Link.

Sandra Day O'Connor, Georgetown University, and Arizona State University collaborate for online, game-oriented civics curriculum for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. 

Something like this is vital and sadly missing, as O'Connor notes below.

Excerpt:

"...now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country..."

I've typed that a million times - like many of you, probably - while practicing typing skills, under my mom's tutelage. I've always liked that it ended with "country", and not the original wording of the phrase, which is "party."  

The morning of March 15, 1781, was clear and cold. A light frost had disappeared under the first rays of the sun, but the ground underfoot was soft and spongy from long winter rains and snows.

Which Political Leader Are You Most Like?

Who would have thought that by creating "a la carte" menus and lines in school cafeterias poor students would stop eating the free school lunches - Someone needs to work on the "coolness" issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/education/01lunch.html

"On another day, a group of classmates who also qualify for federally subsidized lunches sat on a bench. One ate a slice of pizza from the line where students pay for food; the rest went without.

Most core Republican Party special interests, with a partial exception for some elements of the Religious Right, essentially believe in Social Darwinism. They heap high praise on “The Individual” because they usually are, as individuals, heaped high with special privileges. If not they are wealth groupie wannabes. Which is why Mike Huckabee meets with such disdain from the Republican establishment – he sometimes gives a nod toward right wing populism.

What is wisdom?

In a way - the traditional definition of a word or concept may be less important than understanding what it means to those around you - so - no just going to get the dictionary definition, lol!

Kelly

On Wednesday August 22nd at 9 p.m. on PBS (as always check your local listings) a new documentary will premier. Its about a time that your history classes may have skipped over and with that oversight contributed to the misunderstandings of today.

Over a thousand years ago, the sun-washed land of southern Spain was home to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, living together and flourishing. Their culture and beliefs intertwined, and the knowledge of the ancients was gathered and reborn. Here were the very seeds of the Renaissance.

The recent SCOTUS decision to limit school boards' ability to control the racial make-up of schools reminded me of a review I wrote of Jonathan Kozol's The Shame of the Nation. It also reminded me of a passage from the book that I found particularly disheartening:

"I wanted to take an AP class," she answered.

I would absolutely love to blog about this, but between being swamped at work (for several weeks now) and the insanity of endless number of home responsibilities, I just haven't had time to write a thoughtful blog.

But, I'd love to hear what you all think of some of these issues. I'm reproducing most of a very well written article. Other articles on this topic are on the side.