What do mini laptops, video-streaming pencasts and Charlie Sheen have to do with scholastic achievement? At Clarkston Junior High School, a whole heckuva lot. Jeff Peariso, who teaches algebra and statistics, has piloted a high-tech teaching program for a handful of students, with exciting results.

NoHam joins Farmington Hills and Ann Arbor in the Metro Detroit skatepark movement. Filling a vacant lot with a bowl, quarter pipe, bank, and hip is only Phase I for the nonprofit organizers of Power House Productions. These urban innovators envision a sustainable, skatable sculpture park that will become a destination for local boarders and BMXers.