Second New York Citywide
Special Education Conference 2009
Distinguished Leader in Education Awards Conferred at Special Education Conference
By Sybil Maimin
The widespread apprehension over the state of the economy and the world together with hope in a new president who seems determined to lead Americans to better days, mirrored Education Update’s annual Special Education Conference 2009, held at Hunter College, which examined seemingly intractable problems but provided hope through helpful presentations and research findings from top experts in the field who are working tirelessly and creatively to come up with answers....READ MORE

Education Update’s Special Education Conference Highlights Advances As Well as Need For Improvement
By McCarton Ackerman
Although special needs education has advanced greatly in recent years, professionals in the field still believe there is a great amount of work to be done....READ MORE

Education Update Honors Distinguished Leaders in Special Education 2009
Merryl H. Tisch, Ed.D., NYS Board of Regents
President Lynda Katz, Landmark College
Jeffrey M. Halperin, Ph.D., Queens College
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Education Update Thanks the Wonderful Sponsors Who Supported The Second New York Citywide Special Education Conference
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Women Shaping History 2009
Great Britain’s Leading Educator: Lady Pauline Perry
By Barbara Lowin
Adjunct Lecturer, The City College / CUNY
A common complaint amongst women is that the seemingly insurmountable obstacle to a successful career is being a wife and mother to several children....READ MORE

Carolyn Blashek:
One Woman Makes a Difference to US Servicemen
By Sybil Maimin
Carolyn Blashek is proof that one person can make a difference....READ MORE

Deborah Axelrod, M.D.: Surgeon
By Lisa K. Winkler
To unwind after a day of breast surgeries, Deborah Axelrod sits at her dining room table and beads long into the night, creating necklaces, earrings and bracelets with glass and semi-precious stones....READ MORE

Helen Benedict: Journalist
Women at War in Iraq
By Helen Benedict
I first saw Specialist Mickiela Montoya in 2006. She was standing silently in the back of a classroom while several male Iraq War veterans spoke about their experiences as soldiers....READ MORE

Kakuna Kerina, President/CEO of The Harlem School of the Arts
By Lauren Shapiro
Career: I’m proudest of my ability to have helped people who are in incredibly bad situations to survive....READ MORE

Women in Music: Conductor Victoria Bond
By Lauren Shapiro
Career: My parents and my grandparents were musicians, so I feel I was born into it....READ MORE

Klingenstein Center Honors Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey received the 2009 Klingenstein Leadership Award from The Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership, at Teachers College, Columbia University....READ MORE

Dr. Charlotte Frank In Historic Meeting With Pope Benedict XVI
In what has been described as an historic meeting, leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization met recently with Pope Benedict XVI, who issued an absolute condemnation of Holocaust denial, saying “it is beyond question that any denial or minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable and altogether unacceptable.”...READ MORE

Carmen Alvarez Testifies on Special Education Before the City Council
Thank you for the opportunity to present our views about the current state of special education in New York City....READ MORE

GUEST EDITORIAL & LETTERS

GUEST EDITORIAL
Lifting Graduation Rates by Closing the Arts Education Gap           
By Richard Kessler, Execuitve Director,
The Center For Arts Education
It is widely known that New York City graduation rates, like those in many other areas, hover at a disappointing 50 percent, and that students from poor families are less likely to graduate than more advantaged peers....READ MORE

Letters to the Editor - March 2009
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SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS

Manhattan Hunter Science High School
By Dr. Pola Rosen
The buzz nationwide, supported by statistics, is that the United States is floundering in its output of scholars in math and science....READ MORE

Governor Sebelius for HHS Secretary
By Randi Weingarten
The American Federation of Teachers, whose more than 1.4 million members include public employees, healthcare workers and early childhood educators, applauds the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services....READ MORE

Head of Trevor Day School Receives  Klingenstein Fellowship
Pamela Clarke, Head of Trevor Day School, has been awarded a fully funded fellowship to the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership’s 2009 Heads of Schools program at Teachers College, Columbia University....READ MORE

EdisonLearning to Open First Online Charter School
Teachers differentiating instruction in real-time based on student’s performance during a lesson; and students connecting science lessons to the multimedia content on the Web; this is what EdisonLearning’s first online charter school will look like when it begins operation in South Carolina at the start of the 2009 school year....READ MORE

Oracle Education Partners With Virginia Department of Ed on Astronomy Initiative
The Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Virginia Department of Education to support “Share the Skies,” a statewide initiative that enables students and teachers to study astronomy in the daytime....READ MORE

COLLEGES & GRAD SCHOOLS

The DEAN’S COLUMN
The Russian Peasant’s Method of Multiplication
By Dean Alfred Posamentier, Ph.D.
Students can get a deeper insight into numbers and their properties by inspecting some off-the-beaten-path arithmetic algorithms....READ MORE 

Panel at Teachers College Discusses Catholic Schools in Crisis
By Sybil Maimin
Described as a “crisis” by the White House Domestic Policy Council, especially in the poor, inner city neighborhoods where they are often an appealing safe and orderly alternative to public education, the nation’s Catholic Schools are closing at an alarming rate....READ MORE

The Bronx Zoo and Fordham University Collaborate
By Lauren Shapiro
The walrus waved its fin and the zookeeper tossed another fish, delighting onlookers....READ MORE

Extraordinary 16th Anniversary Dinner for Marymount Writing Center
Despite the economy, Lewis Frumkes pulled out every stop to thank writers and supporters of Marymount Manhattan College’s remarkable Writing Center, which has put Marymount on the map as a first class center of culture on the Upper East Side of Manhattan....READ MORE

Grace Institute Graduates Defy Economic Downturn
While the economy continues to sour and many employers consider layoffs, graduates of Grace Institute continue to have bright prospects due to the highly sought-after business skills and training received at the Institute....READ MORE

Kerry Kennedy Charms At Marymount
On a cheery Wednesday evening at Marymount Manhattan College, Kerry Kennedy, the human rights activist and author, appeared as part of the Writing Center’s Best-Selling Author series and talked about her latest book, Being Catholic Now....READ MORE

MUSIC, ART & DANCE

Eight-Year-Old Ethiopian Dancers Tour US
By Lauren Shapiro
Spending as much time as possible in the bathroom doesn’t sound like the stuff of travelogues; but for the Mesgana Dancers, using hot and cold running water is worth the trip....READ MORE

CHILDREN"S CORNER

From the Superintendent’s Seat
Missing School Means Missing Out
By Dr. Carole Hankin
As the superintendent of a public school district, I am often asked by parents whether it is acceptable for children to miss school for travel or family functions....READ MORE

MUSEUMS AS EDUCATORS

Native American Programs at Inwood Park
By Lauren Shapiro
What better way to raise awareness of a Native American Indian’s life than to walk a mile in his moccasins, and you can do exactly that, in Inwood Hill Park....READ MORE

Students Learn at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
By Lauren Shapiro
The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum on Broadway and 204th Street is “a place people can go to learn a little bit more about their community and its past, “ says Susan De Vries, Director. She adds that, “the half acre garden is a little bit of an oasis, right on Broadway.”...READ MORE

MEDICAL UPDATE

Robo Rehab Device Arms Stroke Survivors With Ability to Regain Control
An estimated 50 percent of stroke survivors suffer from partial paralysis on one side of their body, and only 5 percent of those who receive rehabilitation therapy ever regain full control of their arm....READ MORE

Simple Model Predicts Those at Risk for Chronic Kidney Disease
Traditionally, doctors have had no clear way to predict which of their patients might be headed down the road to chronic kidney disease (CKD)....READ MORE

BOOKS

Review of The Graveyard Book
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
If there’s life after Harry Potter, Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book may be the one to extend it and ensure that youngsters who got hooked on novels by way of the Potter series keep reaching out for serious reading....READ MORE

CAMPS AND SPORTS

The Bottom Line About Camp Costs
Parents know that camp is an experience that will last a lifetime....READ MORE

METROBeat

Discovering and Enjoying All That New York City Has To Offer
By Mayor Michael Bloomberg
In difficult economic times, more people are postponing trips and planning “stay-cations”—vacations right in their own backyards....READ MORE

New 2009 Money-Saving Tax Laws 
By Barry Lisak, IRS Enrolled Agent
In order to stimulate the depressed housing market, tax incentives were created for first-time homebuyers (condos and co-ops are okay) under the Housing Assistance Act of 2008....READ MORE