Former NBA player Magic Johnson is hoping to cast his spell on the educational experience of some Chicago teens. Johnson is opening two Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies in the South Shore and North/South Lawndale neighborhoods this fall. The alternative schools targets students aged 13-21 who have dropped out of high school or at risk of not graduating, another path to earn a high school diploma.
A news conference was scheduled for Wednesday morning, where Bridgescape Academy executives, teachers and community leaders were planning to discuss the schools and officially open enrollment. Fifteen of the schools in five states are currently open across the country, with the majority located in Ohio. According to the web site, the schools offer programs suitable to a student’s “schedule, lifestyle and learning needs.” School days are abbreviated and flexible with an emphasis on online learning tools. The schools are free for students to attend.
Throughout the Trayvon Martin case, Rachel Jeantel‘s testimony was riveting and difficult to watch for many reasons, including defense attorney Don West’s obvious frustration with her and condescension toward her. Jeantel was the last person to speak to Trayvon Martin before being killed by George Zimmerman who was found not guilty on July 13. Jeantel was deemed by the defense and the media as an implausible source due to her ‘lack of education.’ The 19-year-old was berated by many due to her speech, appearance and mannerisms. Fortunately her testimony and recent appearance on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” influenced Tom Joyner to lend a helping hand. Joyner reached out to Jeantel and offered her a full scholarship to any HBCU of her choice. In addition to assisting the young teen with college, he also wants to help her complete high school with the best tutors and SAT courses. Jeantel hopes to pursue a career in law enforcement. Related Stories:
In a press release, Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens has announced that Roslyn Clark Artis will become its interim president on July 15. After a career in law, in 2003 Artis joined the staff at Mountain State University in Parkersburg, West Virginia, as senior academic officer for distance education. She later served as provost for distance education, vice president for advancement, president of the Mountain State University Foundation, and chief academic officer of the university. Artis is a graduate of West Virginia State University and the West Virginia University School of Law. She holds an educational doctorate from Vanderbilt University. article by jbhe.com
Bridget Terry Long, the Xander Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has been appointed academic dean of the school. Dr. Long joined the faculty at the school in 2000 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 2009. Her research deals with the transition from high school to college focusing on college access, financial aid, and academic preparation. Professor Long is a faculty research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and was appointed by President Obama to serve on the National Board of Education Sciences. Dr. Long is a graduate of Princeton University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. article via jbhe.com
The incarceration of a loved one can be very overwhelming for both children and caregivers. Sesame Street has jumped in to help. Called “Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration,” the program is distributing “tool kits’’ to schools, community centers and even jails in 10 states — including New York — starting today to help kids ages 3 to 8, organizers said. Here are some of the kit’s tips for parents and/or caretakers who are not in prison:
Let your child know what to expect during everyday activities. Tell her who will take her to school and who will pick her up.
Provide your child with a comfort item to keep during the day, such as a paper heart or family photo.
Ask your child questions to help her open up. You might notice a negative behavior and say, “Did something happen today that made you feel sad?”
More tips: “Let your child know that the incarceration is not his fault….Let him know he’s not alone.” And here are tips for preserving a relationship between an incarcerated parent and child:
Phone calls are a great way to keep in touch. Help your child think of things to tell her parent. Give her a picture of the parent to hold during the call.
Use pen and paper to write letters. If your child can’t yet write, ask her to tell you what to write; she can draw pictures to go with the words.
Televisiting can be helpful for some children. Sharing an everyday routine such as storytime during your televisit is a great way to be together.
The kit also includes a video episode about a young muppet named Alex whose dad is in jail. Check out the entire kit here. article by Oretha Winston via elev8.com
Saying it has an obligation to prepare students for a more global society, the University of Washington will require undergrads to complete a course in some area of diversity — economic, cultural or political — before they can graduate.
The new policy, initiated by a group of mostly minority students, followed three failed attempts over the past 22 years to introduce changes meant to ensure that all graduating students know a little more about other cultures and people who differ from them than they did when they first arrived. The three-credit course won’t add to the number of hours students now need to obtain a bachelor’s degree. And it won’t apply to current undergrads, only to the incoming class in the year the policy takes effect — possibly next fall. Helen Fillmore, a graduating senior majoring in environmental science and resource management, is a member of First Nations @ UW and of the UW Students for Diversity Coalition, which began pushing for these changes nearly three years ago.
The 6th Annual Atlanta STEM Career Fair organized by the Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc. (Photo by Ojo)
Over the next few days, 95 academically gifted African-American children with an aptitude in math and science will attend a highly-competitive summer camp in California’s Silicon Valley. The Greene Scholars Program, established in 2001, works with 3rd to 12th graders to cultivate academic abilities in science, technology, engineering and math. “What’s unique about the program is that we’ve a long-term initiative to help stimulate the intellectual capacity of our kids to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field careers,” says program director Gloria Whitaker-Daniels. “I feel in love with the model,” says Whitaker-Daniels, who initially was a parent-volunteer whose brood all completed the program. “We stay with kids when they enter the program till they enter college. I have not found another program that does this over this duration.” Every Greene Scholar goes to college Since its inception, every GSP scholar has gone on to college. “The majority takes up STEM related bachelor’s degrees but of those that don’t we are confident they can face the world with a good grasp of math and science,” she says.
Achille Messac was named dean of the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University. He will be the first African-American dean in the university’s history. Dr. Messac has been serving as distinguished professor and chair of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Syracuse University in New York. Previously, he taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and Northeastern University in Boston. Dr. Messac is a native of Haiti. He holds bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. article via jbhe.com
Oprah Winfrey at Harvard (Photograph by Jim Harrison)
Media titan and global philanthropist Oprah Winfrey gave the Commencement Address at Harvard College today after receiving an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University. According to Harvard Magazine.com, Winfrey, appropriately clad in Crimson (the school color) gave a 30-minute address of inspiration, anecdote, and uplifting aphorisms, drawing on her own experience. She hoped to offer inspiration to “anyone who feels inferior or disadvantaged or screwed by life—this is a speech for the Quad” (a reference to the former Radcliffe, now College, residences considered by some undergraduates to be inferior to the Houses closer to the Charles River and the center of campus).
During her introduction, Winfrey said one did not have to have a Type A personality to come to Harvard (or to succeed in television), “but it helps.” Her original talk show had been an enormous success for a quarter-century, she noted, topping the ratings in its time slot for 21 years. But she felt the need for new challenges, stopped the program, and launched the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), only to see it become a dismal flop. A year ago, at the low point, she recalled, “the worst time in my professional life,” President Faust called to ask her to speak today. At that moment of stress, frustration, and embarrassment, Winfrey said, she could scarcely conceive of addressing successful Harvard graduates. She repaired to the shower (“It was either that or a bag of Oreos”), remembered the spiritual lyric “when the morning comes,” and determined that her professional woes would not last—that she would turn things around, certainly by the time of her Commencement address.
More broadly, she told the graduates, “It doesn’t matter how far you might rise,” no matter how they might raise their own bars and push themselves, they would surely stumble and fall. Then, they must remember, “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in a different direction”–even though, from deep in a hole, it might feel like failure. To proceed, to learn from every mistake, the graduates must figure out the right next move by consulting their “inner moral GPS.” When members of the class of 2013 Google themselves hereafter, she said, their Harvard identity will always appear. But their success will be measured not by what they want to be; rather it will depend on who they want to be. Knowing who they want to be depends on creating the story that’s “about your purpose.” Winfrey said she found her purpose in 1994, when she met a young girl who collected pocket change, ultimately amassing $1,000, to help others—an act that inspired Winfrey to call on viewers to do something similar. They collected $3 million in one month, she recounted, and established the Angel Network to fund education and build schools. That “focused my internal GPS,” she said, changing her purpose from appearing on television to determining to “use television and not be used by it.” She aimed to do so by finding the things that unite people and highlighting the transcendent nature of humans’ better selves.
Kerry Washington, Savoy Elementary School students and Michelle Obama (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Students from the Savoy Elementary School in Washington, D.C., crooned, somersaulted, Lindy Hopped and re-enacted scenes from the 1970s film Grease on Friday as a way to flex their school’s new muscles in arts education. They performed in the gym to an audience of their peers and two distinguished ladies cheering in the front row: First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Kerry Washington. The showcase demonstrated the school’s involvement in Turnaround: Arts, a new initiative to beef up — and in some cases introduce — arts programs to eight low-performing public schools across the nation. The public and private committees that are funding this endeavor hope that student exposure to dance, music, drama and visual-arts classes will boost academic achievement. Kerry Washington is a celebrity ambassador to the Savoy school — D.C.’s Turnaroundschool — which, she told reporters during a brief press conference after the performance, is quite fitting because she is known for “fixing” crises in the nation’s capital as Olivia Pope in the hit ABC series Scandal. The actress said that chronically underperforming schools need fixing, too, and she is convinced that arts programming should be included in reform strategies that attempt to do so. Other celebrities that serve as program ambassadors to Turnaround schools include Alfre Woodard, Sarah Jessica Parker and Forest Whitaker.
Throughout the 
In a press release, Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens has announced that Roslyn Clark Artis will become its interim president on July 15. 
Bridget Terry Long, the Xander Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has been appointed academic dean of the school. Dr. Long joined the faculty at the school in 2000 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 2009. Her research deals with the transition from high school to college focusing on college access, financial aid, and academic preparation.
