Youth Garden Grants Program

"The National Gardening Association and the Home Depot will award Youth Garden Grants to schools and community organizations with child-centered, outdoor garden programs. In 2006, 150 programs will receive Home Depot gift cards for the purchase of gardening materials and supplies particular to the needs of their program, and an activity package from NGA. Fifty first-place winners will receive $500 gift cards; 100 second-place winners will receive $250 gift cards. Deadline: November 30, 2005."

Promoting Critical Collaboration Between Teachers and Media Specialists

"The Thomson Gale TEAMS Award recognizes and encourages the critical collaboration between the teacher and media specialist to promote learning and increase student achievement. Maximum Award: $2,500. Eligibility: All
K-12 public and private schools in the United States and Canada. Deadline: September 9, 2005."

ASSIGNMENT: MEDIA LITERACY

Maryland State Department of Education

"ASSIGNMENT: MEDIA LITERACY provides a wide range of teaching tools and resources for incorporating media literacy concepts and skills into the K-12 curriculum. This web site displays samples of the curriculum materials available in the kit."

Stage 2 Training in Democratic Republic of Congo

As part of our ongoing work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monica Biswas of the YouthLearn Initiative visited the country to lead a second training. This one focused on two topics: engaging people and materials from the local community in classroom teaching, and paying attention to issues of gender and equity in education.

Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction

By Lynne Schrum

"In an Education World "edu-torial," Lynne Schrum presents her personal perspective on the ways in which technology can enhance learning -- and calls on educators to take a leadership role in determining the ways in which technology is used to support educational goals."

Data on Child Well-Being

KIDS COUNT, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, released the 2005 KIDS COUNT Data Book on July 27, 2005. The Data book features 10 key measures of child well-being that it has used to track the well-being of children since 1990. The data is used to provide state profiles of child well-being and to rank the states. This edition also includes several background measures related to unemployed parents in each state. The book also includes an essay by Casey President Douglas W. Nelson, "Helping Our Most Vulnerable Families Overcome Barriers to Work and Achieve Financial Success."

Website: The KIDS COUNT website (www.kidscount.org) provides users with lots of state-level statistical data on children and provides easy-to-use tools which allow users to generate custom reports including rankings, graphs, and maps, which can be downloaded.

Call for participation: UNESCO Digital Arts Award 2005

Young artists from around the world are invited to take part in this year’s award devoted to the theme of “City and creative media”. Organized in collaboration with Art Center Nabi (Seoul, Republic of Korea), the Award would be delivered to non-realized project proposals in order to embrace a wider audience of creators, who have the innovative artistic ideas but not necessarily the means.

TOYchallenge 2006

"Sally Ride Science, Smith College, Hasbro Inc., Southwest Airlines, Sony Corp., and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, are giving students in grades five through eight the chance to step out of their classrooms and broaden their engineering, science, and design skills by creating their dream toy for the TOYchallenge program. The mission of this fun-fueled toy and game design competition is to motivate kids, especially girls, to pursue science, engineering, and education careers. TOYchallenge 2006 will launch on September 12."

Digital Photo Contest

"Technology & Learning invites K-12 students to participate in the fifth annual digital photography contest. This year's theme, "Express Yourself," encourages you to capture and share your own unique vision with our editors and readers. The subject of your photo is entirely up to you."

The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning Nominations

"The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning, consisting of seven organizations in support of the U.S. Department of Education, is developing models, tools, and assistance afterschool programs need to offer high-quality research-based academic content while attracting high levels of student participation... The National Partnership is now asking for assistance in locating afterschool programs with possible exemplary or promising practice in homework help/tutoring and/or technology... Return completed nomination forms by September 1, 2005."

Utilities Looking to Fast New Broadband over Power Lines

By Wade Goodwyn
Morning Edition, August 16, 2005 · "Utility companies are savoring the market for a new technology that allows high-speed Web access through existing electrical outlets. The Federal Communications Commission has given its approval." [audio]

Starbucks Foundation Offers Funding for Youth Literacy Programs

"Through its Giving Voice program, the Starbucks Foundation (http://www.starbucks.com/foundation), a philanthropic vehicle of the Starbucks Coffee Company, will fund programs for youth, ages 6-18, that integrate literacy with personal and civic action in the communities where they live."

Media Arts Conference Opportunity

The National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture (NAMAC) 17th Conference &
25th Anniversary Celebration is happening September 28 through October 2,
2005 in Philadelphia, PA. Join this call to action: An opportunity to
affiliate, activate and put meaning to the media arts as a practice of
freedom.

Students With Disabilities Making Great Strides, New Study Finds

"Students with disabilities have made significant progress in their transition to adulthood during the past 25 years with lower dropout rates, an increase in postsecondary enrollment and a higher rate of gainful employment after leaving high school, according to a new report released today by the U.S. Department of Education... The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) documents the experiences of a national sample of students over several years as they moved from secondary school into adult roles."

Using Blended Learning for the Professional Development of Youth Workers

In early 2005, YouthLearn conducted an online survey of youth workers on Blended Learning with the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY). Check out this publication, which includes the findings of the survey and promising practices on professional development efforts using Blended Learning methods.
http://www.nydic.org/nydic/documents/Prof_Series_ENews_4.pdf