Image courtesy of CNN

Let’s take a trip down Coventry Road for a moment, cross Scott Blvd, jump the tracks, and head over to Fernbank Elementary.

CNN.com’s Health Minute features an article and video highlighting the yoga lessons being taught to students over at Fernbank.

Two years ago, instructors from YogaKids came to the school to teach kids some basic yoga movements. Today, yoga is used not only in PE, but also as a learning tool in areas like mythology (from which many yoga poses take their names). Teachers report that yoga helps the students relax, resulting in better test scores and behavior.

Perhaps, in addition to Spanish, yoga should be a key component of Decatur’s charter school application.

Cartoon courtesy of WSJ

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will convene a conference of law and business professionals at Emory University on Friday, Oct. 19th entitled “A Fair and Impartial Judiciary.” The conference will focus on the promotion of a fair and unbiased judiciary, an issue that has concerned O’Connor since her 2002 vote in Republican Party of Minnesota vs. White to prevent states from silencing judicial nominees on political opinions while campaigning .

Although O’Connor joined in the majority on the case, she has since been disturbed by the fallout that has seen political activist groups pushing judges to state views before being appointed. O’Connor has tried to reverse this trend since retirement, promoting judicial independence in the media and with conferences like the one held at Emory next Friday.

O’Connor kicks off the conference with a keynote address at 9am Friday in Tull Auditorium. It will be followed by three panels throughout the morning and afternoon discussing “Judicial Impartiality and Accountability”, “Judicial Selection” and “Public Understanding of the Role of the Judiciary”. The conference is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first serve.

See continuation for WSJ opinion piece by O’Connor on judicial independence and an Emory Wheel article about the conference.

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In lieu of tomorrow’s second public hearing regarding Decatur’s mad dash to take its school system charter, the AJC does a rundown about charter systems, talking to Superintendent Phyllis Edwards and rephrasing my posting title for the article headline. (har, har)

Decatur would be the first school system in the state to take this leap, after legislation was passed in May making charter schools in the state possible. Ultimately the change seems to release school administrators and educators from much of the red tape put in place by the state, letting the school system develop their own goals.

In the article Edwards summarizes the intended benefits… “Merit pay for teachers; academic credits for students based on knowledge, not just classroom “seat time;” and a move toward using national and not just state standardized tests to measure achievement.”

For more info, plan to attend tonight’s public earing at Westchester on Scott at 6:30p. Also look for the charter petition to be posted online at the Decatur Schools website on Wednesday, Oct. 10th.