Two more great programs

In the news today:

• Alcoa owns quite a bit of land in North Carolina, where it operates hydroelectric stations, dams, and reservoirs. One one of its properties is a signficant archeological find - The Hardaway site - which is one of the oldest sites in the Eastern US, dating back 10,000 years. Today, Alcoa announced a gift of 1.3 million artifacts from the site to the University of North Carolina, along with $220,000 earmarked for K-12 outreach. Release here.
• Box Tops For Education, a program founded by General Mills that has distributed more than $150 million to schools since 1996, is doing more than cash donation these days. Recognizing the role that parents play in education, the organization has announced "the Box Tops for Education Kids' Caucus, a one-of-a-kind assembly of kids, parents, education officials and members of Congress to discuss solutions to improving parental involvement in education in the United States. The Kids' Caucus will be held on Capitol Hill in April 2006 and provide an opportunity for those who deal with parental involvement in education each day; parents, teachers and children, to offer practical insight to education officials into how parental involvement in education can be improved." Kids can become eligible by participating in an essay contest; details here.