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State Recognizes Schools, Individuals
Seventeen educators and schools were honored Monday evening for their achievements in the past year by the state Board of Education during a special meeting at the state Capitol.
Those honored were: Superintendent of the Year Ann Clark, Fairfield's superintendent since 2002; High School Principal of the Year Robert G. Hale from Westbrook High School; Assistant High School Principal of the Year Donna Hayward of Rocky Hill High School; Middle School Principal of the Year Shellie Pierce, who recently retired from Granby Memorial Middle School; Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year Anthony D. Carrano of Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School; Elementary School Principal of the Year Loretta Rubin of Farm Hill Middle School in Middletown; Teacher of the Year Christopher Poulos of Joel Barlow High School in Redding; and Teacher of the Year finalists Sandra Adams, who teaches in Bristol, Mark Danaher of Manchester High School and Susan Matthews of the University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford.
House approves increased scholarship
Michigan high-school students will have the opportunity to earn a $4,000 merit scholarship to attend college under legislation overwhelmingly approved last night by the Michigan House. State Rep. Tim Moore amended Senate Bill 1335, which increases the college merit award from its current $2,500 to $4,000, to name the new program The Michigan Promise Grant. Michigans future will be shaped by todays young people and their future relies on furthering their education, said Moore, R-Farwell. The Michigan Promise Grant will help our kids enter into the next level by helping provide the funds necessary for a good education. Under SB 1335, todays high-school seniors could use the $4,000 scholarship to attend any Michigan college or university, and a variety of technical training programs.
Bruins named first team All-PVL
Four members of the Bear River varsity football team have been named to the All-Pioneer Valley League team.
Leading the way for the Bruins was senior linebacker Axel Wadman, who was named the PVL's Defensive Most Valuable Player.
Also earning All-PVL honors was Bear River senior quarterback C.J. Crausby, along with senior wide receiver Lars Nielsen, junior offensive lineman Joel Davis and junior defensive lineman Spencer Krans.
Voted to second team were juniors Jobany Betancourt (center), Chase Duncan (offensive tackle), Gary Schmidt (tight end), Matt Belnap (linebacker), Tommy Jones (defensive tackle), Jared Murnan (kicker) and senior Hunter Tanquary (defensive back).
The Bruins finished the season with an overall record of 7-4 and took second place in the PVL.
Holy city of Najaf to be handed over to Iraqis
Iraqi authorities imposed a vehicle ban in the holy city of Najaf, seat of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite clerics, as U.S.-led forces prepared to hand it over to Iraqi control on Wednesday. The province of Najaf is the third of Iraq's 18 provinces to be transferred to Iraqi security forces. Whether it can remain calm will be a key test for the Iraqi government and for U.S. hopes of handing over the rest of the country and withdrawing. To guard against a possible attack by insurgents, officials ordered vehicles off the city's streets and put police on every street corner ahead of the ceremony, which is to be attended by senior Iraqi officials. Iraqi police and soldiers gathered in a football stadium, venue of the handover ceremony, as music blared from speakers.
BROWSE CLASSIFIEDS
BLOOMFIELD — Along the walls outside James Olivas' 6th-grade classroom at Naaba Ani Elementary School in Bloomfield, nearly two dozen pairs of tennis shoes were neatly aligned allowing the barefoot children to wear slippers. Inside the classroom, the students — wearing their nighttime shoes or walking in socks — were captivated by the information presented to them about Japan and the similarities and differences found between their own culture and one on the other side of the world. "I think it's neat learning about a culture so far away," said James Padilla, 11. "There are so many things that are different and so many thing that are alike." Padilla said he was most interested in the food the Japanese ate, something he said he would like to try. "I've never been to Japan," he said.
NBA age rule gives colleges big men
The Next Big Thing started his second game for nationally ranked Ohio State on Saturday, hitting hook shots, threatening rims with his dunks, grabbing 11 boards and scoring 14 points in the Buckeyes' 72-50 rout of Cincinnati. Greg Oden played with a cast plastered around his right hand. The 7-foot, 280-pound center said he didn't feel limited, though one limit has affected him most. The NBA age limit, which took effect this past offseason and requires players to be at least 19 and one year out of high school before joining the league, keeps Oden in school. It keeps Oden, the best U.S.-born big man of his generation and the player Arizona coach Lute Olson said has "a chance to be the next Walton or Jabbar," on a college campus, earning his scholarship among other 18-, 19-, 20- and 21-year-olds.
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