Registration Now Open for Energy Department’s National Science Bowl®

Registration is open for the 34th National Science Bowl® (NSB), hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Thousands of students compete in the contest annually as it has grown into one of the largest academic math and science competitions in the country.

Dr. Carol Nwelue discusses how to keep your kids healthy when going back to school.

Carol Nwelue, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. How can parents keep their kids healthy this back-to-school season? (SOT@ 0:14, TRT 0:34) Why do sicknesses spread easily when…

Dr. Marc Elieson discusses concerns about COVID-19 and kids going back to school

Marc Elieson, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. The CDC says COVID cases will continue to increase this summer and when school resumes this fall. What is behind…

FAU Gets $6 Million to Increase Mental Health Counselors in Florida Schools

A 2019 Florida Department of Health survey showed that 12.7 percent of Florida high schoolers had carried a weapon; 21.2 percent were involved in a physical altercation; and 11.3 percent and 14.9 percent were bullied electronically or on school property, respectively. In addition, 15.6 percent reported they had seriously considered attempting suicide. Alarmingly, results indicated a 50 percent increase in the suicide attempt rate for black females. These numbers demonstrate the need for timely, immediate prevention and intervention in mental health services for Florida youth.

FAU Harbor Branch Lands U.S. EPA Grant for ‘Hands-on’ Indian River Lagoon Field Trip

The project will host 125 field trips, which will educate as many as 3,125 socially disadvantaged middle and high school students about Florida’s natural resources and the importance of conserving them.

FAU Teams Up with Shipwreck Park for Underwater Public Project, ‘Wahoo Bay’

Several years in the making, Wahoo Bay will serve partly as an educational marine park as well as an initiative to restore the natural habitat. Using AI and sensors, FAU engineers and students will deploy automated weather monitoring stations, underwater cameras, vehicles, acoustic and water quality monitoring sensors in Wahoo Bay, a “living” laboratory that provides an immersive experience for visitors while raising awareness of keeping oceans and coral reef systems healthy.

Jumpstarting the Future Quantum Workforce

The Quantum Systems Accelerator, a National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by Berkeley Lab, is stepping up efforts for quantum education and outreach, especially at the high school level, which traditionally has not been regarded as an entry point to quantum science. The outreach should help fill the increasing number of job vacancies in this fast-growing and developing field.

The AVID college prep program leads to lower substance use, better health behaviors among high school students, UCLA-led research suggests

New UCLA-led research finds that a college preparatory program for youth experiencing educational inequities that operates in about 13% of U.S public high schools has a positive effect on students’ social networks, psycho-social outcomes, and health behaviors.  The findings, published Dec. 16 in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics, suggests that the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program, aimed at increasing educational opportunities for under-represented and economically disadvantaged students, also significantly reduces substance use.

Pandemic Escalated Teen Cyberbullying – Asian Americans Targeted Most

A study of U.S. middle and high school students shows that about 17 percent were cyberbullied in 2016 and 2019, but that proportion rose to 23 percent in 2021. Notably, 19 percent of Asian American youth said they had been cyberbullied, and about 1 in 4 (23.5 percent) indicated they were victimized online because of their race/color. Asian American youth were the only racial group where the majority (59 percent) reported more cyberbullying since the start of the COVID‐19 pandemic. In 2019, Asian American youth were the least likely to have experienced cyberbullying.

Greater Empathy in Adolescents Helps Prevent Bias-based Cyberbullying

Little is known about cyberbullying and empathy, especially as it relates harming or abusing others because of race or religion. A study is the first to examine general cyberbullying, race-based cyberbullying, and religion-based cyberbullying in young adolescents. Results show that the higher a youth scored on empathy, the lower the likelihood that they cyberbullied others. When it came to bias-based cyberbullying, higher levels of total empathy were associated with lower odds of cyberbullying others based on their race or religion.

Media Law, Communication, and Free Speech Expert Comments on Supreme Court Ruling on a Student’s Profane Rant

Jason Shepard, professor of Communications at California State University, Fullerton, specializes in media law and is available to comment on this morning’s 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the free speech of a high school cheerleader who posted a profane rant on Snapchat in 2017.

New Book Charts Rural America’s Pathways to College and Career

More than thirty years ago, college admissions expert Rick Dalton founded the nonprofit CFES Brilliant Pathways to train underserved students to become college- and career-ready. Little did he know at the time that a pandemic would blow open an opportunity gap that disproportionately affected low-income students, particularly in rural America. His latest book explains how community stakeholders throughout the nation can help rural students set and achieve their goals.

CFES Brilliant Pathways to Offer $1.5 Million College Readiness Program to 20 Schools in Northern New York, Vermont at No Cost to Schools

It’s well known that low-income urban students who want to attend college face significant hurdles. But rural students go to college and remain there at even lower rates than their urban counterparts.

A new initiative, the North Country Brilliant Pathways Program, aims to address this underrecognized gap for students at 20 elementary, middle and high schools in rural Vermont and northeastern New York by providing them with a multi-faceted, comprehensive college readiness program.

College and Career Readiness Trainings For Parents Proving Critical to Keeping Children’s Postseondary Dreams Alive

Osiris Dominguez has dedicated her life to helping her four children succeed. She reads the latest information on college and career readiness and how best to support her children’s postsecondary dreams. But she worries about other parents in her small community along the Rio Grande who struggle to find information to help their sons and daughters become the first in their families to attend college.

Last week, the special education aid at San Elizario high in El Paso County, took a virtual College and Career Readiness Advisor Training that she says provided critical information for parents in a new and digestible way. Offered by CFES Brilliant Pathways, a non-profit that has helped over 100,000 students attain college degrees, the training is part of a nationwide effort by CFES to address a 30 percent decrease in college enrollment among students from low-income families.

Affirmative Action Incentivizes High Schoolers to Perform Better, New Research Shows

Affirmative action is a contentious issue across the globe, hotly debated in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nigeria and Brazil, as well as in the United States. While the direct effects of affirmative action on college admissions are well known, new evidence from India shows that affirmative action has indirect benefits on the behavior of underrepresented high school students, who tend to stay in school longer when they know higher education is within reach.

Children Ages 5 to 18 Create Hundreds of 3D Printed PPEs and Donate Them to Local Hospitals

Over the last month, FAU elementary and high schools students ages 5 to 18, along with two faculty members, have worked tirelessly to create 3D printed face shields, intubation chambers and ear savers for several local hospitals in Palm Beach County. So far, they have produced more than 650 face shields, more than 500 ear savers and 36 intubation chambers and expect to collect another 350 face shields by the end of the week.

IMSA High School Internship advances DUNE project and showcases unexplored potential of physics

Argonne National Laboratory’s Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) High School Internship Program has this year’s exceptionally bright high school students working on the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE)’s world-changing research.

Chicago Public School students go beyond coding and explore artificial intelligence with Argonne National Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory’s Educational Programs and Outreach department hosted Computer Science for All — Coding and Beyond, in December as a part of the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago initiative.

Hackensack University Medical Center Traffic Safety Challenge Awards Recognize High Schools Promoting Seatbelt Usage and Safe Driving Behaviors

The fall challenge was designed to help teens become safer drivers and passengers by encouraging the use of seat belts in both the front and back seats as well as avoiding risky driving behaviors, such as texting or talking on a handheld phone while driving, speeding and drinking and driving. The program was developed by the Drive Smart Foundation and is funded with a grant from State Farm insurance company.