CNJ providing newspapers Copies of the Clovis News Journal will be offered to local classrooms from March 7-10 in celebration of Newspapers in Education Week. Various classroom activities will also be printed in the newspaper that week. To receive classroom copies of the paper, e-mail your request to lynn_berry@link.freedom.com or call 763-3431 by Friday. Clovis students taking testsStudents in grades three through nine and 11th-graders will be busy the next few weeks penciling in answers to state tests. The series of tests were designed to assess their proficiency in mathematics, reading, writing and science, according to a press release from the New Mexico Public Education Department. The tests, named the New Mexico Standards-Based Assessment, were developed by Harcourt Assessment, the release said. The testing period launched Feb. 27, and will continue until March 24 for students in grades three through nine and March 17 for the 11th-graders. Office store honoring teachers The Clovis OfficeMax store has partnered with Teachers Count and Marvel Entertainment to honor middle-school teachers, according to an OfficeMax press release. Clovis-area students in grades six through eight are eligible to nominate their teachers, the release said. Interested students must write an essay in 200 words or less explaining “Why My Teacher is a Superhero,” the release said. The grand-prize winning teacher will get $6,000 in prizes for school, and the student who nominated the winning teacher will earn a $500 OfficeMax gift card, the release said. Five additional teachers and students will be honored. Contest entry forms are available at the OfficeMax store located at 900 E. Manana St., the release said. To be eligible, completed forms must be submitted by March 17. Student-teacher ratio in NM low New Mexico is among 10 states that lag behind others in the number of teachers per student, according to an analysis by The American Legislative Exchange Council. The pupil-to-teacher ratio in New Mexico has dropped by about 20 percent in the past two decades, according to an ALEC press release. States that saw the greatest decreases in pupil-to-teacher ratios over the past two decades, from the greatest to least affected, are: Virginia, Hawaii, Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Ohio, New Mexico, North Carolina and Vermont, the release said. The report concluded that “the well documented increases in spending on education have not done enough to improve student achievement,” the release said. Real estate course offered at ENMU A licensed New Mexico real estate broker will host a weekend real estate workshop at Eastern New Mexico University. Part of the ENMU’s extended learning program, the workshop will be March 17-18. Registration deadline is March 17. For information, contact the ENMU Office of Extended Learning at 562-2165. Education Digest is compiled by CNJ staff writer Marlena Hartz. She may be contacted at 763-6991, or by e-mail: marlena_hartz@link.freedom.com