Category Archives: Education

This laptop’s generating a lot of talk

XO laptop image

An image of the XO Laptop.

The XO laptop is serving as a focal point of what is a larger issue for our local educational system. While not necessarily offering answers, I felt like wondering aloud over on my Birmingham, hoping you may share your opinions over there as well.

Come Monday, you’ll get a chance to share your opinion on a more consistent basis as we reintroduce the Magic City Question. Stay tuned…

New record label is headquartered in Woodlawn

as55 logoHenry Panion III has announced the launch of his own record label, Audiostate 55 Entertainment! The label is housed in the Audiostate 55 Recording Studios on 55th Place South in Birmingham’s Woodlawn community and will also contain an educational division devoted exclusively to the development of aspiring artists, engineers, and producers. The label intends to have a total of seven (7) acts signed initially.

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Hoover investigation report released

The full report (in PDF format) on the investigation into the Hoover City Schools system has been posted online to be downloaded and reviewed. Copies are also available at the city’s libraries.

We decided to take a look at one of the nuances of the case over on my Birmingham – the use of the bully pulpit by Hoover mayor Tony Petelos to get the report released and just how it may be used by mayor-elect Larry Langford as he prepares to assume the office here in the Magic City next month.

Museum Day 2007, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Visit the newest member of the Smithsonian Affiliations Program as they take part in this national event. Smithsonian Magazine readers and visitors to Smithsonian.com will be admitted to the BCRI for free that day.

Click here to learn more about the affiliations program from a story we posted this summer on Timetable. Click here to learn more about Museum Day from Smithsonian Magazine. You may also want to visit the BCRI website to learn more about the exhibits taking place at the Institute at that time.

Cost: Free to readers of Smithsonian Magazine and visitors to Smithsonian.com

Location:
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
520 16th Street North
Birmingham, AL 35203

Related links:
Civil Rights Institute announces Smithsonian affiliation, Timetable, 7.11.2007

Take a moment: Help Alabama receive books for low-income children

What Book Got You HookedIf you visit the First Books site today before 12 a.m., you’ll give children from low income families in our state a chance to receive 50,000 books for the state of Alabama. The folks in charge of the Vulcan After Tunes MySpace profile here in Birmingham posted a bulletin encouraging people to visit the site and vote today.

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Vestavia School Board considers desegregation settlement

Vestavia Hills High SchoolThe Birmingham News is reporting that the Vestavia Hills School Board will discuss a possible settlement during tonight’s regular meeting of a legal battle over the system’s wanting to have voided a 1970 court ruling ordering desegregation in the town’s system. Those that live in the Oxmoor Valley section of Birmingham have been speaking out against plans by the board to stop the practice of busing children to Vestavia Hills schools.

Birmingham Blues has an interesting post up that includes some of the nuances involved in this case. It would be interesting to hear from not only someone who currently lives in the Oxmoor Valley area but also about the affect that the influx of students would have on the city’s school system.

Additional links:
Vestavia Hills Board of Education

UPDATE: The News has posted that the board has approved a settlement deal.

Babywearing growing in metro Birmingham

The amount of new parents that are turning to "babywearing" is incredible. Our local resident experts in the field, the Magic City Slingers, have reason to enjoy this Friday the 13th as their new business cards have arrived.

Birmingham’s chapter (Alabama’s first incidentally) of Nine In, Nine Out, the national babywearing organization, says that it purpose is to bring together experienced “babywearers” and people who would like help choosing and using a baby carrier. They call it a “fellowship of the sling.” You may want to check out the nonprofit’s site to learn more about who founded the group and how it is helping newborns and parents.