"Madison Schools Committed to Equity and Excellence" is the title of a three page feature in the current edition of Teachers of Color magazine. The lead article, written by Lisa Black - Special Asst. to the Supt. for Race & Equity, profiles the multi-faceted MMSD Race and Equity initiative that began six years ago.

Black writes, "Beginning with the development of an educational framework, innovative and progressive professional development, and local and national partnerships, the MMSD has experienced significant gains in closing the achievement gap."

Sidebar articles are written by Supt. Art Rainwater, La Follette HS Principal Joe Gothard, Sennett MS Asst. Principal Deborah Ptak and Media Production Manager Marcia Standiford.

Renee Hoxie (left) and Kris Brown, library media specialists at Memorial HS, have been selected to receive the Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association's WEMTA/Highsmith Business Partnership Award for 2008. This award recognizes an exemplary K-12 library media program that has had a measurable impact on its users by marshaling resources to benefit the students.

One of the reasons Kris and Renee were selected is their 'Gear Up@Your Library' program which provides additional after-school hours for students to use the LMC. Initiatives like this have helped to keep the Memorial LMC an integral part of the school's overall instructional program.

For the 3rd straight year, the La Follette HS Competition Cheer Team won the title at the State Cheer Championships. La Follette won the gold in the Division 1 Small Group competition displaying their excellence in stunts and cheers both with and without background music. A 3-peat for the La Follette Competition Cheer Team - way to go.

EDTECH magazine features Mark Evans — MMSD Technical Services Director — in a current edition article titled, " Save Green by Going Green." The article highlights the efforts to reduce energy consumption and save money by investing in efficient technology equipment such as newer computers and monitors. It also highlights the efficiency associated with being paperless by discussing the electronic document management system (EDMS) the district is piloting with special education documents.

Mark wrote in detail for last month's MMSD Today about the district's steps to reduce energy consumption in the use of technology. Click here to see that article.

Pianist Hong-En Chen, a 10th grade Madison West student, won the Bolz Young Artists competition at Overture Hall in Madison in April. Two other Madison students were among the four finalists, all of whom performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. They were violinist Leah Latorraca, a 9th grade La Follette student, who earned 2nd place and her sister, Naomi Latorraca, an 11th grade La Follette student and a pianist.

Accounting teachers Darrin Graham - La Follette, Linda Plourde - West, Dave Thomas - Memorial and Mareta Van Rens - East have been awarded Accounting Careers Awareness Grants of $2,500 each from the WI Institute of Certified Public Accountants Foundation.

Because of the grants, students at all four schools will be able to participate in a simulation called "Mad City Money," attend a program about accounting careers and participate in a simulation to investigate fraud situations.

The Madison School District is a partner that will benefit in a Teaching American History grant awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Education. Life During Wartime will provide direct professional development for 30 MMSD 5th-12th grade history teachers over three years — development that includes content-driven summer institutes, continued school year mentoring, and cutting-edge Web-based contact and support.

CESA 5, the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum, Madison Area Technical College and UW-Madison are the other partners in the $940,000 grant.

Alyssa Neblett and Ebony Balele, 12th and 11th graders at Memorial HS, won the 7th Annual 100 Black Men African-American History Challenge Bowl local competition. Alyssa and Ebony will compete for the national championship in Orlando, FL at the 100 Black Men National Conference in June.

East HS English-as-a-Second-Language teacher Kyeong Kim is preparing for a summer 20-day study tour in Japan. Kyeong will be joining 15 other educators from across the nation in the study program conducted by the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).

During the study tour, the group will focus on understanding Japanese history and contemporary culture through the arts. Kyeong will pursue an independent study project to develop curriculum for her classroom, and she will share her experience with students, other teachers, and the community throughout the coming academic year.

Allen Young (Business Procedures,) Nathan Powell & Rafael Alexandrian (Global Business) and Hayk Mkrtchyan (Economics,) all Memorial HS students, qualified for the national conference of the Future Business Leaders of America at the state conference in April. In the state competition, Young took first place on his topic of Business Procedures.

Memorial HS junior David Miller placed second at the Wisconsin SkillsUSA Conference held April 8& 9. David won the Olympic-sized silver medal for his extemporaneous speech on "Why it is important to be a member of SkillsUSA."

SkillsUSA is one of the many career and technical student organizations found in Wisconsin middle and high schools. Others include Future Farmers of America, Future Business Leaders of America, Health Occupations Students of America, and DECA (marketing.)

SkillsUSA holds an annual competition, which include skill events like carpentry, automotive servicing, automotive collision repair, welding, etc. The conference also includes leadership events.