It's always hoped that your school will be the exception to the rule and won't suffer a loss or have to submit an insurance claim. The reality, however, is at some point in your school career you will have to file a claim. Following are the seven steps you'll need to best handle the process.

Welch's Harvest Grants for Teachers Hurry, hurry, hurry! This year, in a partnership with Scholastic, Welch's is supporting school garden programs, helping to teach the value of sustainable agriculture and healthy eating. Teachers can apply for a Welch's Harvest Grant and win a school garden package filled with a variety of garden tools, seeds, and educational materials.

Traditionally, February is the snowiest month on the calendar for the U.S. If you're located in the northeast like we are, you're probably already tired of seeing the snow clouds roll in. (Although your students are probably loving all the snow this year!) Snow presents several challenges for school campuses—and certainly a number of possible risks that you want to avoid. Here are a few tips to keep your school's walkways, parking lots, and budgets snow-day-safe.

Does fund raising look any different in a down economy? The obvious answer is yes! How do you ask people who have lost their jobs to make an investment in your school? Or what happens if a major player is forced to leave town, or even goes bankrupt? Or how do you get money from someone whose bonus was paid in deferred stock?

Once a month, a member of the ISM Development Team will answer a development-related question submitted by one of our readers. To ask a question to be addressed in future e-letters, please click here.

Many schools, at one time or another, will conduct a phonathon to supplement the annual giving letter campaign. Is yours stagnant? Not getting the results you used to? To revitalize that phonathon, you need to make sure your volunteers are well trained and have the support they need for maximum returns. Here are a few tips for a vibrant phonathon.

Teachers, Principals, and school administrators are finding themselves in a new and challenging position as legal marijuana is showing up in classrooms throughout the nation—must noticeably in California.

As flu season kicks into full gear, you may find yourself standing in your local drugstore wearing slippers, holding tissues, and searching for something over the counter to help with the symptoms. If you find yourself picking up traditionally popular holistic treatments, think about the following interactions first.

There is a delicate balance between educating children on the importance of being healthy and damaging their self-esteem. When a child is overweight, it's hard to find the right sequence of words to express concerns. What you don't want to do is push the child toward dangerous eating or exercise habits, or away from you. Yet, it's vital to communicate healthy relationships between food and kids—especially now as yearly statistics continue to grow dimmer and dimmer for our future generations.

Two veteran teachers in a school each teach a secondary World Geography class. They have approximately the same class sizes, the same content, and the same access to technology. The students of the first teacher groan at the mention of his subject, while the students of the second teacher can't wait to get to class. So what is making the difference??? In this case it has to do with the pedagogy each has elected to use.