From the Wire - Office of the First Lady The Office of the First Lady announced today that First Lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to deliver three commencement addresses in the months ahead. On May 8th, the First Lady will address the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Established more than 130 years ago, the University began as the only state-supported institution of higher education for African Americans in Arkansas. Like many of the nation’s more than one-hundred historically black colleges and universities, the University has played a special role in enabling young people from many walks of life to further their education. While the University offers many different areas of study, it remains dedicated to the mission of providing educational opportunities to underserved communities particularly in the Arkansas Delta region. It is one of a small number of HBCUs that also are land-grant institutions and thus have a long history of preparing students for fields in agriculture, farming, and engineering. The University currently boasts an enrollment of more than 3500 students. On May 16th, The George Washington University will host their graduation ceremonies in Washington DC. Mrs. Obama is scheduled to address this group provided the student ...

By Shawn Williams – Editor, DallasSouthNews.org In the last week Tawnell Hobbs of the Dallas Morning News has been reporting on the poor performance of 4 DISD  High  School: Kimball, Pinkston, Roosevelt, and Seagoville.  According to Hobbs, the high schools have been deemed academically unacceptable for four consecutive years.  This sets up the possibility that each school would remove 75 percent of teachers and reassign at least 50 percent of the students. She also writes that there are contingency plans to have the four schools act as “Sattelite Magnets” for Townview also known as shuffling chairs on the deck of the Titanic. These school must all be considered as serious candidates for a Spruce style reconstitution.  After being in the same low performing situation a few years ago, it was decided that 75% of the teachers at H. Grady Spruce would be removed and students disbursed to other DISD schools. As we’ve reported here, Spruce High is making strides under the direction of Dr. Lucy Davila Hakemack.  Test scores are up, and even more importantly students feel like that can have a positive high school experience. It’s important to use any means possible to keep these schools as part of their respective communities for the ...

I thought this was a nice take by Joanna Cattanach, editor of ChickTalkDallas.com on the Hampton University's new homecoming queen.  You can read the post in its entirety at Chick Talk Dallas. What’s wrong with this picture? Um, the white girl in the middle has something to do with it. Earlier this month, Nikole Churchill,22, was chosen as 2009 Hampton University homecoming queen. Hampton U is historically black, and the main campus of 5,700 students has a  mostly black student body. Churchill wrote a letter to President Barack Obama claiming he could relate to the racism she was facing at the university. “I am hoping that perhaps you would be able to make an appearance to my campus, Hampton University, so that my fellow Hamptonians can stop focusing so much on the color of my skin and doubting my abilities to represent,” she wrote, “but rather be proud of the changes our nation is making toward accepting diversity.” So why shouldn’t Churchill win? She got accepted to the university. She paid tuition. Attended classes. She won fair and square. Complaining about her race now is a little like the pot calling the kettle black.

PRESS RELEASE U.S. Department of Justice to Release Study on Children's Exposure to Violence; U.S. Department of Education to Provide $500,000 Grant to Help Fenger Community Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan today joined with Chicago city officials to call for a national conversation on values to address youth violence in the wake of the fatal beating of a Chicago high school student.  The announcement followed meetings with City officials, community leaders, students, and parents. “Youth violence isn’t a Chicago problem, any more than it is a black problem or a white problem. It’s something that affects communities big and small, and people of all races and colors. Today is the beginning of what will be a sustained, national effort on behalf of this entire administration to address youth violence and to make our streets safe for everyone,” Holder said. “Chicago will not be defined by this incident but rather by our response to it – so we came here today to join with you and with communities all across America – to call for a national conversation on values. It’s a conversation that must happen every place in America where violence, intolerance, and discrimination exists,” Duncan said. Today’s meeting continues President Obama’s ...

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), chaired by House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, will debut Digital Fusion – CBCF 2.0 at a first-of-its-kind forum of the leading African American social media strategists called Black Power 2.0 – Social Media and Digital Content Mobilizing the Masses. The convening will address opportunities to engage communities through social media increasing rates of Internet adoption by the African American community. When: 2:00-5:30 p.m. September 24th, 2009 Where: Room 146A Washington Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Pl NW Washington, DC 20003 Why: 54 percent of the African American community is not online. Underserved communities are excluded from opportunities to access job applications, health care information or financial services. Black Power 2.0 will feature the nation’s elite African American social media experts at the cutting edge of digital movement. A special session, “The World as We See It: Recreating Communities with Public Purpose Content,” will feature Rey Ramsey, CEO of One Economy, and award-winning director and producer, Robert Townsend. They will address the role of public-purpose media—online content that engages, informs and facilitates action—in stimulating demand for broadband among those who need its resources most. Townsend produces and directs Diary of a Single Mom, a ground-breaking online Web series that chronicles the lives ...

We're finally on the White House Press List (we get stuff from the RNC multiple times a day so I 've always tried to give them space here for recognizing us).  This is a statement from the President. I want to thank the House of Representatives for the progress they made today on the reforms I’ve proposed to strengthen higher education and our early education system.  Today, the House delivered a historic set of reforms to the financial aid system that will offer relief to students and families. This bill will end the billions upon billions of dollars in unwarranted subsidies that we hand out to banks and financial institutions, and will use that money to guarantee access to low-cost loans, and strengthen Pell Grants and Perkins loans that make college more affordable. This bill also follows through on our plan to shore up our community college system, simplifies the complicated financial aid forms to make it easier for students to apply for and get the help they need, and will strengthen standards and improve outcomes in early learning programs. I look forward to signing these reforms into law.

The following tips come from a list put together by OnlineCollege.org .  Besides the general tips in this post, there are helpful hints about campus safety, testing, career choices and other.  To see the list in its entirety, click here.  Hat Tip to Amber Johnson. General These tools are just all around helpful. Checklist for College Planning: Make use of this checklist to help your high school student make the right decisions. ACT Student Stories: Share these stories with your child to motivate them to do well for college. Five Common College Parenting Mistakes: Avoid making these mistakes with your child. 10 Ways to Jump-Start College Planning: Follow this guide to help your middle school student prepare for college. Checklists for Parents of College Students: Get things straight with your college student using these checklists. Common College Planning Terms: This resource will help you decode terms in college planning. A Senior’s Advice to Parents: Read this article to get advice for helping your student, straight from a real high school senior. Hoverings: This blog for college parents offers lots of helpful advice. My child is off to college…now what?: This article offers sound advice for what you can do now that your child has left the nest. College Confidential Parents Forum: This ...

A couple of years ago, when my son was in kindergarten, George W. Bush was his guy. He enjoyed seeing Bush on TV, speaking from the podium, and handling official business. Maybe it was because the President was speaking in words that he could stand, I don't know, but he was a self admitted George Bush fan. "Is George Bush a good President?' I would ask him. "Yes" he would answer every time. Hard to believe with him growing up in a house with solidly progressive parents, but our son loved him some Dubya. "Dad have you ever met George Bush?" he asked me while sitting at the table one day. "No son I haven't," I said puzzled by his question. "Then why do you always say that he takes your money?" he inquired. All I could do was laugh and shake my head. It really makes all the sense in the world that our little fella hearted the POTUS. He was born soon after 9/11, and George W. Bush was the only President he had known in his lifetime. He realized -as a student of current events- that being the President of the United States ...

On Monday, Dallas County Community Colleges District celebrated the opening of the Eastfield College campus in Pleasant Grove.  Leaders and citizens alike were excited about the new campus at 802 S. Buckner Blvd. Not only will the campus be used for educating Dallas citizens, but it will also house the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Southeast Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Wilkinson Center. Eastfield Pleasant Grove already has 300 students registered for the Fall Session.  The theme of the day was how the Dallas workforce lags behind in the area of education, and that DCCCD is the largest college system in Texas.  The citizens of Southeast Dallas have another landmark to be proud of, and hopefully the city as a whole will embrace it.