Afternoon Announcements: August 3, 2012

Ah, Friday. Turns out the etymology of Friday has absolutely nothing to do with French fries. Just in case you were curious.

Here’s a handful of announcements for you to enjoy through the weekend.

The New York Times leads us off today with students who are pressing their teachers to embrace the digital learning movement. The article interviews 17 year old Nikhil Goyal who, with his classmates, “made passionate pleas to educators to embrace technology as a way to teach better. They said teachers should not let fears drive policy. “When I suggested using Twitter and Facebook in the classroom to one of my teachers, I was told, ‘I don’t want to be replaced by a computer,’ Mr. Goyal said.”

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth is piloting a program for gifted students in rural schools, Education Week reports. “The center is starting to address that issue with Rural Connections, a scholarship program launched this summer allowing a handful of low-income, rural students to attend the center’s existing three-week residential program designed to provide academic enrichment.”

Although North Carolina graduated 80 percent of its students in the most recent academic year, less than half reached all of their objectives, according to a state report card. The Associated Press via Education Week reports.

Have a great weekend everyone!