July 5 2015

In Vancouver streets, U.S. Women’s Soccer fever alive

My husband and I are on vacation in Vancouver, and happened upon — or rather couldn’t miss — the fever for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final soccer game between U.S.A. and Japan.  Red, white and blue whirligigs, socks, bandanas, face & body paint abound.  There was even a young girl showing her spirit with a Statue of Liberty flame.

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June 20 2015

Workshop challenges teachers to instill entrepreneurial spirit

 


What do you get when you fill a room of educators with entrepreneurial ideas?  You get a handful of solutions to school problems with little to no resources.

A two-day professional development workshop June 18 – 19 on how to teach students to think like entrepreneurs was hosted by Boise State University’s Venture College and designed by TeachIdaho retired educators Kali Kurdy and Jim Coughlin.

Sponsored by other organizations, such as Northwest Professional Educators, the workshop’s featured speakers included area entrepreneurs and Venture College students and administrators.

The teacher audience heard stories from young and old alike, from owners of established businesses like White Cloud Analytics and the Girl Scouts of Silver Sage to start-ups launched by BSU students, such as Whitney Hansen Financial Coaching and VividRoots.

Teachers tapped into entrepreneurial insights, learned to pitch a business plan, and presented product ventures to make-believe investors, a panel of judges from BSU and local government: Rep. (D) Cherie Buckner-Webb; Venture College graduate, Whitney Hansen; and two Venture administrators, Asstistant  Director Marilyn Bickle and Associate Director Ed Zimmer.

Although the final product designs and pitches from participating teachers — the Mindset Indicator, Rosie the Lanyard Alarm, VividRoutes backpacks, Whiteboard Desktops, and Scented Oils that keep students in classes motivated up to nine hours — may never arrive on retail shelves, there’s a big chance they may appear for free in Idaho classrooms near you.

June 4 2015

Relatives who cheer graduates fined $500, face criminal charges

Graduation

According to a June 3 New York Times article, Mississippi supporters who cheered inappropriately were charged and fined for criminal conduct.

At Borah’s May 29 graduation ceremony, the principal asked the audience to refrain from using noisemakers because he said they interfere with the audience’s ability to hear students’ names after the noisemakers go off.

Although I thought this was a reasonable request, I wasn’t aware that it was a national issue.  How did your high school graduation go this year?

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