Check out the recent article in School Library Journal on the Kevin Youkilis Foundation's Batting for Books Book Drive this weekend at Fenway Park!

Meet the 2009 Tech Apprentices!

OIIT successfully reached our goal and placed 101 Tech Apprentices in Boston-area companies for the summer! The Tech Apprentice Program is a seven-week paid internship opportunity at local companies for technology skilled high school juniors and seniors from Boston and the metro Boston area. A collaboration between TechBoston/OIIT, the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), and Boston Area Advanced Technological Educational Connections (BATEC), the program offers students a great opportunity to explore their technology interests while developing professional skills in a real-world setting. It also gives companies the ability to develop a much needed pipeline of technology-skilled individuals while also providing Boston youth with a unique experience to gain hands-on learning. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts hosted a luncheon to welcome the apprentices. Have a productive summer!

Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids launches “Batting for Books” campaign to benefit BPS libraries

BOSTON — Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids announced the launch of the first “Batting for Books” campaign to benefit the Boston Public Schools. Together with the City of Boston and the Boston Red Sox, the slugger’s charitable organization is dedicated to enhancing the Boston Public Schools by collecting over 100,000 new or gently used books to donate to the schools’ libraries. Book donations will be collected at each of Fenway Park’s five gates during the Red Sox weekend series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12.

“We are so excited to launch this program because we know that it will have an immediate positive impact on the public school libraries throughout Greater Boston,” said Youkilis, one of the Co-Founder’s of the organization. “Our school’s libraries are in desperate need of new books, and without spending a dime, contributors to the book drive will be able to directly support the reading skills and overall education of our city’s children.”

The “Batting for Books” campaign will benefit the Boston Public Schools libraries at no cost to the City of Boston. The program was originally conceived by Youk’s Kids during a visit to one of the public school libraries in 2007 and the resulting realization that a little help from the community could vastly improve the quality and amount of books available for children to read. Currently, the average age of a book on the shelf at the libraries is twelve years old.

“We want this campaign to be as successful as possible, and that is why we are swinging for the fences and have set our collection goal at over 100,000 books,” said Enza Sambataro-Youkilis, Co-Founder & President of Youk’s Kids. “Judging by the passion that the Red Sox and their fans have for the City of Boston, we are confident that we will surpass our goal.”

“We are very grateful to Kevin Youkilis and Hits for Kids for launching this exciting campaign,” said Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. “This partnership will make a tremendous difference in our work to strengthen literacy skills among all Boston Public Schools students.”

While all children’s books titles are welcome in the book drive, Boston Public Schools has compiled a recommended list of titles for the libraries. Each of these titles is available at a 20% discount at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton, and online at http://www.ecookbooks.com/battingforbooks.

In addition to the City of Boston and the Red Sox, Youk’s Kids has also partnered with the following organizations to ensure that the drive runs smoothly and successfully: Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mark’s Movers, New England Mobile Book Fair, Rounder Records, and Lesley University.

Valvoline Instant Oil Change will also be accepting book donations at all their MA, NH & RI locations starting on June 15, and there will also be a collection point at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton. Houghton Mifflin has also pledged to match the number of books donated at Fenway Park on July 11 and 12.
For more information, please visit http://www.youkskids.org/index.html

About Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids

Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids is a charitable organization focused on raising support and awareness for the health, advocacy, safety, and well-being of children. Rallying the support of individuals and businesses Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids teams up with existing community-based children’s charities and medical research efforts, which currently lack sufficient funding. Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids also identifies and partners with businesses that can deliver products and services to children in need, on the behalf of Youk’s Kids. To learn more about Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids, or to make a donation, please visit www.youkskids.org.

BPS Celebrates the Power of Technology to Transform Learning

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, the Boston Public Schools Community came together for a technology-infused day at Wentworth Institute of Technology.

In the morning, teams of elementary school principals and teachers, along with their Academic Superintendents, came together to kick-off a year-long professional development program focused on 21st Century Skills & Technology Leadership in conjunction with the district's Laptops for Learning (L4L) initiative. L4L is a four-year, strategic initiative that establishes a solid technology foundation in Boston Public Schools classrooms by providing teachers with a state-of-the-art, dual-platform MacBook for instructional use to engage students, differentiate instruction, and inspire learning. In August, middle, K-8, and high schools will begin the year-long technology leadership program.

In the afternoon, two great events took place for BPS families and students. In a packed gymnaisum, nearly 900 families came together with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Reverend Gregory G. Groover, Chairperson of the Boston School Committee, BPS Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, and Dr. Zorica Pantic, President of Wentworth, to celebrate their graduation from the Technology Goes Home (TGH) Program. TGH fosters family-school connections by providing technology training to families at the school.

And right across the quad, over 90 students from seven BPS schools competed for medals in the annual Robotics Olympics sponsored by OIIT's TechBoston unit. Principals, teachers, and families came to the event to support their students and children. This year's competition focused on "Green" robots with 8 challenges ranging from fuel-efficient vehicles to recycling.

The wealth of excitement and the richness of learning that occurred across the Wentworth campus with these events exemplifies the seamless power of technology to not only engage students, families, teachers, and instructional leaders in their own learning but to help them develop strategies and practices to transform learning for others.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the BPS Technology Day!

Lilla G. Frederick Honored as an Apple Distinguished School

Executives from Apple presented the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester with an Apple Distinguished School Award in recognition of the school's "1-to-1 Wireless Learning Initiative." The Frederick is one of only 33 schools in the country, and the only school in Massachusetts, to receive the honor this year. City and school officials joined students and faculty for a special awards ceremony yesterday to celebrate the prize.

Pictured here (left to right) are State Rep. Marie St. Fleur, an eighth grade student from Roxbury, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Principal Deb Socia, Brent Frey, Apple Education Development Manager, an eighth grade student from Dorchester, and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson.

Engage with the Technology Goes Home Program to Connect Families & Schools through Technology

Looking for a way to engage families in their children’s education next year? If so, consider the TGH Program. The TGH program provides an opportunity for Boston schools (grades 4-12) to bring families together for technology training based on classroom or grade-level curriculum. One or two teachers are stipended to provide 25 hours of training after school or on Saturdays (teacher’s choice). In order to participate, schools need to recruit 12 families. This year, we trained over 850 families in 50 schools!

OIIT is hosting informational sessions at OIIT, Madison Park High School on Thursday, June 11th and Monday, June 15th at 4:15 p.m. Apply by June 22, 2009 to launch program in September 2009.

Check out the program letter (http://boston.k12.ma.us/bulletins/TGHLetter.doc) and the application (http://boston.k12.ma.us/bulletins/TGHApplication.doc) for more information.

Remember, APPLY NOW and RECRUIT FAMILIES in the SUMMER and SEPTEMBER.

Questions? Contact Jackie Collins at jcollins@boston.k12.ma.us.

OIIT Summer Professional Development Offerings Posted

OIIT has posted its summer professional development offerings on MyLearningPlan. Visit www.mylearningplan.com to read course descriptions and to register.

Current offerings include:

• TEC_1005: Your L4L Laptop: A Beginner's Course I
• TEC_1008: Your L4L Laptop: A Beginner's Course II
• TEC_1003: Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum
• TEC_1010: Integrating Visual/Digital Media in the Curriculum
• TEC_1012: Using SMART Boards to Support Instruction
• TEC_1007: Creating Instructional Podcasts with GarageBand
• TEC_1013: Empowering the Classroom with Collaborative Online Tools: Wikis, Blogs, & Google Apps
• TEC_1014: Technology Integration or Planning for the 21st Century Classroom

Available Soon!

• TEC_1004: Presentation Skills for Teaching & Learning in the Classroom
• TEC_: Using Geometer's Sketchpad to Support Middle School Mathematics
• TEC_1009A: Data Warehouse Train the Trainer Session 1
• TEC_1009B: Data Warehouse Train the Trainer Session 2
  
• TEC_1002: Introduction to Excel to Support Data Analysis
• TEC_1001: MassONE Orientation and More
  

TD Banknorth Awards $5,000 Library Grants to 2 K-8 Schools

TD Banknorth recently surprised the new Higginson - Lewis K-8 School in Roxbury with a $5,000 donation through the TD Charitable Foundation, the bank’s charitable giving arm. The bank also donated $5,000 to the school library at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. K-8 School in Dorchester. The funds were donated in celebration of National Library Week, April 12-18, and will support the purchase of new library books and technology resources.

Attending the event at the Higginson were Bruins legend Ray Bourque, Celtics legend JoJo White, Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson and principal Joy Salesman-Oliver.

As part of Superintendent Johnson’s “Pathways to Excellence” plan approved by the Boston School Committee last fall, the Higginson Elementary School and Lewis Middle School will merge to become a new kindergarten through grade 8 (K-8) school in September at the Lewis building, 131 Walnut Ave., Roxbury. The Dickerman Elementary and King Middle Schools also will merge to become the new King K-8 at the refurbished 77 Lawrence Ave. building in Dorchester this fall.

TD Banknorth’s celebration of National Library Week served as the official kick-off to the bank’s Summer Reading Program. The program encourages young people to read and additionally provides a goal for them to learn the importance of saving money. TD Banknorth contributes $10 into a new or existing young savers account for each child who reads 10 books throughout the summer. The 2009 Summer Reading Program will run from May 4 through September 30.

Photo Caption: Celebrating the $5,000 donation from TD Banknorth with Higginson students are (left to right) Bruins legend Ray Bourque, principal Joy Salesman-Oliver, TD Banknorth regional executive Dave Glidden, and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson.

(This blog post was written by the BPS Communications Office as a press release. Go to the BPS website for the original press release. Thank you to the BPS Communications Office!)