Tuesday Open Thread

Well, whoops - it appears that thousands of Northshore students, grades 7-12,  were accidentally sent spam emails that contained porn.  This was not a hacking issue.  The Times reports that the district's tech department was able to block anymore e-mails from coming in and shut down the students' Gmail accounts temporarily.

Also on the subject of Northshore, I had written how that district was going to revamp their long-standing highly capable program despite parents' displeasure.  Apparently the parents won the day as their board voted to keep the program the same.

Good story from KUOW about music in Seattle Schools via Seattle Music Partners.  The story covers students at Bailey Gatzert, Leschi, Madrona and Lowell.

Executive Director Scott Gelband says they chose to work at Gatzert, Leschi, Madrona and Lowell because they're feeder schools for Washington Middle School and Garfield High School, renowned for their outstanding bands and orchestras.

Seattle Music Partners started in 2000 after founder Marnie O'Sullivan, who had two children at Garfield, "observed an unfortunate cultural and economic divide: between the students that you would see at the schools in the hallways, and those you would see in the band and the orchestra rooms," Gelband says. 

To note, the Times also had a story, probably at least a decade ago, about how Garfield's jazz band did not reflect the diversity of the school.  They noted that some of that was likely that white students had more access to private music tutors (in addition to instruction at school) but also that many black students seemed disinterested in jazz in favor of rap and hip hop.

Last week several Mariners, including Robinson Cano, visited Concord International school.

The district's survey on their website closes June 3rd so if you haven't weighed in, please do.

A shout-out to Cleveland's media teacher, Teresa Scribner, who received the Journalism Education Association's 2016 Rising Star Award.

Established in 2006, the Rising Star Award honors new advisers who have shown a commitment to involvement and improvement for themselves and their students.

Scribner teaches multimedia and is also the adviser for Cleveland Publications, which handles the production of the school’s yearbook, newspaper and website. Under her leadership, the journalism program has won numerous awards and has gained a strong following after she incorporated video and social media into her classes.

Lastly, a gentle reminder - I understand how passionate opinions can be here.  However, unless you are at a school that is being discussed in a thread, please refrain from painting an entire school community with a broad brush.  It is wrong and unfair.

What's on your mind?