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March 13, 2006
Education News and Notes
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Boston
Scientific gave a $7,000 grant to Big Brothers Big Sisters of
the Greater Twin Cities to expand the organization's school-based
mentoring program, which serves more than 600 kids in more than 40
schools. Adult mentors meet with students for one hour a week,
usually over lunch, and visit the computer lab, play in the gym,
read a book or work on a school project. A study by Big Brothers Big
Sisters found that 64 percent of students with a school-based mentor
develop a more positive attitude toward school. |
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AgStar Fund for Rural
America awarded $1,000 scholarships to 10 high school seniors who plan
to enroll in colleges, universities and technical school to pursue careers
in agriculture or related fields. Minnesota recipients are Matthew Heers of
Owatonna, Jenelle Laska of Winona, Brittany Lusk of Jackson, Lukus Malo of
Granada, Michael Pinney of LeCenter, Jennifer Salzer of Freeport, and James
Seitzer of St. Peter. |
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The Southern
Minnesota Initiative Foundation's Bookstart campaign, developed
with Coughlan Publishing, encourages children to develop a lifelong
love of reading and promotes parents reading aloud to their
children. The program's mission is to ensure that every child has a
book of his or her own at home to read and be read to. The fourth
annual campaign, "Promoting Early Childhood Literacy Through
Fathers," asked applicants such as libraries, schools and mentoring
programs to how describe how they will involve fathers to promote
early literacy with young children in their programs. |
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The Minnesota
Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation designated March as Read to
Achieve Month. The campaign includes a $10,000 grant to an
organization that focuses on promoting at-home literacy to Minnesota
youth, a Reading Time Out event at an elementary school, and the
distribution of free books to kids 12 and under at all Sunday home
games during the month. Read to Achieve is the National Basketball
Association's year-round literacy program that helps young people
develop a lifelong love of reading and encourages adults to read
regularly with children. |
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Allianz Life
and the Timberwolves teamed up to present a Making Money
Matter program at Anthony Middle School in Minneapolis. The
four-week program teaches eighth-grade students about earning,
spending, saving, insurance and charitable giving. At the end of the
program, the students will apply their new skills with a life-sized
board game on the Target Center suite level. "It is important for
people to learn the importance of achieving financial independence
at an early age, and we are glad to have the opportunity to make a
difference in the lives of these children," said Mark Zesbaugh,
president and CEO of Allianz. |
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Flint Hills
Resources sponsored a dinosaur-themed sleepover for 430 fourth-
through sixth-grade students at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Students explored vats of morphing magnetic liquid, watched a tower
of foam, and used scientific instruments to explore the properties
of mystery materials in the museum's "Strange Matter" exhibit. In a
separate event, Flint Hills Resources and 3M helped sponsored
Science Olympiad events for middle and high school students. The
22nd annual competitions, held at the University of St. Thomas, give
students a chance to have fun while putting scientific principles to
work. The individual and team events in the Olympiads use biology,
earth science, chemistry, physics, astronomy, engineering and
technology. |
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The Initiative
Foundation selected Brainerd, St. Cloud and Sartell for the
Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative, a statewide program funded by
a grant from The McKnight Foundation that focuses communities on the
healthy development of children age five and younger. Participating
communities form coalitions that involve educators, parents,
nonprofits, law enforcement, medical, religious leaders and
businesses. Each community received a grant based on its population
size to hire a program coordinator and offset costs of future
projects. |
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The 3M Foundation funded "Mathematics and
Economics: Connections for Life, Grades 3-5," a tool to explore
active-learning ways to infuse both economics and mathematics into
the classroom. The 12 activity-based lesson plans give students an
applied understanding of economics and include step-by-step
procedures, visuals and activity worksheets. "Mathematics and
Economics" is published by the National Council on Economic
Education. |
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