APPLIED MATHEMATICS Advancing Student Achievement brings together actuaries and educators in local classroom environments in an effort to boost students’ interest and achievement in math by encouraging them to interact with real-world mentors. The Actuarial Foundation provides a local network of actuaries ready to participate, as well as suggestions on how to integrate math concepts from the workplace into the classroom. Groups applying for grants will be given wide latitude in designing programs that enhance learning and create a “love of math” in each student. Details on the program can be found at www.actuarialfoundation.org/grant/index.html.


YES, YOU CAN! May is Women’s History Month, and the American Labor Studies Center’s Web site (www.labor-studies.org ) is spotlighting the role women have played in building the American labor movement. The site highlights such landmarks as the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association in 1844 to Kate Mullany’s Troy Collar Laundry Union in 1864. Also featured are today’s women trade union leaders, who are central to the fight to organize, bargain collectively, and battle for economic and social justice. Online lessons include the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s “Women’s Issues as a Progressive Cause: The Struggle for Equality in the Workplace” and Rita G. Koman’s “Servitude to Service: African-American Women as Wage Earners.”

ACCOMPLISHED ARTISTS The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS program identifies and rewards exceptional student artists nationwide. The program is open to students who will be high school seniors in fall 2007 (or graduates who will be 17 or 18 years old on Dec. 1). Winning students will receive cash awards of up to $10,000 and the chance to be named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. The youngARTS 2008 early registration deadline is June 1, and the final registration deadline is Oct. 1. Students who register online before June 1 pay a $25 entry fee per discipline, $10 less than the regular online fee. The organization also will consider waiving fees for applicants on a case-by-case basis. For details, visit youngARTS online, www.NFAA.org.


WEATHER WISE The National Weather Association offers grants of $500 each for projects that improve classroom instruction in meteorology. NWA’s Sol Hirsch Education Fund Grants, named in honor of the association’s former executive director, can be used by educators to pay tuition for an accredited course in atmospheric science, attend a conference or purchase materials for the classroom. The grants are open to teachers in all grades, and the application deadline is Aug. 1. Winners will be announced at the NWA’s annual meeting in October. For details and proposal forms, visit www.nwas.org/solhirsch.html .


DIABETES FACTS The American Diabetes Association is offering a new lesson plan to help educate teachers, after-school providers, school nurses, and students about diabetes. The materials, which feature Arthur the popular TV aardvark, are geared toward students in grades preK-4. Included are classroom activities and handouts, recommended books and Web sites, and family activity sheets in English and Spanish. The materials were developed in cooperation with PBS affiliate WGBH and the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Contact the ADA at 800/DIABETES for a free lesson plan or visit www.diabetes.org/for-parents-and-kids/arthur.jsp. It is also available on the Arthur Web site (pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/health), along with a variety of other classroom and family resources related to the Arthur Hooray for Health! Curriculum.


SAFE SUMMERS Prevent Blindness America has designated June and July as “fireworks safety months;” the nonprofit organization offers a variety of materials to help parents and schools warn students about the dangers of playing with fireworks. The group emphasizes that, with the coming Fourth of July celebrations, the only safe way to enjoy fireworks is by attending a professional display. Check out www.preventblindness.org for a free copy of the organization’s “Safe summer celebrations” brochure and a “First Aid for Eye Emergencies Sticker.”


BRAVE NEW WORLD The Computing Technology Industry Association will award scholarships to students pursuing careers in information technology. The awards will go to the winners of the CompTIA 25th Anniversary IT Scholarship Essay Contest, targeted at high school seniors and college students attending aca-demic institutions that are members of the CompTIA Education to Careers program. The essay contest asks students to predict what the coolest new technology will be in 25 years. Essays are limited to 1,000 words. Scholarships of up to $5,000 each will be presented to five or more students whose essays are judged to be the best. Mail submissions should be sent to CompTIA 25th Anniversary IT Scholarship Essay Contest, 1815 S. Meyers Road, Suite 300, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181-5228. Electronic submissions should be sent to: scholarships@comptia.org . Entries must be postmarked (for mail submissions) or received (for electronic submissions) on or before May 15. Complete contest rules are available at www.comptia.org/25th/contest.aspx .


TARGETED RESOURCES Schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations can get support for their early childhood reading programs through Target Store grants. Awards of $1,000 to $3,000 are available through the program, which is offered in communities where Target stores are located. Grants help support activities such as after-school reading programs that promote a love of reading and encourage children through age 9 to read with their families. Target also funds programs that make the arts accessible to schoolchildren, bring the arts to schools or allow students to participate in cultural experiences, such as field trips to the theater or symphony, or artist residencies and workshops in school. The deadline for grant applications is May 31. For details, visit www.target.com and enter “Target Foundation” in the search field; then select “Local Store Grants” from the menu on the left side of the “Target Foundation Community Giving” page. Or call 800/388-6740.


YA GOT ME! May is “Get Caught Reading Month,” a national effort to encourage people of all ages to enjoy the printed word. You can help your students make it a month worth remembering by visiting the campaign’s Web site (www.getcaughtreading.org) for a variety of tips, strategies and resources to help promote reading. Materials are available in both English and Spanish, and visitors can send e-cards to friends marking the occasion or peruse posters of celebrities—from George Foreman to Jane Seymour—who have been caught in the act of reading.