the President's speech to the children

This is the most dangerous speech in America right now. Or the most controversial speech, at least.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

This is what was getting some people so riled up? These words were making some people plan to have their children stay at home, adding an extra day to their Labor Day Weekend? President Obama's speech seems pretty good to me: stay in school, be strong, and work for your community and country.

And, yes, I agree with Al.

playing games at school doesn't mean that education isn't occurring

Creativity is essential in teaching and treating children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as this article about a school in Decatur, Georgia, makes clear.

What makes the Community School unusual is not its student body — plenty of schools around the country enroll teenagers with an autism spectrum disorder. But, like about only two dozen schools in the country, it employs a relatively new, creative and highly interactive teaching method known as D.I.R./Floortime, which is producing striking results among T.C.S.’s student body. (D.I.R. stands for developmental, individual differences, relationship-based approach.) The method is derived from the work of Stanley Greenspan, a child psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry, behavioral science and pediatrics at George Washington University, and his colleague Dr. Serena Wieder. D.I.R./Floortime can be effective with all kinds of children, whether they have developmental challenges or not. As applied by T.C.S., it is an approach that encourages students to develop their strengths and interests by working closely with one another and with their teachers. The goal for students is neurological progress through real-world engagement.

With the skyrocketing diagnoses of A.S.D.’s in recent years, parents and school systems are challenged as never before to find techniques to keep these teenagers engaged, productive and nondespairing. Boys with A.S.D. (they outnumber girls four to one) who were difficult to console, to teach, to restrain at age 4 or 8 can be nearly impossible for parents and teachers to manage and to steer at 14 and 18. While a 25-pound toddler’s tantrum is wearying, a 150-pound teenager’s tantrum is dangerous. Puberty and young adulthood take many of these young people unawares.

How best to serve this population remains a subject of debate, because autism is a “final common pathway” diagnosis, meaning children arrive here from different points of origin, are troubled by a wide variety of issues and respond to different strategies. “You meet one child with autism and, well, you’ve met one child with autism,” says Linda Brandenburg, the director of school autism services at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Maryland. Given the wide range of expression in autism and related disorders, there is no one-size-fits-all intervention. “We now know that there are several different models that seem to work — some more behavioral, some more developmental, some more eclectic,” Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, director of the Yale Child Study Center, told me. “What we really need to be doing, what the law says, is design programs around the kids rather than force kids into a program.”

the only one with class

Literally. How weird to be the only one in the audience and your governor is speaking to you. Does he maintain eye contact? Does he look out at phantoms?

the need for Christian academics

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, examines a new book arguing for Christian higher education:

Martin Luther once warned Christians with these words: "I greatly fear that schools for higher learning are wide gates to hell if they do not diligently teach the Holy Scripture and impress them on the young folk." The great Reformer knew of the importance of Christian education and the development of Christian thinkers, but his great fear of schools as potential "wide gates to hell" is all too justified.

In his new book, Renewing Minds: Serving Church and Society through Christian Higher Education [B&H Academic], David S. Dockery proposes that the Christian college or university should not be merely an academic institution with Christian teachers and Christian students, but instead it should be "the academic division of the kingdom enterprise."

unusual scholarships

There are a lot of scholarships for people thinking of obtaining a college degree. While most are pretty standard and depend upon high school grades, there are some unusual ones out there. How about a scholarship for a prom dress made out of duct tape? It's yours! Check it out.

I wish I had known about #5. I would have scored some extra college funds...

Increase in applicants at Christian universities

An increasing number of high school graduates are sending their applications to Christian universities.

Applications have jumped 8 to 10 percent at the 238 colleges that belong to the North American Association of Christian Admissions Professionals, according to Executive Director Chant Thompson. More applications mean more students on campuses next fall, he says, and that's good news, because 25 percent of those schools are barely breaking even.

Since 1990, enrollment has increased 70 percent, from 135,000 to 230,000, at the 102 evangelical schools that belong to the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. Over the same period, enrollments at all public and private colleges increased by 13 percent and 28 percent, respectively. (WaPo)

Some believe that this is occurring due to monetary reasons. Specific denominations that dominate certain schools are able to subsidize tuition. However, the biggest reason seems to be that students want to go to a place where their faith (and sometimes their denomination in particular) is at least respected if not outrightly embraced. This increase in students has led to more restrictions on accepting applications (e.g., higher SAT/ACT scores, higher G.P.A., community involvement).

I attended Cedarville University because I wanted to go to a place where my faith would be encouraged, and I would be able to talk with faculty, staff and fellow students about my Christian walk. (Please note that I'm not saying that my faith is so fragile that merely attending a non-Christian university would shaken, if not destroy, it. I'm saying that I wanted to go to a place where my faith would be affirmed and I could talk with others.) I also wanted to go to a smaller school where I could become involved in various groups and outreaches. Cedarville gave me that opportunity.