EDUCATION NOTEBOOK

GRANTS AWARDED TO SOUTHERN NEVADA ORGANIZATIONS

The Nevada Public Education Foundation has awarded nearly $100,000 in grants to organizations and entities throughout Nevada. Five of those grants, totaling more than $47,000, went to organizations and institutions in Southern Nevada.

A $15,000 Ready for Life grant was awarded to Nevada Partners, the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice received a Ready for Life grant totaling $20,000, and the foundation also granted three Nevada Access grants to Southern Nevada schools and organizations, including a $1,403 grant to support Las Vegas High School's College Career Week. Other grant recipients include UNLV's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, which received a $6,162 grant in support of its career symposium, and the College of Southern Nevada, which received a $5,000 grant to support its science and technology expo.

FREE BOOKS PROVIDED TO FIRST-YEAR TEACHERS

The Mandalay Bay and Clark County READS are providing free books to first-year elementary school teachers in the Clark County School District at 5 p.m. on Aug. 25 in front of the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

First-year teachers are invited to fill a bag with free new and gently-used books, as well as free school supplies for their classrooms.

Immunization clinics set for back to school

There will be immunization clinics for back-to-school shots from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 22 at the Cunningham Academy of Health, 4145 Jimmy Durante Blvd.; and on Aug. 18 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store at 300 E. Lake Mead Drive.

NEVADA CONNECTIONS ACADEMY TO HOST INFORMATION SESSIONS

Nevada Connections Academy is hosting information sessions for the 2008-09 school year at 11 a.m. on Thursday at the Hampton Inn and Suites, 4280 S. Grand Canyon Drive, and at 6:30 p.m. at the West Flamingo Senior Center, 6255 W. Flamingo Road. At 5:30 p.m. on Friday, there will be a session at the Bill and Lillie Heinrich Family YMCA, 4141 Meadows Lane. For more information, call 800-382-6010 or visit www.ConnectionsAcademy.com.

UNIVERSITY TO HOST CHEFS, WINES & SPIRITS TOO EVENT

The University of Southern Nevada will host the second annual Chefs, Wines & Spirits Too from 6 to 10 p.m. on Thursday in the MonteLago Ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, 1610 Lake Las Vegas Parkway. The event will benefit USN community outreach projects.

Cost to attend is $125 per person, $240 per couple or $1,150 for a table of 10. Each guest will receive a complimentary cookbook.

To make reservations, contact USN's Director of University Relations Barbara Wood at 968-2055 or bwood@usn.edu.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL FAIRS SET

The Clark County School District will host back-to-school fairs to help prepare students and parents for the 2008-09 academic year. Fairs will be held on Saturday at the Boulevard Mall, 3528 S. Maryland Parkway, and on Aug. 23 at the Galleria at Sunset mall, 1300 W. Sunset Road, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at both locations. In addition, immunizations will be offered from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the fair sites.