Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack recently introduced legislation that will target rural schools to ensure they have access to the latest digital learning technologies.  The Schools of the Future Act will provide grants to transform the typical classroom experience into one that is more student-centered and provides teachers with more accurate information and feedback on student progress so that they can better address the needs of struggling students. Loebsack is co-chair of the bipartisan Rural Education Caucus.

"Technology has the power to vastly expand the educational options available to students in rural areas, providing students with a cutting-edge 21st Century education regardless of geography," said Loebsack.  "Digital technology holds great potential for rural schools, which often have trouble recruiting and retaining teachers and offering a variety of electives or advanced coursework."

This legislation builds off of the work already being done in Iowa.  For example, the Iowa Department of Education is working with the University of Iowa to develop the Iowa Online Advance Placement Academy to deliver Advanced Placement courses to high school students across the state, particularly rural and small schools that may not have the capacity to provide these courses themselves, using online technology. The Iowa Department of Education also runs Iowa Learning Online (ILO), which allows students from across the state to enroll in any number of distance education courses, including high school credit classes and post-secondary courses available through Iowa community colleges and universities.

Specifically, the legislation Loebsack introduced will provide funding for schools to implement digital learning strategies such as:

·         providing expanded curriculum opportunities,

·         providing accelerated or advanced coursework, or

·         personalizing the learning experience by providing content that is tailored to an individual student's learning style, ability, and needs.

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Independent Scholars' Evenings :

ANNUAL REPORT
for
The Institute for Cultural and Healing Traditions, Ltd.
reviewing Independent Scholars' work and presentations
in addition to the allied work of The Institute.

by

Narveen S. Aryaputri.

May 17th. 2012
7.00 p.m.

Narveen is the President and Founder of  The Institute for Cultural and Healing
Traditions, Ltd. and is a director on its board.

Please attend.  Free and open to the public.

The Moline Commercial Club
1530 Fifth Avenue.  Moline. Illinois.

7.00 p.m
second floor of The Moline Club building . Above the Phoenix.

1530 Fifth Ave. Moline.

309-762-9202 for The Institute.

light refreshments, wine and beverages are served.
doors open at 6.30

Independent Scholars' Evenings are sponsored by
The Institute for Cultural and Healing Traditions, Ltd. a 501(c)3 at state and
federal level since 1996.

The Institute for Cultural and Healing Traditions, Ltd.
www.qcinstitute.org
www.atthephoenix.com
www.themolinecommercialclub.com
www.themolineclub.com

The public is invited to join the Muscatine Art Center in welcoming Carol Ehlers, art history speaker, as she presents a 45 minute lecture on the art of French painter and sculptor Henri Matisse. The lecture will take place Thursday, May 24 at 5:30 pm in the Muscatine Art Center's Music Room. Admission is free.

Henri Matisse was an artist known as a draftsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter and for his use of color. Matisse was one of the leaders of the "Fauves", a group of painters united by their use of fresh color, pure pigments and distortion of form. Years later he would be hailed as a champion of the classical tradition in French painting. His mastery of the expressive language of color and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art.

Henri->mile-Benoît Matisse was born December 31, 1869 in France. He first started to paint in 1889, after his mother brought him art supplies while he recovered from appendicitis. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to become an artist, deeply disappointing his father, who wanted him to study law.

In late 1890's Matisse was introduced to Post-Impressionism, which changed his style completely. Many of Matisse's paintings from 1898 to 1901 make use of the pointillist technique he adopted from Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.

Later in life and wheelchair-bound, Matisse started creating cut paper collages, called gouaches découpés. He called this technique "painting with scissors". In 1951 he finished a four-year project of designing the interior, the glass windows and the decorations of the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, often referred to as the Matisse Chapel. Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 in 1954.

In 1992 the Muscatine Art Center's collections were significantly enriched by a gift of twenty-seven works of art by Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Degas, Boudin, Chagall, Renoir, and other European artists. The collection was a gift from the estate of Mary Musser Gilmore in honor of her parents, Richard Drew Musser and Sarah Walker Musser. The paintings are on permanent display in the Laura Musser Mansion.

EVENT DETAILS:

Lecture: "The Wonderful World of Color: Henri Matisse"

Who: Carol Ehlers

When: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Time: 5:30 PM

Where: The Muscatine Art Center's Music Room

Admission to this program is FREE.

 

Please contact Katy Doherty, Program Coordinator, with any questions or concerns at  563-263-8282 or by email at kdoherty@muscatineiowa.gov.

The Muscatine Art Center is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 PM Admission is FREE.

WASHINGTON – Vice Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara will be relieved by Vice Adm. John P. Currier as vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard during a military change of watch ceremony at Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., 10 a.m. Friday.  Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp, Jr., will preside over the event.

WHO: The Honorable Jane Holl Lute, deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Adm. Robert J. Papp, Jr., commandant, U.S. Coast Guard

Vice Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara, vice commandant, U.S. Coast Guard

Vice Adm. John P. Currier, prospective vice commandant, U.S. Coast Guard

WHAT: A change of watch ceremony. The event formally restates the continuity and authority of the vice commandant's responsibilities. It involves the total transfer of accountability from one individual to another.

WHEN: 10 a.m. Friday, May 18, 2012. Media should plan to arrive no later than 9:15 a.m.

WHERE: Fort Lesley J. McNair, 2nd Street, SW, Washington, D.C., 20593