Learning Aboard the Floating Classroom

What is a popular field trip today in London was once called 'school' for many children back in the 1930s.

The Grand Union Canal in London, was a major waterway during the Victorian period about 200 years ago. It also was a host of a floating classroom. The classroom was created for those children back then whose families worked on the canal, giving them an opportunity to go to school one day a week. Today, it is now a popular activity for classes to attend and to learn about the history surrounding the canal.

"The children who come on the boat don't really understand what the canal is. They either think it is a river or they think it is a sewer, because everybody throws their rubbish in," said Michael Moritz, the education manager on the West London Floating Classroom.

The Floating Classroom is a project run by the environmental charity Groundwork Thames Valley. It is used to teach kids about the canal and the surrounding area, enriching the deprived neighborhoods along it.

As kids board the Elsdale II, they don't realize how old it actually is. "It is quite a shock for them when they come on the boat and find out it's over 200 years old," said Michael Moritz.

One of the things they learn is the importance of the Grand Union Canal. The canal network back then can be compared to a major highway system today, or the "M1" route in London. And as they go along, the children play a series of games and quizzes to learn what life was like living and working on the canal.

The change of scenery helps kids actually want to learn. For kids with poor attendance records at school, this was a way to get them to come to school. "We've been trying to engage their parents and get them more involved, said Mrs Das, teacher of a middle school class. "It's certainly worked today because they have all turned up for the trip."

To read more about the Floating Classroom,click below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10702473

The Minnesota Reading Corps nationally recognized for being innovative

In a report recently published by America's Service Commissions and Innovations in Civic Participation, the Minnesota Reading Corps was named one of AmeriCorps' 52 most innovative programs in the country!

Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) is a non-profit organization that supports the development of innovative high-quality youth civic engagement policies and programs in the US and around the world. America's Service Commissions (ASC) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization representing and promoting state service commissions across the US.

The 2010 edition highlights 52 Americorps programs from 39 states. Minnesota even has two programs that made the list! The MRC is joined by the Community Technology Empowerment Project which places 30 members in non-profits, libraries and other community agencies across the Twin Cities to help adults and youth acquire the technology literacy skills necessary to secure employment and to improve academically.

The report also reitirates the fact that the MRC is one of the biggest and fastest growing AmeriCorps programs in the country! 550 members are placed in over 330 Head Start centers across the state, and the numbers keep on growing. We wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for all the hard working staff and members, BIG thanks and congrats to you all!

St. Cloud State University will use a grant to tweak how teachers are trained

St. Cloud State University (SCSU) was granted $4.5 million and said it will be used to change how potential teachers are trained. The plan of action hasn't been determined yet but the University is asking four Central Minnesota school districts to help design the best method of training that will be implemented over the next 10 years.

"SCSU graduates 350 potential teachers a year but the goal is to train and employ 25,000 new teachers in 10 years through the program," said Susan Heegaard, vice president and educational achievement and team leader for the Bush Foundation in St. Paul. When the project is done, it is expected that Central Minnesota school districts will be more involved when teachers are still in college and then SCSU will be more involved when teachers graduate and start work.

The grant is all part of the $40 million Bush Foundation program that includes 14 Universities in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. It is estimated that up to 17 Central MN school districts could be a part of the program. "The success of the program depends on partnerships. The University cannot do it alone," said Becky Krystynink, associate professor who is serving as co-director of what is called the Teacher Preperation Initiative.

The first batch of potential teachers that will enter the program will be the year of 2012 and will graduate in 2016. Other universities may enroll students earlier, some later.

The new Direct Loan Program is set in motion

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, which eliminated new loan originations under the bank-run Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), is putting its new Direct Loan Program into use.

Beginning July 1, all loans previously made under the FFEL program are being made under the Direct Loan Program in which students borrow directly from the Education Department instead of banks. This will save $68 billion over the next 11 years for the Federal Government, according to the Congressional Budget Office. These savings will be used to increase Pell Grants and other programs to make college more affordable and accessible for Americans. Pell Grants are a U.S. Department of Education post-secondary foundation and unlike loans, they don't have to be paid back.

"Student loan reform is a huge win for students, their families and taxpayers and will enable many more Americans to afford college and earn a degree," said Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education.

The Direct Loan Program operates as a public-private partnership, leveraging the federal government's lower cost of capital with the experience of a private sector. The Department of Education provides the capital for all new Direct Loans with private sector partners disbursing, servicing and collecting loans. The Federal Student Aid office runs the program as of now, but the Department is working on phasing in four new loan servicers to help with the growing need of loans. They will also soon contract not-for-profits to help service a portion of the loan portfolio.

"We have worked quickly since the passage of the legislation three months ago to put the mechanisms in place for timely release of this funding for fiscal year 2010," said Arne Duncan.

Reading Corps helps the state in reading

In an article published in the Pioneer Press last week, state testing results show that math scores are up but reading scores have remained stagnant.

After scores on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) about 10 years ago posted some average scores in math compared to the rest of the nation, Minnesota decided to devote more instruction in the classroom towards math. Nowadays, teachers spend more than an hour and a half on math compared to a measly 30 minutes in 1995. Scores were also helped by academies the state developed in order to teach teachers how to make math more relevant and exciting.

The increase in math scores is good news alone but to see that an important increase in math scores with students of color shows an even important one. The achievement gap between whites and students of color has been a thorn in Minnesota's side for a long time now, and although colored students have made an increase in math scores, the gap still remains.

Overall, 65 percent of students were proficient in math this year. That's almost a 7 percentage-point increase from 2006. Reading, however, saw 72 percent meet the state's reading goal, which is barely a percentage-point increase over the past five years. According to Alice Seagren, Minnesota Education Commissioner, "Reading has been stagnant nationally. We'd like to be different in Minnesota."

To help with the reading scores some schools bring in the Minnesota Reading Corps. In South Washington County school district, the MRC tutored 129 students who were reading below grade level. By the end of the school year, 82 percent of the students were proficient in reading. "That was substantially encouraging and why we're expanding," said Rick Spicuzza, the district's assistant superintendent of curriculum and assessment. Because of the substantial progress, the Reading Corps will expand and volunteer at 11 sites in the district next year.

To read more on the article, click below.
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_15415012?nclick_check=1

CNCS announces response plan for the BP oil spill

Corporation for National and Community Service announced earlier this week its strategy to engage national service and voluntary assets in responding to economic and environmental damage caused by BP oil spill. The plan was announced at the Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York City and through a field message to the agency's grantees across the nation.


The plan was developed in consultation with state service commissions in Gulf Coast states. It lays out the foundation for short and long-term efforts to build the capacity of Gulf Coast communities and non-profits in order to handle the increasing demand for help with the spill by developing strategies to recruit and manage volunteers.
 
More than 5,000 volunteers are providing a range of response activities, including lining the shores of the Gulf, monitoring coastlines and more. There will also be more than 500 Learn and Serve Summer of Service members assisting in environmental restoration and public information activities this summer. But because it is hazardous and dangerous to handle, the role of volunteers are restricted. That's why the plan carefully assesses what volunteers can and can not do.
 
Since this is the largest oil spill in U.S. history, it will take all the volunteers it can get. For more information on the oil spill pick up, click on the link below.
http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/factsheet_serviceresponse_oilspill.pdf

The CNCS Conference is fast approaching....

The National Conference on Volunteering and Service kicks off June 28 in New York City. The three day event is the world's largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, government and corporation sectors. It is nationally convened by the Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The annual event provides attendees the opportunity to learn, connect and be inspired through exciting and informative plenary sessions, workshops, special events, service projects, exhibits, specialized corporate tracks and more!

The conference also boasts a long and very impressive list of featured speakers: Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education; David A. Patterson, Govenor of New York; Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder and Chairman of Twitter; Craig Newmark, creator of Craigslist; Beth Kanter, author of Beth's Blog and how nonprofits can use social media; Aaron Williams, Director of the Peace Corps; Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York; and Patrick Corvington, CEO of Corportation of National and Community Service are just to name a few.

And rumor has it, there's going to be a very special guest attending the conference...!

Attendees of the conference include volunteer and service coordinators, non-profit professionals, social entrepreneurs, funders and philanthropists, AmeriCorps alums and anyone else who is ready to embark on a new and fresh approach to civic engagement.

You can follow the conference beforehand and during on Twitter, Facebook and its official blog at http://ncvs.blogspot.com/.

For more information on the conference, check out its Web site:
http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/