In the News

Daily Beast ranks Saline High School in America's Top 300

Daily Beast Wednesday, May 15, 2013

And yet another set of national stats on public high schools, this one from Newsweek's Daily Beast, puts Saline High School, Chelsea High School, and Ann Arbor's Community, Huron, and Pioneer in the nation's top 1,000, with Skyline High School just a few slots behind.

See the full list here.

Education program provider Seelio receives $900K seed investment

Forbes Wednesday, May 01, 2013

A sizable round of seed funding has gotten Ann Arbor-based Seelio onto Forbes' radar.

Excerpt:

"Seelio is especially popular with educational institutions for students to showcase their school projects. Today Seelio has announced that they have raised $900,000 in a seed round of funding from First Step Fund, Michigan PreSeed Fund, and several angel investors...

Many institutions have been using Seelio non-traditional educational programs like boot camps and training programs. A couple of examples of these programs include the Digital Media Institute at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan Design Expo...

Seelio is now being used by thousands of students across 500 campuses."

More here.

Ann Arbor high schools among top 20 in state

U.S. News & World Report Wednesday, May 01, 2013

When it comes to education, if you live in Ann Arbor you're likely to get a good one. Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School ranks 12th and Huron High School is a close 16th among Michigan's public high schools.

See the U.S. News & World Report rankings here.

EMU one of America's most affordable colleges

Eastern Michigan University Wednesday, April 24, 2013

With the middle class finding itself increasingly priced out of college for the kids, EMU is one of a few in the country that have clamped down on tuition costs.

Excerpt:

"In 2010, Eastern Michigan University led the way as one of the nation's most cost conscious colleges when it froze tuition, room and board and fees with its 0%, 0%, 0% campaign...

This tuition restraint and other factors have recently earned Eastern a ranking of 54th out of 350 colleges for its affordability among the larger public colleges by AffordableCollegesOnline.org. There were 15 metrics used in the ranking, including tuition, admission rates, enrollment total, average grant dollars per student and average scholarship per student."

More here.

Could Minecraft be the next educational frontier?

PBS Idea Channel Wednesday, March 13, 2013

For those of you who have been living in a cave (or don't have children), Minecraft is a game that lets players do and build essentially anything they want. It also offers educators a unique opportunity to create programs that simultaneously teach and engage kids. What a concept!

The A2 Public Library already recognizies how Minecraft is more than just the latest substitution for Mario Brothers, offering programs and events.

Watch why below.

And take a tour of Ann Arbor in Minecraft below.

Ann Arbor's "human capital" is tops for small metros

The Atlantic Cities Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Business leaders call them "human capital," economists call them educated people. Either way you slice the tomato, both consider it a key factor in regional growth and development. Richard Florida takes a look at what human capital in suburban vs urban settings looks like.

Excerpt:

"Perhaps not surprisingly, college towns predominate when we add smaller metros (with populations of less than one million) to the list. With nearly 70 percent of adults holding bachelor degrees, Ann Arbor comes in first, followed by State College, Pennsylvania (69.2 percent), Iowa City (55.9 percent), Bloomington, Indiana (54.8 percent), Corvallis, Oregon (53.1 percent), Boulder, Colorado (50.9 percent), Columbia, Missouri (50.4 percent), Madison, Wisconsin (48.1 percent), Lawrence, Kansas (47.6 percent) and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (47.4 percent)."

Read the rest here.

Ypsilanti High School Court is in session

The Ypsilanti Courier Wednesday, May 16, 2012

With apologies to Law And Order... In the Ypsilanti high school justice system, the students are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the plaintiff, who mounts a case for their issue; and the student jury, which hands down the verdict. This is their story.

Excerpt:

"Students at two Ypsilanti high schools now have the opportunity to decide each other’s fate when violating school policy.
Cooley Law School and Dean Joan Vestrand have partnered with the Ypsilanti Public Schools to create the Ypsilanti High School Student Court."

Read the rest here.

U-M praised on Colbert Report

The Colbert Report Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Are universities adequately challenging their undergraduates? Richard Hersh gives a shout out to U-M (along with M.I.T and University Of Virginia) as a school that gives its undergrads a well-rounded education.

Watch the interview in the video below:

The Colbert Report
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To become Chief Doctor, go to med school and get an MBA

New York Times Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dual MBA / masters degree programs are very of the moment these days. (U-M's joint degree from the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources is a popular one.) Now the latest tagline you want after your name is an M.D. / M.B.A., according to the New York Times. They're still quite rare, but Dr. James Kuo, chief executive of Ann Arbor's Adeona Pharmaceuticals, has one.

Get the full story here.

Ypsi study from 1960 says preschool pays off

NPR Wednesday, August 17, 2011

It was called the Perry Preschool Project, and it found that toddlers who attended preschool, even part time, go on to greater academic and job success in life than those that didn't.

Excerpt:

"You might not think of soft skills as skills at all. They involve things like being able to pay attention and focus, being curious and open to new experiences, and being able to control your temper and not get frustrated.

All these soft skills are very important in getting a job. And Heckman discovered that you don't get them in high school, or in middle school, or even in elementary school. You get them in preschool."

Read/listen to the rest of the story here.

Orphan books may finally find a home, readers & researchers win

Library Journal.com Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Won't you give these books a home? It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of books, printed between 1923 and 1963, are in copyright limbo. U-M's Orphan Works project is looking to make access to these 'lost' writings a heck of a lot easier.

Excerpt:

"Orphan works are in-copyright but out-of-print works for which the current rights holders are unknown or unable to be located. The UM Library Copyright Office's HathiTrust-funded project to identify such works in the HathiTrust collection was first announced last month, as reported by LJ. It focuses on determining the status of works in the UM collection published between 1923 and 1963."

Read the rest of the story here.

Silicon Valley firm hosts gamer summer camp in Ann Arbor

The Detroit News Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Most kids go to camp to play sports or escape into the wilderness. Kids in Ann Arbor go to camp to capitalize on their nerdiness thanks to iD Tech, a Silicon Valley firm looking to cultivate the next generation of video game creators.

Excerpt:

Remember this: In a world where computers run everything, nerds rule.

So you might think the 31 kids glued to glowing screens last week at the Ann Arbor summer camp run by iD Tech, a company out of California's Silicon Valley, were just a bunch of campers who prefer computers to campfires. But you would be wrong.

These are future masters of the universe, acquiring sophisticated programming skills in video-game design with Flash and Maya animation and other programs that most adults who design games don't get under their belts until they hit college or the professional world.

The campers wore their nerdiness with a cheerful swagger.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely a nerd," said Alex Eichner, 15, a camper from Alexandria, Va. "No doubt about it."

The week-long program was one of seven iD Tech sponsored this summer at the University of Michigan, as well as at other universities around the country. The last U-M session begins Sunday and winds up Aug. 8.

Read the rest of the story here.

Michigan Islamic Academy co-founder Dawud Tauhidi passes

Examiner.com Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Dawud Tauhidi, one of Ann Arbor's most prominent members of the Muslim community, has passed away. Coincidentally, his passing takes place right after the city of Ann Arbor approved plans for a major expansion of the Michigan Islamic Academy, which he helped co-found.

Excerpt:

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of a great leader in the world of Islamic academia. After two years of battling, cancer ultimately took his life. Brother Dawud Tauhidi is succeeded by his five wonderful children and, of course, hundreds of children whom he taught or was acting principal for.

After becoming Muslim in 1972, Atauhidi wasted no time in learning Arabic and Islamic studies. It soon became clear that his heart's passion lay in the field of academia. Thus, Dawud Tauhidi founded the Tarbiyah Project and he co-founded the Michigan Islamic Academy in Ann Arbor, MI. Later he became the principal and director of Crescent Academy International in Canton for several years.

Read the rest of the story here.

Q&A: How to get into U-M's Ross School of Business

U.S. News & World Report Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Getting into University of Michigan's Ross School of Business is one of the most sought after tickets in the nation. Here is some inside information on how to score one, thaks the U.S. News & World Report.

Excerpt:

We posed questions to admissions officials at the University of Michigan�Ann Arbor Stephen M. Ross School of Business regarding the application process, what they look for in applicants and what sets their school apart. These are their responses:

1. What can applicants do to set themselves apart from their peers?

They really don't need to do much to set themselves apart other than tell their unique stories�through their r�sum�s, their essays, their interviews, and their recommendation letters. No two applicants, even if they live and work in the same place, will have the same stories to tell. Differentiation shouldn't be a goal; telling one's own story well should.

2. What do you look for in the application essays? What do the essays tell you about a candidate?

We look for several things in the essays: Do they have clear and compelling reasons for wanting to get an M.B.A. now? Do they have a clear sense of their goals and why they've set those goals? Can they communicate well?

The essays tell us whether an applicant has taken the time to think about where they've been, what they hope to achieve and why. Essays tell us whether an applicant understands what an M.B.A. is about, whether our program is a good fit for them, and whether they'll be a good fit for our program.

Read the rest of the story here.

Mackinac Center: Ann Arbor leads in school insurance cost containment

Mackinac Center for Public Policy Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Where money goes in regards to public education is always a hot topic. The libertarian-based Mackinac Center says Ann Arbor Public Schools is sending some of it in a great direction.

Excerpt:

Van Beek noted that AAPS "is on the forefront of having employees contribute. That kind of system is what a lot of schools would benefit from."

Read the rest of the story here.

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