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Education / Schools 56 results
Since 2016, live performances in The Remarkable Women Series have enlightened the public on “the many unknown and un-celebrated contributions of African Americans.” The series is produced by Resilience Productions, which was founded by (above, l-r) Danielle Bruce, Gladys DeVane, and Liz Mitchell. | Courtesy photo

‘History Reclaimed, Stories Retold, Theatre Revealed’ Resilience Productions’ Remarkable Women Series Aims to Educate, Enlighten, and Engage
Hiromi Yoshida
Since 2016, Danielle Bruce, Gladys DeVane, and Liz Mitchell have enlightened the public on “the many unknown and un-celebrated contributions of African Americans” to Indiana and U.S. history. The next live performance in their Remarkable Women Series is about Judge Viola Taliaferro. They shared their personal experiences and unique contributions with writer Hiromi Yoshida. Click here to read about these Remarkable Women.
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In 1994, a group of Bloomington women conducted a homegrown experiment to create a new science playground for children. Today, WonderLab Museum of Science, Health & Technology has become a success story far beyond what many could have imagined. (above) WonderLab staff at the museum’s original location in the Wicks Building on the downtown square (clockwise from far left): Louise Schlesinger, Mary Sommers, Colleen Couper, Karen Stucky, Erin Gerecke, Catherine Olmer, (unidentified), Karen Jepson-Innes, Jeanne Gunning, Greta Faroute | Photo by Melinda Seader

The ‘WonderWomen’ Behind WonderLab
Trung Le
In 1994, a group of Bloomington women conducted a homegrown experiment to create a science playground for children. Today, as it welcomes a new executive director, WonderLab Museum has become a success story far beyond what they imagined. LP contributor Trung Le interviewed some of the women involved with WonderLab since its humble beginnings. Click here to read about the WonderWomen.
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Winter in Indiana is prime season for house fires, but the Bloomington Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division works year-round to reduce the risk of fires and promote fire safety. Above, firefighters train at the Public Safety Training facility on South Walnut Street. | Photography by Nick Bauer

Fire Safety and Prevention Through Education, Engineering, Enforcement Photo essay on the Bloomington Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division
Nick Bauer
Winter in Indiana is prime season for house fires, but the Bloomington Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division works year-round to reduce the risk of fires and promote fire safety. This photo essay by Nick Bauer shows the work being done to prevent fire tragedies in Bloomington. Click here for Bauer’s article and photo gallery.
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Indiana’s 2025 legislative session is underway at the Indiana Statehouse. A new report gives Indiana a grade of D for funding public schools, and the state ranks 32nd in percent of GDP allocated to K-12 schools. The priorities of the Republicans who control state government would be problematic for public schools, writes Steve Hinnefeld. | Limestone Post

School Matters: Indiana Earns ‘D for Effort’ in Funding Public Education Column by education reporter Steve Hinnefeld
Steve Hinnefeld
A new report gives Indiana a grade of D for funding public schools, and the state ranks 32nd in percent of GDP allocated to K-12 schools. As education reporter Steve Hinnefeld writes, with Indiana’s 2025 legislative session underway, the priorities of the Republicans who control state government would be problematic for public schools. Read Hinnefeld’s column here.
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As communities become more politically polarized, their citizens have to cope with ever more extreme policies. IU political science scholar Marjorie Hershey says polarization tends to make each party “less diverse internally and more different from the views and social characteristics of the other party.” Above, a vendor sells T-shirts in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention in July. | Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian

Political Polarization Hurts Communities — What Can Be Done? Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Political Polarization
Marjorie Hershey, Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian
As communities become more Democratic or Republican, their citizens have to cope with ever more left-wing or right-wing policies. As political science scholar Marjorie Hershey writes, polarization tends to make each party “less diverse internally and more different from the views and social characteristics of the other party.” What can be done about it? Click here for a Deep Dive into political polarization.
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Students in the American Studies class at Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship were asked to identify their sense of place. Each student made a video to learn about their special place’s “larger connection to our shared home of southern Indiana.” Above, a screenshot from the video by Andjoli C. Badger.

What Is ‘A Sense of Place’? Bloomington Students Explain — and Share Theirs The 2024 “Sense of Place” project by students at the Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship is here!
Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship Students
Students in the American Studies class at Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship were asked to identify their sense of place. Each student made a video to learn about their special place’s “larger connection to our shared home of southern Indiana.” And as ASE students have done since 2016, they’ve shared their videos with us. Watch their “sense of place” videos here.
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Noël Wan (center) won Gold Medal at the 12th USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington in 2022 after performing at the Final Stage and Awards Ceremony at the Musical Arts Center. Watch the video on YouTube.

USA International Harp Competition Returns to B-town in 2025 Get an inside look from the director and past performers of this world-renowned event
Hiromi Yoshida
The triennial USA International Harp Competition returns to the IU Jacobs School of Music for the 13th time in May 2025. Executive Director Francine Marseille, board member Elżbieta Monika Szmyt, and past performers Emmanuel Ceysson and Noël Wan talk about what makes this one of the most prestigious harp competitions in the world. Read Hiromi Yoshida’s article here.
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A student works in the Design Studio in the Innovative Learning Center at Edgewood High School in Ellettsville. Edgewood has dozens of students doing in-house internships and apprenticeships, some paid and some unpaid, or working at student-run businesses. | Photography by Benedict Jones

Apprenticeships Work for Some High School Students But Not All — Yet Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Workplace Apprenticeships
Steve Hinnefeld, Benedict Jones
Workplace apprenticeships are not your typical after-school jobs. Designed to connect high school students to real-life experiences in the workplace, apprenticeships provide on-the-job training for careers after high school. Many find the work valuable. Some experts, though, question the effectiveness of the programs, in part because such apprenticeships are not available to all students. Read this Deep Dive by Steve Hinnefeld.
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Bloomington high school student Hazel Hammerstein founded the nonprofit Indiana Prevention Project. Above, Hazel and her sister’s mural for the Montana Meth Project, which inspired Hazel to start a similar project in Indiana when she and her family moved back to Bloomington. | Courtesy photo

‘Paint the State’ Anti-drug Mural Contest Started by Local Student Registration ends August 30
Hiromi Yoshida
Bloomington high school student Hazel Hammerstein founded the nonprofit Indiana Prevention Project to spread the message about the dangers of drug use. She and numerous supporters are running the Paint the State mural contest. Registration ends on August 30. Read about Hazel’s project, as well as the contest rules and timeline in this article by Hiromi Yoshida.
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Private schools that get public money in Indiana can reject students for a number of discriminatory reasons, including their religion. Despite growing evidence that voucher students who switch from public to private schools fall behind academically, Indiana legislators increased the cost of the voucher program 40 percent in the 2023–2024 school year — to $439 million. | Photo by Pixabay

School Matters: 439 Million ‘Dollars to Discriminate’ with School Vouchers
Steve Hinnefeld
Despite growing evidence that voucher students fall behind academically when they switch from public to private schools, Indiana legislators have increased the cost of the state’s voucher program to $439 million. Education writer Steve Hinnefeld looks at the latest voucher report from the Indiana Department of Education, and asks, should Hoosier taxpayers pay for schools that discriminate? Read Hinnefeld’s column here.
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A new report by The State of Local News Project at Northwestern University shows that where you live and how much money you make affect whether you live in a news desert or a news oasis. | Photo by Gary Hershorn/via Getty Images

Wealthier, Urban Americans Have Access To More Local News Roughly half of US counties have only one outlet or less
Sarah Stonbely
A recent report by The State of Local News Project at Northwestern University documents the changing local news landscape across the country. Among other findings, it shows how many news outlets are operating in each county across the country. Southern Indiana, for example, has more counties classified as news deserts than news oases. Republished from The Conversation.
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