4empowerment^® e-Newsletter
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Welcome to the 4empowerment^® e-newsletter. Click, collaborate, teach, and learn.

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Winners! Making the Connections' Student Short Screenplay Contest
Kyle Olsen (John Jay High School, San Antonio) and Jillian Avila & Derek Scoggins (Coakley Middle School, Harlingen) • Winners receive a scholarship to the Austin Film Festival's summer camp held at the facilities of the Radio*Television*Film Department at the University of Texas at Austin. The winning screenplays will be posted online in the next few days. Check them out via the 4e-zine!

Making the Connections Webcast with Texas Parks & Wildlife
"Communicating Water Issues through Language Arts", April 16, 2004 • Tune in your Internet browsers to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's webcast website at 9 a.m. CST on Friday, April 16th to watch select MC teachers and students participate in a live webcast. The topic is water issues and how communication skills are essential in addressing problems and finding solutions. Helpful tip: Teachers, make sure your school's firewall allows for video streaming from the TPWD website by notifying your local technology coordinators. Register now to participate!

Congratulations, Dr. Barbara ten Brink!
4empowerment salutes Dr. ten Brink who was recently awarded for distinguished service by the City of Austin with over 30 years of dedication towards advancing and promoting the learning of science among school children. Dr. ten Brink is a member of the 4empowerment Advisory Team and directed the second year of the Cyberways & Waterways program. Read more about Dr. ten Brink on the 4empowerment Advisory Team page.

Special Earth Day Water Testing
Texas Watch Earth Day - April 22, 2004 • We encourage all teachers in our science programs to participate in this annual statewide sampling initiative to portray "A Day in the Life of Texas Waters" to emphasize the importance of water quality in Texas. Enter your data and view last year's data in the Cyberways and Waterways section of our website! Also, check out standards-aligned lesson plans for water quality in our Science section.

Student Login Contest Winners
Kristan (Pflugerville HS), Jacob (Brownwood HS), & David (Austin's LBJ Liberal Arts & Science Academy) • We had 3 lucky winners - Kristan, David, and Jacob - randomly selected from our spring login contest in March. Kristan received a copy of the Christopher Vogler book The Writer's Journey and a $25 Blockbuster gift card. Jacob received copies of David Feldman's When do Fish Sleep? and Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?, plus a $25 Blockbuster gift card. David won a copy of the Vogler book. Read a news article written and submitted by Jacob's teacher Ms. Kristina Owen about his winning!

New! Literature Circles
Check out our new forum for literary discussions on classic and modern literature. If you are a teacher or student in a 4e-related program, join our Literature Circles (located under "Teacher & Student Forums") today! (You need to log in to post messages.)

Discussion Boards Update: Attachments Enabled
We've modified the message boards to now allow for attachments up to 3MB. To join a discussion and share your best practices, lesson plans, or student projects, log into the 4empowerment website and visit our discussion boards. General public can join for free with access to limited discussion boards (Join now).

Student Poll: "What Earth Day activities do you have planned?"
How do you plan to observe Earth Day? Take our Earth Day survey now!

Quiz: "Earth Day Fun Facts"
How many endangered species are there today? People produce enough trash to fill the Super Dome how many times over? You can test your knowledge of Earth Day facts in our multidisciplinary (math, history, science, and language arts) quiz. Go to the 4empowerment website and click on the quiz now!

Featured Expert: Stephen Harrigan
Follow along with Texas writer Stephen Harrigan as he chats with 4empowerment students about writing. Harrigan's Gates of the Alamo is the "One Book/One Texas" selection this year. Read more about Harrigan in the 4empowerment Expert Spotlight section.

Student Showcase: "The Atom" by Chris (LBJ High School)
This month's 4e-zine highlights a poem by Chris from LBJ High School's Liberal Arts and Science Academy. Leaders at the Texas Education Agency saw it, and asked to use his poem in a recent statewide presentation talking about how Science and Language Arts share many of the same skills. Read it here, only on the 4e-zine!

Showcase Your Student Work on 4e-zine
Our unique 4e-zine, an online digital magazine, allows students to showcase all types of media from short stories to "spoken word" poetry to short films. Click on the purple tab above or here to enter the 4e-zine.

Stellar Students Sought!
Nominate your favorite student to be featured for Student of the Month by 4empowerment®. Your student's achievements be highlighted and published on the 4empowerment® website, along with a photo and interview. Send us your nominations!

3rd Annual Songwriting Competition: Songs Inspired by Literature
Submission Deadline: April 5, 2004 • Artists for Literacy encourage songwriting to improve literacy skills for those who have difficulty reading. Entry forms and more information are available here.