There must be parents whose years of raising teenagers to adulthood are perfectly pleasant and without problems. And then there are the rest, perhaps most, who find the experience quite trying and filled with trouble. ...more

December 28, 2009

Detroit's (predominantly black) public schools are the worst in the nation, and it takes some doing to be worse than Washington, D.C. Only 3 percent of Detroit's fourth-graders scored proficient on the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, sometimes called "The Nation's Report Card." Twenty-eight percent scored basic and 69 percent below basic. "Below basic" is the NAEP category when students are unable to demonstrate even partial mastery of knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at their grade level. It's the same story for Detroit's eighth-graders. Four percent scored proficient, 18 percent basic and 77 percent below basic. Michael Casserly, executive director of the D.C.-based Council on Great City Schools, in an article appearing in Crain's Detroit Business, (12/8/09) titled, "Detroit's Public Schools Post Worst Scores on Record in National Assessment," said, "There is no jurisdiction of any kind, at any level, at any time in the 30-year history of NAEP that has ever registered such low numbers." The academic performance of black students in other large cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles is not much better than Detroit and Washington. ...more

December 26, 2009

No one expects 13-year-olds to have their whole lives plotted out. Then again, it's an age where childhood starts to give way as adulthood makes its gradual introduction. Before you or they know it, 13 becomes 16, then 18, then 21 and on to the rest of their lives. ...more

December 11, 2009

The Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society is marking the centennial of the building that is its home. ...more

November 14, 2009

Eighth-graders in Tampa Preparatory School's middle school have joined Meals on Wheels Adopt-A-Route, joining several Tampa Prep faculty who have had an Adopt-A-Route for more than a year. ...more

October 28, 2009

Billed as the "funniest movie ever to make you cry," "Steel Magnolias" was a hit movie in 1989. ...more

October 28, 2009

For the first time in 10 years, the Academy of the Holy Names has qualified for the state golf tournament, and the Jaguars pulled it off with one of the youngest teams in school history. ...more

October 27, 2009

Students at Carrollwood Day School joined the fight against breast cancer recently when they planted pink flowers across the campus in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is October. ...more

October 14, 2009

Going to a new school can be intimidating for some students. To reduce the stress, Terrace Community Middle School, 11734 Jefferson Road, launched a program to help new seventh- and eighth-graders understand the importance of being a part of the school's family. ...more

September 9, 2009

Mummies and pharaoh masks rested in columns to dry while 12-year-old Samantha Mitchell tried to corral a dozen elementary and middle school students into a pyramid formation to rap about King Tut. ...more

July 20, 2009