BaySCAN Financial Services Network -- News #11

Co-sponsors, California Department of Education and Career Academy Support Network, have announced their annual conference on March 26-28, 2000 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott in Burlingame. The conference typically is a great opportunity to network and learn about the latest and greatest in academy operations. The conference is open to funded and non-funded academies, career paths, career majors, etc. and will be attended by teachers, counselors, and administrators. The conference program will be posted at www.cde.ca.gov/partacad in February 2000. Mark your calendars and submit your requests early! If you would like a conference registration flyer you can fax your request to Susan Tidyman at 925-820-6050.

__1.2 KIDS WHO KNOW AND DO 2000

Register Now for KIDS WHO KNOW AND DO 2000! Brochures are in the mail for the 8th Annual Conference on Project-Based Learning, March 31 - April 1, 2000, at the San Francisco Hilton Towers. You can also download a brochure, registration form, or register online at http://www.autodesk.com/foundation.

A special day of pre-conference school-based institutes will occur on Thursday, March 30, at regional whole-school-change High, Middle, Elementary, and Pre-K schools. In addition there will on-site pre-conference workshops led by J.D. Hoye and by the Buck Institute for Education.

Joining the Autodesk Foundation in sponsoring KIDS WHO KNOW AND DO 2000 are two national organizations that are actively involved in promoting project-based learning in education. These are the Buck Institute for Education (http://www.bie.org), a non-profit research and evaluation organization in Novato, CA, and Co-NECT (http://www.co-nect.com), one of the original New American School Design Teams.

Keynote speakers are Linda Darling-Hammond on School Restructuring, J.D. Hoye on the Classroom of the Future, Ron Berger and John Reid on Students as Researchers, and Stephen Bingler, David Stephen, and Elliot Washor on New School Design. They will be joined by over 100 leading PBL practitioners and educators from around the world.

For general conference information or to obtain a printed registration brochure, contact Sanna Randolph, Autodesk Foundation, at 415-507-6232 or [email protected] For an HTML or PDF version of the program, visit http://www.autodesk.com/foundation.

__1.3 Summer Externships in Industry through IISME

Educators (minimum 2 yrs. teaching experience) in the following counties are eligible to apply for summer externships in industry through IISME, Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, Santa Clara, or Santa Cruz counties.

Applications for Summer Internships are due January 7, 2000. All IISME Teacher Fellows are paid $700/week for the eight-week summer fellowship. Please see the web site or call for further information.

Applications are available at http://iisme.ucsc.edu or call 408-496-5343.

2 ISSUES & BEST PRACTICES:

__2.1 Partnering with Community Based Organizations

In the last newsletter we highlighted how two community based organizations have partnered with and provided resources to Galileo Academy of Science & Technology in San Francisco. Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and Community Educational Services (CES) serves as the intermediary for the schoolís work-based learning program and coordinates the senior research and the graduation portfolio requirments.

With the support of the United Way, CAA & CES successfully applied for a three-year grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). This grant funds the use of four full-time VISTA volunteers to build capacity and systems in the areas of marketing materials, systems to support WBL activities & senior projects, program documentation & evaluation, and the development of materials to support curriculum integration.

The CNCS accepts applications from public sector or non-profit organizations that are seeking to transform "communities in need" through projects that will simultaneously empower those communities. Applicants can apply for AmeriCorps grants for projects requiring specific service delivery or a VISTA grant to develop capacity to deliver a service over time. You can get more information at http://www.cns.GOV/partners/summary/index.html.

While getting help to implement programs is very desirable, as economists have been known to say, there is no free lunch. VISTA volunteers are indeed volunteers. They are paid a small stipend and receive educational credits, but they are expected to work full-time and exclusively on the project they are assigned. While the CNCS very actively recruits, it can be difficult to find candidates. Partnering organizations are also expected to provide resources that add program expenses. Despite these requirements and expenses, the VISTA volunteers at Galileo have made significant contributions and have strengthened the sustainability of the project.

Let me know if you would like more information or if you would like contact information.

3 RESOURCES:

__3.1 BaySCAN Employer Best Practices in STC

BaySCAN has profiled exemplary employer involvement in order to share and promote the best practices. You can learn about whom is doing what and where at http://bayscan.org/resources.html.

__3.2 Chinaó50 Years of Communism

Current events are a great way to add relevance to the study of history. A recently negotiated agreement calls for Chinaís admittance to the World Trade Organization is a great topic that integrates business and Chinese history themes. The NY Times has developed a special on China that incorporates many economic and social issues. Of special interest is a timeline that is linked to NY Times articles and essays from that particular time period. Also included are slide shows, interactive maps, news analysis, and web links. You can access this web special at http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/index-china.html. If you are interested in collaborating to develop a unit with these resources let me know and I will coordinate.