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38 ADVOCATE | SPRING 2016 Student Opportunities KARMA FOR CARA FOUNDATION MICRO-GRANTS The Karma for Cara Foundation is encouraging kids 18 and under to apply for funds between $250 and $1,000 to complete service projects in their communities. Whether it is turning a vacant lot into a community garden, rebuilding a school playground or helping senior citizens get their homes ready for winter, they want to hear what project you're passionate about. Karma for Cara Foundation is a non-profi t founded by 21-year-old Cara Becker and her family while she was being treated for leukemia at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in October of 2012. Cara had always been involved in community service since a young age, and she and her family saw a tremendous need to support other patients who were going through the same challenging treatment. Tragically, Cara passed away in December 2012 from complications from leukemia. Yet her dream lives on through the vision and works of the foundation, her family, and friends who are inspired by her example of service and interest in helping others, even when she herself was in need of help. Learn how you can get involved, including applying for a micro-grant, at karmaforcara.org/get-involved/apply-for-a- microgrant. THE GLORIA BARRON PRIZE FOR YOUNG HEROES The Barron Prize celebrates inspiring, public-spirited young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a signifi cant positive impact on people, their communities, and the environment. Each year, 15 winners each receive $5,000 to support their service work or higher education. Apply online at www.barronprize.org by April 15, 2016. COOKE EDX CHALLENGE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUNG SCHOLARS PROGRAM Do you know a middle school student who is planning to apply to the Cooke Foundation's Young Scholars Program? Here's an opportunity to give them a leg up: Students who successfully complete fi ve edX courses, which are MOOCs created by the world's top universities, receive special consideration when applying to the Young Scholars program. Check the edX website for the list of eligible courses. Students who complete fi ve courses by 4/14 receive special consideration, as well as a $25 Amazon gift card. Apply online at www.edx.org/cooke-edx- challenge by April 14, 2016. Free or Inexpensive SMITHSONIAN ONLINE EDUCATION CONFERENCE SERIES Students and teachers: Interact with experts from the Smithsonian once a month during their hour-long online conferences, held on topics ranging from civil rights to astrophotography. The conference series includes special "virtual teachers' lounge" sessions for teachers to engage with each other and discuss other Smithsonian learning resources online at smithsonianeducationconferences.org. Unlike NCLB, ESSA provides more fl exibility for state and local governments. Consequently, implementation will largely determine its success and failure. If there's less authority for the Department of Education, then it's up to states to design, for example, new and better assessments and the follow-through needed to fi ll opportunity gaps. The Every Childs Succeeds Act is the seventh reauthorization of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act, passed in 1965, and the fi rst since 2002 when NCLB became law. This reauthorization has been years in the making and suffered through several false starts, but it picked up steam in 2015 as opposition to the rigid and punitive "test and punish" regimen imposed by NCLB intensifi ed and several education groups, including the NEA, lobbied Congress to get the job done. "Students couldn't afford to live another year under No Child Left Behind," Eskelsen García said. Major progress was made over the summer with the passage of two bills – the Every Student Achieves Act in the Senate and the Student Success Act in the House. In November, leaders from both chambers met and hammered out the compromise fi nal bill – the Every Student Succeeds Act. As in Arizona, there was an unprecedented mobilization of educators across the country. Although it took a while for NCLB's profound failures to register with many lawmakers in Congress, educators have known for more than a decade that scrapping NCLB and replacing it with a better law will provide more opportunity for all students. Over 500 AEA members joined NEA members across the nation to urge lawmakers to usher out NCLB while advocating for the reauthorization of ESEA. "I think we all feel more empowered by ESSA," says Morrill. "It gives educators a greater voice in educational and instructional decisions. It has fi nally moved decision-making to those of us who know the names and families of students." National Perspective continued from p. 26. n n