Demand climbing for women in science, engineering, math fields

Like something out of a movie or crime drama, Kailey Doherty studied the DNA strand, looking for a possible match.

The 17 year old was trying to catch a killer.

OK, not a real killer. But the lab simulation did use real DNA, and the teenage girls gathered at Kettering University were using the same techniques put to work to solve high-profile cases across the country.

If they keep up the hard work, they'll have their pick of real jobs solving cases.

Or building bridges, or writing computer algorithms, or designing artificial elbows.

Employers are more interested than ever in recruiting women into science, technology, engineering and math fields, said officials and professors at Kettering. The challenge is finding young girls who have interest in these subjects, and convincing them that it's a viable career path to explore.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/07/not_just_a_boys_club_demand_cl.html#incart_river_default

Program aims to bring local produce into low-income homes

Randi Dale and her 15-year-old daughter walked away from the farmers market in Battle Creek on Wednesday with bags full of locally-grown corn, cantaloupe, peaches and cucumbers.

But instead of cash, the Battle Creek resident made her purchase with a different type of currency — tokens, provided by the Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program.
“It helps me in so many ways,” Dale said. “It allows my kids and my family to eat healthy.”

When customers use their Bridge Card to shop at participating farmers markets, they receive an equal amount of up to $20 of their purchase in DUFB tokens. The tokens can then be used to buy Michigan-grown produce at the market.


Much of the program, which runs from June to November, is funded by community foundations and state government agencies.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120721/NEWS01/307220001/Program-aims-bring-local-produce-into-low-income-homes

Kalamazoo-area's high-poverty schools get high grades in Mackinac Center study

There's not many studies on school quality that give Loy Norrix High School an "A" and Schoolcraft High School a "D."

But that's the results of a statewide analysis by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Midland-based (conservative) think-tank.

The study aims to create an more accurate apples-to-apples comparison of school performance by using a regression analysis that compares test scores to the percentage of students participating in the federal subsidized lunch program.

"Comparing a school's standardized test scores to those of other schools is one approach to measuring effectiveness, but a major objection to this method is that students' test scores tend to be relative to students' socioeconomic status -- family household income, for example, or parents' educational background," said the study. "These factors, however, are outside a school's control.

"... This disparity is a major -- and legitimate -- reason many people resist the idea of comparing schools solely on test scores," the study says. "One school may outperform another simply because its student population has a higher average socioeconomic status, not because the school is better at educating students. With this report card, we adjust the performance of a school's student on standardized tests to recognize the school's socioeconomic disadvantages."

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/07/kalamazoo-areas_high-poverty_s.html

Michigan to help migrant workers left without summer housing due to devastated fruit crop

As farmers deal with a severely damaged fruit crop this year, the migrant workers who rely on the harvest for a living are struggling to find summer housing.

Many migrant workers and their families stay on grower-provided housing facilities, or camps. Farmers often provide the lodging for free or low-cost. They allow workers to stay at the orchards even after they’ve moved on to harvest vegetables and other crops, because they want to attract workers when needed.

This year is different, with a level of fruit crop devastation not seen since the 1940s. Many growers aren’t opening their camps this season, leaving migrants in a difficult situation.

http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/07/devastated_fruit_crop_has_left.html#incart_river_default

Struggling Families Lift Themselves Out Of Poverty

A new program in California, created the Family Independence Initiative, a nonprofit .... Its purpose is to encourage low-income families to form small groups and help each other figure out how to get ahead.


The families meet monthly and keep journals, charting their progress on income, savings, education — all the signposts of a successful life. For this, each family gets a laptop computer and an average monthly stipend of $160. The key is that the families also get to set their own goals.

One group, which met on a recent Saturday morning in San Francisco, calls itself the Fitness Five — five lively, sometimes boisterous, women. Hospital worker Shanna Chaney says their main focus is getting healthy. After all, it's hard to get ahead if you're ill.

"We all care about health — spiritual heath, everything," she says.

"Especially me," chimes in fellow group member Yovanda Dixon, "because I'm a diabetic."

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/13/155103662/struggling-families-lift-themselves-out-of-poverty

Why Churches Alone Cannot Solve the Problem of Poverty

The Hartford Institute for Religion and Research estimates there are 335,000 religious congregations in the United States. If the (U.S.) House’s proposals to cut SNAP by $133.5 billion and $36 billion are enacted, each congregation will have to spend about $50,000 more annually to feed those who would see a reduction or loss of benefits. The message from the House is that every church in America—no matter what size the congregation—must come up with an extra $50,000 to feed people every year for the next 10 years to make up for these cuts. Churches do amazing work in their communities to meet the needs of the vulnerable. However, without the help of government programs, this responsibility would be too much for religious organizations to bear. It just doesn’t add up.


http://religionandpolitics.org/2012/06/04/churches-need-strong-federal-programs-to-help-the-vulnerable/

When working hard doesn't necessarily get you ahead

Part 2 of the Michigan Radio report on poverty:


The courts are a place where being poor can really hurt you. Especially if you’re there dealing with the foster care system.

“If you go down to Detroit, to Flint, you will see that the foster care system is a system designed for poor people,” says University of Michigan law professor Vivek Sankaran. He’s also director of the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy.   He deals with a lot of foster care cases.

“You will rarely see a family with means stuck in that system,” he says.


Sankaran says most of the cases he deals with don’t involve parents who do horrible things. They involve parents who don’t have resources.

He tells the story of a mother who lost her children because she left them at home for 20 minutes while she went to the laundromat. The kids were 10, 8 and 5 years old. The mom didn’t have money for child care.


http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/when-working-hard-doesnt-necessarily-get-you-ahead

Six ways life is different when you grow up poor

If you grow up poor: 

1.      Your mom probably didn’t have good prenatal care.

2.      Your chances of surviving your first year in Michigan are lower than in most other states.

3.      Your chance of being breastfed is lower, and that can impact your development.

4.      You were exposed to fewer words than a middle class child.

5.      You enter school behind middle class children and fall farther behind.

6.      There’s a good chance you will drop out of high school.

http://www.michiganradio.org/post/six-ways-life-different-when-you-grow-poor

And additional information at:

http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/problem-growing-poor

Summer Jobs for Teens Sparse (But Help Set Course for a Teen's Future)

In a summer in which only one of three teenagers looking for a job will find it, there are some beacons of hope.

Some local businesses rely on teenagers and groups such as HandsOn Battle Creek and Junior Achievement of Southwest Michigan help connect those businesses with young jobseekers.


“Summer employment helps instill a sense of responsibility and confidence,” said Southwest Michigan Junior Achievement President Brad Kaufmann. “It gives them some money and they can start learning to manage it, and of course it helps out our economy as well.”



The employment-population ratio for 16 to 19-year-olds has fallen drastically from 37.4 percent in summer 2008 to 25.8 percent in May 2012, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120704/NEWS01/307040007/Summer-jobs-set-course-teens

Two Percent of Students in Public Schools in Kent County Considered Homeless

Morgan Scott recalls vividly sleeping under a bridge on a cool, wet night last September.

That’s the night the Kentwood high school senior and her mother had yet another fight, but this time Morgan stormed out after their argument with no confidence their situation would improve.

But she had no idea how hard life would be the next nine months after joining Kent County’s rapidly growing homeless student population. Those are children and youths who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence as classified by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

"There was just a lot of stuff going on at the time in my household, and we decided it was best I leave," said Morgan, 19, who said her single mother was raising her and three younger teenage siblings alone after the death of her stepfather.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/07/homeless_and_in_high_school_ke.html

Miracle League of Mid-Michigan empowers, uplifts kids

It’s the longest day of the year, and one the hottest. But heat can’t slow Olivia Franklin down on her trip from home plate to first base.
Olivia’s metallic green crutches flash in the evening sun as the tiny 8-year-old sporting the number 5 on the back of her shirt sprints down the baseline.

On the sidelines, her mom, Julie Franklin, cheers.  So do her Cubs teammates.  So do many of the rival Cardinals.

This, sports fans, is the Miracle League, an extraordinary effort to help kids with mental or physical disabilities feel perfectly ordinary for an hour a week on the baseball diamond.

“Here, they’re not a kid with a special need, they’re a baseball player,” said Vicki Caine, director of the Miracle League of Mid-Michigan, who saw her dream come true at the field’s dedication and first exhibition inning in May.


“To see the excitement on their faces and to watch the parents in the stands, it was one of those goosebump moments,” she said.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120630/NEWS01/306300040/Miracle-League-Mid-Michigan-empowers-uplifts-kids

Educators say Michigan Merit Exams, ACT tests reveal 'shameful' achievement gaps

State educators are celebrating scores on standardized tests offered to high school students, but call achievement gaps between some student groups “shameful.”

Those concerns are echoed by an education advocacy group’s analysis of last week’s Michigan Merit Exam and Act scores that show black and low-income students are falling even further behind the state’s white students.

While white student achievement has risen slightly over five years, scores for black and Hispanic students and students in poverty “remain grim,” according to the Education Trust-Midwest.


The state Education Department last week announced improvement on the MME, but gains come only when the scores are compared to past exams re-scored to reflect new, more difficult standards set in place this year.

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan applauded the fourth year of overall gains on ACT college-entrance exams, which are issued to most state juniors.

But Flanagan also expressed concern about the disparity in scores among groups.

http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/07/educators_say_michigan_merit_e.html#incart_river_default