Education

A group of middle school students will get a chance to fly over Wichita this week to mark the end of their mentoring program.

The Flying Challenge program ends Thursday at the National Center for Aviation Training.

The program matches Airbus and Wichita State University engineering students with 80 students at Brooks Middle School in Wichita.

The students participate in a robotics lab, a paint lab, a radio-controlled airplane demonstration and this flight over Wichita,

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has awarded grants totaling nearly $83,000 to 27 of the state's public schools for recycling-related projects.

The department the grants were awarded for the next school year and will help pay for recycling bins, composting programs, programs for handling cafeteria waste and field trips to recycling centers. Schools from across the state won grants from $750 t0 $4500.

Nearby schools that won grants include:

The Maize School District has decided to stop doing random drug tests on students who participate in extra-curricular activities.

Maize's School Board recently voted to eliminate the testing after hearing reactions from school administrators and students. The suburb just west of Wichita had conducted the random tests on students from grades 7 through 12.

A spokeswoman says the district has spent almost $31,500 on the program since it began in 2007.

Kansas higher education officials are depending upon Gov. Brownback to convince lawmakers to preserve money for public universities and colleges.

Brownback toured university and community college campuses last week to highlight education's importance to the state economy.

The governor and other Republicans want Kansas to phase out individual income taxes over the next few years.

To replace that lost funding, Gov. Brownback wants to make a temporary sales tax that's set to expire in July permanent.

After nearly eight months of meetings with staff, students and community members, Wichita State University has developed a new plan that will be used to shape the future of the university.

On September 5, 2012, WSU President John Bardo kicked off a campus and community-wide strategic planning process. He appointed a steering committee made up of WSU personnel, community and business leaders, plus others with a stake in the future of WSU and the region.