Saranac Lake, NY, Jan 28, 2013 — A Saranac Lake teaching assistant has been accused of mistreating a 10-year-old boy he worked with full-time at Petrova Elementary School.

Michael J. Heymann turned himself in at the village police station Thursday. The 24 year-old was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Dec 21, 2012 — The end of the year can be stressful. There's shopping to be done, cookies to be decorated, gifts to be wrapped, and holidays to be celebrated. And for college students, there is the added stress of finals.

St. Lawrence University in Canton recognizes this stress, and in an effort to help students get through the crunch time, the school offers stress-relieving activities as part of a "Study-A-Thon." One of this year's Study-A-Thon events was the doggie de-stress event.  Go to full article

Long Lake, NY, Nov 28, 2012 — Long Lake Central School's community garden has been growing fresh food for the cafeteria for eight years. It's been such a success that surplus produce from the garden this year has gone to the local food pantry. As part of the project, students and staff are composting waste from meals, and veggies are incorporated into school lunches as much as possible.

Teacher Becky Pelton works with local farmers, like Chris Thompson, to manage the school's community garden. She says the students and Long Lake gardeners grow a variety of veggies in the schoolyard garden, which has become a learning experience for the school.  Go to full article

Star Lake, NY, Sep 19, 2012 — The old public school building in Star Lake has a new mission as an exhibit center and tourist attraction. And the grassroots effort to restore the 1890s structure will be honored by Adirondack Architectural Heritage at a ceremony in Lake George next week. It's one of six North Country sites that will receive 2012 Stewardship awards for preservation efforts.

For more than six years, a group of Clifton-Fine area residents has worked to restore the old school. They see it as a cornerstone for tourism, economic development and local pride.  Go to full article

Sackets Harbor, NY, Nov 15, 2011 — Over the last few months, a new music and dance club at Sackets Harbor High School has grown from a few students to more than 30. The Glee Club focuses mostly on music, but there's an anti-bullying message, too.

Joanne Heaslip is the leader of Sackets Harbor's Parent Teacher Organization and manager of the Glee Club. She's hoping the arts and music will build self-confidence in students. The TV show Glee has made the club popular and even students from other districts have joined.

Heaslip told Todd Moe that Thursday night rehearsals are fun, but she wants the experience to help students who sometimes feel bullied in school to build self-respect and confidence. For more information about Sackets Harbor's Glee Club: slips824@yahoo.com  Go to full article

Philadelphia, NY, Sep 29, 2011 — The Indian River Central School District in Jefferson County is growing, fast. As the school year began this fall, the district received 90 new students in nine school days. Nearly 70 percent of the district's students come from military families, so numbers fluctuate with deployments and as housing is built on Fort Drum and in surrounding areas. Reporter Joanna Richards spoke with Assistant Superintendent Mary Anne Dobmeier about population trends at Indian River, and how the district is absorbing so many new students after the school year has begun.  Go to full article

Walton, NY, Jun 30, 2011 — It's officially summer for North Country children whose school sessions ended last week. Their parents and teachers are hoping they carry an important lesson with them into summer break - exercise.

Schools are spending more time preaching the importance of exercise to combat childhood obesity. At Edwards-Knox elementary school in St. Lawrence County, students start every day the same way - with a fifteen-minute walk outside.

Steve Knight joined Denise Koser's fourth grade class for their morning walk - as well as a yoga session - and sent this audio postcard.  Go to full article

Castorland, NY, Apr 14, 2011 — Across the North Country, school districts are wrestling with deep cuts to their budgets - the result of Albany's efforts to rein in billions of dollars in deficit spending.

Governor Cuomo has stood firm on his belief schools have the finances to absorb a $1.2 billion cut in education funding. But those cuts are hitting rural school districts especially hard. Educators blame a byzantine and outdated school funding formula. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Mar 16, 2011 — There's a new school building in a small community in Ethiopia thanks to the work of three SUNY-Potsdam alumni. Alex and Kayla French and their friend Daniel Smith raised $20,000 and helped build a school in Gembeltu, Ethiopia.

For many years, classes were held under a big tree. The new, four-room school is made of mud, eucalyptus and cement.

As part of our series, Moving the World, Todd Moe talks with Alex, Kayla and Daniel about their grassroots fund raising success and humanitarian work in east Africa.

(A public slideshow of their work in Ethiopia will be shown this Saturday, 4:30 pm, in SUNY Potsdam's Kellas 103.)  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Feb 09, 2011 — Author and national school nutrition expert, Janet Poppendieck, gives a lecture on the state of school lunches in the Potsdam middle school cafeteria Thursday at 7 pm. Poppendieck's presentation, "Working Together to Fix School Food," offers a persuasive vision of parents, teachers, administrators and food service staff, working to guarantee fresh, nutritious food for children as a regular part of the school day. Todd Moe spoke with Poppendieck about her call for school lunch policy reform and healthier food in cafeterias.  Go to full article