Education Learning Issues

HAPPY CHANGE OF SEASON. In our Northern hemisphere, it's summer to fall, foreshadowing winter, a worrisome topic to one of the co-publishers of 2e Newsletter. On the other hand, to those of our subscribers in the Southern hemisphere -- happy Spring!

CHALLENGING MIDDLE- AND HIGH-SCHOOLERS. At EdNews.org, you can read about several Henry Ford Academies across the country which are based on non-traditional learning principles. From the interview by Michael Shaughnessy with Debora Parizek: "We believe foremost that all students—even students who struggle with, or who are not usually motivated by, traditional academics—can tap into an innate capacity to be creative which, when combined with a structured process for identifying and addressing real world challenges, enables them to emerge from school with a strong identity as an innovator." Find the interview.

IRRITATED MASSACHUSETTS PARENTS are disgruntled over what they see as a lack of services for gifted students, according to an article at the Boston Globe website. The state evidently doesn't spend much money on gifted education, compared to other states, and the state does not require or fund such education. In this article, you can read what Massachusetts is -- and is not -- doing for gifted learners, and what parents are doing in reaction. Find it.

OTHER NEWS. We just read through 100 press releases, looking for resources and news about the topics that concern us -- giftedness, LDs, parenting, family, health, and education -- and came up with this: Borden is celebrating Elsie the Cow's 70th birthday. Find out more. Oops -- then there was this one, from a salad dressing company: "As part of its continuing efforts to help schools instill a life-long love of vegetables in children, the makers of [company's name] salad dressings have announced the fourth annual [contest name] grant program, an initiative that will provide $10,000 grants to 10 public elementary schools in the United States to support increased access to and consumption of fresh produce during school meals." Hmmm -- and from whom might the salad dressings to go with those vegetables be purchased?