There’s a crisis for our children’s education caused by the state budget shortfall 100,000 possible layoffs for public school employees statewide…more than 1,000 proposed for AISD Larger class sizes, cuts of $1,000 per pupil, and elimination of grants for pre-kindergarten for 64,000 schoolchildren. No money for crucial new textbooks, cuts to dropout prevention programs and [...]
Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week, so be sure to recycle that wrapping paper (unless it’s a metallic paper) along with all your [...]
One spin around the web for every week of the school year by Jennifer Binford This week: In Like a Lion Whoever said that April is the cruelest month didn’t live in central Texas in March. It’s lovely. Too lovely. So lovely, in fact, that event organizers can’t resist crowding just one more lively diversion [...]
For the tenth consecutive year, we are providing an opportunity for our students to “shadow” a professional at work on Friday, February 5th from 9:00 to 12:00. This is an important opportunity for 6th graders to spend the day exploring different work settings, and it will give students a chance to explore career opportunities that might interest them. The long [...]
One spin around the web for every week of the school year by Jennifer Binford This week: Back from the brink When it comes to sweets at the holidays, otherwise completely sensible, moderate, restrained adults have been known to overdo it ever so slightly. (It’s, ahem, no one you know.) Especially with those exotic confections [...]
Go Green with your holiday gifts! Did you know? Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week. What you can do: 1. Consider buying or [...]
One spin around the web for every week of the school year by Jennifer Binford This week: The giving season I wish I were kidding, but it’s practically December. Maybe this doesn’t come as a news flash for you, but those of us still emerging from a Halloween sugar bender are blinking uncomprehendingly at the [...]
One spin around the web for every week of the school year by Jennifer Binford This week: Pages by ages Remember my post not long ago about the weekly bestseller list for children’s books at The New York Times site? Retrace your websteps, because we’re headed back there for the special section on children’s books that [...]
One spin around the web for every week of the school year by Jennifer Binford This week: The perfect find date Two great calendars to tell you about this week—one virtual and the other ink and paper. The first is TodayInAustin, calendar heaven for the digerati among us (you know who you are). They aggregate [...]
Pack Waste-Free Lunches Did you know? It is estimated that a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year, on average. That equates to 9.3 tons of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. What you can do: On days when your child packs a lunch, make it [...]
News from the blog
- Take Action! Resources for State and Local Budget Issues
- Green Holidays & Green Resolutions
- Mathews Elementary Video
- Catching 40 Links: Week Fifteen
- 6th Grade Job Shadowing
- Catching 40 Links: Week Fourteen
- December’s Green Tip
- Catching 40 Links: Week Thirteen
- Catching 40 Links: Week Twelve
- See a holiday show and win $10K for Mathews!