Race to Nowhere

Most of the recent documentaries about the American educational system indict it for failing to challenge students enough. They’ve generally blamed the high dropout rate on top heavy school administrations and blasé teachers’ unions that care more about benefits and cutting corners than learning and test scores.

Race to Nowhere takes a novel approach to the problem, by suggesting that kids don’t need longer school days and more homework, but exactly the opposite. Co-directed by Vicki Abeles and Jessica Congdon, the telling expose’ examines the Attention Deficit Generation on its own terms, interviewing students of all ages who complain about wilting under the stress of being micromanaged for success by their well-meaning, if slave-driving parents.

The Minnesota Internship Center (MNIC) Charter High School reaches out to students who have not fared well in traditional high schools and alternative settings. For these students, MNIC creates small learning communities that allow each student to build a learning plan within the reflecting his or her own personal/career interests. 


Cecilia Stanton, Crystal, was appointed dean of students by President Sue K. Hammersmith. The appointment was effective August 4.

As dean of students, Stanton is responsible for overseeing services and programs to foster student success, including student life and leadership development (orientation, student organizations and governance), TRiO programs, multicultural student and retention services, international student services, veterans, women’s and GLBT services, and handling student judicial and disciplinary matters.

Stanton has more than 10 years’ experience in student affairs and extensive experience in diversity training and development. She served as interim dean for seven months this year. She came to the university from the Art Institutes of Minnesota, where she was on the faculty. Previously, she was director of faculty diversity and engagement for Capella University, assistant vice president for culture and leadership with Allianz of North America, and assistant dean of students for Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. She also has a consulting business, Stanton Consulting.

Did reading that sentence make your head spin?  Well spin no more, there is help

Did you receive your child's MCA scores in the mail recently from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)?  You should have if your child is in the third grade or higher.  What did you do when you looked at the data?    Did you look at the graph chart and say to yourself, what am I supposed to do with this information?  I want to help my child but where do I begin?  What can I do at home?  I, too, struggle even though I consider myself to be a fairly knowledgeable person.

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (August 16, 2010) The media was out in full force at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, to cover the August 13th Awards Ceremony of the biennial Eric Williams ‘School Bags’ Essay Competition, whose topic this year was “The Cuban Revolution, 1959-2009: Discuss its successes and failures. What relevance do these have for today’s student?”

The event was hosted by UWI’s Campus Principal, Clement Sankat, and Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, the Hon. Sharon Saunders.

One of the biggest parts of getting into college is having a good resume to back you up. A problem for many college-bound students is that they apply to college with almost identical resumes. While it is true that colleges do have certain requirements, like good grades and proof that you have been challenging yourself by taking AP and IB courses and good SAT and ACT scores, there is more to it than that to get into the college of your choice.

Education
As far as education goes for college, it is good to maintain an A average. The earliest starting point should be your freshman year in high school, but your sophomore year works, too. Having a good SAT and ACT score is also very helpful to get into the college of your choice. Check the website of the college you want to attend for recommended SAT and ACT scores, as well as which test the college prefers. For example, Johns Hopkins University in Maryland has a middle 50 percent SAT range for its freshman class of 670-770 for mathematics, 630-730 for critical reading and 650-730 for writing. The average high school GPA for its freshman class is 3.68.