Twitter has taken the social media industry by storm, and a few teachers are trying to harness that power for education. In the article below, some colleges are testing a software named Hotseat, “which lets students key in questions from their cell phones or laptops, using Twitter or Facebook.†Sugato Chakravarty, a professor of consumer sciences and retailing at Purdue University is one of two professors testing Hotseat. Asked if students gain too much control of the classroom using Hotseat, Mr. Chakravarty replied, “students in class are online or texting on their phones anyway, so why not try to channel that energy to class discussion?†Monica Rankin PhD., an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, was looking to incorporate more student-centered learning activities in her U.S. History. After some trial and error, Dr. Rankin found that the most effective way to use Twitter to facilitate classroom discussions was to break students into small groups to first discuss the reading, and then have one person in each group tweet the most relevant comments from the group. The comments were projected on a screen for the rest of the class to see what others groups were discussing.
The Puzzle of Boys
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Girls have been the center of academic debate for years, but now that they make up over half of the college student population, some scholars and psychologists worry about the achievement of boys. The article bellows mentions many books published over the last 20 years on the subject. There is a debate over whether there is a real problem boys are facing today, but many of these books discuss varying degrees of masculinity and the need to shed the stoic, emotionally closed-off stereotype boys.
A psychology professor at New York University, Niobe Way, recently finished a book on her interviews of teenage boys about their friendships. In these interviews, Way discovered that boys frequently said they liked their best friends because “They won’t laugh at me when I talk about serious things.†This emotionally intelligent side of boys is seldom seen and seems to disappear during high school. The article below states that:
“Touchy-feely talk about friendships may seem disconnected from boys’ academic woes, but Way insists they’re pieces of the same puzzle. ‘If you don’t understand the experience of boyhood,’ she says, ‘you’ll never understand the achievement gaps.’â€
Although these studies contain conflicting data, how can parents use this information to raise emotionally intelligent boys?
What can teachers, principals and districts do to make learning more appealing to boys while encouraging emotional intelligence?
How can a middle ground be reached to pull out the best strengths of boys and the best strengths of girls?
ARTICLE:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 22, 2009
The Puzzle of Boys
Scholars and others debate what it means to grow up male in America
By Thomas Bartlett
My son just turned 3. He loves trains, fire trucks, tools of all kinds, throwing balls, catching balls, spinning until he falls down, chasing cats, tackling dogs, emptying the kitchen drawers of their contents, riding a tricycle, riding a carousel, pretending to be a farmer, pretending to be a cow, dancing, drumming, digging, hiding, seeking, jumping, shouting, and collapsing exhausted into a Thomas the Tank Engine bed wearing Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas after reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book.
That doesn’t make him unusual; in fact, in many ways, he couldn’t be more typical. Which may be why a relative recently said, “Well, he’s definitely all boy.” It’s a statement that sounds reasonable enough until you think about it. What does “all boy” mean? Masculine? Straight? Something else? Are there partial boys? And is this relative aware of my son’s fondness for Hello Kitty and tea sets?
These are the kinds of questions asked by anxious parents and, increasingly, academic researchers. Boyhood studies—virtually unheard of a few years ago—has taken off, with a shelf full of books already published, more on the way, and a new journal devoted to the subject. Much of the focus so far has been on boys falling behind academically, paired with the notion that school is not conducive to the way boys learn. What motivates boys, the argument goes, is different from what motivates girls, and society should adjust accordingly.
To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com
Games Evolve as Tools for Teaching Financial Literacy
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Financial literacy is not required for K-12 instruction, but it is an important real-world skill, especially amid today’s economic crisis. The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy (founded January 2008) decided that it is the “policy of the Federal Government to encourage financial literacy among the American people.” In January 2009, the Council called for the United States Congress to mandate financial education for all K-12 students.
To improve financial literacy among students, online games are using simulations to appeal to today’s generation of gamers and provide easy integration in core curricula – a bonus since most teachers feel ill-equipped to teach financial literacy. The article below states “A game-based environment allows us to simulate these skills. [Students] can experiment for different outcomes, and they can, through trial and error, begin to develop those skills,†said Katherine Griffin, founder of Griffin Enterprises which created MoneyU, an online game that teaches financial concepts.
What can you as a parent do to promote financial literacy?
How can your child have a stake in their college financial planning now?
ARTICLE:
EducationWeek
November 16, 2009
Games Evolve as Tools for Teaching Financial Literacy
Online simulations emphasize skill development.
By Katie Ash
Although a majority of states do not require financial-literacy classes in K-12 schools, the nation’s recent economic struggles have spurred growing interest in the subject by educators—many of whom are turning to digital-game-based approaches to teach students about personal finance and investing.
“We are pretty much teaching the same things we were teaching prior to the recession, but the biggest difference is the general public is more receptive to the message,†said Laura Levine, a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and the executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a Washington-based group of organizations that aims to improve financial literacy for students through research, advocacy, and educational resources.
Harnessing the power of digital environments might be an effective way to provide financial education to students, said Jack A. Naglieri, a professor of psychology at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., who has conducted research on the effectiveness of digital games for learning.
To view this entire article visit www.edweek.org
Report Highlights Characteristics of Colleges With High Transfer-Success Rates
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Many students attend community colleges for general studies courses in hopes of transferring to a four-year institution to complete their bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, not all of these students continue on, which is especially true for minority and low-income students. The article below introduces a new report, Bridging the Gaps to Success: Promising Practices for Promoting Transfer Among Low-Income and First-Generation Students by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, that “highlights the work of six Texas community colleges with higher-than-expected transfer rates among their students.†In the report, the Pell Institute found that all six of the Texas community colleges shared three main objectives:
1. Structured academic pathways
2. Cultures emphasizing personal attention to students
3. College presidents and staff from as culturally diverse backgrounds as their students.
The community colleges worked in conjunction both with high schools and their nearby four-year institutions to encourage college coursework in high school to prepare students for college level work and to ensure credit transfer when transitioning to four-year institutions. Starting at a community college is an effective way for students to jump-start their higher education pursuits because it’s more cost effective than going straight to a four-year university or degree program, and these students have an opportunity to prove themselves at the community college level by acquiring strong study skills and qualifying their desire to pursue a higher education. Conversely, if they decide college isn’t for them, they haven’t wasted a lot of time or money, and they can use this information to hone what it is they really want to do for a future vocation or career.
LifeBound’s book, Majoring in the Rest of Your Life: Career Secrets for College Students is a tool for college-bound students, and Pearson Education’s Keys to Effective Learning can help students sharpen their study skills for college level work. Here are questions pertinent to today’s article:
How can community colleges nationwide implement similar objectives to the ones in Texas?
What else can be done at the high school level to help prepare students (especially minority and low-income students) for the rigors of college?
How else can community colleges and four-year institutions ban together to ensure a smooth and effective transition?
ARTICLE:
Chronicle of Higher Education
November 19, 2009
Report Highlights Characteristics of Colleges With High Transfer-Success Rates
By Jennifer Gonzalez
Washington
A new report by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education may provide clues on how best to shepherd students from two-year to four-year institutions.
The findings come at a time when the Obama administration has put out a clarion call to community colleges to educate an additional five million students by 2020, as part of his broader goal of increasing the proportion of Americans who are college graduates.
“In order to achieve the president’s goal and the goals of so many others, like the Lumina Foundation, you have to tap into this population,” said Chandra Taylor Smith, the institute’s director. “Community colleges are a critical component to achieving the goal of educating more people.”
To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com
Racial Achievement Gap Still Plagues Schools
The big question posed by the NPR story below that has yet to be answered is whether lower-level classes can hold students to higher standards, or whether any sorting system sends the wrong message to students about their ability to learn. Tracking has been a fundamental aspect of education in the U.S. since the early part of this century when public schools devised a system of curriculum tracks in order to accommodate the diverse group of students attending school for the first time. Recently, tracking has generated a large volume of research and policy analysis. Here’s a summary from the National Center for Education Statistics:
“There has been much debate over whether or not tracking creates unequal quality in educational experiences and later opportunity (Oakes, Garnoran, and Page 1991). There is also concern about whether tracking perpetuates, rather than alleviates, differences in children created by socioeconomic stratification (Oakes 1992). This issue has been particularly relevant for educators and researchers concerned about equal access to education by minority students who, in racially integrated schools, are disproportionately represented in curricula designed for low-ability or non-college-bound students.” The National Center for Education Statistics also reports: “Postsecondary students who take remedial reading are about half as likely as those who take no remedial courses to earn a degree or certificate.”
Source: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp
Typically, students are assigned to levels by a combination of grades, test scores and teacher recommendations. Columbia Principal Lovie Lilly, who is African-American, conducted research on the experience of black students at her school while studying for her doctoral degree. “Black children in higher-level classes were ignored, or perceived that they were being ignored, or did not feel comfortable going to the teacher after school to get help,” Lilly says. “They gave up and decided to go to level three classes where at least there were other black children.”
Remediation is also costly. Here are annual estimates from one district that tracks this data, Maryland Public Schools:
- Families pay: $283 million
- Taxpayers pay: $978 million
How can schools boost the lowest performers while improving achievement for all?
What role do learning styles and multiple intelligences play in the educational outcomes of students?
How can we better prepare students for a love of learning and college level work?
ARTICLE:
Racial Achievement Gap Still Plagues Schools
by Nancy Solomon
October 28, 2009
NPR
American schools have struggled for decades to close what’s called the ‘minority achievement gap’ — the lower average test scores, grades and college attendance rates among black and Latino students.
Typically, schools place children who are falling behind in remedial classes, to help them catch up. But some schools are finding that grouping students by ability, also known as tracking or leveling, causes more problems than it solves.
To view this entire article and listen to NPR visit www.npr.org
Educational Video Games Mix Cool With Purpose
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Today’s generation of students loves video games and some companies are trying to put this passion “to good use.†In the article below, children “are playing educational video games as part of their school curriculum, in after-school programs or via the Web from home.†Sasha Barab, professor at Indiana University, created Quest Atlantis, a game that incorporates science. Barab states in the article, “Partly what I have to argue to teachers is that there’s value seeing that content bound up in a real-world story.†These educational video games are online for interaction and collaboration, use core subjects such as physics and math to finish a task or trial and work toward solving problems that relate to the real world. In Gamestar Mechanic players even have to defend their solutions to other Gamestar Mechanic players. Alan Gershenfiled, a former executive at Activision and the founder of E-Line Media, says “You’re essentially designing a digital system for others. That’s a very powerful 21st century skill.â€
A New York City public school called Quest to Learn opened this fall and focuses on game-based learning. While this high initiative is a great start to engaging students in learning, how can traditional schools incorporate such educational video games in to their curriculum? How can publishers work to create content which truly involves students in creating their own learning? How will the role of teachers need to change to become a skilled facilitator given the scope of interactivity which technology provides?
ARTICLE:
New York Times
November 2, 2009
Educational Video Games Mix Cool With Purpose
By STEFANIE OLSEN
One of KC Phillips’s favorite video games is the Xbox shoot-’em-up Halo, because, he says, his dad taught him how to play it when he was younger.
Now 15 and a high school sophomore in Madison, Wis., KC views the game with a more discerning eye. Last year, he played Gamestar Mechanic, an educational video game that asks players to solve a set of puzzles in order to win enough power to design and create their own video games.
“Now every single time I play video games, I really think about how the designers built it and what mechanics went into it,†he said.
To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com
The Impact of Teachers
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Who are your most memorable teachers? What did they do that made such a lasting impression on you? For one thing, you were probably inspired by them to achieve more, and they may have been instrumental in helping you experience a learning breakthrough. The breakthrough wasn’t just about the math problem or getting back the second draft of your essay. It was about an emotional connection to the teacher’s belief in you as a student. Teachers have long-lasting impacts on the lives of their students, and the greatest teachers inspire students toward greatness. One example of a great teacher is Michele Washington, who received Chicago’s prestigious Golden Apple Award in 1989. No one at Golden Apple knew at the time, but Washington had been living on and off the streets since she was 15. “I was into bad stuff. I sat in crack houses. I saw people get shot at. Anything you can think of, I probably saw it or experienced it,†Washington recalled. “School was an escape from the realities I had to face at home and in my neighborhood.â€
Washington started at DePaul University in the late summer of 1989 with financial assistance from Golden Apple. College was literally a way to escape that life, but she didn’t completely extract herself from it, continuing to let the distractions get the better of her. With steadfast guidance and assistance from Golden Apple, Washington pulled herself together and graduated. After a brief stint in adult education, she took over a 6th grade science class at Oscar Mayer School in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Wanting to help more kids and realizing the positive impact that she could have on youth, the desire to lead and become a principal began to surface. Washington went back to school to get a master’s degree in a program designed for people who want to be principals at Hispanic schools. “I know there is something bigger I need to do. I accept that, and I’m ready for it,†she said. “Golden Apple was my lifeline. I owe them so much. And thanks to what they gave me, I now know what my purpose is.†Now the first African-American school administrator in Cicero, Illinois, Washington is completing her Ph.D. studies.
Source: http://www.goldenapple.org/pages/golden_apple_achievers/159.php
Teaching is a complicated job. It demands broad knowledge of subject matter, curriculum and standards; enthusiasm, a caring attitude and a love of learning; knowledge of discipline and classroom management techniques; and a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. The article below announces that the Gates Foundation is conducting a study on teacher quality, which is met with some criticism because teachers often feel threatened in their roles today, perhaps more than ever. Hopefully, the study will not only champion teachers to renew their passion for their profession, but it will honor teachers who are building a stronger, better-educated society.
How can we help ensure that our nation’s 1,450 colleges, universities and departments of education are doing an outstanding job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom?
How can we extend effective professional development approaches to the 2.4 million teachers working in 85,000 k-12 schools in the United States that contribute to strengthening the profession and improving the schools?
How can we help teachers boost their emotional intelligence so that they engage students in the classroom and inspire them to become lifelong learners?
ARTICLE:
Nearly 100 schools sign up for Gates-funded teacher quality study
by Anna Phillips
November 3, 2009
A two-year project to study what makes a teacher good or bad is taking root in some of the city’s schools after struggling to bring teachers on board.
The United Federation of Teachers and the city’s Department of Education announced in September that they had joined forces to promote a study of teacher effectiveness paid for by the Gates Foundation. The $2.6 million project, called Measures of Effective Teaching, will look at ways of measuring teacher quality beyond using test scores.
A UFT special representative, Joseph Colletti, said 96 schools, most of them high schools, have signed onto the project. The goal is to have 100.
To view this entire article visit www.gothamschools.org
The Greatest Generation (of Networkers)
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
As the debate continues on the pros and cons of media multitasking, the article below offers a balanced perspective:
“This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they’ve integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.”
What does the research show? According to this article:
“Young workers spend more time than older workers socializing via their devices or entertaining themselves online. In a 2008 survey for Salary.com, 53% of those under age 24 said this was their primary “time wasting” activity while at work, compared to just 34% for those between ages 41 and 65. Online social networking while at work hampers business productivity, according to a new study by Nucleus Research. Almost two-thirds of those with Facebook accounts access them at their workplaces, the study found, which translates to a 1.5% loss of total employee productivity across an organization.
A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more gregarious, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to “night texting” for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)”
In his book, OUTLIERS, Malcom Gladwell explores the work of Dr. Alan Schoenfeld, a math professor at Berkeley, who studied and videotaped countless students working on math problems. What he found, is that successful students were willing to take up to twenty minutes or more trying to figure out a problem through persisting, experimenting, reviewing the issues, trying a new tact, thinking out loud and simply not giving up. Success, according to Schoenfeld, is a function of persistence and not quitting—a willingness to work for twenty-two minutes when most people would give up after thirty seconds. This principal applies to any area of learning or school work. Only with mastery can the time to do tasks be shortened.
How much is texting promoting the instant gratification tendency which flies in the face of working twenty-two minutes on something whether it is math, or putting together a model airplane, sewing a dress or fixing a broken lamp? How much are our students willing to take the time to work towards mastery and to what extent might a preponderance of social networking threaten students’ ability to do quality work, follow-through and gain real understanding?
ARTICLE:
The Greatest Generation (of Networkers)
by Jeffrey Zaslow
Wall Street Journal
A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal’s office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that’s when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student’s fingers moving on his lap.
He was texting while being reprimanded for texting.
“It was a subconscious act,” says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. “Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It’s compulsive.”
To view this entire article visit www.online.wsj.com
The School Volunteer Jobs That Most Help Your Kids
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
The Wall Street Journal article below highlights the volunteer roles in school that allow parents to deliver the biggest benefit to their children. To help your child in school, the writer suggests picking volunteer stints that enable you to:
* Learn about classes and curriculum.
* Build relationships with teachers and staff.
* Show the value you place on education.
* Learn how problems at school are resolved.
While every parent can choose to volunteer for projects or assignments according to their own areas of interest and ability relevant to the school’s needs, the research-based advice cited in this article helps steer parents toward the best volunteer options according to their children’s developmental stages as they move through elementary, middle school and high school. For example, children in grades k-5 typically love to see their parents in the classroom, so if you have to choose, helping out with a classroom party or being a chaperone on fields trips trumps serving on the board where kids don’t get to see what you’re doing. In addition to volunteering, the experts underscore an even bigger way to positively impact your child’s life: coaching.
“If you lack time to volunteer, or if you find yourself at the bottom of a long waiting list of wannabe school helpers, don’t despair: How you coach your child at home matters far more.
Throughout school, the most important parental role of all is to shape your child’s attitude toward learning and school, communicate high expectations, and help him or her set goals and solve learning problems,” summarizes the WSJ education author, Sue Shellenbarger.
LifeBound is committed to helping parents learn coaching skills so they can motivate, inspire and connect with their kids. Next week we’re launching a new series of sessions around coaching at schools throughout Jefferson County and in Colorado Springs with coaching facilitator Maureen Breeze, the co-author of LifeBound’s new book, Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers. For more information about LifeBound’s coaching resources for parents at your school, please visit our web site at www.lifebound.com and click on the “coaching” button, or email us at contact@lifebound.com or call toll free 1.877.737.8510.
ARTICLE:
The School Volunteer Jobs That Most Help Your Kids
by Sue Shellenbarger
October 7, 2009
Wall Street Journal
Rosa Rivera receives so many invitations to volunteer at her children’s school and other activities that the dozens of daily emails and calls about various projects can be “just overwhelming,” says the mother of two.
At her children’s stage, ages 7 and 9, her top priority is to take the projects that will help them most in school and life, says Ms. Rivera, Austin, Texas. But it can be hard to figure out which projects those are. “You’re pulled and stretched in so many directions, now more than ever,” she says.
Cash-strapped schools are leaning hard on parents for help this fall. Some 53% of parents plan to volunteer at their children’s schools, up from 44% last year, says a poll of 1,086 parents by Harris Interactive and GreatSchools, a nonprofit parent-involvement group. The re-opening of schools this fall has triggered a 50% increase in volunteer signups at VolunteerSpot.com, a Web site for organizing volunteers, to 75,000 from 50,000 last summer, says Karen Bantuveris, VolunteerSpot founder.
To view this entire article visit www.online.wsj.com
Four Charged in Richmond, Homecoming Gang Rape
CAROL’S SUMMARY
The gang rape of a 15-year-old girl after her homecoming dance in Richmond, CA, this week is shocking enough, but the realization that 25 or more people witnessed the crime–with no one helping the victim or calling the police–is even more horrifying. So far, four people are under arrest with more indictments likely to follow. One of the perpetrators is a 21-year-old male, and the other three are teenagers themselves. The victim was walking out of her homecoming dance at Richmond High School to meet her father to go home when a few other teens invited her to drink with them in the school’s courtyard where she became intoxicated, and a short time later she was assaulted. “This was a barbaric act. I still cannot get my head around the fact that numerous people either watched, walked away or participated in her assault,” Lt. Mark Gagan said Tuesday. “It’s one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer.”
Tragic incidences like this aren’t as uncommon as we’d like to think. Here are a few statistics from various sources on teen violence and underage drinking:
Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)
In 2005, 23.4% of youths ages 12-17 reported that, in the past year, they had gotten into a serious fight at school or work.
(SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health)
In 2005, 7.4% of youths ages 12-17 reported that, in at least one instance, they had attacked others with intent to seriously hurt them.
(SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health)
Nationwide, 18.5% of high school students had carried a weapon (gun, knife, or club) one or more days in the last 30 days. The prevalence of having carried a weapon was higher among male (29.8%) than female (7.1%) students.
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)
During the past year, 9.2% of students nationwide had been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend (dating violence).
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)
During the past year, 7.9% of students nationwide had been threatened or injured with a weapon (gun, knife, or club) on school property one or more times.
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)
Nationwide, 6.0% of students had not gone to school on 1 or more days of the last 30 days because they felt they would be unsafe at school or on their way to or from school.
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)
The scenarios cited above, as well as ones that aren’t so extreme, point to the desperate need for teens to know how to set boundaries and develop a compassionate heart. The boys’ brutality shows a complete disconnect of empathy, and it’s well-documented that underage drinking often plays a major role in risky and violent behavior. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the brain’s frontal lobe is the control center of our emotions and the teenage brain is a work in progress. In a study by Dr. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd at Harvard’s McLean Hospital, she and her team:
“scanned brain activity while they identified emotions on pictures of faces displayed on a computer screen. Young teens, who characteristically perform poorly on the task, activated the amygdala, a brain center that mediates fear and other ‘gut’ reactions, more than the frontal lobe. As teens grow older, their brain activity during this task tends to shift to the frontal lobe, leading to more reasoned perceptions and improved performance.”
Source: http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/health/a/TEEN_BRAIN_2.htm
The frontal lobe contains most of the dopamine-sensitive neurons in the cerebral cortex, and the dopamine system is associated with reward, attention, long-term memory, planning, and drive. If we are to avoid such disastrous consequences like the one in Richmond, teachers, parents, and other levels of youth-oriented society need to grow in their understanding of how the teenage brain functions and how emotions effect behavior. Further, we must collaborate with students and youth on setting healthy boundaries and making wise choices. LifeBound’s People Smarts for Teenagers program is designed to help students gain emotional and social skills such as empathy, self-awareness and emotional well-being and can be used in a variety of teaching platforms. Questions:
How can we spark a national dialogue on emotional and social intelligence among teens and young adults so that they can better gauge how their choices will impact themselves and those around them?
How can we begin to raise the value of social and emotional intelligence in schools to complement academic pursuits, since both are crucial to human development and indicators of success in school, career and life?
How can we as a society of educators, community leaders, parents and law enforcement officials foster, among students, positive peer pressure, role modeling and environmental strategies to prevent destructive decisions and help teens set a healthier, safer course for their lives?
ARTICLE
ABC News
RICHMOND, Calif. (Oct. 28) — Manuel Ortega, a 19-year-old former Richmond High School student, has been charged with robbery, assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, rape in concert [gang rape] and rape with violence, according to Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office is going to ask for a life sentence for Ortega, Gagan said. His bail has been set at $1,230,000
The other three suspects are juveniles, ages 15, 16 and 17, but are to be charged as adults, and the D.A.’s office will seek life sentences for the trio, Gagan said.
To view entire article visit
http://bit.ly/XgThV