Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington 

“Don’t forget the Contemporary and Latin American Art Show this Friday, Sunday and Monday at the Visual Art Center.  The event is sponsored by the Panama City Renaissance School, Griffin Design Firm and the Visual Arts Center. 

The opening reception is Friday, May 2 from 6:45 – 8:45 pm.  This formal event will feature music by Gilligan Loves MaryAnn and will include hors d’oeuvres and beverages. For free admission to the reception, please call the school office at 215-8712 or send a request to info@pcrschool.org no later than 12 noon on Friday, May 2.  The exhibition also will be open to the public on Sunday May 4 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm and Monday from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

The show will feature original works by well-known Latin American artists from Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador including Carlos Merida (Guatemala) and Jose Luis Cuevas (Mexico).  Other well known artists include Paul Brent (USA), Marco Bustamante (Mexico), Guillermo Canseco (Mexico), Kim Griffin (USA), Washington Iza (Ecuador), Rosy Revelo (Ecuador), Porter Thrower (USA) and Carl Webb (USA).  Children from the Panama City Renaissance School also will exhibit works.  

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington 

“On Friday April 25, the PCRS preschool children spent the afternoon at the Sweatmore Strawberry Ranch.  In addition to picking strawberries, the children held bunnies, learned about chickens and enjoyed the ranch wagon.  What a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Grandfather Education Report - Michael Hodges

“Home-schoolers: Significnatly outscore public school students in SATs,  ACTs,  spelling & geography bees.  Three times more students are home-schooled than in charter schools, and growing 11% per year.” (more)

New York Times - Sam Dillon

“’I can’t let myself waste even a second,’ said Ms. Kim, who dreams of attending Harvard, Yale or another brand-name American college. And she has a good shot. This spring, as in previous years, all but a few of the 133 graduates from Daewon Foreign Language High School who applied to selective American universities won admission.” (more)

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington 

“The post by Micheal Hodges Dangerous Erosion of Education Quality and Productivity is an excellent summary of the state of education in the US.  It is succinct and easy to read and clearly describes the problems with our educational system.  If you have extra time, I suggest you peruse the sub-reports as well.  After an hour or so, will either feel overwhelmed or empowered to encourage change.  

Grandfather Economic Report - MIchael Hodges

“The poor level of education quality domestically and vs. foreign nations places our young at great risk. This seriously impacts the economic future of our youth, including their future living standards – as they face the most internationally and technologically competitive era in history. Here’s a picture you may not have seen. It demonstrates the 71% decline in the education quality productivity index for the 34-year period up until SAT tests were revised in scoring methods and made less rigorous.” (more)

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington 

“A test on education and learning” href=”http://pcrschool.org/news/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=346″>A test on education and learning Dr. Joyce Brothers says education quality is linked to government education spending.  The data suggests something different.  The Republican American did a comparison on spending vs. test scores in Connecticut and found little correlation between the two.  In addition, Tom Loveless, an education policy expert with the Brookings Institution, says, ” It’s not necessarily so that state with higher spending have higher test scores.”  Washington DC, for example, has among the highest spending in the country, but its students have the lowest scores on standardized tests.  And according to M. D. Hodges in Dangerous Erosion of Education Quality and Productivity spending has been increasing in a linear fashion while reading score remain constant.  In the Stupid in America 20/20 Special John Stossel also questions the spending/performance correlation special.  So the spending/performance discussion may be nothing more than a way to avoid facing the tough reality that we need change in our education system.

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington 

“On Tuesday April 22, the PCRS children celebrated Earth Day with a muddy exercise.  Each child placed dirt into a pot, planted seeds and added some water.  Some children used traditional flower pots and other kids made paper pots from newspaper.  The paper pot project added an additional learning opportunity for the children as the newspaper pots use waste paper and quickly disintegrate when placed in the ground.

New York Times – Sam Dillon

“Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings used her executive powers on Tuesday to propose a series of ninth-inning regulatory fixes to President Bush’s signature education law, No Child Left Behind, including requiring states to use a single federal formula to calculate and report high school graduation rates.” (more)

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington 

“The Panama City Renaissance School is looking forward to hosting its second annual contemporary art show and is excited about the partnership with the Visual Art Center and Griffin Design Firm.  Each spring we try to do something a little different. This year we are comparing US and Latin American views on modern expression with original works from the US, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico.  We hope the community will enjoy the event.

The opening reception is Friday, May 2 from 6:45 – 8:45 pm.  This formal event will feature music by Gilligan Loves MaryAnn and will include hors d’oeuvres and beverages. For free admission to the reception, please call the school office at 215-8712 or send a request to info@pcrschool.org no later than 12 noon on Friday, May 2.  The exhibition also will be open to the public on Sunday May 4 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm and Monday from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

 The show will feature original works by well-known Latin American artists from Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador including Carlos Merida (Guatemala) and Jose Luis Cuevas (Mexico).  Other well known artists include Paul Brent (USA), Marco Bustamante (Mexico), Guillermo Canseco (Mexico), Kim Griffin (USA), Washington Iza (Ecuador), Rosy Revelo (Ecuador), Porter Thrower (USA) and Carl Webb (USA).  Children from the Panama City Renaissance School also will exhibit works.