Learning life skills through art

An Oakland nonprofit that uses art for therapy has a startling track record for helping developmentally disabled adults become prolific—and profitable—artists.

Childhood trauma such as abuse, neighborhood violence or the death of a parent has been found to lead to dire health and social problems later in life. How can communities intervene to spare future generations the same pain and illness? Special correspondent Sarah Varney reports in collaboration with Kaiser Health News on how the city of Memphis, Tennessee, is tackling the problem.

Increased technology in classrooms is popular among schools in the U.S. However, research suggests that its effect is sub-optimal due to low-quality software, implementation, and participants' digital skills.

Seattle risks losing about $12 million annually in federal funds unless it fixes problems that include failures to update student learning plans, deliver services outlined in those plans and provide services consistently from school to school.

It's often difficult for the disadvantaged portion of the population to find meaningful and rewarding work. The start-up ArtLifting takes pieces created by homeless and disabled people, finds buyers and shares the proceeds with the artists.

In Utah, Goldman Sachs funded the education of preschoolers and was reimbursed by the state once it was shown that the kids would not need special education. Social impact investments, like this one in Utah, can help social programs in the U.S. which are often affected by government cuts.

Fewer than one in four high-school graduates in the Sedro-Woolley and Meridian school districts, for example, go to four-year colleges. Just a little over half of all graduates in surrounding districts go to college at all. Now, the schools have begun to send college students into middle schools and high schools to mentor them and excite them to go to college.

The refugee crisis in Syria is one of modern society's greatest diasporas. Syria's refugee children are not a lost generation, but the country's next generation, according to volunteers who want to prepare them for the future.

Massachusetts’ Brockton Public School district has trained the entire staff at three elementary schools to recognize signs of trauma in children. Inspired by the book, “Helping Traumatized Children Learn,” by Eliana Gil, the district’s initiative has now inspired another text and has spread to school districts around the world. Core to the initiative is trying to work more proactively toward social emotional health.

Game inventors have created a new game to help students who suffer from ADHD and other mental problems develop and stimulate their brains in a safer, more targeted way than normal medicines.