Posted March 25th, 2011
by Charlotte Draper
It may not fee like spring outside but more than 600 University of Toledo students participated in the BIG Event. Students headed out into the neighborhoods surrounding the UT campus to do a little spring cleaning for neighbors.
Joshua Beekman is the director of BIG Event. They expected to see 400 students Saturday morning for community cleanup. To his surprise an additional 200 students arrived ready to help. “We’re students were here to give back to the community that supports us, this is where we live and learn.”
One student says “it was chaos they totally weren’t prepared for all the ones who showed up last minute.” Once the 600 plus students branched out into the neighborhoods surrounding campus, there was nothing but teamwork. Elizabeth Szczechowiak says the extra help was it was just what she needed. She has trouble doing odd work around the house. “No, I can’t I am getting too old to be able to do anything.” she was nothing but smiles watching the back-breaking work be done, free of charge.
Neighbor Tracey DeBow also received a little help. “I signed up cause I could use the extra help and they’re really helping so I appreciate it.” DeBow even purchased tools for the volunteers to clean with, not knowing they came ready to work with their own. Block by block they stripped weathered wood and repainted old siding. All the while rolling out a better looking Toledo.
Tags: Big Event, Students Participate Posted in Learning Guide
Posted March 24th, 2011
by Charlotte Draper
The first of two “Community Conversations” about the Austin Independent School District’s 2011-2012 preliminary budget was held Thursday night at Reagan High School in East Austin.
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Posted in Learning Guide
Posted March 21st, 2011
by Charlotte Draper
More than 2,000 Sacramento-area educators received pink slips recently. Some will have the preliminary layoff notices rescinded before the May 15 deadline for final notices. Most will not.
School officials are waiting to see if the governor’s proposed tax extensions are put on the ballot, and if voters would approve them. Until then teachers holding pink slips wait, their lives on hold.
Here are some of their stories:
Worried about class size
Josh Costa attended elementary, junior high and high school in the San Juan Unified School District before becoming a teacher.
Costa, 32, says he’s gotten a pink slip almost every year since he started working in San Juan Unified in 2004. They’ve always been rescinded.
Teaching is in his blood.
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Tags: Pink Slip, Slip Posted in Learning Guide
Posted March 1st, 2011
by Charlotte Draper
Have you heard the one about the $5 foot-long?
Its not a joke. Its an interview question for a summer internship at Capital One, the kind of question thats supposed to test a candidates problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
Such questions are becoming increasingly common—and bizarre—as more employers and recruiters try to detect those qualifications that cant be spelled out on even the most handsomely typeset resume.
Career counselors often tell you to prepare concise responses for conventional questions like What are your strengths, or Where do you see yourself in five years? But for the unconventional ones, like these compiled by online job community Glassdoor.com, all we can say is, expect the unexpected. And
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Posted in Learning Guide
Posted February 25th, 2011
by Charlotte Draper
Being smart, even being good at your job, is no guarantee of success. So what’s the key ingredient?
In my experience—primarily working with and training finance professionals—attitude is more important than aptitude.
Don’t get me wrong. Intelligence is important. Financial institutions often target recruiting efforts for new professionals at “core schools” where they feel assured of the quality of the education and student body. Most job candidates from these schools will have the skills to perform on the job, especially at entry-level positions. (Full disclosure: Having Princeton on my resume has definitely helped open doors.) Another way of standing out on the aptitude scale is by being the top candidate from any school.
But what do you do when the door is opened? One senior
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Tags: Being Smart, Smart Posted in Learning Guide