IT'S THE LAW  Schools and communities across America will celebrate "Law Day" on May 1, and the American Bar Association has produced a useful planning guide to help make it a class-worthy event. The "Law Day Planning Guide" can be downloaded for free at www.lawday.org and features a range of school outreach ideas, activities, lessons and sample program ideas designed to highlight this year's theme, "Celebrate Your Freedom--Independent Courts Protect our Liberties." Also featured on the site are materials commemorating the 200-year-old landmark decision in Marbury vs. Madison, which established the courts as an independent, co-equal branch of government, a decision that is often cited as the most important decision in Supreme Court history.

PBS MATERIALS  Teachers can find free resource materials tied to three popular PBS television series--"The Berenstein Bears," "Seven Little Monsters" and "George Shrinks"--on the Web or by e-mail. The Educational Outreach Kit is designed to accompany the PBS KIDS programs and expand on the existing educational themes of the three television series. Included in the kit are See, Think & Do activity guides along with activity sheets. The kit is available at www.pbs.org. Or you may e-mail a kit request to Megan Zakarian at Nelvana Limited, Megan@la.Nelvana.com.

COLUMBIA TRAGEDY  May 1 also marks the annual observance of "Space Day" in schools across America, and the occasion is sure to be a bittersweet one in the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy earlier this year. The organizers of Space Day, recognizing that the event is sure to prompt some difficult questions for teachers, have recently updated the extensive online list of resources for classroom teachers to include information about talking with students about Columbia. You'll find these materials at the Space Day Web site, www.spaceday.org.

PROUD HERITAGE  May is Asian Pacific American Heritage month, and the AFT human rights and community relations department is offering online resources to help students and educators celebrate the occasion. The AFT human rights and community relations department has expanded its online resources to help schools celebrate Black History Month in February as well as Women's History Month in March. The Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Resource Guide features lesson plans, resources, a history of the celebration, useful links and more. The guide is available at www.aft. org/human/resource.

IRS HELP  One of the big changes for the 2002 tax year is the Deduction for Educator Expenses, which allows teachers, paras, counselors and other education workers to deduct up to $250 in qualified work-related expenses. To learn the details and restrictions tied to this new deduction, visit the Internal Revenue Service Online, www.irs.gov, and search for "Publication 3991."

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