Have you ever noticed how a song can bring back all kinds of memories? It might remind you of your first school dance or maybe a fun vacation you took with friends.

There is no way to count how many awesome songs are released every year. However, there are always a few great songs that come along that can embody a season. For me, 2010 was definitely the year of “Stereo Love,” while last year was more of a “Hey Soul Sister” year. Surprisingly enough, both of these songs made their big debuts during the summertime.

This got me thinking: what have been the biggest summer songs of this century? Whether by the pool, on a road trip, or at the gym, this definitively summer playlist will help you bring back and make plenty of new memories.

2000: “Say My Name.” Destiny’s Child

2001: “Get the Party Started.” Pink.

2002: “Hot in Herre.” Nelly.

2003: “Crazy in Love.” Beyonce, featuring Jay-Z. Read the rest of this entry »

For many people, learning a new skill is a great New Year’s Resolution. You could sign up for expensive private lessons, take classes at your school, or do what Dr. John McClure did and take lessons from someone who lives on the other side of the country.

McClure, who lives in Minnesota, was learning how to play the bagpipes from a friend and was really enjoying his new-found hobby. However, when his friend moved away, McClure had to find an alternative way to continue learning. So he turned to Jori Chisholm – a bagpipe player who won first-place at the 2010 Cowal Highland Gathering in Dunoon, Scotland, and who currently lives in Seattle – to help him continue improving. So how does McClure receive his lessons? Does he fly across the country every week in order to take the lessons? Of course not. The two men use Skype in order to connect and practice; sometimes they even have a lesson when McClure, a pathologist, is at work.

“I’ve been on call, waiting for a specimen from the O.R., and I’ll do a lesson with Jori,” McClure said. He uses a practice chanter, which is basically a bagpipe without a bag, in order to keep the lessons quiet and hospital-friendly.

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Studying for a standardized test can be dull, not to mention, very difficult. For high school students in New York City, the ultimate standardized tests are the Regents exams. How hard are these test? To give you an idea, here’s a sample question from this test goes something like this:

“Which idea did the founding fathers include in the Constitution that allows Congress to meet the needs of a changing society? 1. Federalism. 2. Separation of Powers. 3. The Elastic Clause. 4. States’ Rights.”

Pretty hard, right? So how should students prepare themselves for this test? They could pour over textbooks for endless hours, or they could sit with some their classmates and rap.

A new program called Fresh Prep is allowing students to do just that. Founded by the Urban Arts Partnership, Fresh Prep is attempting to help students pass the test so that they can graduate high school.

However, the students will have a hard time passing the test if they can’t understand the questions. Therefore, Fresh Prep “translates” the questions into a language that the students can understand.

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Beyonce Knowles is an American actress, designer, and singer. She first became known for being the lead singer in a popular R&B group in the late 1990s, Destiny’s Child. EDUinReview will now take a look at her education background.

Beyonce was born on September 4, 1981, in Houston, Texas. Her parents are Mathew and Tina Knowles. She has a younger sister, Solange, who also works in the music and film industries.

Beyonce attended St. Mary’s Elementary School, where she first started taking dance classes. During her dance classes, her dance teacher learned that she could sing when Knowles finished a song that the singer had been humming.When she was only seven-years old, Beyonce was mentioned in the Houston Chronicle after being nominated for The Sammy, a local performing arts award. In 1990, she enrolled at Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school. When it came time for high school, she attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Alief Elsik HIgh School.

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Rob Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first got a taste of fame when he was the lead singer for the band, Matchbox Twenty. In 2005, he began a solo musical career and released his first solo album …Something to Be, which debuted at number one. After the release of this album, his career took off and Thomas became even more famous than he had been before. EDUinReview will now take a look at the education background of this talented man.

Thomas was born on April 14, 1972 at the Ramstein Air Base in Landstuhl, West Germany. His parents divorced when Thomas was very young and he spent most of his time with his mother. He grew up in Gainseville, Florida. When he was 17-years old, Thomas dropped out of high school during his senior year. Since then, he has earned his G.E.D. but has not pursued a higher education.

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Sean John Combs was born on November 4, 1969. Combs was born in Harlem, New York. He is the son of Melvin Earl and Janice Combs. Combs grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. When his father was 33 he was shot and killed. Melvin Combs was an associate of the New York drug lord, Frank Lucas. Melvin Comb’s death resulted from his affiliations with the drug lord.

Combs attended Mount Saint Michael Academy. Combs was a successful football player in high school and graduated in 1987. Combs went on to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. Combs showed great skill in marketing and earned a reputation as a party planner while in college. During college Combs became an intern at New York’s Uptown Records. Combs made the trip back and forth between New York and Washington, D.C. for quite some time. Combs became a top executive at Uptown and eventually dropped out of Howard.

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Samuel Timothy “Tim” McGraw was born on May 1, 1967 in Delhi, Louisiana, a town in Richland Pariah. He was born to his mother, Elizabeth “Betty” Ann D’Agostino. McGraw believed his step father, Horace Smith, was his birth father for much of his childhood. However, his teenage mother was sent to live with relatives during her pregnancy that resulted from her high school relationship with Frank Edwin “Tug” McGraw Jr. “Tug” was a relief pitcher for the New York Mets and the Philadephia Phillies. At age 11, McGraw met his birth father for the first time and eventually changed his own name from Smith to McGraw.

McGraw attended Northeast Louisiana University, now the University of Louisiana at Monroe, on a baseball scholarship. He also became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. During college, McGraw learned how to play the guitar and took a great interest in performing. In 1987, McGraw’s mother moved to Florida and he chose to go with her. There, he attended Florida Community College at Jackson for one term.

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Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone) was born August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. Her parents are Silvio Anthony Ciccone and Madonna Louise (nee Fortin). Silvio was a first generation Italian American who originated from Pacentro, Italy. Madonna’s father worked as a design engineer for Chrysler and General Motors. Madonna’s mother was a homemaker who died in 1963 at age 30 of breast cancer. Madonna is the third of her parent’s 6 children. She has two half siblings from her father’s second marriage.

Madonna attended St. Fredrick’s and St. Andrew’s Elementary Schools, and then West Middle School in Michigan. She was noticed for her good performance and also for her unconventional behavior at these young ages. Madonna attended Rochester Adams High School in Rochester Hills, Michigan. There she received straight A’s and was a member of the cheer leading squad. Cheer leading earned her a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan.

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A members of the legendary music group, The Rolling Stones, both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have been extremely successful. The Rollings Stones formed in London in April of 1962. They gained popularity in Europe and American. The band gained notoriety in North America during the British Invasion in the mid 1960s.

Lead singer, Sir Michael Philip “Mick” Jagger was born July 26, 1943 in Kent, England. His parents were Basil Fanshawe “Joe” and Eva Ensley Mary Jagger. His father was a teacher and his mother was a hairdresser and an active member of the Conservative Party. Mick was the oldest of two sons. He has one younger brother named Chris.

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Shawn Corey Carter, better known by his stage name, Jay-Z, was born December 4, 1969. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. Jay-Z was raised by his mother, Gloria Carter in the Brooklyn neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant. Jay-Z’s father abandoned the family when Jay-Z was 12 years old.

Jay-Z attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until the school closed. Then he attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in downtown Brooklyn. Following that school Jay-Z end up attended Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey. Jay-Z did not complete his high school education or receive a degree.

Having an interest in music from a very young age, Shawn Carter was known by the nickname “Jazzy” in his neighborhood and later that nickname morphed into the name, Jay-Z.
Jay-Z’s rise into a successful rapper and businessman began as he and his fellow rapper’s began collaborating on shows and pieces of work.

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