Red Sox Scholars Class of 2010 inducted at Fenway

The Boston Red Sox introduced the Red Sox Scholars Class of 2010 in an on-field ceremony with Red Sox players at Fenway Park prior to the Sunday, June 13th Red Sox vs. Philadelphia Phillies game.  The 25 new Red Sox Scholars, who will enter sixth grade in the fall, are all academically talented, financially challenged middle school students in the Boston Public Schools and join seven previous classes of Scholars. There are now 200 Red Sox Scholars supported by the Red Sox Foundation, the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox, including 18 Scholars  in the first class of Red Sox Scholars selected in 2003, who are graduating from high school, and who will be attending college in the fall.

Valedictorians Luncheon celebrates top students from each BPS high school

Last week Mayor Menino and Boston Public Schools honored 36 valedictorians from every Boston public high school at the 12th annual Valedictorians Luncheon at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The students and their invited guests enjoyed a three-course lunch, and each valedictorian took home a backpack and gift card courtesy of Reebok.

Several news outlets covered the event, including WBZ-TV, the Boston Herald, and Fox 25. This coming Sunday, the Boston Globe is set to run its annual valedictorians feature, showcasing the top students from all public schools in the city.

Boston Celtics honor BPS middle school students

Governor Deval Patrick, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, Boston Celtics Legend Dana Barros, and Celtics President Rich Gotham honored more than 800 Boston Public Schools middle school students yesterday at the 19th annual Celtics Stay In School Awards held at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena. Students were recognized in the categories of writing, art, and attendance, including 15 students who made it into the "Three Year Club" (8th graders who have never been late or absent in their entire middle school careers). Each school also celebrated an "M.I.P." or "Most Improved Pupil" -- the student who made greatest progress this year in regards to attitude, effort, behavior, and academics.The event, which featured student performances by the Edwards Middle School step team and chorus as well as a performance by Boston rapper Akrobatik, was sponsored by Arbella Insurance Group.

Photo: Horace Mann School M.I.P. Julia Damon Goodman shows off her autographed photo of Paul Pierce.

News from the schools

Here is a roundup of recent events and news from around the Boston Public Schools:

Thanks to a $13K generous donation from Old Mutual Asset Management Foundation, Monument High School's Mu Alpha Theta (M.A.T.) mathematics honor society was able to take a field trip to Chicago, Illinois, recently. The trip to Chicago gave the students the chance to explore another city rich in history, culture, diversity, food, music, and architecture and also exposed students to the role of mathematics in architecture and engineering, as well as logistical planning (budget, itinerary, and fundraising). Photo: Mu Alpha Theta Students.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Boston AIDS Walk, AIDS Action is recognizing 25 community heroes. Boston Public Schools Student Support Coordinator Phil Robinson is among them. Mr. Robinson has raised many thousands of dollars to end the AIDS epidemic by participating in each and every AIDS Walk Boston.

Fox 25 visited the Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester recently for a story about Playworks, the national nonprofit organization that provides structured recess programming for schools.

Nora Tsoutsis, an English teacher at John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Science in Roxbury, was recently named by the National Math and Science Initiative as one of 18 teachers to receive its first annual All American Teacher of the Year Award. The awards, which recognize outstanding math, science, and English teachers for remarkable contributions to their students and to the teaching profession, are presented to teachers in each state participating in NMSI’s Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP).

Six BPS students earn prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarships

Six Boston Public Schools students have been selected for the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) Gates Millennium Scholars Program (GMS), the nation’s largest minority scholarship program. The BPS students, representing four high schools, are among 1,000 students nationwide and 11 in Massachusetts who received the good-through-graduation college scholarships that can be used to pursue degrees in any undergraduate major at the college or university of the recipients’ choice.

The 2010 Boston Public Schools Gates Millennium Scholars are as follows:

· Tatiana Cortes, New Mission High School
· Jean Heyd Meneide, Brook Farm Business and Service Career Academy
· Jasmine Lee, Boston Arts Academy
· Takii Rivers, New Mission High School
· Patrick Tavares, Brighton High School
· Jasmine Williams, New Mission High School

One of the students, Tatiana Cortes, was profiled in a Boston Herald article, while WHDH-TV stopped by New Mission High School to speak with some of the winners.

Photo: Tatiana Cortes (Boston Herald)

Students travel to New Orleans over April vacation to help with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts

In collaboration with Gulf Coast Volunteers for the Long Haul, 12 students from six Boston Public Schools will travel to New Orleans over spring recess next week to help with ongoing relief efforts related to Hurricane Katrina.

The students are all mentors in the LEAH project, which provides high school students with mentoring and leadership opportunities in out-of-school-time programs.

The students, along with four staff, will stay in Algiers for the week and volunteer in the wards of New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana. They will also visit McMain High School to dialogue with New Orleans Public Schools students, visit Dillard University, and experience the unique food, music, and culture of the city. Throughout the trip, LEAH mentors will post updates on Facebook and Twitter as “Leah Leaders” and write daily blogs at http://leahneworleans.chipin.com. They leave on Sunday, April 18 and return to Boston on Saturday, April 24. The trip is sponsored in part by Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P.

BPS in the News

Here are some recent news stories featuring BPS students, staff and partners:

WBZ-TV went to the Tynan Elementary School today in South Boston, where Boston Police honored third grade student Richard Scott for his bravery. Last week, Richard helped a Kindergarten student whose parents were not at the bus stop to pick her up.

The City of Boston's Anti-Bullying Hotline was recently featured in an ABC News story on cyberbulling.

The Curley K-8 School and the John F. Kennedy School in Jamaica Plain were featured in the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald for helping the Department of Fish and Game release trout and salmon into Jamaica Pond.

Kindergarten students learn about careers in the aviation industry

Students from Ms. Frazier's K1 class at the Adams Elementary School in East Boston stopped by the annual Logan Airport Aviation Education Career Expo. The students got an up-close look at a gigantic FedEx plane and an opportunity to climb aboard and explore a number of aircraft. Each year more than 1,000 students from Boston and beyond attend the event to learn more about careers in the aviation and transportation industries and about the importance of science and math skills in these fields.

Excel High School delegates recognized at Model UN

Excel High School delegates won three of the four available awards for best position paper at the recent 2010 Boston Invitational Model UN Conference:

• Etshiewot Mebratu and Khairi Marsh - Prisoner Treatment in the Human Rights Council;
• Yunqi Lin and Kristen Keough - Gender Equality in the Social/Cultral Committee; and
  
• Matt Doan - Conflict Diamonds in the Disarmament and International Security Committee.

Two Excel delegates also earned honorable mentions in public speaking and negotiation:

• Frances Quinn and Jeffrey Senatus - Conflict Diamonds in the Disarmament and International Security Committee.

The event, organized by the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNAGB) was held recently at Northeastern University.

Photo: (L to R) Excel High School students Etshiewot Mebratu, Jeffrey Senatus, Matthew Doan, Yunqi Lin, Khairi Marsh, Kristen Keough, and Frances Quinn (center).

Murphy students travel to "Destination ImagiNation"

The Murphy K-8 School sent three teams to the Destination ImagiNation (DI) competition in Beverly, MA last weekend, and one of the teams -- "Do or DI Improv" -- won first place in its elementary category and will advance to the state championships in Worcester on April 3. Destination ImagiNation is an exhilarating after-school activity in which students work in teams to solve mind-bending Challenges and present their solutions at Tournaments. Teams are tested to think on their feet, work together, and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the Challenges. Students at the Murphy participate in DI through the school's "Prime Time Afterschool Program."

Photo: Miren Parkinson and Max Snyder display their team's banner. Fifty teams from 12 communities participated in last weekend's tournament.

BPS in the News: English High School mural story on WBUR radio

WBUR's David Boeri recently did a story on a special work of art in progress at The English High School. Heidi Schork, the leader of the mural crew for the City of Boston, is working with students to create a mural inside the school that represents the diversity of English's student body. Listen to the story and view the slide show on the WBUR website.

Photo: Woody Italien, from Haiti, is one of the students who became a painter. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

Two BPS basketball teams advance to State Semi-Finals

Two Boston Public Schools boys basketball teams will compete in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Sate Semi-Finals today at the TD Garden. The New Mission Titans will play Cathedral High School at 2:45 p.m., and the Madison Park Cardinals will play Central Catholic at 7:45 p.m. Read more coverage about the tournament at Justin Rice's BPS Sports Blog.

Photo: On Friday night the Madison Park Technical-Vocational High School boys basketball team defeated Mansfield in the MIAA Division 1 Sectional Finals at the TD Garden with a final score of 72 to 60.

Higginson-Lewis welcomes "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" author and stars

Students at the Higginson-Lewis K-8 School in Roxbury welcomed some very special guests on Friday. Jeff Kinney, author of the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and actors Robert Capron and Zachary Gordon, stars of the upcoming Diary of a Wimpy Kid film, stopped by the school to celebrate literacy with an assembly and book signing. Also in attendance was Boston's first lady, Angela Menino. Mr. Kinney presented Mrs. Menino with a check for $1,000 to support the WriteBoston program, and Mrs. Menino, on behalf of the Mayor, declared Friday, March 5 to be "Wimpy Kid Day" in Boston.

BPS drop out rate lowest in two decades

Dropout data released today shows the Boston Public Schools currently has its lowest high school dropout rate since 1982. The data, released simultaneously with Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education state-wide data, also shows for a third consecutive year, a continued downward trend in the BPS dropout rate. For the 2008/2009 school year the BPS dropout rate dropped to 6.4%, down from 7.2% in 2008. Read the press release for more information on what the district is doing to reduce the drop out rate and ensure that all students graduate from high school.

Students spend school vacation in Ghana

Eight Boston students spent February vacation in Ghana as part of the Another Course to College / Achimota School Exchange program. The Boston students spent the week learning about the culture, history, people and geography of Ghana, including touring World Heritage sites, participating in workshops on batik cloth, tie dye and kente weaving, exploring rain forests, staying with host families, and attending school with Ghanaian students. A group of students from Ghana will travel to Boston in late May as the second part of the exchange.

Mayor, students kick-off citywide campaign against cyber bullying

Mayor Thomas M. Menino visited the McCormack Middle School in Dorchester last Friday to to kick-off a citywide campaign against cyber bullying in response to several reports of disturbing incidents nationwide. At the event, students from TechBoston Academy shared their new public service announcement aimed at ending cyber bullying. The PSA, along with other internet safety resources for students, teachers and families, can be found on the BPS Cyber Safety Campaign website. See coverage on WHDH-TV and read the Globe article or visit the BPS Internet Safety blog for the latest updates.

Boston Anti-Bullying Hotline: 617-534-5050

Banner newspaper launches new monthly section for high school students

The Bay State Banner this week launched STEP UP - Focus Your Steps Toward Success, a new monthly supplement to provide high school students with information and inspiration around academic achievement. The inaugural STEP UP issue features a story about local students selected for the 2010 Posse Scholarships. For a complete list of the 23 Posse Scholars from the Boston Public Schools, read the press release.

Students surprised with $100,000 worth of musical instruments

Yesterday at Symphony Hall, Fidelity Investments surprised Boston-area students with a donation of $100,000 worth of new musical instruments. The event, which linked students from Boston Arts Academy, Boston Latin Academy, the Roland Hayes School of Music, and Cambridge Rindge & Latin School via satellite to students in Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago, was part of the national kick-off of Fidelity's 2010 FutureStage program.

Read coverage in the Boston Herald or watch the NECN story.
(Photo: Boston Herald)

Umana students launch East Boston Historical Society

Students at the Umana Middle School Academy in partnership with the Boston Museum and other cultural organizations recently created the first student-led historical society for East Boston, a neighborhood rich in history that has never had such a group. The East Boston Historical Society's inaugural exhibit, held last week at the 80 Border Street Cultural Exchange Center, featured a student-created iPhone mobile game based on the Battle of Chelsea Creek (the first Naval battle of the American Revolution); designs for an immigration memorial (visitors could caste votes for their favorite design); 3D maps and architectural studies; and wooden ship hulls and student narratives of life in Donald McKay's shipyard. Read coverage in The Boston Globe or visit the East Boston Historical Society's blog.

Boston students honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy

Boston Public Schools (BPS) students in Grades K-12 from around the city gathered recently at John Hancock Hall, along with Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, members of the Boston School Committee, teachers, parents and other special guests, to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year’s celebration, One Voice: Defying Expectations, Reaching for Excellence, marked the 28th year for the district-wide celebration. The event featured song, dance, oratory, spoken word poetry, instrumental music and other performances by students from more than 15 BPS schools, including an American Sign Language (ASL) choral presentation of We are the World by students from the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Read more and see additional photos from the event.