Back in July 2012, Marshalltown became one of 14 communities awarded the All American City Award in recognition for their plan to improve literacy for the children of Marshalltown. Next week, Ralph Smith, the national leader for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, will visit.

The Campaign is a national movement to improve the education and career prospects of children from low-income families. They hope to do this by ensuring every child can read by grade 3 – an indicator of future success.

Around 80% of children from low-income families miss this milestone.

So far efforts in Marshalltown have focused one of its three task forces on improving attendance.  

Smith’s attendance will be a boost to those efforts by local non-profits and the community to improve literacy levels.

Click for more information on the Campaign.

Ames, Southeast Polk and Marshall High were among dozens of Iowa schools getting a lesson in sound financial management and in the process some got a little richer.  

Iowa Student Loan, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa Jump$tart Coalition, Junior Achievement of Central Iowa and the Iowa College Access Network, offered $1,000 to schools for participating in the 2013 Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge.

It focused on increasing student understanding of student loan debt.

“For the past two years, our department has helped to support financial literacy contests for students to participate in. It has been great to observe so many enthusiastic Iowa high school students engage in these creative financial challenges,” said Mike Cormack, policy liaison for the Iowa Department of Education.

Thomas Jefferson famously said, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

The ACLU of Iowa is looking to award some of those young brains being educated with their Robert Mannheimer Youth Advocacy Award.

They are looking for Iowans aged 14 to 19 who have shown an exceptional passion for civil liberties.

The organizers say that the $500 cash award will be given to a young person who has demonstrated a passion for civil liberties and a record of advocacy for civil liberties, such as free speech, free expression, LGBTQ issues, immigrants' rights, racial and gender equality, bullying, religious freedom, privacy issues, or disability rights.

A nomination form and more details can be found at the ACLU of Iowa website.