Washington, D.C. ensures that students and their families don’t miss the opportunity to experience the history and beauty of the federal city. 

The City of U.S. will begin with a greeting from America’s First Educator and First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. After welcoming students with a kid-friendly look at the White House, Dr. Biden will then send participants out into Washington, D.C. for a virtual tour of many of the city’s historic landmarks.  Among the stops on this Virtual Field Trip are the U.S. Capitol Building, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Additional details on this exciting event can be found here.    

All along The City of U.S. Virtual Field Trip, extraordinary students from families served by Operation Homefront, the national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, will ask those maintaining our national treasures questions of interest to all students. Since 2002, Operation Homefront has provided relief, resiliency, and recurring support programs that help military families overcome short-term financial bumps in the road so they don’t become long-term chronic problems. …Read More

Obama administration launches education initiative for military kids

There are nearly 2 million students whose parents are either on active duty, members of the National Guard or Reserves, or military veterans, according to the Military Child Education Coalition.

Madeline Stevens knows what it’s like to be a military brat.

“The first week of school, it’s really hard,” said Stevens, a 17-year-old from Jacksonville, Fla., who has moved eight times with her naval aviator father and attended 10 different schools. “You sit by yourself at lunch, you try and make friends in classes. When you’re younger it’s easier because, you know, you just share crayons, and you’re new best friends.”…Read More

Jill Biden writes kids’ book, a tribute to troops

Jill Biden, after years of teaching English to college and high school students, has written a book of her own, the Associated Press reports. The wife of Vice President Joe Biden has completed a children’s story, “Don’t Forget, Nana, God Bless Our Troops,” told from the point of view of granddaughter Natalie Biden and a tribute to soldiers and their families. Biden, called Nana by her granddaughter, has met with many military families and said she thought of doing the book as she realized how many people did not understand their experiences. The story is especially personal because son Beau Biden, Delaware’s attorney general and a major in the state’s Army National Guard, spent a year in Iraq…

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Obama: Community colleges central to economic recovery

Obama spoke to more than 100 community college officials at the White House. (Courtesy White House photographer Pete Souza)
Obama spoke to more than 100 community college officials at the White House. (Courtesy White House photographer Pete Souza)

During an Oct. 5 White House summit, Obama administration officials and community college leaders discussed ways to position two-year colleges as training hubs that could be instrumental in the country’s economic recovery. And technology, they said, would be a centerpiece to enrolling more students and boosting completion rates.

The gathering of more than 100 community college decision makers from across the country was the White House’s first-ever Summit on Community Colleges, where top federal officials lauded two-year colleges as a bridge to jobs and four-year universities, and a way to lead the world in college graduates by 2020.…Read More

Feds roll out simpler FAFSA form

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The new online version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will allow college applicants to skip series of questions that don’t apply to them and includes help text and easily accessible instructions, federal officials announced Jan. 5.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden’s wife and a former community college educator, promoted the streamlined FAFSA form at Banneker Senior High School in Washington, D.C., where college hopefuls filled out online applications that gauge how much student aid they are eligible for.…Read More