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Binghamton students recognized for reading accomplishments

Binghamton students recognized for reading accomplishments

Yahoo28-03-2025

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Students in all seven Binghamton elementary schools spent a whopping 3,798 hours reading last month as part of a special Black History Month challenge.
The non-profit CARES launched the Black History Month Reading Challenge in collaboration with the Binghamton City School District.
Students were encouraged to read books related to African American history. They also logged their minutes of reading, regardless of the subject matter.
In the end, the kids collectively read an impressive 227,000 minutes.
Michael Cooper is a member of the CARES administrative team.
'It makes us feel good because our main goal here with kids is to bridge the cultural gap between schools and families. This was an eye opener for a lot of people and students. It definitely played into what we're doing,' said Cooper.
Saturday evening, CARES will host a special celebration at NOMA which is located within First Congregational Church at the corner of Front and Main Streets.
There will be a potluck dinner and the top two readers from each school will be recognized. Mayor Kraham will also be on hand to read a book to the kids and their families.
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Binghamton students recognized for reading accomplishments
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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Four-day school week 'went fantastic' says Saydel Superintendent
Four-day school week 'went fantastic' says Saydel Superintendent

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Four-day school week 'went fantastic' says Saydel Superintendent

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Saydel Community School District started looking into the possibility of a four-day school week three years ago, and this Wednesday marked the end of the school year with the first time applying that theory. There are 18 school districts in the state that have converted to a four-day school week. For Saydel, the two major goals were mental well-being and retention of quality staff. As a smaller school district surrounded by giants in the metro, something needed to change to appeal to potential teachers. 'We want to make sure that we retain our people and keep them here for longer to make a larger impact. And then obviously, you know, if we can't attract top talent, that becomes a problem as well,' said Todd Martin, Superintendent of Saydel Community School District. 'At the beginning of the summer in 2024, there were 25 full-time positions needing to be filled. Fast forward to this year, there are only 13 positions needing to be filled. For Martin, that indicates the four-day week is working.' DMPS selling student-run radio station KDPS 88.1 FM 'And in the past before that, years ago, it was nothing to have, you know, 30 new staff members. So you can see 13 is a dramatic decrease in new people to our district, which means we can spend more time on further developing people that are currently here,' said Martin. Martin added that there are 15-20 people applying for each position and people are cold calling about those jobs. That has not happened during his tenure as superintendent. The district plans on doing the four-day weeks for the next two years, with Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays off. More data will be collected about attendance, staff retention, and impact on academics. The district did a district-wide survey in the fall and the spring to see what students, staff, and parents/guardians had to say. On the academic side, Martin said that the results show in just one year on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress tests. There was an increase in scores which means, to the administration, something is working. '…10% increase is fantastic across the board as a district. Our elementary saw the greatest gains, which was really awesome,' said Martin. 'Matter of fact, we look for them to really show great improvements on the report card this year. As for our middle school and high school we did wee quite a few pockets of excellence beginning to grow, which is very promising. The way I explain this to anybody that asks is all the arrows are pointing in the right direction, and now it's just about maintaining that consistently over time to continue to move towards comprehensive improvement as a district.' Martin said schools have reached out inquiring about the four-day weeks, asking what works and what doesn't. He expects there to be even more school districts next year adopting this calendar. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Homeless numbers hit all-time high in Worcester County with 20% spike over 2024
Homeless numbers hit all-time high in Worcester County with 20% spike over 2024

Yahoo

timea day ago

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Homeless numbers hit all-time high in Worcester County with 20% spike over 2024

WORCESTER — The latest homeless numbers are stark in Worcester County. In fact, they're record-breaking. The Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance annual homeless count released on Wednesday, June 4, showed an all-time high of 3,110 people are homeless in the county, a 20% increase over the 2024 count (2,600) and an eye-popping 93% jump over 2023 (1,607). Of the 3,110 homeless, 41% (1,262) are children and 52% (1,629) are Black, African American or African. The report noted another record that was shattered. On average, a household in Worcester County is homeless for more than half a year (213 days). "That's longer than we've ever seen," said Jack Moran, director of research and data analysis at the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance. Longer than the average of 207 days during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Moran, when policies focused on the homeless remaining in shelters to help prevent viral spread. The alliance's 'point in time' homeless count is not exact science. It's a snapshot because the count is taken one day out of the year, this year on Jan. 29. The figures were reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The count is reliable, said Leah Bradley, chief executive officer of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance. However, it doesn't capture every homeless person, she said, because Worcester County is a large land area and it's possible not to count homeless who sleep in cars versus those living in known encampments. There's a lot of data in this year's report, but two numbers stand out as primary reasons for the record-high homeless number. One is the county's rental vacancy rate of 2.9% — around 1% in Worcester — that is below the 5% generally needed to keep rents somewhat affordable, said Bradley. Second, the county's market rate for an apartment is $2,205, according to Zillow figures, double that of a decade ago. A rent that is unaffordable for many in the county, because it takes an annual income of $86,000 to make the monthly payment. However, the county's median renter household income is $51,300, according to the U.S. Census. As Bradley sees it, there's an urgent need to build more affordable housing to fix the homeless crisis. "The lack of housing that's being built, so the supply is not matching the demand right now," she said. "That's the biggest thing, because that creates the high median rent and the low vacancy rate, and those are the two indicators that we know are the causes of homelessness.' When Housing Secretary Edward M. Augustus Jr. was in Worcester last month to tout what the Healey administration is doing to boost supply, he mentioned the Affordable Homes Act, which Healey signed into law last year, that allocated $5.3 billion to boost affordable housing. Zoning changes, streamlined permitting and state subsidies were also cited by Augustus as ways the state is upping housing supply. It won't be easy to meet the demand. Massachusetts needs to build 222,000 new homes by 2035 to fill a statewide supply gap, according to a Housing Advisory Committee formed by Healey's administration. Even if those units are built, there are more than 400,000 families who qualify for affordable housing but can't access it, according to a study by the Massachusetts Area Planning Council and Housing Navigator Massachusetts. More multifamily housing is needed in smaller communities, said Bradley. She also noted the 'not in my backyard' opposition is an impediment to expanding affordable housing supply. Bradley is particularly concerned about the rising number of older people who are homeless. Fifty-one people over 64 are in this year's count, including 32 in shelters and five on the streets. Some are homeless because they can't afford to make repairs so their homes are condemned. Others can't make rent, so they're evicted and live in cars. It's not just Worcester that sees the homeless crisis. Smaller towns are also feeling the impact, a situation Bradley said is 'most concerning.' Sturbridge had 14 homeless individuals without shelter and Webster had eight, according to this year's count. Some are living in parking lots, others in tents, said Bradley. Of the 221 homeless in the county who are 'unsheltered,' according to this year's report, the largest communities dominated the numbers: 120 in Worcester and 56 in Fitchburg. Meanwhile, 53% of renter households in the county spend more than 30% of their income on rent. That's roughly 58,000 households, and the danger is if something unexpected happens, like losing a job, that family could be evicted and become homeless. Eviction numbers in the report show 2,800 new cases filed in the past 12 months. One number that stands out in the report is families with children identified as homeless: a total of 2,368 people, a 19% increase over last year and an alarming 146% spike compared to two years ago (963). Housing advocates say permanent housing with the necessary social supports is needed to break the cycle of homelessness. Bradley stressed that if the focus remains on shelters, the cycle will continue. A data point in this year's report could support that thinking. For the past two years, 24% of the county's homeless residents have found permanent housing. That compares to 43% in 2016. Besides more affordable housing, Bradley said changes to local zoning regulations and streamlined permitting to cut costs for developers will boost housing supply. She cited Austin, the Texas state capital with nearly 1 million residents, as a prime example. Zoning changes in building heights and parking requirements cut rents by 22% in that city, according to Bradley. While Bradley praised Worcester for its inclusionary zoning and housing trust fund to increase housing stock, she said surrounding towns have to do their part. 'If we don't address this, it's going to get worse, We need housing of all types.' When asked where the money will come from to swell the amount of affordable housing, Bradley said local, state and federal governments must pitch in. Funds are coming from other sources, and Bradley noted the Determination of Need Program at UMass Memorial Health. Whenever the hospital system builds a capital project, Bradley said, UMass has to set aside money for community needs. Families who pay 30% to 50% of their incomes for housing and experience a financial crisis have benefited from the UMass program to pay rent, said Bradley. While the state has programs to build more housing, Bradley said, it can't control interest rates and home prices. In the interim, Bradley said, "We need to help people stay in their housing. We need more subsidized housing and prevention programs so people are not leaving their housing." Contact Henry Schwan at Follow him on X: @henrytelegram. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Homeless numbers hit all-time high in Worcester County with 20% spike

Hiring teachers from the Philippines could mean brain drain for Filipino schools
Hiring teachers from the Philippines could mean brain drain for Filipino schools

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time2 days ago

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Hiring teachers from the Philippines could mean brain drain for Filipino schools

Kids at Pajo Elementary School, a few hours drive from Manila. (Photo by Brian Venua/KMXT) Alaska school districts hiring from the Philippines are taking some of the country's best and brightest teachers. It's a win for Alaska kids, but what does that mean for students back in Southeast Asia? KMXT's Brian Venua explores brain drain and brain gain in Part 5 of a five part audio series, Mabuhay sa Alaska. When Alaska school administrators toured Pajo Elementary School, each class greeted them by welcoming them to the Philippines in both English and in Filipino. The administrators were there to see what the teachers they hire from the Philippines experience before moving to Alaska. But the students are the other side of that story — These are kids that get left behind when Filipino teachers are hired abroad. When recruiters opened up appointments for screening, all 720 spots were filled in just 16 minutes. The only advertising was a few posts on social media. But one consequence of hiring abroad is fewer quality teachers in the Philippines — a phenomenon known as brain drain. Conversely, Alaska gets brain gain. Hiring teachers has largely been a success for the state's kids. Recruiters on the 2025 trip picked some of the most highly educated teachers from the island nation. Kodiak Island Borough School District, for example, has more doctorate degrees from its 30 or so Filipino teachers than it does from its over 300 American hires. 'We were impressed with the quality of teachers that we met over there. And we were able to choose – from there – the top of the top,' said Cyndy Mika, the district's superintendent. She said there have been more remarkable candidates than they can hire during recruiting trips. It's hard to say what the impact is on the Philippines, though. Mika said that so far, a surplus of workers in the Philippines is helping address her district's shortage. 'A lot of the teachers that we interviewed in the Philippines, when they first got their start, it was as a volunteer teacher,' she said. 'They weren't being paid because there weren't jobs. They're producing too many teachers.' But Mika is concerned that taking so many highly qualified teachers could create a sort of skill ceiling there, if the country's best teachers keep leaving for Alaska and other destinations. That doesn't change that her priority is the kids in the community where she works. 'My number one concern as a superintendent in Kodiak is getting the best quality teachers we can in front of our students,' she said. 'If we didn't have these Filipino teachers, who would we have?' She said that without international hires, vacant teacher positions would lead to smaller teacher-to-student ratios and more burnout for her staff. Remittance and returning teachers It's not a one-way street, though. Many Filipinos working abroad send a lot of money home – 8% of the country's economy, according to some reports. Their experience, professional development and cultural knowhow gained in the U.S. is valuable, too, and sometimes comes back. Edna Auxtero is the administrator for Tagaytay Christian Academy, a private school about a two-hour drive from Manila. She said hiring Filipino teachers is a huge compliment to the country's educational system. 'I'm so proud that they're even interested to get Filipinos,' Auxtero said. 'That's always my dream – that the priority for employment in other countries are Filipinos.' TCA's principal, and many of its teachers, are alumni. Auxtero hopes some of them will go to Alaska someday and return with new skills. 'My hope is that they will come back to build the nation and impart all their knowledge, experiences to the next generation so that Philippines will rise up also,' she said. 'They can expect that for teachers under J1 visas,' said Serjoe Gutierrez, a Kodiak music teacher and one of the district's first direct hires from the Philippines. J1 visas require international hires to go back to their home countries after a few years. But Gutierrez, and many others, are on potential paths to permanent residency through H1B visas. But he still thinks about kids he taught at a private school in Iloilo City. 'I do worry, sometimes,' Gutierrez said. He thought about it even before coming to Alaska. 'I was thinking about it before resigning, but I told myself it's for me. The kids, they would gain more experience – they're still young. But I'm not getting any younger, so I need to do something for myself, too.' Kodiak is his home now. 'I do love my country. I do love the Philippines, but I think being a teacher in Kodiak – being here in Alaska – opened a lot of opportunities for me,' he said. He said he's not sure he would have had the same chances to travel and play piano and violin publicly in the Philippines. He hopes to be one of the first to get a green card through the school and stay in the U.S. indefinitely. This story was originally published by KMXT, as part five of a five part audio series, Mabuhay sa Alaska.

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