WIRED: Inside the World’s Biggest Hacker Rickroll. “The elaborate high school graduation prank—dubbed The Big Rick by its architects—was one of the largest rickrolls to ever take place, taking months of planning to pull off.”
KSTP: High-dollar ACT prep goes online for free. “Tips and training for the ACT exam can cost $100 an hour with a tutor. ACT tutor Katie Halcrow says that most students can raise their score by 5 points by using them….After years of helping students prepare for the test, she has launched a non-profit called ‘Power Up Prep’ and has put all her material online for free. It’s material that is so valuable that a few schools around the metro are starting to use it in their classrooms.”
WRAL: Over a dozen COVID cases linked to Carrboro High School prom. “Carrboro High School will require masks until at least April 22 following 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases being connected to the school. Nearly half of those cases are likely linked to the high school’s prom last weekend.”
BusinessWire: Museum of American Finance to Bring Museum Finance Academy Certificate Program for High School Students to National Audience (PRESS RELEASE). “The Museum of American Finance announced it will bring its popular Museum Finance Academy (MFA) course for high school students to a national audience for the Spring 2022 semester with the addition of a second section of the afterschool program to accommodate the schedules of students in different time zones…. Currently offered virtually via Zoom, MFA is a free five-session personal finance certificate course for 11th and 12th graders with the goal of teaching students to aspire to financial independence through developing an appreciation for savings, establishing financial goals and learning to avoid scams. This course requires no prior knowledge of finance, business or economics.”
University of California: New publication helps youth evaluate post-high school ‘pathways’. “The ‘Pathways to Your Future’ curriculum invites high school-aged youth – and their families – to map their unique situations and passions before embarking on their own road. Whereas similar guides might convey advice on a one-way street, this free download outlines a “hands-on” experience – in school settings or out-of-school programs – to help young people steer toward their best post-high-school education, training and career options.”
Los Angeles Daily News: LAUSD suspends athletic competition for a week due to COVID-19 surge. “The Los Angeles Unified School District sent an email to high school administrators and parents late Sunday informing them all athletic competition this week (Jan. 10-14) will be postponed and rescheduled due the COVID-19, specifically referring to the omicron variant.”
Bronx Times: NY cancels January Regents exams as COVID cases surge. “New York students won’t take Regents exams this January. New York education Commissioner Betty Rosa canceled the winter tests on Tuesday, citing a ‘daunting’ spike in coronavirus cases across the state. No decisions have been made yet regarding the June and August exams, which far more students take. Officials previously said they planned to move forward with spring testing.”
Washington Post: Fairfax County Public Schools will require a coronavirus vaccine for high school student-athletes. “Fairfax County Public Schools will require students who play winter and spring high school sports this academic year to get a coronavirus vaccine, officials announced Monday — marking one of the first such student vaccine mandates nationwide. The rule will go into effect Nov. 8, school officials wrote in a message to principals Monday. Starting that date, any student who wishes to participate in a Virginia High School League winter or spring sport during the 2021-2022 academic year must provide proof of vaccination.”
PsyPost: High school students who attended school remotely during the pandemic report worse social, emotional, and academic well-being. “A recent study published in Educational Researcher sheds light on how students were impacted by the transition to remote schooling during the COVID-19 crisis. A survey of high school students revealed that those who attended school remotely during the pandemic fared worse emotionally, academically, and socially than those who attended in person.”
Washington Post: High-schooler and her mother hacked school records to steal homecoming queen election, police say. “In a sparkling silver dress, the homecoming queen at J.M. Tate High School in Cantonment, Fla., stood on the football field on a brisk evening in late October to accept her crown. But among the students, whispers already had begun spreading about her victory. The homecoming queen had bragged for years about abusing the access her mother had to student records as an assistant principal in the same school system, witnesses later told investigators.”
Core77: COVID Reality: Entire High School Band Rehearsing Together in Individual Tents. “Between the earlier threat of school shootings and now COVID, the current generation of students have really caught some lousy breaks. The images in this Tweet below are probably a good solution–having a roomful of students blowing their hearts out amidst an infection that’s spread via airborne transmission isn’t viable without protection–but it’s kind of heartbreaking to see.” The poor tuba player is getting squished.
Daily Beast: There’s No End in Sight to ‘Mind Boggling’ Homecoming Dances. “In any other time, a lighthearted photo of teens pretending to lick one another’s faces would not warrant national headlines. But the Nov. 7 Facebook post—in which three glittering teenage girls wear crowns, smiles, and red roses between pubescent boys blowing them kisses—is emblematic of a catastrophic divide between Americans in the middle of a pandemic.”
The Chattanoogan: NFHS Offers Free Online COVID-19 Informational Courses For Coaches And Administrators. “The COVID 19 pandemic presents a myriad of challenges to high school athletic and activity programs. To help address some of those challenges, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has developed a new free online course ‘COVID-19 for Coaches and Administrators.’ The course includes information from the ‘Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities’ document that was released by the NFHS in May for its 51 member state high school associations to consider in restarting high school athletics and other activity programs across the nation.”
The 74: WATCH: In This Age of Social Distancing, Class of 2020 Graduations Go Virtual, Mobile and Robotic. “For the roughly 3.7 million seniors in the Class of 2020 spread across more than 24,000 high schools in the United States, graduation ceremonies this spring won’t resemble anything near traditional. What they will look like, though, will run the gamut from drive-in movie-style celebrations to livestreamed commencement exercises to pre-recorded snippets pieced together and viewed online. And they will all come with the same goal: honoring students and creating memories.”
CNET: YouTube’s virtual graduation will include Barack and Michelle Obama, BTS, Lady Gaga. “Not to be outdone by John Krasinski’s star-studded virtual graduation, YouTube is holding one of its own on June 6, for people whose celebrations have been stopped by the coronavirus pandemic. ‘Dear Class of 2020’ plans to feature Barack and Michelle Obama, BTS and Lady Gaga, along with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and activist Malala Yousafzai.”
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