Should every school district offer pre-kindergarten? What should it look like? We've summarized what members of the Connect for Kids community had to say about it in our week-long e-mail discussion.

An idea for a film on the problems that adolescent girls face turned into an exploration of girls who succeed. The result is 5 Girls, part of the POV series on public television. Filmmaker Maria Finitzo spoke with Connect for Kids' Caitlin Johnson about the surprising strength of her subjects.

How do the stories in POV's documentary 5 Girls strike someone finding her own path through the tough terrain of adolescence? Sharon Feder, a 17-year-old senior at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn New York, found a lot to like in this review from Youth Communications.

At 25 cents a pop, a Dixie cup full of lemonade poured by the 9-year-old next door is more than a refreshing drink—it's an investment in a caring community. That's the thesis behind James Vollbracht's new book, Stopping At Every Lemonade Stand: How to Create a Culture That Cares For Kids. Reviewer Deborah Fisher says the book is practical and inspiring.

Lessons in life and death, worm-slime and ecology: these are just a few of the reasons that author and angler Richard Louv believes every child should have a chance to match wits with a fish.

The summer of 2000, Caitlin Johnson volunteered in a language arts summer school class for 6th graders in Alexandria, Virginia, she left convinced that helping kids become confident writers is a critical job—and a tough one.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Family Independence Initiative/Even Start program is bringing the community together to help low-income parents and their children get ahead. Caitlin Johnson reports.

In June 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that a Texas high school's practice of broadcasting student-led prayer before football games is unconstitutional—a ruling based in large part on the landmark 1963 school prayer case, School District of Abington Township v. Schempp. For the children behind that original case, now fully grown, this latest decision brings back memories of the pain and pride they felt during a battle that profoundly changed the climate of the nation's public schools.

Many people think children need religion in school to learn morality. In our monthly column, Jan Richter suggests that religion is not the only pathway to teaching our children good values-and offers an argument for tolerance and respect for all.

What's open up to 15 hours a day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year, and can combine all the best elements of a school, community center, public library and medical clinic? The answer is one of dozens of schools identified as Community Schools for Excellence in a new Ad Council campaign. Learn more about these innovative schools, and the Ad Council's efforts.