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It's hard to compete with the addictiveness of smartphones — especially for Santa Fe educators trying to keep a classroom engaged. Some say they're fed up, however, with acting as the enforcers of what they call an insufficient new policy and pilot phone pouch program that serves as a disciplinary measure for students who don't stop using their devices. Several local school districts have made attempts this school year to address cellphone concerns. The Taos Municipal School District has made all high schools phone-free spaces by mandating that all secondary students keep their electronic devices locked in a district-provided, signal-blocking pouch for the duration of the school day. Santa Fe Public Schools has flirted with the pouch policy, for now adopting it only as a pilot program in some elementary and secondary schools — and reserving the pouches for students with repeated problems with phone use. “I think that this has to be a joint effort by parents and students — they need to meet us halfway in order for this to be successful,” said Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez. The district's policy is partly to appease parents, who have concerns with their children's devices being revoked. But it has left some educators fed up in feeling personally responsible for dealing with an issue beyond their control. “Over my career, I've watched cell phones ruin the American classroom,” Geron Spray, a history teacher at Capital High School, wrote in response to a survey conducted by The New Mexican in November. “It's laughable that district administration is trying to slay this dragon (rather, have teachers slay this dragon) with Yondr Pouches.” Cellphone use has gone up dramatically over the last 10 years, with one 2023 study showing 97% of 11- to 17-year-olds reporting using their phone in school, up from 51% of high school students who said the same in 2013. That increase has come much at the chagrin of high school teachers, 72% of whom said phones have become a major problem, according to a survey from Pew Research Center conducted in 2023. “During COVID, we told our kids, ‘Everybody's going to be full-on electronic.’ So, how do you undo that? You really can’t,” said Taos Superintendent Antonio Layton. “You can't go from everybody completely online to nobody online. So when we thought about that process, we wanted it to be a holistic approach." Layton said the district initially discussed a policy like Santa Fe’s, only geared toward repeat offenders, but “we did not want to see this as a punitive measure,” Layton said. “We wanted to use it as a tool to help increase student engagement," he said. "If our kids saw it as punitive in nature, it made [it] a little bit harder to implement. We're not trying to punish you. We're just trying to help you increase your academics." Layton said the district did hear some concern from parents, but “because of the level of communication we had, and the transition period that we did, we received minimal pushback from parents and community.” That communication included polling community members on their thoughts. “I think about 80% [of respondents] were parents,” Layton said. “What was interesting was the majority said, ‘We know phones are a problem. We know there are distractions in the classroom. Just don't take them away from our kids.' " Following community feedback, the Taos school district determined phones were a larger issue in high schools than elementary schools and moved to adopt the “CellLockED” pouches districtwide as a solution to increase engagement without physically revoking phones. The pouches close and open using a specialized magnetic lock, which students lock at the start of the school day and unlock at the end, with unlocking magnets placed on school buses, in school offices and in classrooms for educators who plan to use phones to aid in instruction. "For the most part, it has been working," Layton said. "What we were hoping to see and what we have seen is an increase in student engagement, both socially and academically." In a social media survey, conducted in November, The New Mexican asked parents, educators and students on their thoughts toward Santa Fe’s phone pouches, the “Yondr” pouch, a different brand than the Taos pouches but with virtually the same function. Parents brought up familiar concerns about taking away students' property and preventing contact with their child. "Times have changed, and technology is everywhere in everything we do," said parent Angel Lopez. "... Us parents do fear for our kids safety at school and having that phone on them keeps a sense of security.” Studies show an overwhelming majority of parents agree with Lopez. A 2024 National Parents Union survey reported 78% of parents want their kids to have phones in school because of the potential of an emergency. Many teachers see it differently, criticizing the pouch policy as one that leaves enforcement in their hands. “While we teachers are being pounded for not presenting 'engaging' lessons,” wrote Capital High teacher Marty Carvlin, “we are competing with the world's best innovators in social media and technology for our students' attention. Students' ambition to advance their skill level and knowledge base is severely compromised by a crippling addiction.” And even some students admit problems surrounding phones. “I believe the Yondr Pouches could be a good thing," Santa Fe High School ninth grader Emilie Bridges wrote in an email. "Students are always on their phones, even if teachers cannot see them. Students are so disrespectful to their teachers when they ask them to put them away or to give them to them. I think the Yondr Pouches are a good solution, even if you do get a lot of backlash for them.”No. 9 Kentucky, focused on getting better, welcomes Jackson St.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Luke Kromenhoek threw for 209 yards and tossed three touchdown passes as Florida State halted a six-game losing streak and routed Charleston Southern 41-7 on Saturday. Kromenhoek completed 13 of 20 passes in his first college start, including a 71-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Khi Douglas, as the Seminoles (2-9) won for the first time since Sept. 21. The true freshman also connected with Amaree Williams for a 4-yard TD and Hykeem Williams for a 10-yard TD. Florida State had the nation’s lowest scoring offense at 13.3 points. The Seminoles hadn’t scored more than 21 points or surpassed the 300-yard mark in 2024. But Florida State overwhelmed FCS Charleston Southern (1-11), accumulating 415 offensive yards. Kaleb Jackson completed 22 of 32 passes for 218 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Landon Sauers, and an interception for the Buccaneers. The takeaway Charleston Southern: While the Buccaneers found some success through the air, they couldn’t sustain drives and managed just 57 rushing yards on 29 carries. Florida State: The Seminoles picked up a season-best 176 rushing yards, scoring 17 points in the second quarter and 14 points in the third quarter to take control. Up next Charleston Southern’s season is over. Florida State plays host to Florida on Nov. 30. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25
A recent fatal crash on Sydney Harbour has reiterated the importance of safety on the water for the Sydney to Hobart fleet as wild weather looms for the big race. A man in his 50s succumbed to serious chest injuries after his boat collided with another during twilight racing off Bradleys Head on December 6. NSW Police investigations into the crash are ongoing. Less than an hour after the incident occurred, around half of the 104 boats contesting this year's Hobart were leaving the harbour in the Cabbage Tree Island Race - the final off-shore contest before the bluewater classic begins on Boxing Day. The fatal crash made an impression on Master Lock Comanche co-skipper and Matt Allen, who is assisting with Australian Sailing's inquiry. "Any time we have an incident like that, it brings back home the fact that safety is the paramount thing," Allen told AAP. The trying conditions forecast for the Sydney to Hobart has underlined the importance of safety this year. North-easterly winds will make for a fast start, before a south-westerly change brings gale force winds and possibly thunderstorms to the Bass Strait on the first night of racing. "In challenging wind conditions, these boats are very fast and very wet. Safety is number one, we can't forget that," Allen said. A NSW coronial inquest into the 1998 Sydney to Hobart, during which six people died amid storms, made 14 formal recommendations and triggered significant updates to the race's safety protocols. Today, entrants are required to have an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) on board for each crew member, usually fitted to their life jacket, as well as life-lines that strap each sailor to the vessel. Personal torches are also mandatory, while the Bureau of Meteorology now provides more detail in its compulsory briefings to the fleet on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. This year's race will be the first without radio relay vessels keeping pace with the fleet, but the majority of boats are now fitted out with on-board internet service Starlink to maintain communications with land. Each yacht must also carry a satellite phone. "The resources that we have, to know what weather's coming and to manage misadventures, are pretty significant now," said Jules Hall, co-skipper of Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth. "(The recent crash in Sydney Harbour) was a tragic event, and sincerest condolences to all affected by that. Safety's got to come number one, it's so important. "You can't underestimate the ocean, the wind and the waves." Around 35 maritime rescue vessels will be on hand for the start of the race at 1pm on Boxing Day, when an exclusion zone will be in place to protect the fleet from spectator vessels. There will be fewer buoys marking out the exclusion zone this year, but they will be larger than in 2023, spaced about 100m apart from each other. As the race goes on, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will respond to emergency broadcasts and beacons around the clock. A fixed-wing aircraft is on a 30-minute stand-by to disembark from Essendon Airport in the event of an emergency, while helicopters can also be deployed from the east coast or Tasmania. URM Group co-owner Anthony Johnston said there were extra safety precautions boats could take. "Controlling the noise on board, that's really important," he told AAP. "You've got to have one game plan. You can't have everyone throwing their idea in, especially in a dynamic situation. "It's all about keeping the communications under control but at the same time, getting the feedback you need to implement the right decisions."Georgia Public University System Bans DEI Admissions Policies, Includes Constitution in Required LearningStrangers helped Svetlana Vold start a life she couldn’t have imagined. It was 2011 when Vold stuffed her belongings into two suitcases and moved to St. Paul. It was a chance for her family to start over after decades growing up in Belarus, where jobs for women are scarce. Vold “didn’t have anything” arriving to the U.S. Strangers heard of her struggle and pitched in, donating furniture, clothes and items her family needed to get by. So when war engulfed Ukraine more than two years ago, Vold, now a St. Paul firefighter, wanted to give back the way people had helped her. She’s mobilized people across Minnesota to collect and deliver essential supplies to first responders in Ukraine. Since then, fire departments in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Eagan and Coon Rapids have gathered scores of equipment that could make a world of difference to first responders risking their lives overseas. People who rescue people When Vold was growing up, she set aside her dreams to become a firefighter. Born in Belarus during Russian occupation , Vold’s father was a fire captain who lead many first responders into danger. But jobs for women were scarce at the time, and remain so today. Today, Vold said there are around 200 jobs Belarus bars women from taking, including many first responder positions. When her husband and daughter won a green card to the U.S. in 2011, she moved and witnessed the breadth of opportunities. “When I moved here I remember walking like, ‘Women cut the trees, women drive the trucks, women do [all these]’ and I’m like ‚’Oh my gosh, this is my world!’” she said. When Russia invade Ukraine in 2022, Vold scoured for ways to help people. She volunteered with local organizations, cooking for Ukrainian soldiers who lost arms, legs, and other body parts requiring prosthetics . As she learned those soldiers’ names and stories, Vold felt inspired to do her part as an aspiring emergency responder. She gathered medical supplies to deliver to Ukraine, bringing what she could to first responders as travel restrictions limited what people could transport. When the St. Paul Fire Department called to tell Vold they’d accepted her application and wanted to schedule an interview, she told them it would have to wait for three weeks. “I said to [Human Resources], ‘I’m actually in Ukraine right now,’” Vold said recalling that conversation, “and it was amazing because she said to me, ‘Great! What are you doing? We can work with this.’” St. Paul Fire Department Captain Keith Golden said Vold’s trips were an opportunity to help everyone. Golden is assigned to Fire Station 7 in the city’s East Side and helps to manage the department’s equipment. They discard equipment that reaches its shelf life according to U.S. standards, but Golden said those standards differ in Ukraine where emergency workers fight fires with little to no equipment. “Compassion fatigue starts to limit peoples’ response,” Golden said of aid to Ukraine, adding that some ambulances have been targeted there in the war and many vehicles and stations were bombed. “[When] you start feeling like the world’s abandoning you, it’s nice to get a little influx of support.” The equipment fire departments have collected includes: more than 60 sets of firefighter turnout clothing, which includes jackets, boots, and other protective clothing, thermal imagers, medical supplies and nearly two dozen respirators. Vold said many firefighters in Ukraine work without such gear, even as some are killed while responding to flames sparked by war. “I still have in my memory the picture of a firefighter who’s hold[ing] his dad, who’s a firefighter too, and was killed,” Vold said, adding that some first responders now wear bulletproof vests over their equipment. “We’re not talking about political views. It’s more about helping people, because firefighters [are] not soldiers. Look at it this way: firefighters are people who rescue people.” The need is there Mykola Sarazhynskyy with Stand with Ukraine MN can attest to Ukraine’s struggles. Sarazhynskyy helps organize shipments between Minnesota and Ukraine. The gear will take a months-long trek, flying to Poland where it will be loaded into trucks, driven across the border and brought to a Postal Service hub to be shipped to responders in need. “It’s very important because they risk their lives,” Sarazhynskyy said. In one case, Sarazhynskyy said a Ukrainian building was bombed, but firefighters were forced to wait for the flames to cool — even as people were trapped inside. “Once they get this equipment, they will be able to respond faster and help people right away,” he said. Vold documented emergency workers’ struggles in person, staying for three nights at a fire department 20 miles from the war zone. Some firefighters slept atop wood pallets. Others drove to fiery scenes in dated trucks with little equipment. You can feel the war from the station’s bunker, Vold said, bringing more value to any supplies they receive. “The need is there,” Minneapolis Fire Department Chief Bryan Tyner said. “People need help all over the place, especially in Ukraine, who as we know is at war right now, and may not have access to a lot of these materials.” Tyner said his department may partner with MATTER, the St. Louis Park-based organization helping to ship equipment, to make the supplies an annual initiative. MATTER hopes to send three shipping containers a month to Ukraine and other countries, and Tyner encouraged other Minnesota fire departments to help donate supplies when they can. Vold said she hopes other Minnesotans help too, emphasizing that even small donations go a long way. They went a long way for her family, so Vold knows they could do the same for many more people. “I’m glad that I’m part of this country now ... [but] you still care about your past and you still want the best things to happen in your home country,” she said. “That’s why you want to bring it to them and show them, ‘It could be a different life.’”
Mumbai: In the state assembly elections, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the candidate from the Mahayuti alliance in the Malabar Hill constituency, has won with a resounding majority. A total of 137,911 votes were cast in the Malabar Hill assembly area, out of which 101,197 votes went to Mangal Prabhat Lodha. He secured 73.38 per cent of the total votes, the highest vote share in any constituency in Mumbai. Mangal Prabhat Lodha has been elected six times from the Malabar Hill constituency, and in 2024, he has been elected as an MLA for the seventh time by the people. He is the first candidate to have been continuously elected from this constituency for so many years. In light of his victory, MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the public. He attributed his win to the blessings of the people. He said, “I am deeply grateful to every citizen of the Malabar Hill constituency for giving me the opportunity to serve as an MLA for the seventh time. I have been working tirelessly for the development of this area for years, and I will continue to do so! Inspired by the thoughts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I will fulfill my promise to the citizens of Malabar Hill for its development.” After this victory, Mangal Prabhat Lodha also expressed his gratitude to the Mahayuti workers. He mentioned that many of them had dedicated their precious time and efforts, allowing him once again the opportunity to serve the people. Following the win, his supporters celebrated in large numbers, rejoicing in his victory.The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has condemned the alleged forceful take over of the structures housing public reading and learning facilities in Dugbe, Ibadan and their conversion into lock up shops and shopping malls by the state government describing the development as not only shameful and ill-conceived but also grossly unacceptable. Not a few residents of Ibadan- the state capital were stunned recently when they observed sudden erection of massive structures believed to be private business complexes and shopping malls within the premises of the Oyo State Library Board in which the the defunct Western Region government built public libraries and other facilities being put into premium use by students, researchers, tourists among others until now. In a statement issued on Sunday and made available to the journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC also raised the alarm over another alleged ridiculous sale of the entire modern motor park facility at Wema Area on New Ife Road, Ibadan built by the administration of late Senator Abiola Ajimobi. Sources have it that the Park has been sold to a pastor who presides over a popular church situated very close to it. “It is a sad reality that the buildings which used to serve as public libraries and archive in Dugbe axis of Ibadan have now paved the way for the development of commercial and business structures and the implication of this is that education and research development have been relegated to the background in the state by the same administration which has refused to address the issue of poor reading culture among young students. “Without mincing words, the word ‘library’ is now strange to many students in public primary and secondary schools in Oyo state because a government does not care to build such facility or fix the existing ones which require good attention. How can a government wake up one day and convert public reading facilities and archives into lock up shops in the name of making money and thereby subject the entire society into the danger of illiteracy and ignorance? “It has also got to that stage when silence is no more golden as all well meaning individuals and stakeholders should begin to ask Gov. Makinde questions on why he keeps selling off public heritage and properties which his government inherited from previous administrations. In the same vein, we have had cases of fraudulent lease or concession of public facilities to proxies as it happened to OYSADEP Guest House in Saki and Agbowo Shopping Complex in Ibadan. “Sad enough, the ignoble activities of the governor and a few other characters around him as they involve mismanagement of land and others resources belonging to the state have paved the way for the surge in the cases of land grabbing in most parts of the state capital. Even there many cases of land grabbing involving some appointees of the governor, PDP lawmakers, serving local government officials and chieftains of the ruling party. Meanwhile, this trend has to stop now.” Oyo APC stated.