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November 25, 2021November 29, 2021

Fred Carl Rowland | News, Sports, Jobs

July 30th, 1937 – November 20th, 2021

Dr. Fred Carl Rowland, 84, passed away surrounded by his loving family on November 20th, 2021 in the house he built with his sweetheart, Linda, Heal Me Healthy.

Born in Salt Lake City in 1937, Fred was raised on the east bench, where he attended and graduated from East High School. As a young man, his commitment, intelligence, and strong work ethic earned him bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the sciences at the University of Utah, and a doctorate degree in Physical Education at Brigham Young University. In 1968, he met his best friend, Linda Rohbock, and married her in the Salt Lake City LDS temple. Together, they adopted and raised five unique children from all across the globe. Theirs was an adventurous home filled with devotion to the gospel, education, and sports of all types, and their children developed a healthy respect for rugged individualism and a huge fondness for the great outdoors.

A coaching legend, Fred began his athletics career coaching mens’ and womens’ state championship cross country teams, but was most at home on the wrestling mat. His storied coaching career spanned more than forty years, where he mentored hundreds of students both in the classroom, and on and off the mat. In addition to coaching, Fred taught Biology and Drivers Ed at Mountain View High School, and under his leadership, wrestling teams at Orem High School, West High School, and Mountain View High School earned state championships and many other regional and tournament awards. He was the recipient of multiple individual awards including honors from the Utah Wrestling Association as “Man Of The Year” and the esteemed inclusion into the Utah Sports Hall Of Fame as a Distinguished High School Coach. But wrestling wasn’t just a sport for Fred; it was a source of spirituality that allowed him to teach his athletes the principles of commitment, obedience, hard work, and study, helping them to become better athletes, and even better people.

As an avid backpacker, fisherman, and all around nature enthusiast, Fred grew a second skin in the outdoors. He relished in the wild, particularly his beloved Big Cottonwood Canyon, where he went frequently to find solace and peace. An avid reader, he was rarely found without a worn Louis Lamour book in his hand. His love of the West and his thirst for adventure led him and his children on countless backpacking trips, biking treks, and explorations up every known canyon along the Wasatch Front. Not even his 6 year old daughter was spared when he famously “encouraged” her summit up Provo Peak in a pair of jelly shoes.

It was his annual cherished High Unitas summer excursions, however, that brought out the best in Coach Rowland. To hear him howl as he plunged into a high alpine lake is the stuff of legend- a mountain man blessing to all of us lucky enough to be within earshot. He leaves behind in all of us a deep reverence, respect, and love for all the beauties of our earthly home in the mountains.

Fred’s ultimate loves in life were his wife of 52 years, Linda, and his beloved dog, Chance. As well as their five children and the gospel of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for which he bore a granite-like testimony. Fred and Linda were lucky enough to fully participate in their own lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren, and travel to many far-flung destinations. These travels were capped by the fulfillment of one of their lifelong goals: a mission for the LDS church in Fresno, California.

Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Fred E. Rowland and Iris Viola Alm, his granddaughter Zana Chee Raquel Anderson. Fred is survived by his wife, Linda Louise Rohbock, cherished children, Taj (Priya), Rux (Kristin), Joshua, Jarom, Ana (Brandon) and Deborah, his thirteen grandchildren, and his brother, David Rowland (Laura).

The family wishes to thank the doctors, nurses, and caretakers, specifically with Envision homecare and hospice who aided in keeping him at home surrounded by his family in his last days.

Fred’s enduring spirit will undoubtedly find you outside, in the melody of the streams and the tops of rocky mountains. It will visit you on that final lap, it will climb beside you up that tallest summit. And during that extra practice, when you are sweating blood and tears, he will be there still, hand on the mat, coaching you on forever.

Service Details:

Visitation – Friday, November 26th, 2021 6:00pm – 8:00pm at Walker Sanderson Funeral Home located at 646 East 800 North, Orem, UT 84097

Funeral Services – Saturday, November 27th, 2021 at 11:00am at Park 7th Ward located at 114 South 400 West, Orem, UT 84058

Visit : https://heelsme.com/

November 25, 2021

How Education Institutions Can Improve Online Learning Security

Education looks vastly different today than it was a few years ago. While online learning was present even then, it was only a small percentage of all educational institutions. Due to the pandemic, schools, and colleges, and all forms of educational institutions needed to find a way to transfer their processes and procedures online in order to accommodate the restrictions and to ensure their students’ learning progress doesn’t suffer.

Even when restrictions eased and it was possible to return to physical locations, a large number of institutions decided to remain online as they realized how much more convenient and accessible it is. But while they were concentrating on making the process run as smoothly as possible, online learning security wasn’t prioritized as much as it needed to be. Cyberattacks caused numerous schools and colleges to delay classes or even forced them to pay ransom to regain access to their servers.

Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to improve online learning security.

Implement cyber security tools

It is imperative that all educational institutions implement proper cybersecurity tools in order to protect their employees, students, and their data. Tools like firewall and anti-virus protection, browser fingerprinting, data enrichment, end-to-end encryption, and multi-level verification are the first line of defense and when used properly they can stop cyberattacks causing any damage.

Update Everything

This is actually the easiest step you can take to ensure online learning security as you can complete it just by turning on automatic system updates. By keeping your operating system, programs, and applications up to date, you can remove any security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors.

While educational institutions have only control over their equipment, they should educate their students about the importance of keeping their equipment up to date to ensure the safety of both sides.

Secure File Sharing

Regardless of the type of educational institution, students and teachers or instructors need to have a secure method of sharing their files. By having a policy in place that mandates requirements and procedures of file sharing, providing a secure connection for uploads, and encrypting the files you can significantly reduce the risk of a data breach or ransomware attack. Make sure to make this process as simple as possible because students will have different levels of technical knowledge.

Backup all files

Having a backup can make a difference between having all of your data held hostage forcing you to pay the ransom or utilizing your backup and resuming normal business operations. Once you determine what data needs to get backed up, you need to make sure you back it up regularly.

Provide regular training

Ensure that you provide regular cybersecurity training to all of your employees and students to ensure everyone knows what their responsibilities are when it comes to mitigating cyber security risks. They need to be aware of what cyber security threats they might encounter, how to avoid them, or how to react if they happen.

The University of Utah had to pay cybercriminals almost half a million dollars after a ransomware attack on some of its computer servers, and it is just one in the long line of educational institutions that have become a victim of cyberattacks. By following these steps, and staying proactive you can avoid becoming one of them.

Featured Image: cottonbro, Unsplash.

November 25, 2021

Fifth Pacey Educational Games for Lagos, Ogun schools begins | The Guardian Nigeria News

The fifth edition of the annual Pacey Educational Games (PEG) for Lagos and Ogun states’ schools got underway Wednesday at Lagos African Church Grammar School, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos State.

According to the organisers, the competition, which will feature over 50 secondary schools in Lagos and Ogun states with about 1,500 athletes, is aimed at fostering all round development of students in secondary schools, through fun and interactive games.

Speaking at a media parley to unveil the competition at the weekend, spokesman for the organisers, Mr. Apo Olugbenga, said the games will help Nigeria to discover its next set of champion athletes, adding, “Since 2016, PEG has set out on a journey to discover and harness the hidden greatness in each and every one of them, because of the belief that every child is unique in his or her own way and they find expressions through different means.”

He disclosed that the students will fight for honours in such interactive games as chess, monopoly, scrabble, Rubik’s cube, and many other games that challenge their reasoning and help them unlock their brain power.

“The past events were greeted with wonderful experiences by students from Babcock University Secondary School, White Hall Schools, Wellspring College, and Lagos African Church Grammar School to mention but a few.

“This year’s event promises to be bigger and better, as it will attract many other schools. It has been carefully packaged to help the students develop their team spirit through exciting and competitive games,” he said.

Olugbenga disclosed that Honeyland College Breakthrough Academy, Whitehall Schools, Babcock University Secondary School, Lagos African Church Grammar school, and many other schools in Lagos and Ogun states will feature in the exciting games.

Olugbenga, who announced the games’ partnership with Sports360nja, said “the partnership is borne out of our aim to reach 40 per cent of the population of students of primary and secondary schools in Nigeria in the next five years.”

Also speaking during the media parley, Sports360nja Online Editor, Mr. Ugochim Uzoije, said: “This partnership is borne out of our aim to reach 40 per cent of the population of students of Primary and Secondary schools in Nigeria in the next five years.”

Earlier, PEG’s Founding Partner, Mr. Adeyemi Anifowose, disclosed that the organisation will launch Hackathon (coding challenge) for secondary schools, which is tagged “unveiling the power of technology.”

Anifowose said the importance of the challenge is to enable secondary schools’ students to crave more interest and develop trending relevant skills in IT, “which is needed or required to navigate their career as the world is continuously revolving around IT.”

November 25, 2021

Metro Schools board approves three charter schools requests to keep fifth-graders in elementary school

An effort on Tuesday to add fifth grade at three charter schools, in alignment with Metro Nashville Public Schools’ own initiative, devolved into chaos and a heated debate about the role of school board members.

Metro Nashville school board members eventually voted to allow three charter schools — Rocketship Nashville Northeast, Purpose Prep Academy and Smithson Craighead Academy — to add fifth grade to their current K-4 elementary schools in alignment with the district’s own initiative to move fifth grade from middle schools back to the elementary level.

But the vote came only after heated debate as board members drew pro- and anti-charter lines and a yelling match with some of the many parents who showed up in support of the charter schools.

An initial motion by board member John Little, a charter school advocate, failed and he slammed his colleagues for not supporting the desires of parents. His colleague, board member Sharon Gentry, called his remarks a “tongue lashing.”

“We’re sending the wrong message to our families to say we’re going to change how we do elementary and middle school, but we’re not going to allow charter schools,” Little said.

Board member Freda Player-Peters had earlier said charter schools could have made the move to add fifth grade before Metro Schools introduced the ReimaginED initiative to do the same, saying the process is dependent on the school board’s decision.

But Little reminded Player-Peters that charter schools still have to propose amendments to their initial agreements with the district to change the grade levels along with the number of students they serve.

Parents applauded Little’s comments before the tone quickly shifted.

“It’s worth noting that these are charter school students, not necessarily our students,” said board vice-chair Rachael Anne Elrod, who attended the meeting virtually.

Several parents voiced their disappointment with Elrod’s comments, prompting Little to interrupt Elrod before stepping away from the dais. One parent stood in the middle of the board room, pointing and shouting at Elrod on the screen while chair Christiane Buggs gaveled for silence.

A motion by Elrod to deny Rocketship’s proposal also failed.

On top of that, there was confusion about the Rocketship vote totals, with some members not voting but not officially abstaining, either. As a result, the board had to reconsider Rocketship’s application.

When it was made clear that Rocketship was not requesting an enrollment increase to add two fifth grade classes, board members eventually approved the matter with a 6-2 vote.

The board then approved Purpose Prep and Smithson Craighead’s request to add fifth grade but did not approve enrollment increases for the two schools Tuesday night.

Should fifth graders stay in elementary schools?

For years, most elementary school students have transitioned to middle schools for fifth grade in Nashville. An earlier effort to move fifth grade back to elementary school — the most common practice for school districts — in 2017, under then-superintendent Shawn Joseph, failed after district officials determined the $300 million price tag was too high.

Starting in 2018, three elementary schools that feed into Antioch Middle School began adding fifth grade and now as part of the district’s multi-year Metro Schools ReimaginEd initiative, schools in specific clusters are making the change.

And district leaders acknowledge that most parents prefer their fifth-grade children stay in elementary school.

Academically, fifth-graders learning in an elementary school environment outperform their peers attending fifth grade in middle schools, said Elisa Norris, executive officer of strategy and performance management and leader of Metro Schools’ ReimaginED initiative.

State standards and most curriculums also group grades together, typically as K-3 or K-5, 6-8 and 9-12, making it easier for fifth-grade teachers to plan and collaborate with other elementary school teachers, said David Williams, the district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction.

This school year, elementary schools in the Pearl-Cohn, Maplewood and Whites Creek clusters, have transitioned fifth grade back into their buildings

Bobby Miles, principal of Rocketship Nashville Northeast, told The Tennessean Tuesday morning that his school hoped to add two fifth grade classes for the 2022-23 school year because many current parents have been hopeful the school board will approve the effort.

Amending charter school agreements

Charter schools have to propose amendments to change the grade levels along with the number of students they serve. Both Purpose Prep and Smithson Craighead asked to increase enrollment in addition to adding fifth grade. But Rocketship Nashville Northeast is only requested to add two fifth grade classes, which the board granted.

Rocketship’s second Nashville elementary school, United Academy, did not seek to add fifth grade because the school does not have the space, said James Robinson, executive director for the Rocketship charter school network in Tennessee.

The district’s Office of Charter Schools recommended the board approve the grade additions for all three schools but found that Purpose prep and Smithson Craighead’s enrollment increase requests “fall outside of the maximum enrollment threshold” at both schools per their charter agreement.

Smithson Craighead for instance has never met its current enrollment cap and does not have a weight list, according to Shereka Roby-Grant, director of charter schools for the district.

Board member Emily Masters, who typically sides with the anti-charter school board members, voted in favor of adding fifth grade at all three schools and even spoke in favor of Smithson Craighead, which is located in her district.

“I had a great visit at Smithson Craighead and I was really straightforward that I’m very appreciative of everything that they’re doing in that school and that I would be glad to vote for them to add fifth grade …because that is a pedagogical decision that doesn’t require the addition of seats. I can be understanding of that,” Masters said.

The role of school board members

After the board finished its votes — and the room nearly cleared out — Gentry questioned Little’s motives

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say a couple things. I will be honest with you Mr. Little, I’m talking about you sir, with some of these comments you made sitting at this board,” she said. “It just concerns me that I would be chastised for serving as a school board member and making decisions that are in the best interest of MNPS. I’m concerned when the tongue lashing comes.”

Gentry also reiterated Elrod’s earlier point that charter schools are not MNPS schools.

“They’re public schools, but they’re not MNPS schools,” she said.

Little said many families have children in a variety of schools, whether a charter school, a traditional zoned public school or a magnet school, and therefore parents and students should be treated equitably no matter the “brand” of their school.

Gentry argued the board is capable of making decisions in the best interest of students, using Tuesday’s votes to add fifth grade as an example, but members are charged with making decisions in the best interest of the district.

Charter school proponents often argue that parents choose charter schools when their zone or neighborhood school doesn’t serve them well or when their only options appear to be underperforming public schools. But those who are against charter schools argue they have little oversight and pull money out of local schools, making it harder for them to improve.

The majority of the present board members eventually voted in favor of the three charter schools’ amendments. Elrod voted against all three. Board member Abigail Tylor voted against the proposals for Rocketship and Purpose Prep but in favor of Smithson Craighead’s application.

The board also voted to renew its contract with LEAD Prep Southeast but deferred Knowledge Middle School’s renewal at the request of the school.

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Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

November 24, 2021

Fall Academic Challenge League and tournament results

By Crawford County Now Staff November 23, 2021 9:00 am

MANSFIELD—During the past few weeks, Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center was proud to host the High School Fall Academic Challenge League in the virtual format. Students competed as teams, answering questions about a wide range of topics including literature, fine arts, geography, history, math, and science.

In varsity league competition, the 14 competing teams split into two divisions. The winner of Division A was Mt. Vernon with team members Emily Hammond, Nick Grega, Makenna Hughes, and Charlie Comfort. The winner of Division B was Lexington with team members Katie S., Thomas S., Maggie S., and Wes H. The junior varsity league winner was the team from Lexington with members Seth D., Jacob H., Grant M., and Chloe D. The runners-up came from Madison. Team members were Nate Osborne, Josh Atwell, Katelynn Ransom, Justin Gibson, Zachary Lucas, Samantha Myers, and Grady McElvain.

The Fall Tournament was back in person at the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center for the first time prior to COVID. Leanna Ferreira, the coordinator for Academic Challenge, said coaches and students alike were appreciative and the energy level was high as students participated. “It has been over a year since we’ve had in-person meets, and we were so glad that everything went smoothly. We congratulate all of the winners!”

At the varsity level, sixteen teams faced off in two brackets. The winner of each bracket then faced off for the ultimate winner. Mt. Vernon (winner of bracket B) took champion overall, with the team of Emily Hammond, Nick Grega, Makenna Hughes and Charlie Comfort. Lexington (winner of Bracket A) took runner-up overall with team members Katie S., Thomas S., Maggie S., and Wes H.

In the junior varsity tournament, there were 16 teams competing in two brackets. The top teams from each bracket faced off in the final. Lexington, the winner for Bracket A, secured the victory. Team members were Seth D., Jacob H., Grant M., and Chloe D. Ashland A, the winner of Bracket B, took runner-Up. Drew Briggs, Klooey Kaeser, James Kinney, Andrew Martin, Riley Hammond, and Austin Conrad made up the team.

Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center provides specialized academic and support services to 11 school districts and over 18,000 students in Crawford, Morrow, and Richland Counties. Client districts receive services from curriculum, gifted and special education consultants, speech pathologists, psychologists, special education teachers, occupational therapists, and physical therapists.

November 24, 2021

More children being home-schooled as parents worry about Covid-19

More children are staying away from the classroom and being home-schooled after the pandemic (PA) (PA Wire)

The number of children being home schooled in England has risen amid parents’ concerns over Covid-19, a survey suggests.

The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) estimated 115,542 children and young people were being home educated at some point during the 2020/21 academic year, up 34{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} from the previous year.

The ADCS said the most common reason parents decided to home-school children was due to concerns over Covid-19.

It added that local authorities said they had been notified by parents who were pulling children out of school because they had become concerned over their emotional health, anxiety and mental health needs.

A child during a Year 5 class at a primary school in Yorkshire (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Archive)

In a snapshot comparison, the ADCS also looked at the number of children being home-schooled on school census day on October 7 this year. It concluded an estimated 81,196 children were being home-schooled across all 152 local authorities in England – a rise of seven per cent from the same school census day the year before.

The report published by the ADCS said the number of children being electively home educated has been growing 20{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} each year for the past five years.

A total of 117 local authorities told ADCS they provided support to families with children being home educated using video calls, phone calls and meetings. The authorities said there was a “huge loophole in elective home schooling’s national policy, which makes the existing policy unsafe”.

In a comment made in the report, it was said: “There needs to be a statutory duty implemented to ensure our children who are home educated are learning, have regular home visits (that are statutory, not parental option) so the child is seen and to observe the work taking place.”

Gail Tolley, chair of the ADCS’s educational achievement policy committee, said: “Every child has the right to a suitable education, and we recognise that parents have the right to educate their child at home.

“For six years now, we have seen year-on-year increases in the number of children being educated at home. This report highlights just how much of an impact the pandemic and the closure of some schools has had on this number.

ADCS is concerned that without powers to see both the child and their place of learning, we cannot know that these children are receiving a suitable education in a safe and appropriate learning environment

Gail Tolley, ADCS

“Local authorities have a duty to ensure that children being educated at home are safe and receiving a good education, yet we do not have a role in assurance of this, nor is there adequate guidance on what a suitable education looks like.

“ADCS is concerned that without powers to see both the child and their place of learning, we cannot know that these children are receiving a suitable education in a safe and appropriate learning environment.”

She said ADCS is calling on the Government to establish a mandatory register of all electively home-educated children, with a duty on the local authority to visit the child to assess their education provided.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We support parents who want to educate their children at home. However, now more than ever, it is absolutely vital that any decision to home educate is made with the child’s best interests at the forefront of parents’ minds.

“We have provided guidance for councils and parents to help them in situations where home education is being considered, and remain committed to a registration system for children not in school, which will help councils with their existing duty to make sure all children receive a suitable education.

“Further details on the register will be set out in our upcoming consultation response.”

Although most parents and carers provide a good home education, the LGA is concerned that the pandemic has led to increasing numbers of children receiving education outside the classroom and missing out on the benefits that a school environment brings

Anntoinette Bramble, Local Government Association

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The Government must find out the reasons behind so many more families choosing home education.

“The concern is that many appear to have chosen home education because they have lost faith in the Government’s approach to school safety during the pandemic.”

He added there was a “clear safeguarding concern”. This was because there was no legal obligation for a parent to provide any notification to a school about the withdrawal of a child to be home educated.

He said: “It could lead to a child at risk being missed, with neither school nor local authority knowing for certain what has happened to them. Without an officially maintained register, there remains the risk of children becoming lost outside system.”

Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said local authorities need to be given more powers to enter homes to ensure children are receiving a suitable education.

She said: “Although most parents and carers provide a good home education, the LGA is concerned that the pandemic has led to increasing numbers of children receiving education outside the classroom and missing out on the benefits that a school environment brings, such as safeguarding and learning and socialising with other children.”

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July 30th, 1937 ­– November 20th, 2021

Implement cyber security tools

Update Everything

Secure File Sharing

Backup all files

Provide regular training

July 30th, 1937 – November 20th, 2021