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Ashley Kizer saw the call for entries in a teaching magazine. Make a winning video about how technol ogy is used in the class room and win $30,000 in technology. Kizer, a fifth-grade teacher at Adamsville El ementary School, had ev erything to gain. This was his chance to outfit his class with a Smart board that can be used by two stu dents at a time, Internet notebooks, and hand-held devices that would allow ev ery child to answer his ques tions electronically.

Children from a small school near Forward Operating Base Scania line up to receive school supplies and gifts, Oct. 27, during a Civil Military Operation conducted by the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Iraqi Army. Photo by Spc. Cory Grogan, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. FOB SCANIA — U.S. Soldiers here are working with the citizens surrounding this Forward Operating Base to ensure local children have the tools needed for a proper education. Oregon National Guard members with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 162 Infantry Regiment, based out of Springfield, Ore., from the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, were...

Visits by two men, claiming to be Homeland Security employees, have Middletown officials raising a lot of questions. Police say one man, who was armed and wearing a Homeland Security badge, entered Mayfield Elementary School yesterday morning, before the start of class. Officials say he and another man, also wearing a similar badge, had been to an apartment complex earlier looking for a suspect. At the school, the man claiming to be an agent, asked the principal whether a particular street was within the school's attendance area.

Iraqi firefighters from the 29th Center for Defense are blindfolded with taped bags before trying to enter a mock building to save a mock fire victim as Lisbon, Maine native, Cpl. John Curtis, a combat medic and former firefighter, watches closely during a joint-firefighting class on Joint Security Station Ur in northern Baghdad, Nov. 8. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell, MND-B. BAGHDAD – An Iraqi firefighter feigns death and lies on the ground inside of a mock building to simulate a smoke-inhalation victim. His teammates, their vision obscured to simulate smoke-blindness, crawl along the ground with oxygen tanks strapped...

Col. Maria Zumwalt, commander, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, chats with students at the Shab Female School in Baghdad, Nov. 5. Photo by Sgt. Joshua Risner, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. BAGHDAD — The Shab, Yassamin and Monte Tenaybo Schools were officially re-opened here, Nov. 5, thanks to the efforts of Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers. The schools were in shambles before they came to the attention of Army Civil Affairs (CA) Soldiers, according to Staff Sgt. Frank Halstead, from Brooklyn, N.Y."All three schools had to be completely redone because they were a mess," he...

Note: The following text is a quote: Philippines: Jihad against school principals This just in from our "This Is Why You're Poor" Department. Allah promised paradise to those who "slay and are slain" in the cause of jihad (Qur'an 9:111), but shooting your own society in the foot is also quite popular as a consequence. "Islamic rebels behead Philippine teacher: police," from Agence France-Presse, November 8: ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The severed head of a school principal who was abducted by Islamic militants in the troubled southern Philippines was dumped in a petrol station on Monday, authorities said. The head of...

MOSUL — U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces delivered 400 new desks and chairs to the Qosh High School in northern Ninewah province, Oct. 31. The furniture delivery was the culmination of the school's opening and the final project for Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division "The ministry of education built them a new high school, but was unable to furnish it with desks and chairs so we were able to fill in that gap," said Capt. Joseph Himpelmann, the commander of Btry. B and a native of Waukegan, Ill. After...

An Iraqi school teacher helps distribute school supplies to Iraqi children at the Jadeeda Primary School near Hawijah in the Kirkuk province of Iraq, Oct. 28. The supplies were provided by families of Soldiers from 1/8th Cav., 2BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — The 46th Iraqi Army Brigade delivered U.S.-donated school supplies to the children here at the Jadeeda Primary School near Hawijah, Oct. 28. The supplies were donated by families of Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.According to 1st Lt. Sean...

Ogden police say an Ogden High School teacher has had 'inappropriate relationships' with at least six female students over the years, but none of them rise to criminal conduct. Lt. Scott Conley said Thursday that while the teacher's behavior is questionable under the school district's policy for professional conduct, his relationship with students is not criminal. He said investigators found the teacher had "inappropriate relationships" with at least six students dating back to 2000. He said the teacher used his influence to develop relationships with girls shortly before they turned 18. Police investigated allegations the teacher had been dating his...

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) sits next to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as they visit the Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, November 4, 2009. A student with an "Obama" haircut at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, listens to U.S. President Barack Obama speak as he visits the area, November 4, 2009.

Other than taking time for the Lord on a daily basis and learning to abide in Him, what else is important? As promised, here’s my list: 1. Time for my family: Yes, I homeschool, and yes, my kids are with me 24/7. So how much more time do I want with them?

11/3/2009 - QALAT, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Airmen and Soldiers from the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team delivered school supplies to an Afghanistan National Army compound here Oct. 27. The delivery of supplies is part of an ongoing project to help educate the young soldiers, many of whom have nothing more than an elementary school level education. The program grew from a request from senior ANA officials to help raise the literacy levels of the soldiers, said Major J.D. Loftis, the PRT's information operations officer. "This program is basically just like your average elementary school program," he said. But, unlike that average...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2009 – Soldiers here visited students in a unique learning environment last month to drop off school supplies, treats and even guitars. Children attending St. Efram Elementary School welcome soldiers to their classroom before being surprised with care packages Oct. 22, 2009, in Basra, Iraq. These children receive a culturally diverse education by attending one of the only two schools in Iraq to combine children of different religious denominations into one learning environment. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The students of St. Efram Elementary School,...

School nurses mistakenly gave the swine flu vaccine to two students who didn't sign up for it - including a Brooklyn girl with epilepsy who wound up in the hospital. "I was outraged," Naomi Troy, 26, told the Daily News after her 6-year-old daughter, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, had a possible allergic reaction to the shot. Officials at Public School 335 in Crown Heights called an ambulance to take Nikiyah to SUNY Downstate Medical Center when she fell ill following the arm jab. "My stomach was hurting, and I was itching," Nikiyah said after she was released from the hospital. The snafu...

SNIPPET: "PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Islamist militants blew up a girls school in Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal district Sunday, destroying the building and wounding four people in neighbouring homes, officials said. Two explosions ripped through the 18-room government high school for girls at Kari Gar village and a boy who watched the premises is missing..." SNIPPET: "Islamist militants, who have carved out a strong presence in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border, have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly for girls, in the northwest of the country in recent years. Nearly 200 schools were destroyed in the Swat valley alone...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front. "We went to South Dakota and went to the Circle B Ranch," said Chenoa Martin, Jazmine's mother. "There's a show of the old West -- a stampede. Had a gun shoot-out and stuff like that. When they fire their rifles, they do it into the crowd. It...

OREGON, Ohio — A furious Ohio mother says her 7-year-old son, who has had problems with medications, was vaccinated for swine flu at school against her wishes. Kim Lutheran works as a nurse and says her son, Matthew, has had bad reactions to medicine. So, she says she signed for "no consent" on a vaccination form and then circled her intentions with a black marker to make things clear to the boy's public school in the Toledo suburb of Oregon. SNIP Deputy Health Commissioner Larry Vasko says his agency has responded by changing the consent forms, telling parents not to...

RICHMOND, California — Four teens were charged Wednesday in the gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance in Northern California, in an attack that has generated widespread outrage. All four — ages 15, 16, 17 and 19 — were charged with rape and enhancements that they acted in concert, which could make them eligible for life in prison.

WEST JORDAN — A former teacher's assistant accused of having sexual intercourse with two 15-year-old students was arrested this week. Andrea Billingsley, 31, was picked up at her home Tuesday and arrested on suspicion of forcible sexual abuse, forcible sodomy and distributing pornographic materials to minors, said West Jordan police officer Dan Roberts. The former aide at West Jordan Middle School, 7550 S. Redwood, met the two boys while overseeing an in-school suspension class, Roberts said. Police believe the sexual encounters occurred between May and July. The alleged sexual activity would happen on school grounds, including an undisclosed location inside...

A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front.

Jones County teacher sentenced for sexual offensesRajput gets probation, fine and 45-day jail term in DOC Jon Dawson Staff Writer October 28, 2009 12:00 AM On Tuesday, a Jones County physical science teacher who pled no contest to nine felonies was sentenced to 45 days in prison in Lenoir County Superior Court. On June 10, Shebana Rajput, 36, of Aaron Johnson Lane in Kinston, was charged with eight counts of sexual activity with a student and one count of sex offense with a student. She pled no contest to the charges last month. Jones County authorities contacted the Lenoir County...

Kevin Chavous is an African American and former Democratic city council member from Washington, D.C. He says he’s an Obama supporter, but he is distinctly unhappy with the president. Elections may have consequences, but no one expected that the White House would be so brazenly petty as to allow poor minority children in the nation’s worst school district to become the victims of political score-settling. That’s exactly what happened when the Obama administration killed off the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program several months ago. Of course, if the White House thought that it could pay off the powerful teachers’ unions, and...

Army Sgt. 1st Class Donna Sendelbech receives a hug from a student at the Shalaw Elementary School after receiving a backpack during a recent delivery of gifts donated by service groups back in the U.S. (GRD Photo by Mike Scheck). SULAYAMANIAH — U.S. Soldiers and Army Corps of Engineers employees recently delivered supplies to elementary students of the Shalaw School here. However, the students are in for a bigger surprise after the first of the year when they move into their new school thanks to the efforts of the USACE Gulf Region District.The school supply giveaway was orchestrated by Army...

10/26/2009 - SHAJOY, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Members of the Air Force-led Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team along with senior Afghan government officials and community leaders, celebrated the ground-breaking of a new high school for girls during a ceremony here Oct. 22. The school will be the first of its kind in the town of Shajoy, which has a population of nearly 40,000 people. "We (the Zabul PRT) have a unique capability when it comes to projects such as this one. This 90-person team has engineers, civil affairs and security personnel all working together with the local population to help determine what...

BLACK MALE DROPOUTS LEAD NATION IN INCARCERATION, ACCORDING TO NEW REPORT, WEEK OF OCTOBER 22-28, 2009The Wilmington Journal Originally posted 10/22/2009 SPECIAL TO THE NNPA FROM THE LOUISIANA WEEKLY (NNPA)--On any given day, nearly 23 percent of all young Black men ages 16 to 24 who have dropped out of high school are in jail, prison, or a juvenile justice institution in America, according to a disturbing new national report on the dire economic and social consequences of not graduating from high school. Dropouts become incarcerated at a shocking rate: 23 of every 100 young Black male dropouts were in...

Her senior year was just a month old at Newfield High School in Selden when Tiana Rapp, 17, opened her gym locker and discovered someone had pilfered a whopping $150 from it. Police have arrested a hall monitor, Linda Cubano, and charged her with three counts of petty larceny in connection with the thefts. Rapp said she had reported the missing money to school officials, who suspected a student was responsible. But something didn't add up, she said, because the girls' lockers were patrolled by an adult hall monitor. The criminal struck again a couple of weeks later: That time,...

Spc. James Lewis, of Terra Alta, W. Va., hands out backpacks to a teacher at the new secondary school for girls in Tarmiyah, Oct. 20. Photo by Sgt. Jon Soles, MND-B. BAGHDAD – Thanks to funding from the Commanders' Emergency Relief Program, hundreds of girls in the Tarmiyah area, south of Baghdad, now have a modern new school. Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Regiment, were able to see first-hand the fruits of cooperation between Iraqi leaders as the new school was dedicated here, Oct. 20.U.S. Soldiers took the reins of the...

Seven male students at Vinton County High School have been suspended as authorities investigate a "fight club" that featured rumbles in school bathrooms and videos on YouTube. School officials were tipped to the pre-arranged fights after videos of the brawls were captured on cell phones and posted on YouTube, an Internet site that features videos. Sheriff Dave Hickey said today that deputies are continuing to investigate to determine if more students are involved. Evidence will be given to the county prosecutor's office for consideration of potential criminal charges, he said. None of the students apparently were injured during the series...

Children receive backpacks from Iraqi Army Soldiers during a “Junior Hero Program” supply delivery to their school in Arab Koy, Kirkuk province, Oct. 20. The children also recited a pledge to become “Junior Heroes” in their community and respect the Iraqi Security Forces who work to protect them. Photo by Pfc. Justin Naylor, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — "I like to see them in my village, they make me feel safe," said Huda Akhmed Hussan, a 13-year-old sixth-grader here, about the Iraqi Army Soldiers he sees every day. In addition safeguarding residents, the 12th IA Soldiers here are also trying...

Fillmore -- The father looked at Keith Gillins, his daughter's former teacher, and said he would never forgive him. "My daughter's life has been scarred forever by you," the father told Gillins. Then, the father addressed the people in Millard County who suggested his daughter was responsible: "Shame on you." Gillins on Wednesday received three sentences of three years to life in prison for a sexual relationship with a former Millard High School student. Fourth District Court Judge Donald Eyre also sentenced Gillins to two terms of 1 to 15 years in prison. All five counts will run concurrently and...

OGDEN -- The recent spate of cases of teachers being accused of having intimate or sexually abusive relationships with students is alarming law enforcement officials and many in the education profession. Since March, five Top of Utah teachers have been accused of having sex with their current or former students. One investigation concluded without charges. Three teachers have been charged, with dates pending in Second District Court. One investigation is ongoing. And that is just north of Salt Lake City. At least four other teachers have been arrested in other areas around the state in recent months. To the north,...

(ST. GEORGE)—Charges have been filed against a custodian at Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School in St. George for assaulting a 16-year-old girl. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Richard Burditt is charged with felony forcible sex abuse, lewdness and voyeurism, among other charges. Police say they became aware of the relationship, which occurred when the girl was at Sunrise Ridge, when the girl’s mother called police. Officers say Burditt and the girl had been sexually involved for more than two years, and that he admitted to the relationship when questioned.

(HELPER)—Two teachers at a small-town school are facing charges, accused of illegal sexual conduct with students. Both women had been working at Helper Junior High, until the Carbon School District learned of the cases at the end of July. Investigators say Melissa Andrini developed a sexual relationship this summer with a boy who may have been one of her students the previous year. Andrini has since resigned. Another teacher is accused of unlawful touching during the 2007-08 school year. Carbon School District Special Programs Director Robert Cox said she is currently on paid administrative leave, pending the investigation. Carbon County...

(DAVIS COUNTY)—Attorneys for a former Bountiful school teacher accused of having sex with a student presented their case in court for the first time Friday. At the conclusion of Friday morning’s preliminary hearing for Valynne Bowers, the judge ruled there’s enough evidence for Bowers to go to trial. The alleged victim, who is now 15 years old, testified Friday morning and gave mostly short “yes” or “no” answers to the attorneys. The teen admitted he initiated the relationship with Bowers, his former math teacher at Bountiful Junior High. After engaging in sex with the boy, Bowers faces first-degree felony charges...

(ST. GEORGE) – A former Dixie High School teacher awaiting trial on sexual battery charges now faces new sex-related charges. According to the Deseret News, court records show that 63-year old, Ronald Sherman faces charges in Iron County for allowing a seven-year old girl to see him naked. He told investigators it was at the girl’s request. Records indicate that Sherman now faces new charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and lewdness involving a child. Sherman already is accused of inappropriately touching students in his Dixie High ceramics class in 2007. He resigned from teaching and has pleaded...

(CEDAR CITY) – The tearful pleas of a Cedar City sex offender’s wife has kept him out of prison. In 5th District Court Tuesday, Judge Michael Westfall sentenced former Cedar Middle School teacher, Matthew Adams, to a year in the Iron County jail for videotaping women through their windows. The 31-year old man plead guilty in July to sexual exploitation of a child, a second-degree felony and two counts of voyeurism by electronic means, one a third-degree felony and the other a class A misdemeanor. Westfall sentenced Adams to one to 15 years in prison on the second-degree felony and...

A white pupil was battered with a hammer at a school where politically correct teachers were afraid to deal with racial tensions, the High Court heard yesterday...

U.S. President Barack Obama greets third and fourth grade students at Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, October 19, 2009. Obama visited the school where the students had improved their standardized test scores.

GF woman accused of showing porn from window, assaulting cop By: Archie Ingersoll, Grand Forks Herald A Grand Forks woman is accused of broadcasting pornography from the window of her home Friday morning, allowing the images and noises to be seen and heard from Lake Agassiz Elementary School. When police Cpl. Dylan Schauer arrived at Nicole Altendorf’s house on the 800 block of Stanford Road, he found a still shot of a pornography video displayed on a television. “We made contact with the suspect, who was not compliant in any way,” a police report states. “She refused to come out...

Two 15-year-old boys at a £28,000-a-year public school have been accused of serious sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl. They allegedly attacked the fellow pupil at Wellington College in view of classmates during a school disco.

Flu Dismissals Sarah Carlsruh, October 15, 2009 The H1N1 virus, the “swine” flu, is an increasing concern with flu season here. According to an August 24th President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Report, this flu strain in not necessarily “more deadly than other flue strains,” but it “is likely to infect more people than usual because it is a new strain against which few people have immunity.” PCAST predicts that the epidemic could infect 30-50% of the U.S. population, “with symptoms in approximately 20–40% of the population (60–120 million people), more than halaf of whom would seek...

First grader Zachary Christie was recently suspended for bringing a Cub Scout camping utensil with him to school. The utensil combines a fork, spoon and a knife into one tool and Christie wanted to use it at lunchtime. His school has a "zero-tolerance" policy on weapons and the camping tool violates the district's rule. He is facing 45 days in the district's reform school. Did school officials go too far?

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - Protesters brought some different songs Monday to an elementary school where students sang in praise of President Barack Obama, bringing criticism from conservative commentators who said children were being indoctrinated. About 70 protesters stood on a sidewalk across the street from the B. Bernice Young School waving flags and homemade placards, singing "God Bless America" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and chanting slogans such as "No indoctrination" and "Free children, free minds." A smaller group of counter-protesters watched and occasionally heckled them. The school is in a diverse suburb 15 miles northeast of...

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — About 70 protesters let their voices be heard outside a New Jersey school where students sang praise of President Barack Obama. Members of anti-tax groups and others gathered outside B. Bernice Young School in Burlington Township on Monday to denounce what they say was indoctrination of students.

Jews in the town of Mitzpe Yericho are taking practical steps to prepare for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, by preparing descendents of Cohanim (priests) and Levites for service. At the Mitzpe Yericho school, Temple priest hopefuls learn exactly how to conduct the daily Temple service and offer the required sacrifices.

An Iraqi student from the Abar Primary School pauses for a picture as she receives a backpack with school supplies during Operation Back to School, in the Mushada Nahia region, Oct. 7. Photo courtesy of 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command. NUBAI — U.S. Soldiers and Airmen here joined the Iraqi Army to deliver school supplies to the Abar Primary School, Oct. 7 – all part of "Operation Back to School." Operation Back to School is a volunteer mission that has been months in the making, spearheaded by Air Force Lt. Col. E. Kent Wong, director of operations, 821st Expeditionary Training Squadron,...

The following news brief is a quote: Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse fire investigators have not yet determined the cause of an explosion Thursday at the Ihsan School of Excellence, a private Islamic school on West Onondaga Street. More meetings with investigators are planned before a determination is made, Lt. Joe Galloway, a Syracuse fire investigator, said today. A cause for the explosion in the school's basement will possibly be released on Monday, Galloway said.

Soldier suspended from school Posted: Oct 8, 2009 05:26 PM A NEWS10 EXCLUSIVE By MARK O'BRIEN LANSINGBURGH -- High school senior Matthew Whalen is the kind of student any parent would want. He's an Eagle Scout, on the honor roll, taking Advanced Placement classes, and never been in trouble with the law. He's received commendations from the City of Troy and the Boy Scouts of America for saving a woman's life, and this past summer, he completed Army basic training. All of it was accomplished before the age of 17. "I'm just trying to do what I can while I...

What’s most amazing to me, is that even among liberals there are very few people who can justify an anti-school choice stance. If it seems as though this video contains some “straw man” arguments… Believe me, it’s just THAT hard to find a logical case against school choice. If anyone can think of a more valid reason that hasn’t been included in the video, be sure to comment it below.