GREAT BARRINGTON — It's Jennifer Annand's first year teaching second grade at Muddy Brook Elementary School, but the former art teacher's creative energy seems to be catching on with her students.

Second grade is a place where everything's still colorful, fun, and supportive. TEA says it's also the year kids shouldn't just recite the pledge, but start to understand the words behind it and ...

Enzo Delia, a second grader at Hershey Elementary School, sometimes daydreams in class. But all he has to do is roll back and forth a bit on his red bouncy ball to remind himself to focus, he said. "I ...