The winner will be announced during the last home game of the season on April 10.

- Staff Writer Dawn Marks

The contests end March 27 or when 500 entries have been received.  Students can submit essays and art exploring how diversity helped the United States win World War II and how it continues to make the country strong.  Winners will be announced May 1.  For more information go to the For Students section of  www.nationalww2museum.org/education.

 - Staff Writer Dawn Marks

The foundation started giving the Outstanding Program Awards in 2006 to recognize innovative programs of public school foundations in the state. Winners will receive plaques and monetary awards during the Fall Forum for Local Education Foundations in October. Entries must by postmarked by March 16. Examples of programs eligible include fundraising, public relations, arts integration, curriculum enhancement and student scholarships.

Forms and instructions are available at www.ofe.org and entries should be mailed to the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, 120 N. Robinson,

W,

- Staff Writer Dawn Marks

Chili will be sold in ceramic bowls made by art students. Cost is $15 for chili in a bowl or $8 for chili not in a ceramic bowl. The bowls are dishwasher and oven safe.

Money raised through the event will go to student scholarships.
 
For more information, contact David Akbaran at (405)325-2691 or dakbaran@ou.edu.

The contest is open to elementary school and middle school school students and nearly 200,000 are expected to enter. The contest tests the printing skills of first and second grade students and cursive skills of students in grades first through eight.

State and national awards are given and a grand national winner is chosen from the national winners. Prizes include computers and savings bonds.

Entries are due by March 1. For more information go to www.zaner-bloser.com/NationalHandwritingContest.

Students ages 7 to 12 can enter the contest by creating their own lunch recipe. Students must send in a list of ingredients and directions for making the meal by Jan. 31. The meal can be hot or cold, their own invention or an interpretation of something they’ve seen elsewhere.

Winners will receive the book “Everybody Eats Lunch” and a one-year subscription to Kiwi magazine.

I wonder if anyone will enter a peanut butter and gummy worm sandwich. Happy cooking!

-Staff Writer Dawn Marks

The 2009 C-SPAN Student Cam competition is open to students in grades sixth through 12 who produce a five- to eight-minute documentary that includes C-SPAN video.

This year’s topic asks what the most urgent issue is for the new president to address after taking office, and why.

Jenks High School students Scott Mitchell and Nick Poss won the national competition last year for their video, “Leaving Religion at the Door.”

Union High School students Bryant Hunter and Bryce Culhane also took a third-place prize for their video, “Same Sex Marriage.”

Entries must represent more than one point of view and must be uploaded to www.studentcam.org by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

A total of $50,000 will be awarded to students and teachers. The grand prize is worth $5,000. Winners will be announced March 10.

The competition is sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom.

Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter

Flypaper also mentions the 2008 Education Olympics, where the U.S won a single medal, compared to a 35-medal showing by the top contender: Finland. You can check out http://edolympics.net for a recap, whether you’re tired of Phelps reruns or whether they’re not playing often enough to satisfy your Olympic spirit.

Wendy Kleinman, Education Reporter

Here’s a story from The Associated Press about the Oklahoma rankings:

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The best college in the state is the University of Tulsa, according to rankings released Friday by U.S. News and World Report magazine.

TU ranks 83rd on the list of the nation’s top universities, up eight spots from 2007, while the University of Oklahoma in Norman is tied for 108th, the same as last year.

Oklahoma State University in Stillwater remained in the third tier of the magazine’s ratings, while Oral Roberts University in Tulsa remained in the fourth, and last, tier. The magazine does not numerically rank schools in those two tiers.

Nationally, Harvard University topped the magazine’s rankings, followed by Princeton University and Yale University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University tied for fourth.

TU said that a 25 percent decrease in its acceptance rate — which notes a more selective university — was the biggest change made by the school in the last year.

TU officials said the school has a 10-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio and an average class size of 19 students.

“Our deliberate actions during the past decade have allowed TU to select a student body from among the nation’s top students while creating a vibrant, residential campus experience for these students once they arrive in Tulsa,” TU President Steadman Upham said in a statement.

Among Oklahoma colleges that focus primarily on bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, Oklahoma City University was tops in the state, ranking 25th in the West region, two spots lower than last year.

Oklahoma Christian University of Oklahoma City and Southern Nazarene University of Bethany both improved their ranking, finishing in a six-way tie for 53rd in the region.

Among baccalaureate universities, Oklahoma Baptist University of Shawnee tied for second in the West region, up one spot from 2007, while Oklahoma Wesleyan University of Bartlesvile and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha ranked 11th and 15th, respectively.