Sharing A Dream … Building A Future

“Back to School Night”  Eddie Goodall, Cindy Bradshaw and Steve Moody,

O3 Strategies is a Raleigh-based web design, development and marketing firm.  We provide custom websites, applications and online marketing solutions to grow your business or organization.  Further, we implement tools so you can track results to ensure you meet your goals.  O3 offers a number of service options, competitive [...]]]> We just wanted to give a special THANKS to our website designer and tell you a little bit about them:

O3 Strategies is a Raleigh-based web design, development and marketing firm.  We provide custom websites, applications and online marketing solutions to grow your business or organization.  Further, we implement tools so you can track results to ensure you meet your goals.  O3 offers a number of service options, competitive pricing and an educational discount.

O3 Strategies worked with the leaders of the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools to design and develop a custom website to serve as an information hub for school administrators, parents, students, teachers and charter school supporters.  Integrated into the website is a content management system that allow Alliance staff the ability to easily update and manage website content.  Since no two companies, people, campaigns or causes are the same, we work from a clean slate for each client to ensure specific needs and goals are met

The NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a proponent of choice and competition in K-12 education, is happy to hear of our state’s selection to receive federal dollars for all our schools. With NC’s looming deficit and knowing our state’s taxpayers have to pay the federal taxes to fund Race to the Top spending, naturally we want our share of the $4.35 [...]]]> From the NC Alliance:

The NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a proponent of choice and competition in K-12 education, is happy to hear of our state’s selection to receive federal dollars for all our schools. With NC’s looming deficit and knowing our state’s taxpayers have to pay the federal taxes to fund Race to the Top spending, naturally we want our share of the $4.35 billion program. 

We will look at the Reviewers’ comments and scoring on the charter section with interest since the state has done nothing to expand successful public charter schools. The General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1201, Cooperative & Innovative High Schools,  which only created “charter lite” high schools, a far cry from the charter school improvements we thought the Obama Administration was calling for.

A healthy salad bar in every school across America so all school kids may have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins, every school day.

The time is ripe for 31 million schoolchildren. [...]]]> Check out the information below on how your school might be able to get a free salad bar in your school!

WHAT

The Great American Salad Bar Project, an initiative of TheLunchBox.org.

GOAL

A healthy salad bar in every school across America so all school kids may have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins, every school day.

WHY

The time is ripe for 31 million schoolchildren. We need a solution and we need it now to deal with these unhealthy facts

• According to The Center for Disease Control, children born in the year 2000, one-third will contract diabetes. And, these children will be the first in our country’s history to die at a younger age than their parents.
• 70.1 percent of Americans are overweight; 4.3 million children ages 10 – 14 will become overweight or obese in the next 24 months.
• Rates of childhood obesity are soaring. About 12 percent of children ages 2 to 5 are obese compared with 17 percent of kids 6 to 11, and 18 percent of kids ages 12 to 19.^{i ii}
• “The number one thing any school can do to improve their school food is to add a healthy salad bar and allow children to make their own choices.” – Chef Ann Cooper, AKA The Renegade Lunch Lady and cofounder of The Lunch Box Project and Food, Family, Farming Foundation (F3)

HOW

The Lunch Box.org is launching The Great American Salad Bar Project (GASP) on August 11, 2010 with Whole Foods Market as its inaugural partner with a commitment to raising funds for at least 300 salad bars to begin in schools across the country in 2011. Funds will be raised through Whole Foods Market shopper donations as well as by visiting saladbarproject.org to give funds directly. We’re confident other partners will soon align with The Great American Salad Bar project so that thousands of salad bars may be shipped at no cost to those schools who want to make real, healthy change happen in their schools.

TO APPLY

The Lunch Box Project’s nonprofit foundation, F3 Foundation, will serve as a granting institution whereby any public school may apply online to be chosen for a salad bar, utensils and training tools. Visit saladbarproject.org to apply as of Sept. 1, 2010. A school representative must apply and secure the signature of their district’s superintendent, school principal and school nutrition director. Grant awards will be based on need, potential for impact, commitment to the program and potential for future viability when the grant period has ended.

WHAT

Schools chosen for GASP grants receive a 5-well portable CAMBRO salad bar kit which includes all the necessary pan inserts, chilling pads and utensils, and training tools TheLunchBox.org provides additional Salad Bar training tools from videos to a salad bar map to training manuals.

CONTACT

If you have any questions about The Great American Salad Bar Project please contactinfo@saladbarproject.org and include salad bar grant in the subject line.

Now I wonder what advice Ms. Pope will give the Governor about public charter schools?

You know, those pesky little public schools providing a choice for parents who may have a child who better fits the charter’s culture or pedagogical structure than the district school around the corner. Those Main Street schools accountable to the state because if they don’t produce they close. Those “charter-like” schools [...]]]> Lynn,

Now I wonder what advice Ms. Pope will give the Governor about public charter schools?

You know, those pesky little public schools providing a choice for parents who may have a child who better fits the charter’s culture or pedagogical structure than the district school around the corner. Those Main Street schools accountable to the state because if they don’t produce they close. Those “charter-like” schools who save local property taxpayers over $600 a year per child in facilities costs. Those schools where a teacher and a principal have to actually negotiate a wage for the teacher based upon mutual needs and not just find a dollar amount on a grid reflecting the educator’s years of work. Those “charter-lite” schools that create competition and have made comparable district schools better all over America.

Yes, those NC schools making 83% AYP. Yes, those NC schools that had a 73% composite proficiency, both marks higher than district schools for 2009-2010. Yes, those schools.
Eddie G.