Recently in Education Category

What an inspirational story. Faith and Chioma Nwoaha moved to the United States less than three years ago from Nigeria, and both graduated at the top of their class as valedictorians. Chioma, 18, is senior class valedictorian at English High School, while Faith, just 16, earned the same top title for Jeremiah Burke High School. Faith is on the left and Chioma is on the right.

You know academic scholarships rained gold dust on them. One will attend Boston University and the other will attend Northeastern University. I think both have their sight on medical school.

Their mom, Comfort Nwoaha, a certified nursing assistant must be twice proud, “This is really a dream come true for us. We came to America to move forward and now I feel as though we truly are,” she said.

Sadly, while many Americans fair well in school, countless others don’t see and take advantage of all of the educational opportunities in front of them. But thousands of outsiders have their eyes on the prize. READ MORE...

Congrats to the girls for all of their hard work, and their family for instilling good values in them!

Reference:
Boston Herald

Photo Credit:
Boston Herald

Joshua Packwood graduated at the top of his class with a 4.0 grade point average. He will make history at the historically black college as the first white valedictorian in the school's 141 year history. Packwood could have gone to any Ivy League school of choice, but he chose Morehouse in Atlanta, Georgia. “I’ve been forced to see the world in a different perspective, that I don’t think I could’ve gotten anywhere else," Joshua states. READ MORE...

Reference:
MSNBC

Photo Credit:
FreshDizion.com

All I can say is "wow!" Another child genius, Moshe Kai Cavalin, 10, has an A- average at the East Los Angeles College in California. He is taking courses in advanced mathematics, foreign languages and music. I wonder outside of studying and school if he acts like and plays like a 'typical' 10 year old. These stories always amaze me. Was he speaking, read, and peforming mathematical calculations at 12 months of age? READ MORE...

Reference:
MSNBC

I know school is coming to a close for many, but this is an interesting story about Laurence Thomas, a black Syracuse University philosophy professor, who recently caused a campus wide debate on text messaging in class. Some students were texting in class and he walked out. Students and family members were angered, saying they pay $30,000 for tuition and he should not have walked out. I took a course where the professor had a rule: If your cell phone goes off in class, you are dismissed for that day. I never heard one ringtone in that class.

Here are excerpts from Higher Ed:

"Thomas followed through on his threat (as he had done just a few days earlier). And he then sent the university’s chancellor, his dean, and all of the students an e-mail message explaining his actions and his frustration at the “brazen” disrespect he had received in class. In the e-mail, he noted that the student who sent the text message is Cuban, and that last year, two Latino students had started to play tic-tac-toe during his class.

While Thomas noted that white students are also rude, he expressed frustration that — especially as a minority scholar himself — he would be treated in this way. “One might have thought that for all the talk about racism and the good of social equality, non-white students would be particularly committed to respecting a black professor,” Thomas wrote.

What the bleep was she thinking? What is the mindset of a person who thinks this attire is appropriate for a school prom? She wound up getting arrested for...perhaps, disturbing the peace? WATCH VIDEO

CNN is on a tour of several historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), surveying students on the question of what it means to be black in America. They have three schools left to tour, but it is not too late for students who attend these schools, to enter the iReporter Campus Contest on what their blackness in America means to them. CNN has a new black portal which can be found at www.cnn.com/blackinamerica. Watch Black in America Tour Contest Videos

Follow the jump for more information on the iReporter Campus Contest.

Hey, it's never too late. So many people need to start over that it is not funny. In addition to that, schools need to abolish social promotion. If a kid isn't up to par, they need to stop passing them to the next grade. Political correctness is out of control, and has been for too long.

Conversations Book Club and TRU Publishing, in connection with their literary partners*, are pleased to announce the 1st "Hiphop & Books" Youth Rally of Mississippi! This will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at the Smith Park in Downtown Jackson beginning at 1p.m. and ending at 5p.m.

The purpose of the event is to unite and entertain lovers of hiphop music with a family-friendly show as well as bring attention to the problems of illiteracy and school dropouts.

Conversations believes that by showing that the hiphop community is about more than just the glitz and glamour portrayed through television and music that it can serve as a wakeup call for young people to still strive for the best possible life they can get through a good education and positive role models.

The days events will feature space jumps for the kids provided by Inflatable Kingdom, concession-style food and performances by Mississippi's own Ondrea Nicole, Trill, G-Money(seen above), Britt, Jacktown Slim and Jack Squad. Our special guest for the rally is Lil Half Ounce aka HollywoodHalf whose album SMALL TOWN HYPE features Fiend, C-Murder, Lil Cali, Pearlie Mac, Savage of Trill Ent and more.

To encourage school participation, Conversations & TRU are presenting this contest: The school that has the most students that attend the rally will receive $1,000 in brand new books for their school library donated by Conversations & TRU! (In 2007, Conversations & The Jackson Advocate donated over $500.00 in brand new books to the Shady Creek Trailer Park in South Jackson.) At the close of the event there will also be a historic, special announcement made that you want to be present to hear!

Admission is free, however, vendors including Krooked Ledda Clothing and others will be on hand with merchandise. For more information, contact Robin Gardner at 601.664.8805, Stanley Clark at 601.559.3463 or Stephanie Mitchell at 601.500.8950. Also visit http://www.hiphopandbooks.com.

*This event is brought to you in part by Shadow Play Entertainment, For The People Productions, S. M. Productions, C. O. D. Records, Off Da Chain Entertainment and Jaia Productions

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This sounds like an event ANYTOWN, USA could use!