With news that nearly two-thirds of Tennessee's public school third graders are not proficient in reading or math, researchers report that the combination of Voluntary Pre-K and quality K-3 is a way to improve academic outcomes. 

Like the character of Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's novels, people are a mix of goodness and baseness. A lack of self-awareness can result in "blithe disregard for genuine grievances."  

Between 2010 and 2015, Memphis was the fourth fastest growing city for millennials. There's no better place in the United States to grow than Memphis, and right now there's no place growing quite like it.

Many of the people who help with butterfly counts are knowledgeable about birds, dragonflies, amphibians and plants. But if you’ve got eyes and can ask, “What’s that?” you can be a valuable participant. The next count is Sept. 7 at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. 

Memphis has seen its own types of gerrymandering and the political opportunism that undergirds those efforts.

MATA needs a silver buckshot strategy that incorporates a lot of different innovative approaches – including buses on heavily traveled routes and on-demand transportation in low-density areas.

Next fall, thousands of Memphis children will qualify to participate in the new Education Savings Accounts (ESA) Program. They can receive about $7,300 in the account, which can be used for tuition at private schools, tutoring, textbooks, school uniforms and computers.

If MATA is committed to providing first-class transportation for the residents of Westwood and Boxtown, it should consider a plan recently proposed by retired bus driver Lonnie Britton to run buses through both neighborhoods every 30 minutes so riders can get to the Downtown bus terminals in 30 minutes.

In Tennessee, more than 70,000 citizen children live with an undocumented family member. If a large-scale immigration raid occurred in our neighborhoods, it would have ramifications among the nearly 14,000 Latino/Latina children attending Shelby County Schools. 

A basketball league, an all-male mentorship program and 'restorative conversations' when students make mistakes are part of the Bruce Elementary principal's philosophy of education. 

If you were asked for a thoughtful vision statement that could become the guiding light for our entire city, what would it be?  

'Many of us have been taught that volunteerism and philanthropy should be completely selfless. I would argue that volunteering needs to be positive for the organization AND for the volunteer.'

The Tennessee Virtual Academy, a program under the Union County Public Schools, felt "like a custom-made school" for a student diagnosed with autism and epilepsy.

TFA teachers make a commitment to the next generation of Memphians, and a group of community advocates makes sure those teachers get a welcome box and support when they arrive.

Some students do not enjoy reading. I was one of those students growing up. I did not enjoy reading because I did not see myself in the books we had to read in school. It was important for me to select books that my students can relate to, and most importantly see themselves in.

Services are simultaneously delivered to parents and children, and may include case management, counseling, tutoring, mentoring and life skills development.

The first-ever master plan for the zoo was developed in 1986 and was finished with the completion of Zambezi River Hippo Camp in 2016. It is now time for a new vision. Not for a bigger Memphis Zoo, but for a better Memphis Zoo.

The Memphis River Parks Partnership has not disclosed to taxpayers how they plan to generate $1.1 billion in revenue by adding hills, trees and basketball courts to Tom Lee Park.

Why – if we have bike lanes to keep cyclists, pedestrians and motorists safe – do we allow unregulated, motorized scooters to take over our sidewalks? 

The irony is this: The very process of trying to prove your value is devaluing. Yearning for more responsibility, more respect for your skills and talents, or even additional compensation can lead to burnout.

Trump’s slogan from the beginning was code for marginalizing people of color as different and inferior, while assuring white Americans who have an innate fear and distrust of multiculturalism that they would have a president who was always on their side.

Alzheimer’s disease is a major health concern in the African-American community. Yet people do not talk about it. Our family excused Gran’s forgetfulness as just getting old. 

Think of Aretha Franklin or Isaac Hayes in Soulsville, Willie Mitchell in Orange Mound and Dewey Phillips at the Hotel Chisca. A Rufus Thomas statue could go just about anywhere in town and Memphis Minnie and Furry Lewis sure would look good on Beale Street.

The Mike Rose Natatorium is a bold initiative in which University of Memphis students are far from the primary beneficiaries. People who will benefit include at-risk children who might not otherwise learn to swim, competitive youth swimming and water polo teams, and community members who pay a fee to exercise in the pool. 

Venezuela observed 208 years of independence from Spain on July 5, but people there weren't setting off fireworks. Instead, they feared they might hear gunshots.