Over the past four decades, Paula Baack coached children through adult singers in addition to directing youth, collegiate and adult choral ensembles. Her work with solo singers and choirs received state, national and international recognition. Ms. Baack was invited to present her paper "Assessing the Singer, Making the Choir Accountable" to the Third International Symposium on Assessment in Music Education held in Bremen, Germany. Ms. Baack received the Colorado Springs Chorale Society 2017 Award for Excellence in Choral Education. In 2014 she was acknowledged as a Boettcher Outstanding Colorado Teacher. She was awarded Who's Who in Education (2007), Who's Who of American Teachers (2000 and 2004). Ms. Baack is known also for her work with Down Syndrome and special needs children. She received teaching accolades in Arizona and her home state of Nebraska. Continuing to present at state and national clinics fulfills her passion and dedication to teaching.Ms. Baack performed leading/supporting operatic and musical theatre roles in over 30 productions. She served as a Master Teacher with Sedona Jazz on the Rocks (Sedona, Arizona), where she also was a featured artist with her vocal jazz group. Talented former students include James Valentine, a guitarist and singer for Maroon 5, Nate Zuercher, banjo and singer for Judah & the Lion, Scottie Johnson, guitarist and singer for the Gin Blossoms and Scott Maclntyre, a Top 10 finalist in Season 8 of American Idol.

Inside the race to save a great American high school, where making the numbers is only the beginning Being principal was never her dream. Anabel Garza, the young widow of a young cop, got by teaching English to immigrant children, taking college classes at night and raising her son. And Reagan High was no dream assignment. Once famous for its state football championships, educational achievements and award-winning design, the school was a shadow of its former self. “Identified for improvement,” said the federal government. “Academically unacceptable,” said the state. Promising students were fleeing. Test scores were plunging. The education commissioner set a deadline of one year, threatening to close the school for good. But when Anabel took the job - cruising the mall for dropouts, tailoring lessons to the tests, firing a few lazy teachers and supporting the rest – she started something no one expected. As the numbers rose, she set out to re-create the high school she remembered, with plays and dances, yearbooks and clubs, crowded bleachers and teachers who brought books alive. And soon she was not alone. There was Derrick Davis, a star player on the basketball team in the early 1990s, coaching the Raiders toward a chance at the playoffs. There was Candice Kaiser, a science teacher who had left hard partying behind for Christ, drilling her students on chemistry while she drove them to games, tutoring sessions, Bible studies and sometimes even doctors’ appointments. There were JaQuarius Daniels, Ashley Brown and 900 other kids trying to pass the exams, escape the streets and restore the pride of a neighborhood, all while still growing up. Across the country, public schools face the threat of extinction in the numerically ordained churn of the accountability movement. Now, for the first time, we can tally the human cost of rankings and scores. In this powerful rejoinder to the prevailing winds of American education policy, Michael Brick takes us inside the high-pressure world of a school on the brink. Compelling, character-driven narrative journalism, Saving the School pays overdue tribute to the great American high school, and to the people inside.

TOBY TO THE RESCUE Inside This Edition Book 2 of 4. Larry-Lorry the little truck has to go make a delivery in the City. It had been raining the night before and the rain had made the ground soft and muddy. Larry-Lorry gets stuck in the mud and cannot get free. Mr. Heavy calls Toby and Maggie to help. Can they try to get their friend free from being stuck in the mud? The lesson to be learned from this story is that one can accomplish anything if you work together as a team.

Embrace the Unique Way God Designed You Perhaps you’re bothered by bright lights or you struggle to tune out background noise. Maybe you’re quick to notice the details others miss or you need more time to process events. You may feel emotions deeply and hear, “You’re just too sensitive.” But what if you learned you’re not “too sensitive”? What if your sensitivity is part of your design and comes with corresponding strengths? One in five people are HSPs—Highly Sensitive Persons—with the genetic trait of sensory sensitivity. As an HSP, you are not fragile or frail. You can be a strong friend in relationships, strong partner in business, and strong member of your community. Sensitive and Strong is your guide to navigating the HSP journey of exploration and growth. It will help you… discover you’re different, not defective understand your genetic disposition to an over-abundance of stimuli see how your sensitivities correlate to key strengths respond to stressful situations with confidence and calm harness your strengths to serve others Release the worry that you’re “too high maintenance” or just plain “too much” and embrace the many ways you can be both sensitive and strong.

Henrietta Szold took Queen Esther as a model and worked hard to save the Jewish people. In 1912, she founded the Jewish women's social justice organization, Hadassah. Henrietta started Hadassah determined to offer emergency medical care to mothers and children in Palestine. When WWII broke out, she rescued Jewish children from the Holocaust, and broadened Hadassah's mission to include education, youth development, and women's rights. Hadassah offers free help to all who need it and continues its mission to this day.

Join 10-year-old Doyli as she sets out to rescue orphaned monkeys from her island home in the Peruvian Amazon. With help from her family, Doyli nurtures them until they are strong enough to be released back into their natural habitat. Along the way, you'll see what life is like for young Doyli-helping prepare meals at home, rowing to school in her canoe, and being an everyday hero for endangered animals in the Amazon rainforest. This book is part of an effort to highlight wildlife preservation efforts by kids around the globe. We hope young readers will be inspired by Doyli's journey and seek out new ways to become change makers in their own community.

In Saving Our Sons, Michael Gurian features the latest research in male emotional intelligence, male motivation development, neurotoxicity and the male brain, and electronics and videogame use.