Saint Paul Pioneer Press

In many high school shop classes, students spend the first day just learning about safety - when to wear goggles, how to work the machines and how to cut properly.

At the popular Camp Avanti in Hudson, children with learning problems and neurological disorders get help and therapy while having fun — then take their lessons home. Their skin is a little tanner, their muscles a little more toned, their minds a little more in tune after a week at camp, boating, hiking and rock climbing. Add in campfires and sing-alongs, and you have what all kids do at camp.

40 students participate in Hmong Academy's first commencement ceremony
Three years after opening with the goal of getting academically challenged students on track for college, Hmong Academy held its first graduation ceremony Wednesday night.

Additional Daily News

Hamline University gets $2.3 million for school training
BY PAUL TOSTO, Pioneer Press
A science education can open doors to some of the best careers in Minnesota, and students who do well in the sciences can expect to be in high demand.

Responsibilities are increasing in system that shuns them
BY MARY BAUER, Pioneer Press
When it comes to school counselors, Minnesota is at the top and the bottom of the class. Counselors here are seen as leaders for their collaborative work with teachers and administration to boost test scores, attendance and responsible behavior, said Jim Bierma, a counselor in a St. Paul school and president of the American School Counselor Association.

BY BAO ONG, Pioneer Press
The "n-word" appears one too many times in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" for Mark Lewis. Make that at least 200 times in the Mark Twain classic.

Democratic lawmakers concede they might have to scale back their plan for a universal program. They're proposing alternatives for those most at risk, including an early-childhood education allowance based on parents' income.
BY MEGAN BOLDT, Pioneer Press
Some Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday that there might not be enough money in the state budget over the next two years to give all Minnesota children access to all-day, everyday kindergarten — an issue they touted as a top priority this session — while meeting other education needs.

Homeroom Big Brothers Big Sisters / Young program's popularity growing rapidly
BY MARY BAUER, Pioneer Press
It's noon, and the two students are on the floor, hunched over a piece of art paper in the school gym at Kenneth Hall Elementary in Spring Lake Park.

JOE SOUCHERAY
Gov. Pawlenty, sounding at least as obedient as any other governor of either party to the powers of government education, called for even more money to be spent on schools during his State of the State address. Year after year, more and more money is spent on a system that clearly is failing.

Objections concern system in the future
BY MEGAN BOLDT, Pioneer Press
NORTH ST. PAULMAPLEWOOD-OAKDALE Teachers in the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school district are the first in the state to dump Minnesota's alternative pay program for instructors.

Sixty years ago, St. Paul educators walked the picket line and ushered in a new era of collective bargaining
BY DOUG BELDEN, Pioneer Press
When Dorothy Waldmann-Gruidl left her outstate Minnesota teaching job for the chance to teach music in St. Paul public schools in 1946, she took a cut in pay, got larger class sizes and had to work in a condemned building.

State average held down by defeated school levies
BY PATRICK SWEENEY, Pioneer Press
Property taxes across Minnesota will increase 8.2 percent next year, according to the latest estimate from the state Revenue Department.

Some who struggle with language don't meet new standards
BY DOUG BELDEN, Pioneer Press
After 16 years as an interpreter for Hmong families with kids in St. Paul Public Schools, Lee Yang is out of a job this fall. It's not for poor performance. Her former co-workers said she excelled as an educational assistant for early childhood special-education students.

'Options' course provides real-world experience
BY KEVIN MCCAHILL, Pioneer Press
Through the steady thump of hammers, the skull-piercing buzz of electric saws and a haze of sawdust, eight Oak Grove High School students expanded their confidence while putting a roof over a family's head.

A homeless man sexually assaulted a 12-year-old autistic boy on a downtown St. Paul park bench Saturday afternoon in front of witnesses who couldn't believe their eyes, according to police and a criminal complaint filed Monday.