Millennial Generation a Group of Joiners

"High school and college students -- the so-called millennial generation -- are joiners, say students, teachers, and sociologists alike. They're starting and joining school-based clubs at a much higher rate than the students before them. Based on the types of organizations they are getting involved in, they also seem more interested than their predecessors in public service and cultural and ethnic issues."

The Christian Science Monitor's 10th annual Young Poets Contest

"Award winners will be published in the paper in early January 2006.
Eligibility: Anyone in preschool through high school. Deadline: Friday, Dec. 2, 2005."

USING NCLB FUNDS TO SUPPORT EXTENDED LEARNING TIME

"This new strategy brief from the Finance Project and the Council of Chief State School Officers describes how six major funding streams included in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) can support extended learning opportunities.
'Using NCLB Funds to Support Extended Learning Time: Opportunities for Afterschool Programs,' provides important context for those seeking to access these funding streams, and includes a discussion of strategies, considerations and tips for accessing each source."

Evaluating Web Sites

"Students learn the six criteria for evaluating Web sites and then use those criteria to locate three sites that provide good information and three that do not."

[TALKBACK] Educational Technology: What's Behind the Hype?

"Laptops, Internet access, scanners, and video cameras can help teachers and students access information and resources quickly and easily...How effective is cutting-edge equipment in improving actual achievement? Behind all the bells and whistles, does hi-tech gear really help students learn? Tell us what you think."

VSA arts and MetLife Foundation Invite Applications for Arts

Deadline: December 16, 2005

"VSA arts and the MetLife Foundation have announced their 2nd annual Arts Connect All funding opportunity for arts organizations. Arts Connect All was developed to encourage arts organizations to create or enhance inclusive, accessible education programming that strengthens partnerships with local public schools." Eligibility is restricted to certain metropolitan areas in the U.S. See guidelines for details.

Focus on High School

The new issue of Education Development Center's report series, Mosaic, may be of interest to folks working with high school-aged youth in and outside of the classroom. Articles include: "The Role of High School in K-12 Education," "High School Students Thinking Like Scientists," and "Creating Healthy High Schools."

Webcast tackles IT gender gap

The ITEST (IT Experiences for Students and Teachers) Learning Resource Center, in which YouthLearn is a partner, recently held a public event on Engaging Girls in Science and IT. This eSchool News feature story provides a good summary, in case you missed the webcast: "To engage girls in the study of science and technology, educators need to convey the right message about the roles these fields play in society and the skills they require--and they also need to provide more hands-on activities that have some social value. These were the main lessons imparted..."

Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership Accepting Applications

Deadline: December 1, 2005

"The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership is a grantmaking organization that works to promote mutual understanding between the United States and Japan on contemporary social issues.

CGP's Grassroots Exchange Program provides support for exchange projects that involve issue-oriented cooperation and learning among youth, nonprofit organizations, and members of the general public in both the U.S. and Japan.
Examples of issue areas are disaster awareness, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, volunteerism, environment, disability, labor practices, domestic violence, aging, and social services."

Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers

Deadline: November 2, 2005

"ITEST is designed to increase the opportunities for students and teachers to learn about, experience, and use information technologies within the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including Information Technology (IT) courses. It is in direct response to the concern about shortages of information technology workers in the United States.
Supported projects are intended to provide opportunities for both school-age children and for teachers to build the skills and knowledge needed to advance their study, and to function and contribute in a technologically rich society. ITEST has two components: (a) youth-based projects with strong emphases on career and educational paths; and (b) comprehensive projects for students and teachers."

TIME TO REFLECT

This article captures "recent conferences, collaborations, and venues for professional development" opportunities aimed for nurturing the field of youth media. YouthLearn's current projects related to youth media are identified in this article.

"Youth media has become a bona fide field with its own practices, philosophies, and goals."

- "A collaboration between the Educational Video Center and the Education Development Center's YouthLearn Initiative to create new resources for the field, including a peer network linking youth media educators to each other"

- "The Education Development Center's YouthLearn Initiative's ongoing research into how youth media programs evaluate their impact."

FREE food for thought TOOL KIT

"The Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME at http://www.acmecoalition.org) continues its 2005-2006 "Monthly Media Education" resource offerings with their "ACME Food For Thought Tool Kit", a FREE downloadable resource detailing a wide variety of ways health, language arts, history, civics, social studies and journalism teachers can use media education to focus on a host of food-related matters: obesity, nutrition, health, corporate power, agriculture - of vital importance to all of the globe's citizens today."

From AP: $100 Laptop Project Reveals Blueprints

"CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (AP) -- Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are designing a durable laptop computer that will cost about $100."