Holocaust Center Sponsors Art, Writing Contest for Georgia Students

The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and the Thomas B. Murphy Holocaust Teacher Training and Resource Center are sponsoring a statewide art and writing contest for Georgia middle and high school students.

The Holocaust Resource Center, located in the Ingram Library on the University of West Georgia campus, is sponsored by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and is the only public institution of its kind in the country.

“The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Art and Writing Contest teaches lessons about the dangers of hate and discrimination,” said Secretary of State Karen Handel. “I thank the commission for their diligence in promoting the importance of moral courage and for their continued sponsorship of this contest. This competition provides an opportunity for students to study history and apply these lessons to current events through writing and art.”

In its 14th year, the contest is a cooperative effort between the state Department of Education and the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. Students may submit artwork and writing entries that cover the theme of “What are the Lessons of the Holocaust?”

Writing entries will be judged on content, originality, quality of expression and historical accuracy. Art entries will be judged on creativity, artistic excellence and thematic content. The contest submission form can be downloaded at www.holocaust.georgia.gov.

Winning students and their teachers will be awarded at the state capitol during the official state observance of the Days of Remembrance program on April 24. Four students and their teachers will receive a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., for their first place awards.

All art and writing entries must be postmarked no later than March 13 and sent to: Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, Thomas B. Murphy Center, Ingram Library, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 30118.

For more contest information, call 404-370-3056 or visit www.holocaust.georgia.gov. For more information on the Holocaust Resource Center, visit www.westga.edu/~holocaust or call 678-839-6350.

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Georgia Department of Education Approves Scientific Learning Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant Products for Adoption

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Scientific Learning Corp. (http://www.scilearn.com/) (NASDAQ:SCIL) today announced that the Georgia Department of Education has selected the Fast ForWord(R) (http://tinyurl.com/6j3qcp) and Reading Assistant(TM) (http://tinyurl.com/55qjzz) family of products as an approved 2008 K-8 Language Arts/Reading program for Georgia schools and districts. The products included in the adoption are: Fast ForWord Language v2, Fast ForWord Language to Reading v2, Fast ForWord Reading 1-5, Fast ForWord Literacy Series, and Reading Assistant with Curriculum Levels 1-5.

The Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant family of products are scientifically-proven intervention programs that apply neuroscience principles to build the fundamental cognitive skills (http://tinyurl.com/6aarpd) required to read and learn. The strengthening of these skills results in a wide range of improved critical language and reading abilities, such as phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, decoding, working memory, syntax and grammar. More than 500,000 learners in Georgia schools have used Fast ForWord products.

"The purpose of this program is to identify appropriate, standards-based instructional materials to be recommended to local school systems," said Robert C. Bowen (http://tinyurl.com/6k935g), chairman and CEO of Scientific Learning. "We're delighted to have the opportunity to provide Georgia districts and schools with research-proven products that increase brain processing efficiency, and build critical reading and language skills. By helping students strengthen the underlying cognitive skills needed for effective reading and learning, schools can make the most of their instructional programs, accelerate the learning process, and create enduring gains."

The Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant products were approved as State Recommended Learning Resources for English Language Arts/Reading for kindergarten through eighth grade. As part of the adoption process, the learning resources were evaluated in all 13 congressional districts across the state. All State Recommended Learning Resources must be correlated to the Georgia Performance Standards. The adoption will be in effect through June 30, 2015.

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Special Olympics Georgia Launches Project UNIFY Initiative to Energize Youth

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Special Olympics Georgia (SOGA) received $60,000 in funding to support the overall outreach initiative of the organization as part of Special Olympics' new national program, Project UNIFY.

Project UNIFY is a year-long project to activate young people across the country in an effort to promote school communities where all young people are agents of change -- fostering respect, dignity and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics believes through sports young people can make a difference in friendships, schools and communities.

Project UNIFY promotes a cultural shift and positions Special Olympics as a leading cause among youth -- as important, not just "nice," and as relevant to each of us, not just for "them." In addition, Project UNIFY leadership activities will help develop the next generation of leaders and advocates for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

"This project is an excellent opportunity for our Programs to get directly involved in a grass-roots effort to increase the number of Special Olympics opportunities for youth with and without intellectual disabilities, while increasing the number of state-wide sustained Special Olympics partnerships with schools," said Bob Gobrecht, Special Olympics North America Managing Director. "The need for programs like the ones Special Olympics offers that encourage positive school climates with safe and nurturing environments for all students is clear, especially in light of how inappropriate and discriminatory words and actions are becoming more and more common in our society."

Special Olympics Programs throughout the United States were invited to apply for funds to implement Project UNIFY activities that meet the initiative's objectives through a competitive grant process. Special Olympics Georgia will use their funding to support the Young Athletes, Get Into It, Unified and Traditional sports programs.

All of these initiatives will attract children and adults with intellectual disabilities into the Special Olympics program. "Our goal is to make all eligible individuals aware of the many year-round ways to get involved in our sports training and competition programs throughout the state," said SOGA CEO Georgia Milton-Sheats.

Project UNIFY was made possible by $4.4 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to fiscal 2008 appropriations under the authority of HR5131, "The Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act," and the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" which Special Olympics International received in June 2008.

To kick off Project UNIFY, 17 young people from across the country, aged 14-20, with and without intellectual disabilities, assembled in Washington, D.C., on 18-20 September for the first meeting of Project UNIFY's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). The committee met during the Department of Education's 2008 Global Summit on Education, the theme of which was "Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities."

In addition to forming the Youth Advisory Committee, other overall Project UNIFY goals include promoting the Special Olympics "R-word" campaign, implementing a U.S. Special Olympics grant process for local Special Olympics Programs, hosting a Global Youth Congress as part of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, and participating in national forums and conferences on intellectual disabilities and education.

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Georgia Department of Education Seeks Comments on Mathematics and Social Studies

The Georgia Department of Education has been receiving comments on GeorgiaStandards.org concerning proposed curriculum changes since June. The public is invited to submit your comments and feedback on:

Social Studies: 6th and 7th Grade Revisions
Social Studies: 3-5 and 8-12 Precision Review
Mathematics: K-5 Precision Review

Click here to submit your comments.

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