Top Rank Schools

The first day of school got off to a high energy start at Orange Brook Elementary in Hollywood.

It was the place to be, with Miami Heat guard Norris Cole and mascot Burnie on hand to welcome students and give out free school supplies from Office Depot. Superintendent Robert Runcie was also on hand well as most of the local TV stations.

Why all the fuss? Orange Brook is a school with a large number of low-income and minority student, but it’s pulled out an A grade for nine years in a row.

Doug Pennington, a member of the Miami Heat’s halftime Xtreme Team handed out stress balls, glue and other freebies to parents and students in line. Inside the school, a full stock of pencils, crayons, notebooks and other supplies were available for all students.

“Your hard work and dedication has paid off. You’r

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Holy cannoli, its over.

New Visions was rad and is probably the only reason Im going to New Paltz for Media and Production (I think?) next year. I made so many pals I hope to stay friendly with because I wouldnt be able to handle it if I didnt.

Im too over tired from Mountain Jam to get sappy on this, things will get weird. Im going to miss everything and everyone though. The quote board, running yellows on field trips, Greg life talks, extremely productive (LOL) internship days with Christopher, convincing Kara to come get toast every day, Machine reality checks, Kailah and I constantly toting pillows, Brenda, Levi shenanigans, sugar avalanches into my coffee, Riks blanket, Music Mondays, literally everything Ariella says and does, the collective boycott of The Right Stuff, Professor Java employees, and about a hundred other things I wont dive into.

Long story short, I am obsessed with the great time I had my senior year because of these weirdos.

Shout out to Machine for the life lessons, amazing plethora of knowledge she shared, and for believing in me even though senioritis hit like a ten wheeler.

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As he prepares to leave the school where he has attended classes and worked for half of his life, Chancellor Holden Thorp says he believes his often rocky tenure leading the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has prepared the school for any future difficulties.

Thorp officially steps down as chancellor on June 30, but he said he plans to use some accrued leave time in the coming weeks. In July, he moves to St. Louis, where he will become provost of Washington University.

“Working in higher education is the greatest career in the world,” he said Friday. “You’re in an environment where knowledge is created.”

The 48-year-old jokes that photos in his office show a man with much less gray hair, one who was still early in his five-year tenure as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor. A series of athletic, academic and administrative scandals in recent years played a role in that, but he now prefers to see the silver lining of what has been learned rather than cloud that hung over the university for so long.

“We’re more wide-eyed and objective than we were before,” he said, noting that such vigilance and honest self-evaluation should help head off future problems.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s response to recent student protests over sexual assaults on campus is evidence that administrators are quicker to respond now to potential trouble.

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Embattled School Transportation Director Chester Tindall will be gone for at least six to eight weeks for medical leave and it’s unclear whether he will stay in the job after that.

Tindall spoke briefly to the School Board to apologize for botched bus service that has plagued the district since the school year started Aug. 20.

“Given all the things I’ve done, I’ve neglected a lot of things, family and mainly my health,” he said. “I will definitely be out six to eight weeks, and once I return, I will work with the superintendent transitioning to drive change.”

What exactly “transitioning” means was unclear. Tindall left abruptly through a side door after he spoke.

Before Tindall spoke Runcie told School Board members and those watching that he has a “solid plan” to fix the problem in the short term, while working on making the transportation department more efficient in the long term.

“We’re going to come out on the other end with one of the best transportation systems in the country,” Runcie said. “The community demands nothing less. We ha

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In the New Visions Journalism and Media studies weve had our share of odd videos this year, we turned Mitt Romney into Batman, did our take on the zombie apocalypse, spoofed the news in February, and now weve parodied Dr. Phil.  Starring yours truly as Dr. Fil with an F(mostly due to my baldness). I bring three guests onto the show to help them solve their everyday problems, but cant hide my own issues while trying to help them.

Alex plays a wallflower named June looking for advice on how to get a boy to notice her, Chris plays a single father trying to connect with his daughter, and Jenna plays a homebody whos afraid of owning too many cats.

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