July 15, 2005 - Advocates for 6000 Hmong refugees forced out of camp in Thailand rallied at the Minnesota state capitol today to ask the U. S. Government for help. Nancy Meyer, an english teacher at Hmong American Partnership a St. Paul advocacy group says the communist government of Laos is refusing to allow the Hmong back into their homeland and Thailand will no longer care for them.
July 20, 2005 - Dr. Jon Hallberg is a physician in family practice at the University of Minnesota. His article "11 books that might make a difference," appears in the July edition of Minnesota Medicine. Y
September 30, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann talks with Abdisalam Adam, a community specialist with the St. Paul Public School district, about a group of teachers, librarians, parents and social service providers meeting to discuss some alternative curriculums that would more closely reflect the culture of the students in the room.
November 17, 2005 - MPR’s Mark Steil looks back at the origin story of the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, which goes each November to the winner of the Minnesota-Iowa game. On one level, the bronze pig is just another collegiate prize. But few people know it had its origins in a 1934 game with racial overtones.
November 23, 2005 - MPR’s Toni Randolph looks at Newgate Education and Training Center, a Minneapolis technical school that teaches people how to fix cars. The program pays for itself by selling the cars the students repair. For some students, the Newgate Center is a free education…for others, it's a route out of poverty.
December 15, 2005 - The mothers of Somali teens who have been dealing drugs have suggested something that no one expected. They say the best solution is sending them back to Somalia. MPR's Sea Stachura has more.
January 24, 2006 - Report cards are an important part of a student's education. But what happens when a school gets a poor report card? Progress reports are a part of the No Child Left Behind law. The federal law requires that schools achieve certain goals in many different areas like attendance, graduation rates and test scores. Two years ago, officials at Pelican Rapids High School were told their school needed to improve. Minnesota Public Radios Bob Reha reports on the schools efforts to raise its grades.
February 27, 2006 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen reports on Teacher Quality Enrichment, a scholarship program that is helping diversify the ranks of the district's ESL teachers. St. Paul's public school district is trying to boost the number of immigrants teaching English as a second language.
March 9, 2006 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Lee Pao Xiong, director of Concordia's Center for Hmong Studies, about the first ever International Conference on Hmong Studies. Academics from around the world are coming to Concordia University to talk about a culture undergoing dramatic transition.
April 13, 2006 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles students preparing for the first "Poetry Out Loud" competition in Minnesota.