Middle school students will compete at Rochester Institute of Technology

Deaf or hard-of-hearing middle school students from across the country can participate in Rochester Institute of Technology's sixth annual Math Competition for Students Who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, April 4-6, 2014 at RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

This competition for middle school students in 6th, 7th or 8th grades is designed to promote math as fun and engaging and features three rounds that test speed and accuracy, teamwork and additional math skills. Cash prizes will be awarded to team and individual winners in several categories. All participants will receive T-shirts and medals.

The first 25 schools that submit completed registration forms and payment, or payment authorizations, for either teams or individual students who want to compete, will be accepted to participate in the competition.

Registration will be closed when the 25-school limit is reached. The final registration deadline is Dec. 15, 2013.

Registration is $90 registration per team (four students) or $25 for students who register individually. Coaches and students wishing to participate in the next competition can get more information online at https://www.ntid.rit.edu/prospective/mathcompetition.

Parents and teachers are encouraged to accompany the students during the weekend, which offers fun and social activities in addition to the math competition.

For questions or more information, contact us at MathCompetition@ntid.rit.edu, call 585-475-7695 or by videophone at 585-286-4555.

RIT is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging science, sustainability, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. RIT enrolls more than 18,000 full- and part-time students in more than 200 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

NTID, one of nine colleges of RIT, was established by Congress in 1965 to provide college opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who were underemployed in technical fields. Today, 1,432 students attend NTID; more than 1,250 are deaf or hard of hearing. Others are hearing students enrolled in interpreting or deaf education programs. NTID's Center on Employment assists NTID students with finding co-op and permanent jobs. More than 100 interpreters, tutors and notetakers support students in and out of the classroom. Visit: www.rit.edu/NTID.

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CHAMPAIGN - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon on Tuesday will urge stakeholders, lawmakers and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to work together to pursue a bold, long-term solution to the structural problems of the state school funding system at an ISBE public budget hearing being held at the Champaign Public Library.

"The current system is unsustainable and unfair," said Simon. "We have to ensure that all of our students can learn and thrive through a fair and equitable education funding model."

The second of five planned public hearings conducted by the Illinois State Board of Education, the Champaign meeting is aimed at soliciting ideas and recommendations from local community members on education funding priorities for K-12 in the upcoming fiscal year. ISBE is also encouraging resident to voice their opinions and thoughts on the state's current funding formula. ISBE is currently working with the Illinois Senate Education Funding Advisory Committee to examine statewide education funding distribution. Testimony from the public hearings will be shared with the Senate committee as it works to prepare recommendations on an equitable and transparent funding system by February 2014.

According to a Rutgers University study, Illinois has the second largest funding disparity between well funded and poorly funded schools, and is one of the lowest in the nation in terms of state spending on public education in relation to state wealth.  Simon is backing a long-term solution to school funding that will reduce inequities and build up to adequate funding. Simon will discuss ideas to revise funding formulas to help low-income and rural communities, examine the possibility of creating a constitutional amendment designating education as a fundamental right, and explore the possibility of ISBE seeking legislative authority to modify the state aid formulas when funding falls short.

Simon serves as the state's point person on education reform. In this capacity, Simon is working to increase the proportion of working-age adults with college degrees or certificates to 60 percent by 2025. As chair of the 25-member Governor's Rural Affairs Council, Simon is also working to improve the delivery of state services and education opportunities to rural Illinois.

Tuesday, Nov. 12 

EVENT: Illinois State Board of Education Public Budget Hearing

TIME: 4 p.m.

LOCATION: Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green St., Champaign

Congratulations to the following students who have made the Rivermont Collegiate 1^st Quarter Honor Roll!

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

High Honors (All grades B+ or higher or B or higher for courses designated as Upper School level)

Asha Alla

Elizabeth Decker

Clayton Douglas

Faith Douglas

Jessica Elliott

Aislinn Geedey

Jacob Hansen

Mary Aisling McDowell

Dwira Nandini

Elizabeth Paxton

Grace Sampson

Anna Senjem

Honors (All grades B- or higher or C+ or higher for courses designated as Upper School level)

Christopher Cumberbatch

Kenton Fee

Chirag Gowda

Jewell Hixon

Jonathon Kokoruda

Jozef Porubcin

Lauren Schroeder

Elias Sheumaker

Genevieve Strasser

Nikhil Wagher

Jack Westphal

Upper School (Grades 9-12)

Headmaster's List (GPA 3.85-4.00)

Adam Dada

Anastasia Eganova

Maram El-Geneidy

Tejasvi Kotte

Summer Lawrence

Benjamin Nordick

Manasa Pagadala

Emilia Porubcin

Michal Porubcin

Shravya Pothula

Suhas Seshadri

Alexander Skillin

Loring Telleen

MingSui Tang

Distinction (GPA 3.50-3.84)

Christian Elliott

Shivani Ganesh

Ryan Howell

Amanda McVey

Victoria Mbakwe

Grace Moran

Thomas Rodgers

Pavel Yashurkin

Merit (GPA 3.00-3.49)

Spencer Brown

Hema Chimpidi

Sukhmani Gill

Hayley Moran

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013/National FFA Organization) - Students from Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa, West Virginia and Oregon have been elected by delegates from throughout the U.S. to serve on the 2013-14 National FFA Officer team.

Brian Walsh of Virginia, an agribusiness major at Virginia Tech, was elected president. Mitch Baker of Tennessee, an agricultural communications major at University of Tennessee, will serve as secretary.

Steven Brockshus of Iowa, an agricultural education and global resource systems major at Iowa State University, was elected Central Region vice president and Jackson Harris of Alabama, a community development major at the University of Alabama, will serve as Southern Region vice president.

Wes Davis of West Virginia, an agribusiness management and rural development major at West Virginia University, was elected Eastern Region vice president and Jason Wetzler of Oregon, an agricultural leadership major at Oklahoma State University, will serve as Western Region vice president.

Each year at the National FFA Convention & Expo, six students are elected by delegates to represent the organization as National FFA officers. Delegates elect a president, secretary and vice presidents representing the central, southern, eastern and western regions of the country.

National officers commit to a year of service to the National FFA Organization. Each travels more than 100,000 national and international miles to interact with business and industry leaders, thousands of FFA members and teachers, corporate sponsors, government and education officials, state FFA leaders, the general public and more. The team will lead personal growth and leadership training seminars for FFA members throughout the country and help set policies that will guide the future of FFA and promote agricultural literacy.

"For this new national officer team, it will be a year of hard work, long hours, lots of travel and major advocacy for FFA and agricultural education," said 2012-13 National FFA President Clay Sapp, who delivered his retiring address today before the new team was named. "It is a year of profound experiences that will change their lives and thousands of lives their service will touch."

The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 579,678 student members in grades seven through 12 who belong to one of 7,570 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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About National FFA Organization
The National FFA Organization is a national youth organization of 579,678 student members as part of 7,570 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. The National FFA Organization operates under a federal charter granted by the 81st United States Congress and it is an integral part of public instruction in agriculture. The U.S. Department of Education provides leadership and helps set direction for FFA as a service to state and local agricultural education programs. For more, visit the National FFA Organization online at www.FFA.org, on Facebook, Twitter and the official National FFA Organization blog.