Ben Franklin Classical Charter School - Admission lottery Feb. 24

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Charter school lottery Feb. 24

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports on 2/17/10

The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School will hold its admission lottery for grades K-8 on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m., in the school library, 201 Main St.
New this year, the lottery will be shown live on www.ustream.tv. To see this site, visit the school's Web site www.bfccps.org for further instructions.
Applicants do not have to be present at the lottery. Letters to all applicants will be mailed on Feb. 28, indicating whether students have been accepted or wait-listed.
Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School was founded in 1995 and currently enrolls 415 kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The school is offers a challenging core knowledge curriculum with French in K-8 and Latin in grades 3-8, a strong fine arts program, and physical education twice per week.

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Hitchhiking amongst Education Resources

Jeff Roy had posted some education blogs worth reviewing a couple of week ago on the Franklin School Committee blog. In the spirit of traveling amongst good education sites this week, I have some of my favorite education sites to add to his listing. (Note: the order listed is simply following down the subscription listing in my RSS Reader and not any other scientific weighting or ranking.)

1 - David Warlick, a well traveled speaker and noted educational blogger. That his website is called 2 Cents helped catch my attention but he has mode than made it worthwhile to continue subscribing to it. His post on Monday referenced QR Code which coincidentally I had written about last week.


2 - Dr Scott McLeod is one of the authors of the "Did You Know" series of videos that has circulated amongst the web highlighting the problems with education. I have quoted from him frequently, and shared many of his posts. He actually has new post where he announces adding three blogs to his CASTLE collection. They are likely ones I add here but are so new to me at this time, we'll hold that off until later. (What is CASTLE? It is the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), the nation's only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators.)


3 - Robert F. Bruner, Dean, Darden School of Business of the Univ of Virginia, writes at Dean's Blog. He doesn't post frequently but does post good thoughtful pieces. A recent piece on the recession has a graphic that is quite telling depicting the job losses from this period compared to all other recessions/depressions. It is a sobering graph!

4 - Free Technology for Teachers publishes frequently with lots of really good resources. I have shared many here but there are so many, I don't try to do them all. It would be overwhelming. 'Nuf said.


5 - Literacy is Priceless, a blog for reading teachers is a good resource. A recent posting on Personal Learning Networks features Will Richardson who coincidentally is also on my listing.


6 - Wesley Fryer writes at Moving at the Speed of Creativity. He has his daughter frequently contribute to explore the technology they use together. VoiceThread is one they posted about when visiting the St Louis Arch. I have used VoiceThread on the Joyful Jubilant Learning Blog

7 - Will Richardson, is an author and educational speaker. He writes at Webblogg-ed. He used to teach at Hunterdon Central High School, in Flemington, NJ. Had I not taken the opportunity to move to Franklin many years ago, the girls would likely have gone to this high school. As mentioned above, Will was interviewed on Personal Learning Networks and that video can be seen here:



These are just a few of the good educational resources available today. Have you found one to share?

Customer Ratings Appreciated

The Franklin Matters podcast is available via iTunes for free.

Yes, free. You can obtain the podcast for your listening pleasure via iTunes. An easy way to keep up to date on what is happening in Franklin, MA.

One thing I noticed in the iTunes page for Franklin Matters today was that there were not enough customer rating.

We have not received enough ratings to display an average for this podcast.

If you subscribe, please take a minute or two to provide a rating.

If you don't already subscribe, please consider doing so. Then after listening to a couple of episodes, if you like what you hear, please provide a rating and tell your friends and neighbors about it.

If you don't like what you hear, please tell me about it.

You can find the Franklin Matters iTunes page here. Or in the center column of the blog page, click on the iTunes icon.

Thanks!

"a coherent answer"

At first, the silence in the room was deafening. Then, gasps and questions came flying out. “Hey, Jason’s typing on MY screen.” Then, “Whoa. There’s a chat box. Are we ALLOWED to use that?!?!” After the first five minutes, the students figured out that they were supposed to work together to answer the question that I provided. I was amazed. I had not provided the students with a single verbal prompt or redirection, and they were using the tool to write a response together. Before I knew it, they had drafted a coherent answer to the question together. Their single response was much better than anything they had written individually all year.

How did this occur?

Etherpad is a free tool that allows users to collaborate in real real time. There’s no need to refresh your screen with Etherpad, it automatically updates every .5 seconds!

To read the full posting click through to
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/02/using-technology-to-find-students.html

FM Budget Workshop Part 9 (Final) 1/25/10

Franklin conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part nine and the last segment of the recording. Jeff Nutting provides some closing remarks, Scott Mason thanks Bob Richer (?), citizen at large, for participating. Bob provides some good feedback on the session.

Time: 15 minutes, 17 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Franklin conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part nine and the last segment of the recording. Jeff Nutting provides some closing remarks, Scott Mason thanks Bob Richer, citizen at large for participating. Bob provides some good feedback on the session.

I do pick up from the quote by Beth Fitzmaurice that I ended with in part 8: 

"Special ed is not in fact a sentence, it is an opportunity to provide some specialized education but there is a mechanism in the law to re-evaluate the child every three years, and to do a full battery of evaluation, to re-determine eligibility." 

I thought it quite appropriate to repeat this statement and then get into Jeff's closing, etc. 

There are no documents associated with this segment.

This completes the three hour budget workshop recording. If you do have additional questions, please reach out as Jeff Nutting indicated.

Thank you for listening.

-----

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

-----

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Parts 1-4 cover the Town budget with Susan Gagner, Jeff Nutting and Jim Dacey leading the discussion

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html 

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html

Parts 5-8 cover the School budget with Maureen Sabolinski, Miriam Goodman, Sally Winslow, and Beth Fitzmaurice leading the discussion.

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html

Part 6 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-6-12510.html

Part 7 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-7-12510.html

Part 8 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-8-12510.html

FM Budget Workshop Part 8 - 1/25/10

This is Part 8 of the Budget Workshop held in Franklin, MA on Jan 25th. This segment covers Beth Fitzmaurice, Director of Special Education, continuing to provide the details of Special Education for the Schools budget.

Time: 17 minutes, 26 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part eight of the session recording. Beth Fitzmaurice, Director of Special Education, covers the details of providing Special Education for the students in the Franklin School District picking up from the transportation costs from the prior segment to cover the variables of budgetary impact including the circuit breaker reimbursement process and ending with a great statement:

"Special ed is not in fact a sentence, it is an opportunity to provide some specialized education but there is a mechanism in the law to re-evaluate the child every three years, and to do a full battery of evaluation, to re-determine eligibility."

Documents associated with this recording

FPS Understanding the Budget 1/25/2010 (Page 22 through 29 (end))

FPS - Understanding the Budget 1/25/10

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

FPS SPED Eligibility
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczNTQzMjYyMmMtZWQyZS00YmZiLTg4MDItY2NiYzU3ZGQ0MGRh&hl=en

FPS SPED Placement
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczZjRmYzgwYTctODY1NS00ZmU5LWEzYWItNTM2ZDE2MDdlMWVl&hl=en

FPS Private School Tuition (a sample of tuitions from the State website - for out of district placements)

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczNjdlZmFlYTQtODBjZC00ZGU1LWIyOTAtMzU1MWM5M2Y3ZmM1&hl=en

-----

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

-----

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html 

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html

Part 6 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-6-12510.html

Part 7 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-7-12510.html

FM Budget Workshop Part 7 - 1/25/10

This is part 7 of the budget workshop held in Franklin on Jan 25, 2010 with members of the Town Council, School Committee and Finance Committee participating along with key administration folks from the Town and School Dept as well as some citizens.

Time: 18 minutes, 34 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Part 7

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part seven of the session recording. Beth Fitzmaurice, Director of Special Education, covers the details of providing Special Education for the students in the Franklin School District beginning with the number of students receiving special educations services as of Jan 15th, 2010 and closing this segment with discussion on special education transportation costs.

Documents associated with this recording segment

FPS Understanding the Budget 1/25/2010 (Page 18 through 22)

FPS - Understanding the Budget 1/25/10

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

FPS SPED Eligibility
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczNTQzMjYyMmMtZWQyZS00YmZiLTg4MDItY2NiYzU3ZGQ0MGRh&hl=en

FPS SPED Placement
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczZjRmYzgwYTctODY1NS00ZmU5LWEzYWItNTM2ZDE2MDdlMWVl&hl=en

FPS Private School Tuition (a sample of tuitions from the State website)

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczNjdlZmFlYTQtODBjZC00ZGU1LWIyOTAtMzU1MWM5M2Y3ZmM1&hl=en

------

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html 

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html

Part 6 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-6-12510.html

FM Budget Workshop Part 6 - 1/25/10

This is Part 6 of the Budget Workshop held in Franklin, MA on Jan 25th. This segment covers Asst Superintendent Sally Winslow providing an overview on the nuances of Special Education for the Schools budget.

Time: 21 minutes, 55 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part six of the session recording. Asst. Superintendent Sally Winslow cover the nuances and requirements of providing Special Education for the Franklin Schools budget

Documents associated with this recording

FPS Understanding the Budget 1/25/2010 (Page 6 through 17)

FPS - Understanding the Budget 1/25/10

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

FPS SPED Eligibility
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczNTQzMjYyMmMtZWQyZS00YmZiLTg4MDItY2NiYzU3ZGQ0MGRh&hl=en

FPS SPED Placement
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczZjRmYzgwYTctODY1NS00ZmU5LWEzYWItNTM2ZDE2MDdlMWVl&hl=en


------

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

------


Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html 

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html

Jordan, UT: Jordan School District

With school vacation this week, many folks will be traveling. Let's travel a little ourselves via the web to find out what else is going on with local blogs, in particular those covering local government and education.


Current J - the blog for the Jordan School District
http://current.jordandistrict.org/


T4 is a resource for comprehensive school improvement plans:
http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/section/7/39/

T4  is a resource for teachers
http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/section/5/38/

The Flip over video page is a wealth of resource links on how to use the Flip video camera
http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/view/314/37/


In your travels, have your found a good blog to share?

FM Budget Workshop Part 5 - 1/25/10

This is Part 5 of the Budget Workshop held in Franklin, MA on Jan 25th. This segment covers the start for the discussion around the Schools budget.

Time: 25 minutes, 25 seconds



MP3 File


Session Notes:

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part five of the session recording. Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski and Finance Director Miriam Goodman, cover the overview of the Franklin Schools budget.

Documents associated with this recording

FPS Understanding the Budget 1/25/2010 (Page 1 through 5)

FPS - Understanding the Budget 1/25/10

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

FPS Overview
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczZDc0MTI1ZjktMzRlNy00YjM3LWJmMjYtOWYyZTk3NWQ1YWJl&hl=en

FPS Teacher Salary Grid
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczZDVmYjBmZDgtNDJhNS00YmY2LTljOTQtNDNhNTk5NWY3N2Zk&hl=en

------

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html


The first four sessions cover the Town side of the budget

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html

Central Falls, RI in the news

At one time, Central Falls was the most densely populated square mile in the US. It is now in the news as the Superintendent is preparing to fire all the high school teachers.

Why? 

The school apparently is failing its students. The Superintendent wants to make changes. The Teacher Unions is hold its ground to make changes "upon negotiation".

Read the full article here

and more here

Franklin, MA: Skipping weekly review

I'll skip the weekly review (podcast) for this week. I will have one for the week ending Sunday the 21st.

If you missed one of the updates during the week, you can see them all here:

• Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery
• Solid waste - Newton's info
• Time to wake up on obesity
• Wired Kids Summit
• HMEA 5K Race/Walk - May 23rd
• Solid Waste Pros/Cons - Updated
• Comments discovered
• Solid waste - pros/cons
• Town Council - 02/10/10
• Spilka and Vallee to Hold Office Hours in Franklin...
• In the News - trash fee reduced, Seniors get aid
• "a real positive service for the whole community"
• Live reporting - closing
• Live reporting - legislation
• Live reporting - Senior Outreach
• Live reporting - Town Council
• What is online learning?
• What are Smartboards?
• School Committee 02/09/10
• Let's be honest! - seminar for Middle School Paren...
• Franklin mock trial team beats Bellingham, 83-77
• Vallee to hold office hours in Franklin, Medway
• Live reporting - closing items
• Live reporting - Action items
• Live reporting: School Committee
• Abbey Wind Turbine
• 
  

Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery

As the girls were growing up, one of our family traditions was to walk to Spruce Pond Creamery on the last day of school to help celebrate. I've been known to go with a banana split for dinner. It does have multiple food groups, right (fruit, dairy, nuts, chocolate!) :-)

Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Good food with a quaint pond view setting. Now with a wine and malt license, there is an added incentive to visit for pizza or a panini.

Of course, sitting on the porch with your ice cream is not something you'd do often in winter.

Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery in a green and warmer view:

Stay warm!

Solid waste - Newton's info

Newton implemented an automated single stream solid waste process similar to what is coming to Franklin. From the Newton website I found the following:

The size of the cart was selected for several reasons:

1. In a survey conducted in 2007, 88% of the households could fit trash into this cart;
2. The cart will encourage more recycling;
3. The average household in Newton produces approximately 40 lbs of trash per week.

NOTE: The new blue carts will hold the same amount as two large standard trash bags (each holds 35 lbs) or five small kitchen trash bags (each holds 20 lbs) or two 35-gallon barrels (each holds 40 lbs)

4. In the pilot survey, 82% of the participants stated that the 64-gallon carts held their weekly trash without a problem.
5. 
   

Thanks to Warren Reynolds for providing the link from his post on the new system. You can read Warren's post here:
http://www.02038.com/2010/02/franklin-ma-single-stream-automatedtrash-pickup/

The link to Newton's pages can be found here:
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/DPW/recycling/ittakestwo/intro.html

Time to wake up on obesity

There are a number of problems in this world but many of them pale in comparison with obesity.

Franklin's budget problem is minor. The trash fee is minuscule.

Jamie Oliver gave this talk at TED recently. It is a powerful and yet easy message to take a step on. Today.

Powerful? Wait until you see the wheelbarrow!



What are you going to do?
When are you going to start?

Wired Kids Summit

The Franklin Teenangels group could use your help in raising money to attend the following event. If you would like to contribute, please contact Lisa Keohane

Prior posts on the Teenangels can be found
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html

The Milford Daily News wrote about the Teenangels here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1685423643/Cyberbullying-too-real-for-teens

-----

The Fifth Annual Wired Kids Summit

Wired Kids and The WiredSafety Group’s  FBI-trained Teenangels

and Tweenangels invite you to join them at their Wired Kids Summit

given entirely by these expert teens and pre-teens.       

 Teenangels and Tweenangels share:

·        What do Kids Currently Use the Internet for?

·        What are the Latest Interactive Technologies and How Do Kids Use Them?

·        What Sites Do Kids Visit the Most and Why?

·        What’s the Latest on Kids and Cyberbullying, Blogs, Cyber-dating, Downloading Media, Privacy, Security, Cell phones and Text-messaging as well as Predators on the Web?

Come Join Us and Hear from the Real Experts –

The Teens and Preteens Themselves

Panel discussions: The summit will consist of panel discussions run entirely by FBI-trained preteens and teens, our real Internet experts. Moderated by Parry Aftab, cyberlawyer and Executive Director of Wired Kids and the Wired Safety Group, four separate panels will allow the expert preteens and teens to share their expertise, views and accolades about the Internet, their favorite sites and visionaries.

An Awards Ceremony take place throughout the summit, including our Internet Super Hero Award which will be presented this year by Marvel’s Spider-Man and Parry Aftab.

About Us

WiredKids.com and the Wired Safety Group is a 501c3 organization. It is the largest online safety and help group in the world, operating through thousands of volunteers in 76 countries around the world. The Wired Safety Group operates WiredSafety.org, WiredKids.org, Teenangels.org, InternetSuperHeroes.org and StopCyberbullying.org.

SCHEDULE

Date: May 25, 2010

Place: Washington, D.C. at the Senate Russell Building, Room 325.

Time:    Registration will begin at 9:00 A.M.

The Summit will be held from 9:30 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.

A special lunch will be served for invited guests from 1:15 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. Over lunch, the Tweenangels and Teenangels will join the guests and share their expertise and presentations on Internet predators will be delivered by Teenangels with bestselling author, Katie Tarbox. (Sorry, luncheon invitations are reserved for special guests, WiredKids advisory board members and Teenangel supporters.) 

Space at the Summit is limited so please reserve your place early by e-mailing us at wksummit@wiredsafety.org or by visiting WiredSafety.org and clicking on “events” and filing out the reservation request form.

We look forward to seeing you!

·        Panel 1: Stop Cyberbullying! presents information about how young people are using the internet to harass other kids online. The panel will cover real cases, prevention, and safety tips for parents, kids and schools.

·        Panel 2: Keeping Kids and Families Safe in a Digital World will share information about the 4Ps – privacy, predators, pornography and piracy, the new WiredSafety.org video, the Teenangels’ and Tweenangels’ own safety tips and what parents, schools and industry leaders should know.

·        Panel 3: The Secret World of Kids Online will share hidden risks of new technologies and showcase products and improvements created or enhanced by the TeenAngels as well as recommendations for features to existing products to enhance online safety, privacy and security.

·        Panel 4: Just for Fun will explore what kids enjoy doing online including their favorite sites and activities. (The Wired Kids Best of the Web Awards will be given during this panel.)

Awards Ceremony:

The Summit will include awards for the following:

·        The Teenangels Hero Awards

·        WiredSafety’s Super Librarian of the Year

·        The Wired Cops Awards

·        The Educational Superstar Award

·        The Wired Kids’ Best of the Web Awards

·        The Internet Visionary Award

·        And for the first time, our Internet Super Hero Award will be presented by Marvel’s Super Heroes, including Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk

In addition, the Internet safety video – The 4Ps – Privacy, Predators, Porn and Pop-ups will be released in honor of Christina Long, the first confirmed murder victim by an Internet sexual predator.

HMEA 5K Race/Walk - May 23rd

The Horace Mann Education Associates - HMEA, Inc. is located here in Franklin, MA but their effective service delivery is to over 100 communities in MA.

HMEA has a long history of providing innovative services in school, at work, at home and in the community and now serve over 2400 children and adults with developmental disabilities. Services include: Residential, Day and Family supports, and services for children.

HMEA's Employment Programs provides people with disabilities the opportunity to pursue meaningful employment either on a full- or part-time basis. For people in the Employment Program who work part-time, HMEA encourages volunteering for community organizations, or leisure and recreation activities to supplement their day.

HMEA's Employment Programs serve people 22 years of age and older who live within the commuting distance of program locations in the following cities and towns: Bellingham, Clinton, Hopedale, Plainville and Worcester

The annual fund raiser for HMEA is the 5K Race/Walk and Family Fun Day scheduled for May 23, 2010.

From Passionate Runner

SAVE THE DATE...Sunday, May 23, 2010 HMEA's 9th Annual Independence 5K Walk/Run in the Park - MARK YOUR CALENDARS and grab your sneakers to participate in this "Fun-filled Family Day fundraising event...

This event, which is hosted by our good friends at EMC2 Corporation in Franklin, MA gathers 2,000 or more people to help HMEA continue its mission to make a difference in people's lives. AND, all the money raised is returned to the many programs at HMEA, which supports 2,400 children and adults with intellectual challenges and developmental disabilities.

Once again we have Gene Lavanchy from Fox News25 and tentatively Gail Huff from WCVB-TV Channel performing hosting duties for us. And our great friends and inspiration to many, "TEAM HOYT", Dick and Rick will be on hand again this year -- plus we're pretty sure there will be a few other celebrities and mascots on hand as well!

So come on down and participate in the fun...there's raffle prizes, food, tee shirts for participants (while they last), prizes, a Kids Corner filled with games and activities, a Kids "FUN RUN" and so much more... 

In addition to working the road race registration table (and providing splits at the 2 mile mark), I have decided to help HMEA do some fund raising this year.

I love the quote from Horace Mann that they use on their History page:

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"

You can help the HMEA make a difference with a donation. I have a widget in the center column of this and my other blogs, should you choose to donate an amount within your means.

I will appreciate it.
The HMEA clients you help will too!

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If you would like to register for the race you can do so here
http://www.hmea.org/events.html

If you'd like you can contribute in one of several options directly through the HMEA website here
http://www.hmea.org/donations.html