New Washtenaw County program to offer paid tech apprenticeships, emphasizing underrepresented groups

A novel way to help young men growing up in communities in which concentrated poverty, violence and unemployment are well-documented barriers to health and longevity: male youth of color are trained to be the emergency response team to help stabilize street victims before doctors or nurses begin procedures.

Can we improve the methods we use to teach math in schools — so that everyone develops proficiency? A grade-school math program is changing how children learn based on the assumption that all children can achieve a high level of understanding.

For young people, learning the social norms of the office is crucial for survival in the new economy. Year Up is an organization that is unusually successful at preparing young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds for jobs in big companies.

There are many other adults beyond teachers who regularly interact with children — and who are often overlooked as potential contributors to the educational mission. Hartsville, South Carolina, uses school bus drivers as a resource and extra set of eyes to observe how students are doing.

Due to recent brain development research, educators are working to add more math education into pre-school and kindergarten classes. Studies show that children of this age are actually extremely receptive to numbers and learning geometry.

Critics in today's world often say that computers and technology are impeding the social skills of the very young. But Zoo U, a computer game for children, helps kids develop the skills they need such as empathy, impulse control, and communication.

Clean water and healthy ecosystems are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With floating islands and other inventions, eco-entrepreneur Bruce Kania thinks that biomimicry - such as reconstructing wetlands and growing biofilms - can tackle the toughest of water problems.

Concerned with colony collapse syndrome in honey bees worldwide, scientists, farmers and tech companies teamed up in Australia to create a micro-sensor that collects data on the bee's environment.

Half of U.S. farm workers are Hispanic, but few make it to leadership positions. A historically white non-profit, FFA, is creating equal education programs in California to increase leadership opportunities for minorities in agriculture.

Bangladesh has often struggled maintaining safety in the workplace. But a new effort ensures that Bangladeshi workers are trained about how to better follow security and safety restrictions to create a safer working environment.