Teachers are expected to teach English, Math, History and Science to their students, standards and assessments have lead many schools to make cuts to areas where students could have the opportunity to become better citizens and community members, well rounded, grounded and ready to move forward in life. In the CBL theme we look at leaders, the teacher in today's focus article exemplifies this definition. Leadership Requires Engagement. Leaders develop and dedicate their talents to promote the common good. This is where they choose to spend their time and effort, Leadership requires positive civic engagement. It is making sure that the communities I am part of are better because I am in them. And that I am better because of the communities I choose to be part of. Mike the PE teacher who embodies all that the Leadership theme describes, he has provided students and parents a primer for living a life filled with character, being successful and not making excuses for performance. His community is better for his being their to shepherd the students along the way, using the results and his own research he can show how natural growth and maturation will impact a students performance. “Next week’s annual Track and Field Days give 3rd-6th graders the opportunity to take stock of their own physical development by posting their personal bests in seven events over the course of four years. In the 31 years that I have documented this event, the overwhelming majority of children have posted across the board gains each year. Those that don’t, have generally put on weight just prior to a growth spurt, or have just experienced a growth spurt that has found their coordinative skills still adjusting to their larger bodies. How many can remember the award you won in grades 3-6? Now, can you remember the teacher in grade 3-6 who made you believe that you could do great things? “The cumulative goal of the event is for all of the children to recognize that they are not in physical stasis, that they are capable of physical improvement regardless of their current level of participation in any organized sports or other routinized physical activities and that no doors to physical activities have been closed to them as they enter the next phases of their lives. Response to Reading...... I need to add more here How could you change the world in similar fashion to Mike the PE teacher? What can you do to empower future generation? Will your communities be better with you in them and will you be better for being part of them? What parts of Leadership will you begin to incorporate into your daily journey of character growth? 

Bristol Bay: Largest Salmon Fishery vs Giant Mine Proposal (via Environment News Service)

SEATTLE, Washington, April 29, 2013 (ENS) – If Bristol Bay, Alaska is opened to mining, the ore deposit would be mined for decades, and the wastes would require management “for centuries or even in perpetuity,” finds a revised environmental assessment issued Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection…

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