The Piano Guys had a surprising start on YouTube, which led to an amazing PBS special, that finally brought them to your stage at the Midland by AMC in downtown Kansas City. KCPT offered YOU the best seats in the house, an exclusive Meet and Greet experience, and brought some of Kansas City’s youngest musicians in to the spotlight.
A special “thank you” to Elizabeth Suh Lane, her incredibly talented students and the Midland by AMC for helping create a truly unique night!
The school year is winding down for most students, but for school administrators it is prime time for hiring teachers for the fall.
Did you know that 30 percent of new teachers quit after three years on the job and half of them quit the classroom within five years? The biggest reason for leaving? According to the Gates Foundation, the answer is not pay, though I’m sure most teachers wouldn’t say no to a a salary increase, and it’s not because they don’t like teaching anymore. The biggest reason, the Gates Foundation claims, is they don’t like the school they’re teaching in because it is a bad fit. Enter: myEDmatch.com.
If online dating works so well for people looking for love and happiness, can it work to match teachers with schools? That is the premise being pioneered by two local leaders in education in Kansas City: former Kauffman Foundation Vice President Munro Richardson and Teach for America Kansas City head Alicia Herald, who both quit their jobs to launch this job matching start up.
Where in the world am I? Apparently, many students in the United States have no idea.
In a 2006 Roper survey, it was found that students in the U.S. fail to understand their world and their place in it. Of Americans aged 18 to 24, seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel on a map. Nine in ten couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map of Asia. And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.
The 2002 project also surveyed 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Great Britain. The U.S. trailed every other country in that survey, except Mexico, which did only slightly worse. Even for U.S. geography, the survey results are just as dismal. Half could not find New York State on a map of the United States. A third of the respondents could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent couldn’t locate Mississippi on a map of the United States, even though Hurricane Katrina put these southeastern states in the spotlight in 2005. About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn’t even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean’s location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent.
In order to spark interest in the subject, National Geographic hosts the National Geographic Bee to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee, a nation-wide geography competition in Washington, D.C. for students in 4th through 8th grade. In that quarter century, about two percent of the competitors are girls and only two girls have won the $25,000 first prize scholarship. Education reporter Lindsey Foat sat down with two local finalists Prani Nalluri and Aviral Misra.
The National Geographic Bee will be shown on KCPT the day after the competition, Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m.
What is the fastest growing segment of American education?
You will probably be surprised to hear that it is homeschooling, which is growing by some estimates at seven percent a year. While religion is still the biggest factor in why parents home educate, there are many other reasons including anything from a focus on science to just spending more time together as a family.
KCPT’s special correspondent Sam Zeff has been looking into this education expansion in our region.
