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Twins. Twins. And more twins!

admin — Thu, 30 May 2013 05:41:22 +0000

Twins are cool.

Whether they’re in the “House”…

…at the hotel…

…or at school.

Particularly in school.

This year, Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette, Illinois is poised to break the Guinness World Record
for most sets of twins in one school grade. With a whopping 23 SETS OF TWINS in its 5th Grade class
(accounting for 10% of the class total!) there’s no doubt that Wilmette will take the record from three
schools that currently share the record with 16 sets of twins. Talk about a Full House!

Recovering The Classics

admin — Wed, 29 May 2013 05:15:03 +0000

Seventy years after a writer dies, his/her work falls into the public domain where it can be
freely distributed. That’s why you can download 1000s of books for free on your Kindle.

In an effort to package and preserve these classic literary works for a whole new generation.
Creative Action Network, DailyLit and Harvard Bookstore have created Recovering the Classics,
an opportunity for designers and illustrators to create contemporary takes on 50 classic literary
masterpieces. Once they reach 50 designs, they’ll move on to the next 50 lit classics and so on.

“By repackaging them for new technologies and new generations, we hope more people will fall
in love with these books like we have” states Creative Action Network’s Max Slavkin.

Here’s a small sampling of some of the amazing designs currently available.

Frankenstein. Illustration by Roberlan Borges.

Type Smoke. Illustration by Ioannis Fetanis.

The Time Machine. Illustration by Brixton.

The Brothers Karamazov. Illustration by Roberlan Borges.

BUGFLESH. Illustration by Mario Fuentes.

‘

DEATHMORPHOSIS. Illustration by Mario Fuentes.

Heart of Darkness. Illustration by mafMOVE.

To see all covers currently available and purchase any of these books, click here.

Dre Academy. Coming to USC in 2014.

admin — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:49:46 +0000

Rapper/producer Dr. Dre and music producer/”American Idol’ mentor Jimmy Iovine
recently donated $70 MILLION to the University of Southern California (USC) that would
create a new business, arts and technology academy. Their donation is the third largest gift
to American higher education ever from a celebrity, behind George Lucas and David Geffen.

Dre and Iovine created Beats, the wildly successful headphone company that reportedly makes
$1 billion in sales annually. The two have been challenged to find strong talent to recruit for the
company, particularly software engineers and marketers. So the idea for the academic program
“came out of us trying to find people to work for us” Iovine told the New York Times.

The academy will provide a special four-year program for undergraduates whose interests span
several fields from marketing to computer science to visual design and other arts. It will include
one-on-one mentoring faculty mentoring with university professors and interaction with
entertainment industry luminaries. The academy will accept its first class of 25 students in 2014.

As featured on LAist.com (5/23/13)

admin — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

The Ferris Of Them All!

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:22:50 +0000

Chicago resident, Clinton Shepherd proved that he’s the WHEEL DEAL last weekend.

The 32-year-old operations manager at Chicago’s Navy Pier SHATTERED the Guinness World
Record for riding a Ferris wheel or theme park ride the longest. Mr. Shepard rode the 15-story tall
Ferris wheel lakefront ride for 48 hours, crushing the previous record of 30 hours and 35 seconds.

Shepherd told NBC News “Chicago was home to the world’s first Ferris wheel and the title should be here.”
He boarded the ride Friday afternoon at 2:30pm and got off Sunday, 48 hours, 8 minutes, 25 seconds later.

In order to break the record, he had to follow a strict set of rules. He could take a 5 minute break every
hour but he could not fall asleep. So you might be asking yourself HOW did he keep himself occupied?
Well, for one, he had visitors ride with him in his gondola, which was outfitted with a TV, chandelier,
curtains and a table. He shared a candlelight dinner with his girlfriend Friday night, he listened
to music, played Xbox games, snacked on meals, and watched Batman and James Bond movies.

Want to know what it would feel like to ride a Ferris wheel for 48 hours, 8 minutes and 35 seconds?
Well, simply watch the following video 1,683 times. Enjoy!

The New Periodic Table Song (In Order)

admin — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:04:01 +0000

You Can-Can learn the Periodic Table! This video and catchy tune show you how easy it can be.

10 Best Public Schools In America

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:19:15 +0000

“U.S. News and World Report” released their list of the 10 Best Public Schools in the U.S. today.
Did a school in your state make this list?

10. Academic Magnet High School – North Charleston, South Carolina

This school’s tagline is “Seriously smart.” and for good reason. The school only offers honors and
advanced placement courses. Students are required to complete and present a senior thesis.
Admission to the school requires taking the ACT’s Explore Test and submitting a writing sample.

___________________________________________________________________

9. International School – Bellevue, Washington

This school’s curriculum starts in the 6th grade. Students are required to take 7 years of international
studies and math. They must also study foreign language – French or German. And take a “Focus Week”
of outside classroom study that includes backpacking trips or the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, OR.

___________________________________________________________________

8. Biotechnology High School – Freehold, New Jersey

Study at this school focuses on project-based learning with students required to complete an internship at
Rutgers University or a private company. Students can take International Baccalaureate classes that are
typically only available at colleges. Of the Top Ten Schools, this one has the lowest student to teacher ratio (13:1).

___________________________________________________________________

7. Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School – Birmingham, Alabama

THE highest ranked magnet school in the U.S. with more than half of the school’s students being minorities.
For admission, students must have a 3.0GPA or higher, have completed Algebra 1, and “indicate aptitude and
preparation to complete a high level academic curriculum successfully” with their standardized test scores.

___________________________________________________________________

6. Pine View School – Osprey, Florida

A rigorous curriculum that emphasizes the importance of letting students work at their own pace,
this school for gifted children has 2,200 students. 1/5 of those are minority students.

___________________________________________________________________

5. BASIS Scottsdale — Scottsdale, Arizona

This school offers a number of AP classes and teaches an accelerated curriculum that allows students
to graduate in 3 years. Students can choose a fourth year to do a special senior project that includes a
“real world” internship. The school also has a blog that follows the students as they work on these projects.

___________________________________________________________________

4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology – Alexandria, Virginia

This school features THE most advanced science labs in America. The school requires its
students take 5 years of math and computer science. The school also has some of the highest
test scores in the nation, with their students, on average, taking more than seven AP tests.

___________________________________________________________________

3. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology – Lawrenceville, Georgia

This STEM-certified school uses a lottery to determine admission. Every student is given a laptop and is
required to take a minimum of four engineering and 3 AP courses to graduate. Internship coordinators
help students get work experience. The only foreign language taught is Spanish and Mandarin.
The school continues to grow with 100 new students added to the last 2 freshman classes each year.

___________________________________________________________________

2. BASIS Tucson – Tucson, Arizona

The second BASIS school to make the list, this school follows the same accelerated program as the other
BASIS schools. BASIS Tuscon has 670 students with almost half of those being minorities.

___________________________________________________________________

1. School for the Talented and Gifted – Dallas, Texas

260 students. 58% minority enrollment. 30% from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Getting into this public school is not easy. Next year, students in the Dallas school district will have
to compete for the school’s coveted 65 open spots. The school sets an extremely high bar for students,
requiring them to take a minimum of 11 AP classes during their high school careers.

There you have it! The 10 Best Public Schools in America.
Click here to see the complete list on the U.S. News and World Report website.

Whimsical Sky Art by Thomas Lamadieu

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:18:20 +0000

To French artist, Thomas Lamadieu, the sky’s the limit.
Literally.

Lamadieu (aka Roots Art) stands in the middle of France’s historical streets and
takes photographs in the direction of the sky. He then uses the odd shapes created
where the buildings meet the sky in those photos as a canvas for his drawings.

Original.

Playful.

Celebratory.

To Thomas Lamadieu, things are always looking up.

To see more of his original Sky Art, click here.

Cartoon Network’s “The Bully Effect”

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:01:31 +0000

Cartoon Network has created the on-going campaign, STOP BULLYING: SPEAK UP, to education
students, teachers and parents on the effects of bullying and what can be done to prevent it.

This Sunday (April 28 at 5:30/4:30C), Cartoon Network presents “The Bully Effect”, the true story
of Alex Libby. a student was seriously bullied and the good that happened when someone spoke up.
During this time, you can also Live Chat online with expert Rosalind Wiseman.

If you don’t see the program, you can still visit Cartoon Network’s website and earn badges,watch videos,
take the pledge, and print a flag you can display in your room, at school, or anywhere to show your support.

There’s also a section with checklists, tip sheets, suggested reading, and more for educators and parents.

Join Cartoon Network in their fight to stop bullying! Click here to find out how.

April Fools from Coursera

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:13:22 +0000

Coursera is an online education provider who made headlines last week
for signing on 29 more schools to their open, online courses called MOOCs,
nearly DOUBLING the number of schools offering instruction.

Today, we bring them to your attention because of
the new course they started offering this morning…

UNDERWATER BASKETWEAVING!

Now if you’re like me, or anyone else who’s ever attended school,
Underwater Basketweaving was ALWAYS a class you hoped would show up
on your course curriculum. Read Coursera’s class description below:

Click here if you want to watch the course’s FOOLish promotional video on their website.