"Just please don't put on a cheerleading skirt, okay mom?"

I’ve got to be honest, I was all prepared to mock these moms for making their sons’ football games all about them.

Then I watched the video and I have to admit, they’re pretty cute.

As Huffington Post reports, these Michigan moms decided to form their own cheerleading squad. Only 215 students attend La Salle High School. While they have a great football team, not enough students are interested in trying out for cheerleading, so the moms of sixteen football players took matters into their own hands. Continue reading »

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I use Facebook.  And Twitter.  And YouTube.  And now, Google+ too.  I use them for work and for play.  For the first time,  my children’s school is putting a ‘School Privacy’ policy in place that limits how I might use these technology tools as they relate to kids and the school.  Citing respect and privacy, the new policy is in reference to photos and video taken at school events and effects all students and staff.

And not just kids and staff on school premises, but anything related to the school at all.  (think soccer games, plays, Halloween) And the policy doesn’t say I have to have the other parent’s permission to post video or pictures (assuming I have taken video at a soccer game), I have to have the SCHOOL’S written permission.

Now…. I do live in the same state that recently banned Teacher-Student friendships on social networking sites… and there are recent studies that say Facebook can actually ruin your kid’s grades, so is this any surprise?

My thoughts, naturally, in the video.

What say you, Internets?  Does your school have a similar policy?  Should they?

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Photo Credit: Danielle Smith

In my head I am no more than 28 or 30 years old, but clearly that isn’t the case. I have both the body and the wisdom to prove it.  With my 20 year High School reunion now in my review mirror (it was this past weekend) I have found myself reflecting quite a bit on how much I have changed since 1991.  Naturally, I could give you a detailed list of the myraid ways I have physically aged, but that’s just part of the process.  Fortunately my fashion sense has evolved (note turquoise dress and white gloves to the left).  But, as I have been reflecting the past few weeks (I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit as this weekend approached) and even more now that it has past, I’ve found the ways my outlook on life have changed to qualify as ‘most improved’.

Given the chance, what would you say to your High School Self?

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Does everyone deserve a second chance? What if it's for a teen sex offender who wants to attend school with your kid?

An 18-year-old student who is also a convicted sex offender has withdrawn from Yuca Valley High School in California.

Steven Holt had registered for classes on April 4, and controversy ensued when parents of other students at the school learned of his presence, and his past. Apparently (and understandably) they were less than thrilled with the fact that a sex offender would be allowed to mix with high school kids.

The school district sent home a letter to parents alerting them to the fact that Holt was convicted in Wisconsin of “sexually assaulting minors ranging from 15 to as young as 6, including at east one cognitively disabled minor.”

Despite his past transgressions, Holt still had a legal right to attend school.

Continue reading »

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Big school v. small school: Does it matter?

For years, the conventional wisdom has been that smaller schools are better for kids – an idea apparently given new attention in the forthcoming movie “Waiting for Superman.” But a school in Massachusetts that is the largest in its state and among the largest in the nation is prompting some people to question the smaller-is-better orthodoxy.

A decade ago, Brockton High School, which is attended by 4,100 students, had abysmal test scores and embarrassingly high dropout rates; administrators and educators had all but given up when a group of teachers persuaded school leaders to let them make a concerted effort to improve matters. They “organized a schoolwide campaign that involved reading and writing lessons into every class in all subjects, including gym,” the New York Times reports. The group worked to educate and support their fellow teachers, enlisting them all in a common goal, scheduling regular meetings dedicated to teacher training. Lo and behold, scores improved, as did students’ self-esteem and commitment to learning — and teachers’ regard for their pupils’ capabilties. Things continued to get better, and for the past couple of years, the huge, extremely diverse school has performed in the top 10 percent of all Massachusetts high schools.

Continue reading »

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We all want our kids to have lots of nice friends at school.   Having buddies in the classroom can take some of the sting out of dragging out of bed every morning to face a world of rules, schedules and tests.  For a kid, having a laugh and connecting with friends at school can act as a much-needed social release valve amid the pressures inherent in all that learning.

But just as school friends can help a student feel happier in the classroom, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, say there might also be an academic benefit to such relationships. Continue reading »

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You know you taught them better than that, but when it comes to cheating at school most kids admit to finding a little wiggle room on the old moral compass. It’s not that they weren’t listening when you stressed the importance of being honest and true.  It’s more a case of selective application. Continue reading »

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