Since July 6, a dozen middle-school students from Williston and Hinesburg have been attending the all-day program designed to teach reading, writing and communication skills as participants explore Vermont on field trips of their own design. It’s all part of an effort to boost achievement for students when school’s out — and possibly close a gap between children from families of differing incomes.

Nicole Aguila, a 10-year-old from Queens, N.Y., is one of about a dozen New York City children who will visit the Brattleboro area this summer through the Fresh Air Fund. All the visiting children are from low-income, inner-city families, and most of them are referred to the program by social services agencies in New York, according to Tom Kosiba, chairman of the Brattleboro-area Fresh Air Fund.

Judging from the excitement and enthusiasm of hundreds of athletes, coaches, families and volunteers inside the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse, Sunday could not be a better day. It was the final day of the 2010 Summer Games of Special Olympics Vermont and no windy or rainy weather was going to prevent participants from competing, getting their medals and having fun. Special Olympics Vermont, a local nonprofit organization accredited by its international counterpart Special Olympics Inc., provides year-round opportunities for training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in a variety of Olympic-type sports.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Friday that 40 Vermont schools will receive federal grant money to build community gardens, rallying supporters at Champlain Elementary School's new garden, a grant beneficiary. "This project addresses two major issues confronting not just Vermont but the entire nation," Sanders said. "It will help students learn the importance of food nutrition and a healthy diet." The $120,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant will fund what's being called Food Production Education, which will be run through the services of Friends of Burlington Gardens.

Approximately 30 students and faculty members from New York City high schools were delayed for close to four hours enroute to Burlington International Airport one day last week. The arrival time was off, but the price was just right. The flights were all free of charge, courtesy of JetBlue Airways. The schools have been in partnership with UVM since 2000, when UVM reached out to the high school in an attempt to diversify its student enrollment.

The Mount Anthony Union School Board's Agricultural Committee has met for the first time to discuss how the prime agricultural lands that are part of the middle school campus have been used to date and how they might be used in the future to educate students. When the District 8 Environmental Commission issued a permit for the construction of the middle school in 2002, the decision included a promise from the school district about the way the middle school and the Southwest Vermont Career Development Center would work together to best use the prime soil on the site.

 The child care center at Johnson State College will close June 30, a victim of budget cuts expected to sweep through the state college system. The state-licensed Child Development Center, which Johnson State President Barbara Murphy called "a regional resource," has served children in the area for about 20 years. The enrollment is 31 children, 11 who attend full-time. Seven of the children are from families affiliated with the college.

Citizens Bank Foundation recently made a major investment in Lund Family Center’s work to improve the educational outcomes for pregnant or parenting young women.   The Foundation issued a $5,000 grant for Lund’s New Horizons Education program, which annually offers high school, G.E.D. education and college support to more than 40 pregnant or parenting young women ages 12 to 27.

The Princeton Review has expanded its college guides to add a new edition entirely devoted to which colleges have done the most to "go green." The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges lists Bennington College, Middlebury College, the University of Vermont and St. Michael's College in Colchester. The colleges chosen for inclusion in the guide's first edition were in the 80th percentile or better in a survey prepared in partnership with the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council.

Three area prevention coalitions -- and some local young people -- are prepared to go to Montpelier on April 14 to participate in Prevention Day. The Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition, Deerfield Valley Community Partnership and Greater Falls Prevention Coalition will represent their communities and encourage all those who are interested to attend."This event is a chance to really spread the word about the incredible work our youth have done in the prevention world," said Andy Hauty of Deerfield Valley Community Partnership. Prevention Day will take place on the Statehouse lawn from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will give the coalitions the opportunity to share their stories with lawmakers in Montpelier.

It's not safe in there. Caution-tape alerts students at Champlain Elementary School in Burlington to the knee-high hazard in Tammy Charbonneau's office: a highly unstable cluster of wall-to-wall soccer balls. Charbonneau, who teaches physical education, appeared far from perturbed Wednesday afternoon. Kids at the school, she beamed, had rounded up more than 100 balls to be shipped to Afghan neighborhoods."It's 'power networking' in the community that made this happen," she said. "Every time I look around I see more balls. Where'd they all come from?"

The online magazine Firefly features media about, and often contributed by, Vermont's high school and college students. One student regularly writes a column on vegetarianism and another reviews movies; "Shutter Island" received 2 1/2 popcorns under the reviewer's rating system. A picture of a dog pulling a man on a skateboard won a funny photo contest. "One thing we've had a lot of help with is our high school scoreboard," said Stephanie Choate, the magazine's editor. The magazine was launched in January by Marianne and Paul Apfelbaum, the publishers of the Williston Observer.

The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) has announced the recipients of the 2010 Summer Employment Opportunity (SEO) grant funds. These funds will be used to provide academic and occupational summer experiences to eligible youth ages 14-21, with an emphasis on serving youth over 16 who are not in school.

In planning his own gallery show as an art student at the University of Vermont, Ed Alonzo came up with an unusual installation: Himself. There he was Wednesday afternoon in Williams Hall’s Colburn Gallery, surrounded by his works in progress and his art supplies, chatting with friends who dropped by, answering questions from a reporter, and hoping, eventually, that he might be able to get a little work done. Turning half the gallery into a studio, after all, was the point of his show. By doing so, he meant to protest the shortage of studio space for UVM art students.

Vermont has received a $9 million, six-year grant to help deal with young adults, ages 16 up to 22, who are having problems. For the Lamoille Valley, the grant means $57,074 a year for five years. The program targets young adults facing significant obstacles to becoming successful adults — such things as mental health, substance abuse, health care, education, housing and jobs. The money comes from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; the idea is that helping young adults solve their problems will reduce taxpayer costs over the long term.