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The Spirit of Christmas was alive in the Thibodaux area on Dec. 15, as hundreds of volunteers gathered throughout Thibodaux to help reach out to families in need.
The 24th-annual Thibodaux Area Christmas Toy Drive helped 723 families encompassing over 1,750 children.
The greatest advantage of the united toy drive continues to be the ability to reach more families with less duplication.
Mayor Tommy Eschete and the Thibodaux City Council have provided us with a home and the continual support of our efforts.
Giving each child two gifts is only possible because of the generosity of our wonderful Thibodaux community.
We are truly blessed to live in a community that not only cares, but believes in taking action.
It is particularly satisfying that the drive was again able to give each family food as well as toys.
Financial support, which was not first needed for toys, was used for specific food coupons.
Overlapping was prevented by coordinating efforts with other groups who provide food for the needy, namely St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Many thanks to Rouses Supermarkets, Wal-Mart, L&N Food Store, the Peltier Foundation and The Lorio Foundation for their continued support of this facet of our drive.
The Christmas Toy Drive is possible only because of the assistance and support of so many who provide gifts as well as donations of time and finances that enable an effort such as this to continue.
We especially want to thank all our wonderful volunteers, churches, schools, civic clubs, businesses, organizations, foundations, many individual donors and everyone who helped in any way to make the 2012 Toy Drive an example of the true spirit of Christmas.
Educators are still wrestling with what they should add to the mix to meet ESSA's mandate to go beyond just test scores.
The Every Student Succeeds Act gives states new responsibilities and wide latitude to rethink how they determine if a school is successful.
But amid enthusiasm for that broader vision for accountability come questions and challenges as state leaders seek public opinions and buy-in from the educators and district-level administrators who will carry out their plans.
The big question: When redesigning a state's accountability model, how bold of a change is too bold?
In addition to traditional accountability measures—English-language proficiency, graduation rates, and scores on state achievement tests—the new federal education law requires states to incorporate at least one "other indicator" into their accountability systems. That indicator must be measured at the student level so ...
The law lists a few examples of "other indicators," including school climate and student engagement, but it gives states broad discretion about which, and how many, factors they select. Some examples suggested by state leaders and education policy watchers include college-going rates, access to arts and science educati...
Some advocacy and interest groups have pushed for state leaders to use the new measure to dramatically reshape their education systems to include more "whole-child" factors, like measures of social-emotional learning, student support, and schools' ability to move the needle on student traits like grit and self-manageme...
But the potential for big shifts in school accountability has also been met with caution from other corners of the education field: researchers who warn that some measurement methods aren't ready to be used in high-stakes accountability; school leaders who say they lack the resources to meet some new, creative benchmar...
Another concern: Data collection needs to be done in a way that is consistent across schools and districts.
"It has great potential to allow states the flexibility of looking at some of the things we know are important in terms of what really constitutes a high-quality education," Kristen Amundson, executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education, said of the new indicator. "That said, potential do...
Amundson said she expects some states to start with less-dramatic new accountability plans, adding data they already measure, like school suspension rates, rather than incorporating a host of factors related to students' relationship skills and well-being.
Education Week asked teachers to select the area they would most like to see their states measure for ESSA accountability purposes. The largest share of survey respondents (23%) pointed to students’ social and emotional learning.
But some states may begin collecting data in those social and emotional areas to get baseline information, to gauge its reliability, and to explore the possibility of incorporating it into accountability systems in the future, she said.
"Even under [No Child Left Behind], which was much more prescriptive, states changed accountability measures and metrics many times," Amundson said. "I think the message states need to get out—and some are already—is what we've said for a long time: School is much more than a single test score. This is our first attemp...
A survey of 634 teachers by the Education Week Research Center illustrates divisions in what states should track to gauge school quality and how they should measure those factors.
Social-emotional learning ranked the highest among a list of possible "other indicators," with 23 percent of respondents saying they favored it. Also ranking among the top were student engagement, at 19 percent; college and career readiness, at 15 percent; and student mindset at 11 percent.
Respondents were also divided about how to measure their favored indicator. The highest preference, classroom observations specifically conducted for the purpose of measuring nonacademic factors, won support from 21.4 percent of respondents. Surveys of students won support from 13.4 percent, and surveys of teachers wer...
While backers of social-emotional learning have suggested states use their new models to encourage it in schools, many have stopped short of encouraging them to directly measure students' competencies in areas like self-management and growth mindset.
That's because, well before President Barack Obama signed ESSA into law, high-profile education researchers warned that existing measurement methods of areas like social-emotional learning are prone to a host of biases that make them unreliable and unusable for accountability purposes.
Most measures of a student's social and emotional skills development are done through self-report surveys, through which a student rates his or her own competencies.
But some research has shown that students who've completed lessons on skills like self-control and relationship skills may actually rate themselves lower in those areas than their peers who have not completed such lessons because they have a better understanding of what the concepts mean and how much they have to learn...
Currently, "perfectly unbiased, unfakeable, and error-free measures are an ideal, not a reality," researchers Angela Duckworth and David Yeager wrote in a 2015 essay published in Educational Researcher that detailed an array of flaws with current measures.
That didn't stop a group of California districts, known as CORE, from incorporating student surveys about social-emotional learning into their accountability system, which was developed before ESSA was approved.
Leaders of that multimetric effort say schools use the data as a "flashlight, not a hammer"—meant to illuminate what does and does not work in schools and not to simply identify schools in need of heavy handed interventions—and that the accountability plan could be adjusted as better measures are developed.
They encouraged California leaders to consider their model, which also includes factors like suspension rates and how quickly English-language learners transition into mainstream classrooms, as the state designs its ESSA model.
Education Week asked teachers to give their opinions on the best way to measure the performance area they would most like to see their states include in ESSA accountability systems. Roughly one-fifth of survey respondents said that classroom observations conducted to assess nonacademic factors would be the best method,...
California's new state-level accountability model, approved by the state board in the fall, does not incorporate measures of individual student traits. Rather, its list of school quality metrics includes measures of school climate that seek to gauge how safe and supported students feel at school.
Boosters of social-emotional learning have said school climate measures, which are often also determined through student surveys, are much more reliable than self-report surveys of student traits because they measure students' perceptions of their environment and, when gauging a school environment's effects on learning...
A healthy school climate is necessary to help foster students' social and emotional development, and it is also often the result of that work, said David Osher, a vice president at the American Institutes for Research.
"We need both the capacity to learn—let's say to learn mathematics, which includes my ability to self-regulate and to handle stress—but I also need to be in an environment in which I am able to learn, where I do feel safe, supported, and so forth," Osher said at a November panel on ESSA hosted by AIR in Washington. "Th...
Osher assisted the U.S. Department of Education in the creation of a free, online school climate survey tool that can be used by schools, districts, and at the statewide level. While the idea for that tool predated ESSA's passage, the survey results may be useful as states consider climate as an indicator, he said.
Still others have encouraged the use of broader "proxy indicators" that can be affected by a variety of school policies and practices. Rates of chronic absenteeism could be affected by anything from school health services to student engagement to wraparound services, advocates for those fields say. And states are alrea...
State leaders say that, whatever shape their plans ultimately take, they are working to communicate their discussions with educators and members of the public at large. They aim both to seek a wide array of input and to win cooperation and support when new systems are put into place.
Virginia hopes to create its plan to comply with ESSA as an offshoot of an ongoing effort to update its school accountability and accreditation at the state level, said Cynthia Cave, the assistant superintendent for policy and communications at the Virginia Department of Education.
State leaders have met with teachers, superintendents, business leaders, and members of the public in their efforts to determine how to measure school success, she said. In the end, they intend to choose a broad array of factors.
In an online survey accessible to anyone in the state, which received nearly 16,000 responses, participants were asked to rank 16 possible indicators. The top three choices were college and career readiness, graduation rates, and a measure of the quality of the learning environment.
I think the message states need to get out is ... what we’ve said for a long time: School is much more than a single test score.
"We're asking 'How do you measure it? How do you define it? How will we decide what is good enough and what is not good enough?' " Cave said.
Amundson, of the national school boards group, said states are bound to face some resistance no matter what indicators they choose. She encourages state decisionmakers to be careful and deliberate and to anticipate some possible future adjustments.
"In this country right now, where people don't trust institutions, if you only put into any system those things that would get 100 percent acceptance with no pushback, what are you left with? Puppies and cat videos on the internet," she said. "I think state boards should do what is right."
“At an L.A. School, Carving Safe Spaces to Share and Learn,” January 7, 2016.
“Moving Beyond Just Academics in Assessing Effectiveness,” January 7, 2016.
“Urban Districts Embrace Social-Emotional Learning,” June 10, 2015.
“Schools Aim to Craft Environment for Learning,” January 10, 2013.
LOHATLA, South Africa - More than 300 U.S. Soldiers and Marines joined roughly 830 members of the South African military in a "rock piling" ceremony here July 17, 2017, kicking off Shared Accord 2017, a combined, joint command post and field training exercise focused on peacekeeping operations.
Troops from the 101st Airborne Division, and Soldiers from U.S. Army Africa (USARAF) make up the U.S. Army contingent participating in this exercise, designed to promote regional partnerships and develop interoperability, which will run until August 3.
"The main effort of the exercise will be the strengthening of Multi-National cohesion between South Africa and the United States of America," South African Maj. Gen. M Mbiza, representative for the chief of joint operations, said during the ceremony. "Such exercises are not only important, they are a critical prerequis...
All ceremony participants from both nations selected a rock before the start of the ceremony to add too the collective pile. Once built, a ceremonial plaque was added to the pile.
Traditionally in South Africa, a rock piling ceremony is meant to serve as tangible motivation for troops to pledge their commitment in three areas: to train effectively and efficiently, to take care of all equipment entrusted to them and not hesitate to defend the region and continent, and to not bring shame upon them...
"To those who have given their lives in protection of the nation of South Africa-they might be gone, but we did not forget them," Mbiza said.
One minute of silence was also observed for fallen South African troops who gave their lives in defense of their country.
"It was a unique experience to see how the South African military memorializes their fallen," said Sgt. 1st Class Harold E. Duffy, the early entry command post noncommissioned officer in charge at USARAF.
"It was a good way to integrate us jointly," Duffy said of the ceremony. "The South Africans brought us into their customs."
As the exercise progresses, American and South African troops will participate in dismounted light infantry tactical training, culminating in a live fire event.
Shared Accord is a key element in a broader series of military-to-military activities to demonstrate the strong partnership between the U.S. and regional African partners.
Martis Marie Allen O’Quinn, 80, of Waverly died the afternoon of Sunday, July 22, 2018, in Kingsland.
Baptist Church, 9818 Burnt Fort Road in White Oak. Interment and committal prayer will be held in the church cemetery immediately following the service.
Coastal Camden Funeral Home in Kingsland was entrusted with Ms. O’Quinn’s arrangements.
Former Attorney General Martin Amidu, has once again fired shots at Ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, describing his Tiger Eye PI firm as “unregistered and fraudulent”.
In a new piece by the man popularly known as ‘Citizen vigilante’ which was made available to VibeGhana.com, Mr. Amidu also accused the government of violating the constitution by employing according to him (Martin Amidu) the services of Tiger Eye PI.
He claims the government has teamed up with Anas and his firm to promote “an Orwellian Big Brother State and McCarthyism” in Ghana which according to him must be challenged or it leads the nation back to a one party state.
I had always considered Tiger Eye PI as a private not for profit establishment dedicated to fighting for transparency and accountability in Ghana. I had no reason to go beyond media and other adulations for it to investigate its background and legal status even though I knew Government had acted on some of its reports....
It was in the midst of the steps being taken by the Chief Justice and Judicial Council to address the petitions and complaints arising out of the reports of the judicial scandal that I received an invitation to be the Guest Speaker for this year’s Roll Call for beginning law students at the Faculty of Law of the Centra...
Anybody interested in eradicating impunity, upholding transparency and integrity in public life will be happy that the judges have been exposed even if they were entrapped. But the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, in addition to encouraging every citizen to fight greed and avarice fundamentally guarantees and enjoins every ...
First, Tiger Eye PI which signed the petitions for impeachment and complaints in the judicial scandal is not registered in the register of companies in Ghana as a legal person capable of acting on its own. Section 15(1) of the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179) mandatorily required that: “The last name of the name of a com...
Second, fraudulent and dummy Tiger Eye PI, and the registered Tiger Eye PI Media Limited appear to be owned by the same person and are politically affiliated to this Government and has been clandestinely employed and paid by the Government to undertake covert operations not normally and lawfully undertaken in pursuance...
Third, the Government violated Regulations 1 and 14 of the Police Service (Private Security Organizations ) Regulations, 1992 (LI 1517) which criminally prohibits anybody from employing an organization not licenced under the Regulations in knowingly commissioning and collaborating with the dummy and fraudulent Tiger Ey...
Four, the undercover investigations into judicial corruption was a paid enterprise commissioned by the Government after the 2010 Ghana @ 50 acquittals by the High Court; the 2011 misunderstanding arising out of the symposium organized by the National Commission for Civic Education and the reaction of the judicial servi...
Five, contemporaneous with the judicial corruption investigation the Government commissioned an investigation into parliamentary corruption. The fraudulent Tiger Eye PI completed its undercover investigations for the Government for both the judiciary and parliament but has made public only its findings in respect of th...
And six, the Government and its agents, the fraudulent Tiger Eye PI, have deliberately edited the undercover investigations video tapes to remove the footage affecting their favourites and that compromise their integrity in order to control the emotions, minds, perception and judgment of the public in a manner favourab...
It is within the foregoing context of the research data that I began to appreciate how the definition of a Whistleblower could have been overstretch by the Attorney General to cover a for-profit unregistered Government agent whose services to the government are denominated in United States dollars to enable the governm...
It appears to me that dummy Tiger Eye PI and its principal, the Government of Ghana, underestimated the reaction of the public to the revelations on judicial corruption to the integrity, dignity and confidence in the judiciary as a whole. Agent and principal therefore embarked upon damage control of the reaction which ...
“The Cocoa Investigations was triggered by Ghana Cocoa Board. Let anybody show me a written contract that shows that I have charged this or that. Can anybody pay me for my life? In the Cocobod investigation, I needed a truck full of cocoa, so they provided those logistics for me to move forward. The security agencies s...
“The government on Monday revealed that the recent investigative work by investigative journalist, …., that exposed cocoa smuggling and corruption at the Tema Harbour were funded by a state institution.
An official statement said the principle behind the two projects was to employ counter-check measures in order to assess whether or not existing systems put in place are yielding the required results. Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Information, signed the statement that reiterated the government’s co...
As the Attorney General at the time I was not consulted or informed about those covert operations but I came to know as a fact that the Ministry of Information was speaking the truth and that the denials were an afterthought. Just as the operation was covert for purposes of deniability, the payment was also supposed to...
The report continued: “The highly rated undercover journalist has hinted of another big expose’ of his ongoing investigations soon to hit the country, which he noted was ‘the last wish of the President”. (Emphasis supplied). This shows the nexus between this 2012 hint by the fraudulent Tiger Eye PI and the alleged unde...
Capping it all, Ghanaians will wish to know which department of the Government the fraudulent and dummy Tiger Eye PI or its other illegal variant works for to have warranted the Government to issue to its CEO a biometric Government Service Passport in Accra in 2013 expiring in 2018 for his foreign travels when he was o...
The most recent direct evidence that dummy and fraudulent Tiger Eye PI is a Government agent is contained in another denial of state sponsorship of dummy Tiger Eye PI in the current judicial scandal on Peace FM online on 16th September 2015 under the heading – “Challenge ….Expose? I’ld Love that…The Investigator Being ...
I have said already or elsewhere that the Government used dummy and fraudulent Tiger Eye PI to target the judiciary because it has since 2009 considered the judiciary as a political opponent reluctant to convict its’ political opponents tried before the courts. Government has spared Parliament publication of its underc...
BlocBoy JB says the "Fortnite" ''Hype" dance, one of many "emotes" players can purchase for characters, is identical to his dance.
LOS ANGELES — Rapper BlocBoy JB has become the latest to sue "Fortnite," saying the popular video game is using his "Shoot" dance without permission or compensation.
The Memphis-based rapper, real name James Baker, filed a lawsuit against "Fortnite" maker Epic Games in federal court Wednesday.
Baker says the "Fortnite" ''Hype" dance, one of many "emotes" players can purchase for characters, is identical to his dance.
Baker tells The Associated Press he first thought it was cool his moves were in a video game, but eventually felt like the company was appropriating his property. He says that after asking fans on social media, decided to sue.
Baker joins rapper 2 Milly, actor Alfonso Ribeiro and others who have sued over "Fortnite" dance moves.
An email seeking comment from an Epic Games attorney was not immediately returned.
HONEA PATH -- Mrs. Mae Roselyn Craig Predgen, 81, of 201 Wildwood Drive, died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, at AnMed Health Center. She was the wife of the Rev. Joseph W. Pridgen.

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