Nordonia High School's student council expects 100 students to gather to thank 14 bus drivers with a show of support and cookies on their last day of work today at 2 p.m.

John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer

My Saturday assignment was to write about the first Random Act of Culture performances in the Akron area. Here's the story on Ohio.com.  See the video by our photographers.

I did my own Flip video, too. Here it is:

The Twinsburg and Canton school districts are among 32 in the state recognized for providing healthy meals:

 "We know that good nutrition is an essential component to education," said Deborah Delisle, superintendent of public instruction. "Children who have access to a healthy diet come to school ready to learn, and I commend these schools for their commitment to nurturing the whole child."

Christine Armario
Associated Press

MIAMI: A national education assessment released Thursday shows that high school seniors have made some improvement in reading, but remain below the achievement levels reached nearly two decades ago.

Here's some interesting new research on the importance of sleep in very young children, courtesy of the Early Ed blog.

The authors reported that this is the first study, known to them, to take a longitudinal look at potential links between early sleep and the development of executive functions, which have been gaining more attention as indicators of children's likelihood of succeeding in school.

      Students from the National Inventors Hall of Fame middle school in Akron will be among
150 students from the region who will participate in a global discussion via Internet about education beginning at noon on Wednesday.
        Time Warner Cable is sponsoring The Global Online Town Hall, which it's calling ''Math,
Science and the Future of Our Nation.''
   Local students will join the discussion from the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. The online event will be hosted by former Vice President Al Gore. Other participants include: 
         Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, hosts of the Discovery Channel's MythBusters.
         Astronaut Sally Ride
         Inventor Dean Kamen
     The town hall is part of Time Warner Cable's Connect a Million Minds is a five-year, $100
million philanthropic effort to improve proficiency in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines.The public can join the town hall at http://www.connectamillionminds.com and submit live video questions and comments from anywhere in the world in real time.¶

Woodridge teachers  authorized their union's negotiating team to issue a 10-day strike notice if the team decides it's necessary .

The Woodridge Education Association, which represents 147 employees, has been negotiating a new contract since April. 

Why is the term Orientals considered antiquated and offensive?

The Washington Post's Answer Sheet blog reprints a desperate letter from a Toledo teacher who may lose her job because of the election last week.

Ok, that headline sounds a little preachy, but see if you don't join the choir too after reading these two stories from the Wall Street Journal and the L.A. Times about the efforts of corporations to sell your preschoolers their junk food and toys.

First this from WSJ about preschool television programming:

By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer

Just got this in my email:

TV schedule after the jump

Associated Press

Of the dozen districts seeking new money for operations in our area, all but three failed Tuesday night. Every request for new money in Summit County failed.

North Canton, Streetsboro and Southeast (Wayne County) passed new operating levies.

Akron voters voted against Issue 17, the proposed charter amendment that would have diverted a third of the special income tax for school construction to safety forces and snow removal for three years.

Issue 17 also would have tacked five more years of the dedicated quarter percentage point income tax increase onto the end of the collection.

John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer

Voters rejected levies for new money in Revere, Hudson, Green, Nordonia Hills and Mogadore school districts.

Springfield's two renewals passed. Twinsburg and Stow-Munroe Falls also passed renewals.

UPDATE: Twinsburg renewal passes.

With 15 of 22 precincts counted, Twinsburg's renewal levy is passing by 65 percent.

The Nordonia Hills levy is losing 58 percent to 42 percent with 21 of 31 precincts counted.

The ballots have been counted in 19 of 24 precincts in Revere and levy opponents lead by 637 votes.

Summit County  absentees -- and a few precincts-- are posted now, but they don't bode well for the school levies:

Here's how the districts on the ballot are fairing:

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released its annual report today and ranks districts where charter schools command the greatest "market share" of  students, according to 2009-2010 enrollment data.

Akron ranks 20th in a 12-way tie with 12 percent of the district's students attending charter schools.

Just a reminder that election day is Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Here is the chart I did for Akron Beacon Journal readers with details about area school levies on the ballot.

If Hudson's levy fails tomorrow,  the district  faces a more than $10 million deficit in the 2012-2013 school year. If the levy succeeds, the district will still show a $2.6 million deficit at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, according to the district's 5-year financial forecast. Akron Beacon Journal has story here.