Brandon Elementary kicks off holiday food-donation season

Brandon Elementary and Brandon Primary School launched the first of several food donation drives scheduled for this school year. With the help of parents, the Roots and Shoots organization, and the staff at Brandon, a food pantry was stocked with non-perishable goods today. The school’s social worker and counselor were able to help 23 families have a better Thanksgiving holiday. Food drives will continue throughout the school year with an aim to help families over holiday breaks and other times that they may be in need.

Hat tip to Janet Bernstein, school social worker at Brandon, for sharing this good news.

APS celebrates Inclusive Schools Week

Atlanta Public Schools’ Inclusive Schools Week highlights families, schools and communities that have dedicated time and resources to promote inclusive education for all students.

An inclusive school provides a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse population of students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socioeconomic status, cultural heritage, language preference and other factors.

The week-long celebration provides an important opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss ways to ensure that schools improve their ability to successfully educate all children. Students, faculty and staff can show their support by wearing blue on Wednesday, Dec. 8, “True Blue Inclusive School” day. The week is being sponsored by the Program for Exceptional Children.

Hey, teachers: Want professional development abroad? Read on!

This just in from our friends at Miami University in Ohio …

Applications are being accepted for 2011 summer/fall graduate field courses and a master’s program that offer international conservation studies in 12 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. New in 2011 are courses in Australia and Guyana.

Created in 2004 by Miami University’s Project Dragonfly and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Earth Expeditions graduate courses and now the Global Field Program (GFP) master’s degree bring together graduate students, scientists, educators and community leaders at critical conservation field sites worldwide. In addition to Australia and Guyana, sites for 2011 include the Amazon, Baja, Belize, Borneo, Costa Rica, Kenya, Mongolia, Namibia, Thailand and Trinidad.