One of the organizations that stepped to the fore in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Following the hurricane and the evacuation of towns and cities in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, the organization set up a hotline to take reports of missing children and adults, as well as recovered children who had lost their parents. (Those efforts have been expanded to include families fractured by Hurricane Rita.) NCMEC also has dispatched staff to the affected states to assist families with their missing persons reports and has worked with television stations to post photographs of missing children.

Thousands of children have been reunited with their parents or guardians as a result of the work of NCMEC and its partners.            

However, more than two months after Hurricane Katrina—and the largest displacement of Americans in modern history—the number of children who remain separated from their families continues to top 1,500.

NCMEC remains committed to its mission of reuniting these families. The organization’s Web site (www.missingkids.com) has information on missing hurricane victims. The site also contains useful information on child safety and how to report a sighting of a missing child.

Americans from across the country marched in Atlanta in August to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and push for reauthorization of the law, which expires in 2007.

Led by civil rights activists, labor leaders and lawmakers, the marchers urged Congress and the Bush administration to reauthorize the act with wording that protects against race and language discrimination. Speakers also expressed opposition to any changes that might result in the U.S. Supreme Court deeming the law unconstitutional.

“There is no more precious right than the right to vote—we believed that 40 years ago when we used the combined power of civil rights, labor, religion, women’s rights and student activism to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and we believe it today,” AFL-CIO president John Sweeney told the marchers.

The Voting Rights Act abolished literacy and other tests that had been used to deny blacks and other minorities the right to vote. It established voter protections by requiring that states with a documented history of discriminatory voting practices and low voter turnout submit planned changes in their election laws or procedures to federal officials or judges for prior approval. The act also required certain jurisdictions to provide bilingual assistance to language-minority voters.

Several speakers noted that, despite the considerable progress that has been made to protect voting rights, the November 2004 elections showed that millions of voters still are being disenfranchised.

For background information on the Voting Rights Act, visit  www.usdoj.gov/crt/
voting/intro/intro.htm, www.votingrightsact.org or www.civilrights.org/campaigns/vra/learn_more/history.html.

A greater emphasis on experience-based learning and more parental involvement are keys to improving education and student achievement in the United States, some of the nation’s top teachers say.

A survey of Disney Teacher Award winners from the past 15 years found that 84 percent of them say that students applying the material they learn in class to real-life situations is personally important to them as teachers. “Authentic learning, application to real life and using the interests of students to guide instruction are the way to capture students and enable them to succeed,” one survey respondent said.

While 68 percent of survey respondents say they have changed their teaching methods in some way because of new testing and accountability standards, the teachers also say that they must incorporate experience-based learning into their lessons. “Children are motivated to learn when they see answers to questions of interest to them. As they apply their learning to something they care about, they are more likely to remember what they have learned,” a first-grade teacher from Mississippi says. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of respondents say they use books (other than textbooks) in their classrooms every week, and 62 percent use the Internet in their classrooms at least once a week.

Survey respondents also believe that greater support from parents and the community would make education a higher priority. “You can always tell when a parent is taking an interest in a child’s assignments and talking to the child about what is going on at school,” says Dianna Bartles, a fifth-grade teacher in Ohio and a Disney Teacher Award honoree. “Even very shy students like to say, ‘My mom said. …’ or ‘My dad told me. …’ Students carry words from their parents as precious gems to be used in class discussion and conversations.”

The Greatest Show on Earth wants to turn getting fit into a three-ring circus. In September, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey unveiled CircusFit, a program designed to fight childhood obesity with what it calls the “FUNdamentals of fitness.”

The program provides teachers and students with creative ways for integrating physical fitness and daily activity into the classroom. It includes a curriculum designed for kids in grades 2- 5 that features 21 interactive lesson plans. “The inspiring Ringling Bros. performers are in peak physical condition and perfect role models to encourage and teach America’s youth fun-filled ways to stay fit and active,” says Kenneth Feld, chairman of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

Ringling Bros. has joined forces with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports to promote CircusFit and physical activity nationwide. Schools  can participate in CircusFit as part of their involvement in the annual President’s Challenge. For lesson plans, visit www.CircusFit.com.