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Summer Opportunities for El Paso Youth
El Paso has a wide variety of events, clubs, camps, and other opportunities that can keep students active this season. Encouraging your students to explore summer camps and opportunities to keep both mentally and physically active this summer is an important part of combating obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles. First Lady Michelle Obama is spearheading the Let’s Move initiative, a national push to combat childhood obesity, and educators are critical in this effort. For more information on the Let’s Move campaign, please click here
For a list of free and/or inexpensive summer activity options, please feel free to visit the Summer Activities for El Paso Youth section on the student center page on my website by clicking here.
America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010
This month, the House of Representatives voted on the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act of 2010. If signed into law the act would make investments in science, innovation, and education to strengthen U.S. scientific and economic leadership, support businesses, and create jobs in the short-, mid-, and long-term. More specifically, the bill would do this by establishing an interagency committee to coordinate federal programs and activities in support of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and charging them with compiling an inventory of all federal agency STEM related internships, fellowships, scholarships, and/or research opportunities.
To further strengthen the provisions in the bill, Congressman Reyes introduced an amendment on the floor incorporating the following two items:
• Ensuring that the STEM interagency coordinating committee under Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) describes the approaches that will be taken by each agency to conduct outreach designed to promote widespread public understanding of career opportunities in the STEM fields, and;
• Requiring the establishment and maintenance of a publically accessible online database (STEM.gov) of all federally sponsored STEM education programs.
The Reyes-Connolly amendment passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 413 to 10. To read more about the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, please click here.
For innovative STEM resources, lesson plans, and activities please explore the following links:
STEM resources for teachers and students
STEM resources for schools and communities
ESEA Blueprint
Earlier this year, the Obama administration released its blueprint for the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also commonly known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This revision would ask states to adopt college- and career-ready standards and reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement. This blueprint builds on four areas:
(1) Improving teacher and principal effectiveness;
(2) Providing information to families to help them evaluate and improve their children's schools;
(3) Implementing college- and career-ready standards; and
(4) Improving student learning and achievement in America's lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions.
To read a copy of the blueprint please click here.
Your feedback and comments on issues related to academic standards, teacher effectiveness, meeting the needs of English Learners, and any other areas of importance to you and your schools are welcome. As educational leaders in El Paso, your thoughts and opinions are highly valued and appreciated. To submit feedback please click here.
For more information on the ESEA and for more education resources please visit the following websites:
Department of Education
House Committee on Education and Labor
Reyes Online Student Center
In addition to these great resources, you can also find more useful educational tools on the student center section of my website by clicking here. There you will find information on:
* How a bill becomes law;
* Congressional internships;
* The Congressional page program;
* Service academy nominations;
* Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Programs;
* High School Art Competition;
* Helpful resources for students; and
* A just for kids section with several content rich-age appropriate web sites with plenty of interactive material.
You can also find a multitude of student and child partner websites with plenty of information on the work of our agencies and the federal government.
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