After-School Learning Center Opening in Chavis Heights

RALEIGH - On the heels of a year that saw more passing grades among Communities In Schools of Wake County’s middle school students and increased tutorial help for at-risk students, Communities In Schools of Wake County is proud to announce an expansion of its after school tutorial program with the ribbon cutting and opening of the Chavis Heights Learning Center, Wednesday, March 26, 2008, 10 AM, 781 Brightcreek Way, Raleigh.

“Communities In Schools of Wake County has had a fantastic 2007 focused on raising the bar on grades, attendance, and behavior for all of our students, with a special emphasis on our middle school students. We now look forward to taking that success forward with the addition of a new learning center that will allow us to prepare more at-risk students for success in school and in life,” said Susan Hansell, executive director of Communities In Schools of Wake County.

The 2007-2008 school year brought an emphasis on an education-based case management approach for CIS Wake middle and high school students in after school tutorial. In addition to providing after school tutoring, CIS Wake County staff began visiting students’ schools during the school day to sit in on students’ classes, meet with parents, and plan for the afternoon’s tutorial time.

Furthermore, CIS Wake has reduced staff to student ratios from as much as 1:45 to 1:10. CIS Wake now hires certified public school teachers who spend up to three hours a day in the after school centers helping students with homework, classroom preparation, and studying.

Since December 2006, CIS Wake middle school students have, on average, raised their grades two letter grades, from F’s to C’s.

“We won’t stop motivating our kids and improving our methods until our students are getting A’s and B’s,” Hansell asserts.

Since 1990, CIS Wake has been working with at risk students in Wake County providing a safe environment for children living in public housing communities to spend time with caring adults.

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What Astronomy is all about?

Ever since the start of time, man has looked up at the heavens and wondered what was up there. Whether you are a person that takes a look at the stars and just sighs with contentment or whether you are a person that can name every constellation off by heart, the inspiration that a person can get from astronomy remains the same. It is the heavenly science and it is the science of inspiration. The stuff that is studied by astronomers (stars, planets and galaxies) is quite literally the stuff of dreams.
This is one of the reasons that the space race between the former Soviet Union and the United States of America was so profound and such an important part of history. In the struggle between those two competing ideologies, they were actually united in agreement in that the ultimate epitome in their quest for greater knowledge was the fact that they would enter space. And not just enter space, but continue to move along until the point where everyone imaginable would be able to look up at the heavens and associate them with progress.

Political reasons aside though, there is this very great inspirational force behind space and space research; a force that is felt by every astronomer that decides to go into their field. If you talk to biologists or chemists, you will hear most of them say that they went into their science to save lives; a very noble goal, but not really one that identifies with the idea of infinite inspiration. However, if you talk to astronomers, you will hear them discuss the heavens, the cosmos and the infinite possibilities provided to us by space exploration and space research.
This, essentially, is what astronomy is. It is the study of stars and space and it allows people to learn about that which they have dreamed about all of their lives. Currently, research in astronomy relates to a number of different areas but the most popular stuff at the moment rests around planetary science and the search for planets around other stars. The technology is being developed as fast as the science in this area and at the current moment every new discovery is met with great excitement.

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15 points to keep in mind while choosing a film school

1. Infrastructure – The first thing that separates a good film school from run of the mill film schools is the infrastructure. The classrooms, the studios, editing rooms, sound mixing studios, outdoor shooting facilities, library, computer labs and film screening facilities are the primary requisites of a film school.
2. Faculty – Of course the quality and experience of the faculty members are important for any educational institution and there is no exception in case of the film schools. Efficient faculties will always make the difference as you will be learning the art and science of film making from them.
3. Equipments – Film making is a craft where you need hands on training for effective learning. That is why the equipment like camera, sound systems, editing machines, everything should be available with a film school.

4. Comprehensive Course – The courses at the film school should take care of every aspect that is important for film making. It is not that the acting schools will teach only acting for the aspiring actors and camera techniques to those who are studying cinematography. The course should cover all the areas of film making that will give the students a comprehensive idea.
5. Options of Courses – The film school should have different courses for different functions of film making. The courses should include film direction, film acting, film editing, sound engineering, art direction, cinematography, script writing and so on.
6. Contemporary Curriculum – The curriculum of the institute should be in tune with the best film schools around the world. The courses should incorporate contemporary style of film making and latest techniques that are being used globally.
7. Association with Industry – The institutes should have close ties with the film industry. Thereby the students will get the chance to learn from the people who have the first hand experience of making film.
8. Diploma Films – The diploma films produced by the film schools is another deciding factor of the quality of education that the institute provides. So before selecting a film school one should carefully study the diploma films and the chances of making films at the institute after successfully completing the course.
9. Alumni – The alumni of any institute speaks a lot about the standard of learning facilities at the institute. So, you should try and find out how the past students have done after leaving the institute.
10. Film Archive – The film archive of the film schools are very important as that will give you a chance of seeing as many films as possible. When you enroll with a film school that has well stocked film archive you get a comprehensive idea of the world cinema.
11. Production Facility – The production facility of the film school should be of professional standard equipped with latest and finest machinery. It will let you learn the fine points of film making right at the school and you will ready to work professionally right from the first day after you leave the institute.
12. Short Films – The institute should have proper infrastructure and ambience for making short films and should promote the films at different film festivals that will eventually help you showcase your work.
13. Further Studies – The institute should have scope of further studies in the fields of film making and acting. The acting schools should have the advanced courses like master degree and PhD courses that will eventually help you make it big in the field of film making.
14. Student Exchange Programs – The scope of student exchange program with other acting schools and international film schools will give you the much needed exposure to international film education and technologies.
15. Career Opportunities – The institute should have proper infrastructure and network to help the students in their career. Whether it is promoting the diploma films of the students or arranging campus interviews, the film school should provide a platform to launch the new talents.

Website – www.aaft.com

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