01 Jul
Posted by: Harrison Gresham in: Education Advices
Beachside Montessori Village student Henry Buchanan was a “very, very special boy” who was well-known for his love of basketball and ear-to-ear smile, Principal Joseph Balchunas said Monday.
Henry, who was an avid Miami Heat fan, died Wednesday of a case of suspected bacterial meningitis, the day before school got out for summer.
Balchunas said the Hollywood school’s “tight community” has come together in the days since first-grader’s death to grieve and offer support to the family. Teachers and parents are particularly concerned about how Henry’s older sister, Kayla, is coping with the loss, he said.
Though he doesn’t know the family’s financial situation, Balchunas said parents also had been dropping off money for the family. The school has turned their donations into a collection fund for “whatever they need,” he said.
The Broward County Health Department is expected to release test results this week to confirm bacterial meningitis as Henry’s cause of death.
01 Jul
Posted by: Alana Gormanston in: Education Sport Notes
Fullback Julius Young has a way of affecting defenders. And that’s before he receives a handoff.
“It was crazy,” said Young, a recent Xenia High School graduate. “Somebody my size, there wasn’t anybody who wanted to tackle me, even in practice.”
At 6 feet, 270 pounds, Young will be easy to spot in the South backfield during today’s 28th annual White Allen Pigskin Classic high school all-star football game.
The contest features recent grads from throughout the area whose coaches are members of the Miami Valley Football Coaches Association. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Welcome Stadium.
Big fullbacks like Young are rare. Exceptionally strong, quick and agile, Young was a shutdown defensive end for the Buccaneers. That limited his time on offense.
Still, he rushed for 441 yards (5.4 average), including a long run of 71 yards.
“Those big defensive linemen make good fullbacks,” Xenia coach Bob Delong said. “The problem is, the defensive coaches need them.”
Young will play all offense in the Classic, something he promises to lobby hard to do at Urbana University this fall, too. He’ll mostly be a blo
I’m getting ready to head down to the X for the first round of the NHL Draft tonight. Use this thread to leave any comments you have on the goings-on tonight.
The best place to follow my trenchant insights on the draft will be on Twitter. @ChrisDilks or here if you prefer a web-based version of Twitter. Enjoy the evening, everyone.
If you are a successful actor, businessman or novelist, you are likely to be famous. If you are a successful school, forget about it. That’s why most people have never heard of the two schools at the top of this year’s Washington Post High School Challenge rankings of American high schools.
Two Dallas public magnet schools — the School of Science & Engineering and the Gifted & Talented Magnet — are ranked first and second on the national list, based on participation rates on college-level tests. They share a building with four other small magnets near the middle of the city. They have been at or near the top of the list for several years, but their principals and teachers are rarely if ever seen on national news.
That is probably a good thing. Celebrity gets in the way of serious work. Engineering & Science, Talented & Gifted and the rest of the 1,910 high schools (including more than 140 in the Washington area) recognized on the list have staffs dedicated to raising students to new levels of achievement. At Scie
30 Jun
Posted by: Harrison Gresham in: Education Advices
Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, Calif., has been teaching students how to adapt to life with an animal at their side since World War II.
The training process lasts about a month, and recently, about half-dozen blind students were preparing for their second class. Some are here for the first time and have to learn everything from scratch, like how to put on that harness. The school serves about 300 people a year.
Training supervisor Adam Waskow helps them get started and shows one client — what students are called here — how to slip on the harness. The dogs and humans are just getting to know each other.
It’s a pretty intimate relationship. They sleep in the same room in the dorm and spend most of each day working together on the streets of San Rafael.
This area was rural when Guide Dogs moved here after the World War II. Now it’s part of the leafy suburbs that stretch north of San Francisco.
The trainees pile into a bus that takes them into downtown San Rafael, which offers a real urban environment in a small town setting. The
Class of 2011 Commencement Snapshot
Total graduates: 571
Degrees granted: 615
Undergraduate degrees: 532
Graduate degrees: 83
Undergraduate level grads: 488
Graduate level grads: 83
Dual-degree graduates: 43
Men: 214
Women: 357
Age of youngest graduate: 21
Age of oldest graduate: 48
Number of states represented by graduates: 20
Number of countries represented by graduates (other than
Number of graduates with a 3.40 GPA or higher: 226
Undergraduate: 159
Graduate: 67
Breakdown of Degrees
BS: 164
BSHS: 76
MBA:18
MOT:32
MPH: 13
MS: 44
DPT: 36
PharmD: 224
PhD: 8
Graduates by College
College of Graduate Studies: 52
Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy: 58
Misher College of Arts and Sciences: 87
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy: 269
Samson College of Health Sciences: 107
Degrees by College
College of Graduate Studies: 52
Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy: 58
Misher College of Arts and Sciences: 88
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy: 269
Samson College of Health Sciences: 148