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The top speller in the Scripps National Spelling Bee was 13-year-old Sameer Mishra of West Lafayette, Ind. His winning word: guerdon, meaning a reward. The last of three California finalists, Tia Thomas of Coarsegold, near Yosemite National Park, made it as far as the 13th of 16 rounds.
See more about the bee here. You can read more about Sameer here and see all the preposterously obscure words he correctly spelled here.
-- Mitchell Landsberg
And then there were three.
In the semifinal round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the pool was whittled down to 12 finalists, three of them from California: Austin Pineda of Perris, who correctly spelled torii; Justin Song of San Diego (trophallactic); and Tia Thomas of Coarsegold (canicular). Josephine Kao of Roseville got tripped up on sphendone. The round before, Easun Arunachalam of La Crescenta bowed out on cyathiform.
The finals are on ABC-7 tonight at 8 p.m.
The meaning of the words? Keep reading ...
Continue reading Three Californians in spelling bee finals »
The jury is in, and it sides with Dorothy.
The jurors were not exactly her peers, however. Sixth-graders in Valley Glen argued the case of the County of Oz vs. Dorothy Gale, in which the Kansas farm girl was tried for the water-melting murder of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Dorothy was found not guilty of premeditated murder.
Above, the murder is reenacted: (From left) Alexis McCarthy as Dorothy, defense lawyer Ryan Kopelowicz; Oz weather woman Lola Rain Mintis Hankerson; defense lawyer Jordan Rowe, and Scarecrow Aiyana White.
Below, Prosecutor Travis Goddard questions Judge Graham Mekjian.
The jury, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judge and witnesses were all elementary school students participating in the Laurence School’s Kids Court program. For six months they studied the legal system, including meeting with judges at Van Nuys Superior Court.
Laurence, a private elementary school, hasn’t missed a court date since its mock trial program, recognized by the National Bar Assn., started in 1991.
“Students not only learn about our judicial system, they also get an opportunity to perfect their critical-thinking and debate skills,” says Lauren Wolke, the school’s assistant head and a lawyer who created the program 19 years ago.
-- Mary MacVean
Photos courtesy of the Laurence School
United Way sees problems for middle school students, and other education news:
Twenty students from EcoAcademy charter high school in the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles are spending four days with photographers from National Geographic to document nature in the Santa Monica Mountains.
"We give them cameras and teach them how to see a little bit differently," Karine Aigner said this afternoon from Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu. Aigner, senior photo editor at National Geographic Kids magazine and coordinator of the photo camp, interrupted our telephone conversation a few times to call out to the students such things as: "Look at that! Try to get it in the frame!"
The photo camp, one of 10 that National Geographic runs, is documenting the Santa Monica Mountains BioBlitz, an event hosted by the National Geographic Society and the National Park Service.
More than 1,400 students as well as scientists, naturalists, community leaders and volunteers will observe and document as many plant and animal species as possible in 24 hours, from noon today to noon Saturday, in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
The photo camp students were spread out at several sites today and will chronicle the BioBlitz from set-up through the closing moments, joining scientists and volunteers as they comb the park counting species.
EcoAcademy provides a comprehensive high school diploma program for approximately 100 youth who either dropped out of or were expelled from traditional high schools.
A final presentation of the students' work is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the National Parks facility in Thousand Oaks. The public is invited.
-- Mary MacVean
Forty-five remain.
And among them are five Californians, as the semifinals get underway today in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 81st bee began with a record 288 spellers.
Tia Thomas, from Coarsegold, Calif., was quoted by Associated Press after she spelled her quarterfinal words: "emollience," which is a homonym, and "scission."
"Everything went according to plan — except me getting a homonym," Tia told AP. "I hate homonyms. Those are worst things ever."
The other Californians are: Austin Pineda of Perris, Josephine Kao of Roseville, Justin Song of San Diego and Easun Arunachalam of La Crescenta.
-- Mary MacVean
Antero Garcia, an English teacher at Manual Arts High, writes:
Last week, while Manual Arts’ ninth, 10th and 11th graders spent their morning taking the California Standards Tests, the nearly 50 seniors in my Small Learning Community, the School of Communication and Global Awareness, presented their senior presentations, which have become an annual tradition. Each senior presented to an audience of teachers, peers, and invited guests a 30-minute overview of personal challenges and achievements throughout their high school careers.
As the principal English teacher for these students, I can attest that these culminating presentations are an annual source of anxiety and trepidation for many of the students. However, as the presentations rolled out in three different on-campus locations, I was overwhelmed with appreciation and wonder at the struggles my students have overcome throughout their four years at Manual Arts.
Many of these students discussed the importance of being the first in their family to graduate. Many discussed the struggles of learning English and coming to America as young teenagers. Nearly all of them discussed the struggles that overwhelmed many of their friends: ditching, drugs, gangs. These were reminders for students about the kinds of amazing effort students have put in simply to confront the standard academic challenges of the school.
Many of these seniors have volunteered to present their 30-minute overview to their younger community members. Over the next few weeks, many of the ninth- and 10th-graders from our small learning community will be engaged in listening to and asking questions about presentations they will be asked to create in the coming years.
This process of fostering academic rigor and celebrating our community members’ achievements has been integral to the success of our seniors. It’s a process that continues to thrill me daily.
After 55 years as a prominent fixture in its Fairfax District neighborhood, Daniel Murphy Catholic High School graduates its last class of young men today.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese announced last October that the campus would close at the end of the school year, citing declining enrollment and financial challenges, some of which were brought about by the $600-million settlement of clergy abuse cases. Read more about Daniel Murphy here.
The archdiocese has not said what it will do with the campus, but students will move on to schools like St. Monica’s, Salesian, St. Genevieve, Cathedral, Loyola and Serra.
"Since the announcement of Daniel Murphy’s closure due to declining enrollment, the archdiocese has concerned itself with the future of the 165 students who are transferring to other schools," archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg said in a statement. "To date, every student who has applied to another Catholic high school has been accepted, and every request for financial aid has been granted."
-- Carla Rivera
The news about Latino and black student relations in Los Angeles schools is often troubling, such as the melee earlier this year involving 600 students at Locke High School that was quelled by police clad in riot gear and wielding billy clubs.
But today, about 100 students from 10 Los Angeles schools are coming together for the second annual "Colors for Unity" art exhibition. The theme is "no color lines."
"Our goal is to use art as a tool that will allow students a form of expression to help break the race barrier," said Mike Piscal, founder and CEO of Inner City Education Foundations Public Schools, in a press release. "Our hope is that this experience will provide students with a better understanding of each other's cultures and will bring unity by focusing on their common strengths."
The exhibition at the Norm Maxwell Gallery will feature more than 100 pieces of original artwork, as well as the students painting large canvases together at the opening day reception. The exhibition runs from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. today, and 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Participating schools include eight charter schools run by the Inner City Education Foundation -- View Park Preparatory High, View Park Preparatory Middle, Lou Dantzler High, Lou Dantzler Middle, Frederick Douglass Academy High, Frederick Douglass Academy Middle, Thurgood Marshall High and Thurgood Marshall Middle -- as well as two traditional LAUSD high schools -- Garfield and Manuel Arts.
-- Seema Mehta
Sen. Barack Obama talks about education at a Colorado school. Students in Chatsworth react to the closing of a school. And more education news from near and far:
Shutdown of charter stuns kids (Los Angeles Daily News)
Charter school seeks OK to open (Pasadena Star-News)
Schools substituting field trips with video links (Sacramento Bee)
Candidates split sharply on Bush's No Child Left Behind law (Wall Street Journal)
Full text of Obama's education speech (Denver Post)
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Jimmy Biblarz
Lance Chapman
Sophy Cohen
Antero Garcia
Nick Giulioni
Steven Hicks
Anum Khan
Lauren McCabe
Tim Schlosser
Erin Shachory
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