National Building Safety Week

• Safe Schools: Four Web Sites Help Administrators Address a Complex Issue
  What can be done to prevent violence and make schools safe? Which ideas are right for your school or district? Which are most effective? This week, Education World recognizes America's Safe Schools Week (October 17-23) with a comprehensive examination of four valuable Web sites that address the complex job of creating safe schools.
• Detroit School Repair Program: A Model for Others
  A marathon ten-week effort this summer resulted in some major improvements to Detroit's public schools. But the effort could not have succeeded without the cooperation and involvement of the city's business community. Organizations from Northwest Airlines to the Detroit Pistons provided personnel to see the program through in this renovation blitz that could serve as a model for other cities and towns large and small.
• School Building Boom: BUILD Before the Schools Go BOOM!
  A 1996 study clearly draws a correlation between the condition of school buildings and the student learning that goes on in those buildings. Recognizing the sorry state of many of America's schools ---along with a growing student population and the need to make room for new technology--- many cities and towns are taking long-overdue action. This week, experts Paul Abramson and Joe Agron share with Education World readers their observations and predictions about the current building boom in America's schools. Included: On-line resources to help educators make a case for school construction or renovation.
• Hard Hat Area: The Deteriorating State of School Buildings
  The spending bill passed last month by Congress didn't include the monies President Clinton had asked for to address the crumbling state of America's school infrastructure. Education World examines the problem, offers resources for school administrators, and shares news of what some communities are doing to put their schools on "firm foundations."

National Garden Week

• Grow a Garden of Opportunity!
  Classroom gardens, whether outside or indoors, provide the perfect opportunity to bring life to lessons in science, history, math -- even poetry!
• Gems from the Garden --- Digging Up Activities for All Ages!
  As temperatures warm and snow melts, educators search for ways to invite new growth into their classrooms. The Internet is full of hands-on activities for the indoor and outdoor gardener. Plant a seed, design a garden, or investigate the life of a worm --- welcome the new season with those activities and a crop of others! Included: Online resources for students to plan and plant their own Fantasy Farm!
• Schoolyard Soil Dwellers: What’s Living in Your Schoolyard?
  "As a part of an online project called Schoolyard Soil Dwellers, students are digging up their playgrounds to uncover critters that make the land their home. Participants in this creative online project are discovering the rewards of getting their hands dirty and comparing data across the miles!
• GREAT SITES FOR TEACHING ABOUT…Gardens
  "Each week, Education World’s Great Sites for Teaching About … page highlights Web sites to help educators work timely themes into their lessons. This week’s sites are among the best on the Web for teaching about gardens.

National Guitar Week

National Home Safety Week

National Library Week

• Librarians Online!
  The best tools on the Web for cybrarians! With so much of the world's information online, today's librarian has been transformed into a media specialist with a specialty in online information access -- a cyber-librarian or "cybrarian"! Included: The best resources to aid cybrarians in their quest to make information accessible to all!
• Celebrating America's Libraries

National Medical Laboratory Week

National Volunteer Week

• National Volunteer Week information Web site
  Brought to you by the Points of Light Foundation and the national network of Volunteer Centers.
• Is Community Service a Waste of Time?
  Many educators use the terms community service and service learning interchangeably. They are two very different concepts, though. What is the difference? Should your students participate in one or the other? Included: Education World talks to the experts about what it takes to create a real service-learning project -- if that's possible.
• Service Learning in Action Across the Grades
  No matter what grade level or subject you teach, service-learning projects can add a new dimension to your curriculum. This week, Education World offers examples of three excellent service-learning projects -- one each at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Each project is an example of true service learning. Included: Individual projects that involve students in creating Web pages for nonprofits, link the generations, and introduce students to the inner workings of community government.
• Students Learn While Helping at Soup Kitchen
  How do you teach compassion? A project launched by teachers and students at Presentation of Mary Academy in Hudson, N.H., is designed to do just that. Classroom learning is tied closely to the students' participation in a project carried on with the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. Included: Details of how service learning can be tied to learning across the curriculum!
• Earth Inc. -- A Service-Learning Lesson Plan
  A well-planned service-learning project should include stated academic and service goals, strategies for assessment, and opportunities for reflection. As an example, the Social Studies Education Consortium offers a template for a model service project -- and teachers from offer their project. Included: Cross-curriculum goals, activities, and more!

National Women's Nutrition Week

Pan American Week

• World Resource Center
  A country guide to Education Resources in Central America.
• Political Science: Latin America
  Resources from our database.