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With children not in school during the summer it is especially important to remember car safety.

I received a news release from the Leawood-based organization Kids and Cars.org recently that, unfortunately, reminds why safety and precautions are so essential.

This happened last Monday:
"Five-year-old Curtis Markley and his sister 4-year-old Virginia Markley of Springdale, Arkansas were found dead in the trunk of the family 2000 Chevrolet Malibu. The official cause of death has not been released, but the children appear to have perished after accidentally locking themselves in the trunk. The two children most likely died of asphyxiation or hyperthermia (heat stroke) after becoming entrapped in the trunk on a 90-degree day, Springdale police said."

With children playing around the house and outside, traveling to ball games and vacations and this extreme heat wave we're having - I think it is a good time to look at these tips to keep children safe provided by Kids and Cars:

This year's Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion Kavya Shivashankar will be on Jimmy Kimmel live tonight (June 4).
Kavya, an eighth-grader from Olathe, will face off against Kimmel in a spelling competition.
Last Thursday Kavya correctly spelled the word "Laodicean" to claim the bee trophy and champion title. It was her fourth time in the finals at the national bee.
This will be Kimmel's sixth annual spelling bee showdown on his late night show.
Catch Kayva with Kimmel locally at 11 p.m. on ABC.

Welcome to Bee week!
The largest group of students in the history of the Scripp's National Spelling Bee has gathered this week in Washington D.C. to find this year's top speller.

Today (Tuesday) begins round one for the 293 students who have entered in the competition. This round consists of a 50-word test taken on a computer keyboard.

One to watch this week is Olathe eighth-grader and bee favorite Kavya Shivashankar, who competes in the tournament for the fourth time this week. She participated in 2006, 2007 and 2008- each time reaching the top 10. Last year she tied for fourth place.

Clara K. Wicoff from Iola and Meredith Foulke from Overbrook will also represent Kansas in the bee.

University of Kansas senior Mark Petterson of Prairie Village ended his run on Jeopardy! this week winning $10,000 in the Jeopardy! College Championship.
Petterson is the first student to represent KU in the televised college tournament.
In his first round of competition, Petterson lost to a student from the University of Missouri. Yet, he earned $16,200 to advance to the semifinal round.
The final episode of the championship airs locally today at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.

Mark Petterson of Prairie Village came in second place to a University of Missouri contestant in the Jeopardy! College Championship.
In an episode that aired Monday, University of Kansas senior Mark earned a final total of $16,200.
The college tournament airs locally at 4:30 p.m. from May 4-15 on NBC.
The winners of the first five shows, airing this week, and the four highest money earners will go to the semifinals.
Petterson is the first student to represent the University of Kansas in the college tournament since 1989.

Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, 12701 West 67th Street, Shawnee will present a spring comedy "A Thurber Carnival" at 7 p.m. on April 30 and May 1 and 2 in the Little Theatre.
"A Thurber Carnival" is a revue by James Thurber, adapted by Thurber from stories, cartoons and humorous short pieces. Many of them appeared in "The New Yorker."
Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 993-7364. There will be a bake sale Saturday to raise money for Thespian Troupe #888.
The cast includes: Mickey Baltzley, Amanda Boring, Shannon Buhler, Betzy Castellon,
Maddie Cummings, Neal Doolin, Annie Lewis-Jones, Andrew Luzania, Ann Manly,
Andrew Shaw, Teddy Trice, Joe Uhl, and Miles Wirth. The show is directed by Keli Rodgers.

 

Ken Bingman, science teacher at Blue Valley West, learned this week he is one of five teachers this year who will be inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Currently there are 85 educators in the hall. Here is an idea of some of the others who belong to the elite group Bingman will join this June.

- Alan P. Haskvitz, a middle school teacher from California who brought his students from a 22nd percentile level to the 94th percentile on state standardized tests- in his FIRST year of teaching. He is a vocal advocate of adding service learning to student curriculum. His own students developed a "feed the homeless" garden: utilizing recycled materials and helped draft and pass state laws.
- Lisa Zahn Crooks, a 2002 inductee from Olathe. She wrote "Munchable Math" a book that combined noodles and popcorn with experiments and math activities for hands-on learning activity ideas; She also formed a club with students to give teddy bears to children and older adults in times of need.
- Richard Ruffalo, a science teacher from New Jersey who went blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa at age 32. He kept teaching and relied on memory and "total auditory recall." With that example he tells students they have "talents yet to be discovered."
- James Escalante, a math teacher from California. You may know him from the 1980s Edward James Olmos/Lou Diamond Phillips movie "Stand and Deliver." It is based on his struggle in the 1980s when his East Los Angeles students scored so high on their Advanced Placement exams they were accused of cheating.

-Source: the National Teachers Hall of Fame

I learned today that, unfortunately, our local competitors in the National Monopoly Championship did not advance to the final round of competition.
Virendra and Ankur Jain of Olathe traveled to Washington D.C. this week to compete in the competition, held in Union Station.
This year's Monopoly National Champion is Richard Marinaccio of Sloan, N.Y.
Though I haven't spoken with Virendra and Ankur since competition, I can't imagine them boxing up their thimble, Scottie dog, iron and top hat anytime soon.
Prior to competition, Ankur said what he looked forward to most of all was the opportunity to travel on the Monopoly-related vacation with his wife and children.

Before you squeeze a ketchup packet to dress a hot dog at a summer cookout, take a look. You could have the artwork of a local artist in your hand.

Antioch Middle School seventh-grader Madeleine Layton is a winner in the recent Heinz Ketchup Creativity Contest. A design she created will be printed on more than 19 million ketchup packets.

Her creative work was selected through an online vote. To see her ketchup packet design visit- http://www.ketchupcreativity.com/voting.aspx and check out the Ketchup Creativity Winners' Gallery.

Layton's school now gets $1,000 in art supplies, $1,000 in Heinz Ketchup and a framed poster of her artwork.

Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, 12701 West 67th Street, Shawnee, will present "Side By Side By Sondheim" at 7 p.m. April 2-4 in the school cafeteria.

"Side By Side By Sondheim" is a musical review that features the songs of composer Stephen Sondheim.

The cast includes: Mike Allen, Amanda Boring, Shannon Buhler, Maddie Cummings, Katie Davis, Neal Doolin,
Dan Epperson, Alyson Golladay, Vik Govindarajan, Maggie Hartman, Cat Hummel,
Annie Lewis-Jones, Andrew Luzania, Ann Manly, Mindy Moritz, Max Newby, Alyssa Stormes, Andrew Shaw, Bryan Wheat, and Miles Wirth.

Tickets are $7 and include a dessert. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling 913-993-7364 or by e-mailing nwslaton@smsd.org. A silent auction will be held Saturday to benefit student Thespian Troupe #888.