Here is something current. In Queensland, Australia, recent flooding caused massive evacuations and covered an enormous area with deep water. The water damage will run into the millions of dollars, and was responsible for some loss of life. Overall, it has been a huge and unprecedented tragedy. An early article from the NASA Earth Observatory (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=48420) shows some amazing photos of the affected area. All this reminded me of the mind-boggling technology available providing these simply awesome satellite images and how they contribute to our being able to understand the magnitude of our planet in ways previously unimaginable while at the same time bringing everything closer. Google Earth alone stands as one of the most incredible tools I have ever seen for teaching about our planet. Even your aging writer continues to marvel away hours with that toy!

I have often commented on the affect of winter weather on school assemblies. Well this week has been a brute! Throughout large parts of the midwest school assemblies have been shut down due to schools closing. Northwestern Ohio and Northern Indiana were hit earlier this week with bad morning ice, causing countless schools to close and countless school assemblies to be rescheduled.

Here is something to remember! Next Sunday we leave Daylight Savings Time, at 2 AM local time. So don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour at that time or you will be really early to Church that morning! 

Schools searching online for elementary school assembly ideas will no doubt be struck eventually by the fact that of the many companies and performers offering science assemblies and other types of educational school assembly programs, a very large number are based in Michigan and other parts of the Midwest.