Contents

• The Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, Recommends a Rigorous Education
• Bellevue School District Video on How Special Ed. and ESL Students Take AP Courses
• Interlake HS International Baccalaureate Info Night Recap
• Virginia Satellite Educational Network
• AP Government & Politics
• UW Mini Medical School Recap
• Proposal for an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in the Everett School District
• Women Scientists of the Manhattan Project, College Board Article
• Rita Dove – The Perspectives of History, College Board Webcast on March 31, 2004
• Updated Info on UW Summer Programs for Middle School Students
• Determine Possible AP Credit at Any College

Excerpt from the Seattle Times.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said that U.S. workers must be better educated so they can find jobs in an economy that is increasingly creating conceptual goods rather than tangible products.

Providing "rigorous education and ongoing training to all members of our society" is critical for the economy overall and for individuals buffeted by its changing nature.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=greenspan21&date=20040221&query=greenspan

Last summer the Bellevue School District taped another video on AP. This time it is on how Special Education and English Language Learning students also participate in AP courses. The BSD administrators have made this 17 minute video available to us. Let us know if you would like to view this tape. We can arrange for you to borrow it and perhaps show it at a school function.

On Tuesday, 3/16/04, the Interlake High School staff held their IB Info Night. The Interlake staff are quite excited about the IB program starting at their feeder middle school (Highland) and their feeder elementary schools. The Bellevue School District will then be the first and only school district in our state to have all 3 IB programs that will provide a world class college prep coordinated curriculum covering K through 12.

The IB Info Night included a panel: 2 current senior Interlake IB students, 2 recent graduates - one in her first year at UW and one in his 3^rd year at Yale, 2 Interlake teachers, 1 counselor, 1 UW admissions officer, and 1 Yale admissions officer. All of the panelists had high praise for the IB program. The Yale admissions officer was quite frank in his question posed to the audience, "Why send your child to a private boarding school in the East when your child can obtain the best education in their own public high school that offers IB?"

We are always on the search for more learning options for students in our community. We may have found a gem. Master teachers use state-of-the-art technology in broadcasting to students in the Commonwealth of Virginia and across the country. The last 30 broadcasts of several courses are archived and available free of charge. So using your handy computer and hopefully broadband Internet connection, you can review the following:

AP Government & Politics

http://www.wise.k12.va.us/dlp/Govt/streaming_video.htm

AP English Literature & Composition

http://www.wise.k12.va.us/dlp/English/streaming_video.htm

Japanese I

http://www.vsenvirginia.org/archives/j1/index.html

Information on Fall courses will be available soon.

http://www.vsenvirginia.org

AP teachers are some of the kindest most knowledgeable people. One of our AP/IB Boosters founding members recently posed a question (asking for sample course syllabi) on the College Board's AP Government & Politics Electronic Discussion Group. Within a day several AP teachers responded with suggestions.

http://apcomparativegov.com/teachlist.html

From reviewing these syllabi one can see the added excitement about AP Government & Politics with the 2004 presidential election campaign. Many, if not most, AP Government & Politics teachers require students to read newspapers and news magazines to stay abreast of current events. Many of the AP Government & Politics VSEN lectures available from the link in the previous article are devoted to discussing the current presidential hopefuls.

On Wednesday, 3/17/2004, the last session of the 6 session 4^th annual UW Mini Med School was held. This series was held on 6 consecutive Wednesday evenings. The series was free and open to the general public. One had to register early however. It was a great opportunity for high school students considering a medical career.

The following gives the title and synopsis of each session.

Session 1: "IT STARTS WITH THE STORY"

Synopsis:

Welcome to Mini-Medical School! Discover the language of medicine and learn how medical school students learn to communicate patients’ concerns and understand their stories.

Session 2: "ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: EVOLVING APPROACHES"

Synopsis:

Can Alzheimer’s disease be prevented? Hear evidence that some common medicines may delay or prevent the onset of dementia in Alzheimer’s. And see what Alzheimer's disease looks like on brain imaging and how imaging helps research and clinical diagnosis of dementia.

Session 3: "LIVER TRANSPLANTATION: A TEAM APPROACH"

Synopsis:

Hear the history of liver transplantation and learn who is a good candidate and why. Witness the team approach to transplantation at UW Medicine and hear about transplant patients' long-term outcomes

Session 4: "MODERN DAY CONCEPTION TO DELIVERY – THIS IS NOT YOUR MOTHER’S PREGNANCY"

Synopsis:

Hear the story of Mary X. She’s a healthy, middle-aged woman who wants to have a baby. Follow her through the process of infertility treatments, an atypical pregnancy and learn of vital decisions she must make throughout the next several months of her life.

Session 5: "IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS"

Synopsis:

There are misperceptions about living with a chronic illness such as diabetes. Hear about some of the recent and future advancements in diabetes care helping patients live full and meaningful lives. And what happens when the chronic illness reaches its life-limiting stages? Hear how patients, families, and physicians can integrate palliative care into their treatment to support living the best life possible during this challenging time.

Note: Session 5 was especially moving. Dr. Farber gave the talk on palliative medicine. Dr. Farber started planning for his talk in January, soon after he was asked, but it was modified to include his experience with his own mother's death. She died just 2 weeks before session 5. His mother and his family knew the end was near and planned accordingly. His mother was made as comfortable as possible at home. Dr. Farber shared photos of his mother in the last days of her life enjoying the company of her son, grandchildren, and other relatives.

Session 6: "SURGERY NOW AND BEYOND: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE"

Synopsis:

Hear how far surgery has come in the past two decades, from laparoscopic to robotic and computer- assisted surgery. See the explosive advances in science and technology that will change the future of medicine

About 200 people attended every session. On the last day, 60 people (selected through lottery) also had the opportunity to tour the UW Anatomy Lab. UW medical students and professors guided us through an examination of cadavers. We held a human heart. We touched the damaged lungs of a former smoker. We saw and felt a human pancreas, liver and kidneys. We also quietly thanked, in our own way, the people, now deceased, who donated their bodies for the advancement of science and for the benefit of the young medical students in training to be the next generation of physicians.

http://courses.washington.edu/minimed/

Ingraham High School (not Garfield) in the Seattle School District just became the Seattle School District's IB school. Interlake High School (not Newport) is the Bellevue School District's IB school. Mariner (not Kamiak) will start the IB Middle Years program in the next few years. Many large school districts in Washington State have one designated IB school that is open to all students in the district. When an IB school opens, it immediately becomes a magnet school. This is what happened at Ingraham HS this school year. Ingraham was a declining school. Now there are parents lining up to get their kid into it. We want that same excitement for a school that deserves attention in the Everett School District. And that school is Everett High School. We want to work with the Everett School District on this possibility. We want to investigate possible Bill & Melinda Gates Grants and other funding sources to assist in the substantial startup funds required for IB. Please let us know what you think of this proposal.

March is National Women's History month. The College Board's web site contains an article with a link to "Their Day in the Sun: Women of the Manhattan Project."

"Their Day in the Sun is about America's secret project to develop the first atomic bombs during World War II, and the largely overlooked but important role of women in the Manhattan Project."

http://www.geocities.com/cherzenberg/Manhattan_Project_women.html

"AP Central Online Events invites you to a very special online conversation with Rita Dove. Ms. Dove was Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993-1995. Her forthcoming book, American Smooth, will be published this fall."

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com

The UW Summer Programs for Middle School Students web site has been updated with the offerings for this summer.

http://www.summeryouth.washington.edu/syp/mid/

The College Board has a search page to determine AP credit at any college.

http://www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditpolicy

Just for fun, the 64 colleges that make up the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament were queried. 95% (61 out of 64) grant AP Credit and/or Placement including our own fine colleges: The University of Washington, Gonzaga, and Eastern Washington University.