"All teachers fired at Rhode Island school"

Recently Central Falls High School, a school in Rhode Island, chose to fire all of their teachers and administration working there. The school is located in a poverty-ridden area; the average community income is $22,000 per year. Half the students were failing every class. Needless to say, the school was struggling. The superintendent had been asking teachers to put in extra time to help boost test scores, which teachers had been abiding by. This would include extra time after school, during summer break, and a longer school day. Since that wasn't boosting test scores enough, the decision was made to cut their jobs. There are a couple ways that schools try to turn things around. One is called transformation and the other is the turnaround model. Central Falls tried the transformation and not much was improved, so they are attempting the turnaround model. Teachers feel upset because they had done all they had asked and got fired. The superintendent claims that about 50% of those teachers will have a chance to get their job back when they begin hiring again. They want a fresh staff that can hopefully make the needed changes to this school.

I personally feel really sorry for all of these teachers who lost their jobs. It sounds a little bit unfair. They responded to resquests by the superintendent for many years, giving up their time and doing much of that for little or no pay at all. This school is just located in an area that there's little hope for high test scores. These teachers should be considered heroes for their hard work and their concern for their students. I admire them because not everyone would like to give up so much time for helping people that some consider hopeless. What will the teachers do when they lose their jobs? The area the school is in is already poverty stricken enough. They don't need more people without work. I also feel sorry for the students. Maybe their families don't offer support or don't believe school is very important. That's a shame for their future. Kids have so much potential and now it's like school has given up on them too. I hope that change will happen in this area of our country and that more fortunate people will think of this school as we try to make changes in our own community. I believe that a new high school needs to be built in
Alexandria. We have a great staff and great students that would all benefit from it. I think we can think of our own community and what we can do for its education after reading this article.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/24/rhode.island.teachers/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Navy joins effort to reach hiker in Mount St. Helens crater

Bohlig, an experienced hiker, fell into Mount St. Helens volcano while on a hiking trip. He fell nearly 1,500 feet into the crater. The U.S. Navy is now trying to help save him, but that's been unsuccessful due to bad weather. There's strong winds and lots of snow, causing low visibility to the medics and helicopters.They're unsure about his condition, but from past experiences similar to this one, things aren't looking good. He fell very far without much insulation, and he doesn't have many supplies or equipment down there. However, some pilots believe they saw him moving his head from side to side. That's why they will continue the rescue, hoping that Bohlig is still alive.

This was a surprising article to me. I was unaware that this had happened, and it causes me to feel very sad for this man. He had hiked to Mount St. Helens about 60 times before, but probably didn't expect this to happen to him. Since he had made the trip many times before, it most likely didn't cross his mind that he would fall into the volcano. That can be true for many things. Like when a sports team earns a consecutive number of wins. They can feel like they can't be beat and forget about that chance that it's always possible. I hope that somehow Bohlig can make it through this hardship and that the navy will have the patience with the weather to continue their strive for rescuing him. I also hope that this will be a wake up call to all people interested in particularly dangerous travels like that.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/16/washington.hiker.volcano/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29