If you’re totally overwhelmed by trying to figure out scholarships and paying for college, look no further than the second annual Scholarship Marathon! It’s free, it’s online and it’s taking place today, Saturday, March 22. College Greenlight, which helps low-income and underrepresented students go to college, and Cappex, which has helped five million students decide on colleges, are the two groups behind this.
Today you’ll have access to chatrooms with scholarship experts (to answer all your Q’s) and webinars that explain financial aid and scholarships. Webinars like “The Science Behind the Ultimate Scholarship Essay” and “Winning Big Money Scholarships.” They’re also there to help you search for more scholarships you don’t even know about.
To top it off, they’re going to have hourly raffles for Amazon gift cards (because everybody loves a good raffle) and they have two $1,000 scholarships ready to be given to participants! This is going on from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. CDT, but you can drop in whenever you want.
If you want to take part, you just need to sign up at the site. Remember, it’s free, so you def ought to check it out if college is your jam! And if you want to spread the good word on this, you can tweet the hashtag #scholarshipmarathon. Hopefully the second annual Scholarship Marathon will be even bigger and better than the first one!
article by Danica Davidson via act.mtv.com
Posts published in “Education”
LOUISVILLE – Simmons College has become accredited as the first private Historically Black College and University in Kentucky and is only the second HBCU in the state, along with Kentucky State University, a public institution.
“Simply put, accreditation is value,” explained President Kevin Cosby. “It is proof that Simmons has met national standards necessary to produce graduates who are prepared to enter into selected professions.” He explained, “The accreditation of Simmons College of Kentucky will have a ripple effect throughout west Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky and is the most monumental achievement, by African Americans, to take place in the state in the last 100 years.”
Most HBCUs were founded in the post-Civil War era, when Blacks were not allowed to attend college with Whites. Today, many private HBCUs are struggling to remain keep their doors open. Last summer, St. Paul’s College, a private Black institution in Lawrenceville, Va., ceased operating after being in existence since 1888. Its 35 buildings and 183 acres have been put up for public auction.
- Carlton (PhD ’87) and Eloise (BA ’64) Blanton (Photo/Kathy Christie)
Eloise and Carlton Blanton love to share memories – with many details and specifics –of the principals and school leaders that mentored them throughout their two extraordinary careers as educators. She recalls Joe Bethel, principal at Loma Vista, who told her to “speak up!” She speaks lovingly of Carrie Haynes, then in the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) regional office, who encouraged her to pursue a principalship. Carlton remembers his basketball coach at Cal State Los Angeles, Saxson C. Elliott, who later became a department chair and gave Carlton his first teaching job at Cal State LA.
In many ways, those memories led them to give a gift which will prepare a new generation of school leaders to be just as impactful.
The Dr. Carlton and Eloise Blanton Endowed Scholarship at USC Rossier School of Education will specifically support students who aspire to be school principals. The Blanton’s generous gift of $160,000 to USC Rossier will support the studies of students who, as the Blantons put it, “have resiliency, bounce back from adversity, are good listeners, and are highly motivated.” The Blantons care deeply about supporting those students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford a USC education. “We have always wanted to do this,” they say.
Because for these two – who refer to one another as “my best friend” – their lives together and as educators were greatly shaped by USC. Eloise Blanton is a hometown girl, whose father owned property in USC’s neighborhood. Carlton is Texas born and raised, and for the key high school years, he pretty much raised himself. He moved with his parents to Southern California in 9th grade but, not feeling challenged in his new school, convinced them he could go back to Texas alone. From the age of 14, he lived on his own in the house they had left behind and went to school, graduating #2 in his high school class at age 16.
Earlier we told you about the reboot of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey hosted by astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, which begins airing tonight at 9p/8c on Fox and other Fox Networks Group channels including National Geographic, FX and Nat Geo Mundo.
President Obama will help launch the show with a video message at the beginning of the first broadcast tonight. The president, according to a release, will be inviting “a new generation to embrace the spirit of discovery and inspires viewers to explore new frontiers and imagine limitless possibilities for the future.”
A screening of the series was held on February 28 at the White House as part of the first-ever White House Student Film Festival.
The launch of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a reboot of Carl Sagan’s is the first multi-network effort for Fox Networks Group, which includes Fox International Channels and National Geographic Channels International, which means that the President’s introduction and the series premiere will be available on 220 channels in 181 countries, which is more than half a billion homes, reports TheWrap.
Viewers have a second chance to catch each episode at 10pm Monday on National Geographic, with added behind-the-scenes and other bonus footage.
article via eurweb.com
Instead of growing Afros, staging riots or organizing sit-ins, this generation of protesters are crafting witty digital projects to rally themselves. Back in November, several black students at the University of Michigan launched a social media campaign on Twitter, using the hashtag #BBUM, an acronym for “being black at the University of Michigan,” to describe their unique and often irritating experiences as black students at a predominantly white school. Among their frustrations were the usual: hearing how they gained admission because of affirmative action policies; not being “black enough” because they achieved excellent grades and “sounded white”; having to be the spokesmen and -women for black America in history class; or, on the other side of that spectrum, being ostracized because they weren’t acclimating to their new settings fast enough and instead were choosing to be rowdy, urban or culturally demonstrative on campus.
News of the campaign spread, and black students from peer schools like Cornell University and Duke University adopted the idea to articulate their own sentiments. But as is the norm for high-achieving students, these digital protests could no longer be contained in 140 characters and are now evolving beyond tweets. The black students at Harvard and Georgetown universities are kicking up the effort a few notches and incorporating a visual element into their respective demonstrations.
At Harvard, several black students took pictures of one another holding up signs with statements and questions that have been posed to them by their white peers (and, at times, by other black students). Their campaign is hosted on Tumblr and is promoted and shared using the #itooamharvard hashtag. There’s also an accompanying video production about the campaign that will premiere on March 7. The visuals are compelling narratives and all relate to race:
Joseph “Gabe” Sonnier is now the principal at the Louisiana elementary school where he served as a janitor for 27 years. Sonnier had been working at Port Barre Elementary for over 30 years when he was selected as their new principal last November. He originally began his college education at Southern University, The Advocate reports, but dropped out in 1979 after one year to help support his mother and four siblings.
The inspiration to complete his education degree came in 1985, when the principal at the time approached him about becoming a teacher, reports CBS. The former custodian began studying in his free time and working towards his degree, which he earned and began teaching in 2008, according to The Advocate. Sonnier continued his education and completed his masters degree through Arkansas State University.
The newly appointed principal recognizes his accomplishments, and even still cleans his own office. “Don’t let your situation that you’re in now define what you’re going to become later,” Sonnier told CBS. “I always tell them it’s not where you start, it’s how you finish.”
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — NBC’s Parks and Recreation is getting a stunning new cast member for a night: First Lady Michelle Obama. According to the Associated Press, the first lady’s office says Mrs. Obama will appear on the show’s April 24th season finale. The show’s Twitter account said it’s “time to get real about Pawnee’s obesity,” which is a reference to Pawnee, Indiana, the fictional town where Parks and Recreation takes place, and the first lady’s campaign against child obesity. Obama recently appeared in a comedy sketch on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with Fallon and Will Ferrell also designed to promote “Let’s Move.”
Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler helped the campaign earlier this week when she appeared at a “Let’s Move” event in Miami, where Mrs. Obama joked that she and Poehler are best friends. Mrs. Obama won’t be the first White House figure to appear on the show. Vice President Joe Biden made a cameo on the show in 2012.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler helped the campaign earlier this week when she appeared at a “Let’s Move” event in Miami, where Mrs. Obama joked that she and Poehler are best friends. Mrs. Obama won’t be the first White House figure to appear on the show. Vice President Joe Biden made a cameo on the show in 2012.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Learning nonprofit edX is partnering with Facebook to help bridge the digital divide and bring online education to the unconnected world. The new pilot initiative, named SocialEDU, was revealed Monday at the Barcelona-based Mobile World Congress, and will provide students in Rwanda with free access to “a collaborative online education experience,” according to a statement fresh from the Facebook newsroom. The program is being released under the umbrella of Internet.org, a global partnership focused on bringing Internet to the two-thirds of the world’s population living without it.
The social media giant will be working with the Harvard-and MIT-founded platform to build a mobile app that is integrated with Facebook. Through SocialEDU, students will receive free data plans for accessing edX’s massive open online courses, which stem from 32 of the world’s leading universities, including Dartmouth, U.C. Berkeley, TU Delft, Australian National University and the University of Hong Kong. The platform will allow students to ask questions, interact with teachers, participate in group discussions and engage with their peers. What’s more, the Rwandan government will work with edX to adapt the course materials, thereby creating more locally-relevant content, as well as expand its free Wi-Fi in campuses throughout the East African country.
As part of SocialEDU, Facebook is also partnering with telecommunications company Airtel and Nokia. The former is providing a year’s worth of free educational data to registrants, while the latter is offering discounted smartphones to all those participating in the program. If the pilot is deemed successful, SocialEDU will expand beyond Rwanda.
According to a press release, a $500,000 grant from Wal-Mart will go to the United Negro College Fund to help sixteen HBCUs gain financial stability to ensure their continued mission of providing black students with higher education. Grants of $1 million and $250,000 to the National Urban League and the NAACP respectively will help individuals secure and build successful careers through training and placement assistance and help businesses create more job opportunities. Wal-Mart is providing $1.75 million in grants through its foundation to three of the nation’s biggest civil rights organizations: the NAACP, National Urban League and United Negro College Fund.
“With today’s economic climate there is a growing need to empower individuals in communities nationwide with access to opportunities that will help them live better. Part of this work will come from helping businesses understand and unlock the powerful results that a more diverse workforce has to offer,” said Wal-Mart Senior Director of Corporate Affairs Tony Waller in the release. “By helping one individual at a time build a successful career, we are growing a more competitive work environment. A competitive environment ignites innovation, which helps build stronger communities and, ultimately, a stronger America.”
“Since 2006 we have been able to increasingly grow our workforce training program through ongoing support from the Walmart Foundation and subsequently have exceeded expectations of the number of individuals we’ve been able to serve,” Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the NUL, said in the press release. “This new grant will help us further strengthen our workforce development programs and continue helping African Americans and other communities of color across the United States secure economic independence and empowerment.”
article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com
article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com
First lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative turns four years old this month, and by any measure it’s been a resounding success. While critics cried “nanny state” when Mrs. Obama first proposed her campaign to focus on youth obesity, the program has undoubtedly raised awareness about a critical problem and affected our nation’s nutritional standards. Thanks to the first lady’s efforts, our country’s school lunch program has been reformed and several major corporations have pledged to put more of an emphasis on fruits and veggies in their store chains. Mrs. Obama has also practiced what she preaches, remaining physically fit and active at the age of 50.
article via thegrio.com