05.04.2011

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JUSTIN TOLLIVER, WEST LAKE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Greetings. My name is Justin Tolliver from West Lake High School from West Lake, Georgia. As a member of the graduating class of 2011, I would like to express my appreciation to all teachers. Thank you for investing your time, talents and passion in sculpting the leaders of tomorrow. We recognize the value you bring to our educational system. Thank you for all that you do.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Justin, for helping us honor America's educators as we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week on CNN Student News. We're gonna have more on that in just a few minutes.

First Up: New bin Laden Details

AZUZ: But first, new details on the death of Osama bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The raid by U.S. forces that killed bin Laden also recovered intelligence information that American officials are reviewing now. Hard drives, computers, DVDs, thumb drives: all of that was pulled out of the compound in Pakistan where bin Laden was staying. Authorities hope it could offer clues to help prevent future terrorist attacks and help break up the al Qaeda terrorist network.

This animation gives you a general idea of how the raid took place. Helicopters landed inside the compound, dropping off Navy SEALs. They went floor-to-floor, clearing the building. One of the helicopters crashed because of a mechanical failure. It was blown up by the U.S. forces before they left. The SEALs shot and killed bin Laden after he resisted, and then they carried his body out of the building.

The operation wasn't run from the White House, but the president and his top national security advisers watched the raid happen in real time. You can see the president, the vice president, secretaries of state and defense. The U.S. counterterrorism leader said for the people in that room, "it was probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods of time" in their lives.

Blog Report

AZUZ: What you're saying about bin Laden's death: Dalton is relieved to know that bin Laden is dead. "Hopefully in the coming years, we can put an end to al Qaeda and the deaths they have caused." Brittany believes bin Laden's death doesn't change much in the war on terrorism. "We will still be at war in Afghanistan, and we should've been able to capture Osama more quickly," she writes. Clayton is happy the U.S. found and killed bin Laden, saying "many people, including a firefighter from [Clayton's] family, were killed in the 9/11 attacks." Elsa thinks it's wrong to ever be cheering someone's death and says the world isn't going to be safer overnight. She says "it's now critical to step up security so al Qaeda can't retaliate." And from Elek: "The al Qaeda terrorist group has lost a lot of power. Thanks to the amazing military of the U.S.A., this has taken a lot of weight off our shoulders."

I.D. Me

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! My motto is "Building strong." I'm part of the U.S. Army that was permanently established in 1802. My members take on military and civilian engineering projects. I'm the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and I'm the country's top government flood control agency.

Levee Breach

AZUZ: The Army Corps of Engineers is helping residents deal with floods in the midwestern U.S. Officials are focused on a levee, the barrier that's designed to prevent floods. But they're not building it. They're blowing it up! The Corps of Engineers set the charges you're seeing go off. The plan is to get rid of this levee on the Mississippi River, which will flood about 200 square miles of land in Missouri.

You might be wondering how causing a flood is to supposed to help in all of this. Engineers are blowing up that levee in order to let water from the Ohio River flow into the Mississippi. Before those blasts you saw, the water level in the Ohio River was the highest it's ever been. It was threatening to wipe out the entire town of Cairo, Illinois. Officials say the efforts to lower the flood waters are working.

But some folks in Missouri aren't happy about this. Those 200 square miles that were flooded are farms. Missouri's governor says it could take tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars to recover from the intentional flooding. The regional commander of the Corps of Engineers says he understands the widespread impact of this kind of situation.

MAJOR GENERAL MICHAEL WALSH, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: This is a story of the human dimension and, certainly, it's impacting lots of folks. As you fly up and down the river, you'll see a lot of people have already abandoned their houses and moved to higher ground. So, it is, it is a heartwrenching story. I've been involved with flooding for 10 years, and it takes a long time to recover from something like this.

Recovery Efforts

AZUZ: Moving south to Alabama, where search and rescue teams continue to look for victims of last week's devastating severe weather. Alabama was hit the hardest by the storms and tornadoes that tore across the southern U.S. 36 Alabama counties have been declared disaster areas by the U.S. government. That declaration frees up resources and money to help with the recovery efforts. Hundreds of people were killed by the storms. More than 400,000 still don't have power. Officials are also trying to find temporary housing for hundreds, maybe thousands of people who lost their homes.

This Day in History

AZUZ: On this day in history in 1886, a riot broke out in Chicago's Haymarket Square. 8 police officers were killed and more than 100 people were injured.

In 1970, four students were killed at Kent State University in Ohio when National Guardsmen fired on a group that was protesting the Vietnam War.

And in 1979, Margaret Thatcher, nicknamed the "Iron Lady" for her political toughness, was sworn in as the United Kingdom's first female prime minister.

Honoring Teachers

AZUZ: We are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week here on CNN Student News. A time to say "thank you" to all of the educators who have made an impact on your life. Yesterday was actually Teacher Appreciation Day. And President Obama marked the occasion at the White House by honoring the 2011 National Teacher of the Year as well as the teachers of the year from each state. The national honor went to Michelle Shearer, a chemistry teacher from Maryland. During the event, she paid tribute to all educators for teaching students the skills they need to succeed in school, as well as in life.

No Grade Levels?

AZUZ: As part of CNN's upcoming special program on education, "Don't Fail Me," Deborah Feyerick visited a school district in Colorado. Officials there are trying a different approach to education, one that gets rid of grades. Not the ones you might get on a quiz, but the grades you're in. Her report looks at how it works and whether it's working.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

DULCE GARCIA, HODGKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT: It's an X-ray.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK: Victor Perez and Dulce Garcia are both 11 years old. Ask them what grade they're in, you won't get a traditional answer.

VICTOR PEREZ, HODGKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT: Level 7.

FEYERICK: And you are?

GARCIA: Six.

FEYERICK: What about reading?

PEREZ: Level 7.

FEYERICK: And you are?

GARCIA: Seven.

FEYERICK: At Hodgkins Elementary School outside Denver, Colorado, there are no grade levels. In fact, there are no grades, period. Kids are grouped not by age, but by what they know.

JENNIFER GREGG, LITERACY TEACHER, HODGKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: We're talking about main ideas and facts from a nonfiction book.

FEYERICK: Jennifer Gregg's literacy class is made up of kids ages 8 to 10 with four different reading levels.

GREGG: It's so individualized. We're filling in their gaps so that they can move on.

FEYERICK: It's known as standards based learning, modeled on the belief every child learns in their own way.

SARAH GOULD, PRINCIPAL, HODGKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Every student in every class is learning at exactly the spot that they're supposed to.

FEYERICK: Principal Sarah Gould help put this system in place two years ago. No one moves to the next level without testing at the equivalent of a C or higher.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 100. You guys all got 100.

FEYERICK: How many of you have gone up a level this year? Wow.

The entire school district has been on an academic watch list because of below-average standardized test scores. Mother and school board president Vicky Marshall helped convince parents they needed to try this and make it work.

VICKY MARSHALL, SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT: Their biggest concerns were around how are you going to assign a grade point average.

FEYERICK: But changing course is not easy. Educators estimate it takes three to five years for standardized test scores to go up. So far, 300 schools nationwide have tried it. Half couldn't stick with it. Wendy Battino, who helps implement this model, says without strong leadership and community support, it won't work.

WENDY BATTINO, REINVENTING SCHOOLS COALITION: This is really hard. Superintendents last what, two, two and a half years on average? It's really hard to lead systemic change when you have that much turnover.

FEYERICK: And though state test scores here haven't gone up, Principal Gould is still on board. Why? She says discipline problems dropped 76 percent since the change, and students now are more motivated than ever. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Westminster, Colorado.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

AZUZ: So, you heard some pros and cons there. What do you think about the gradeless school idea? You can sound off on our blog at CNNStudentNews.com. Before we go, we're taking you on an undercover assignment. Get ready to experience a rush of adrenaline from racing a mattress around the course at the Great Bed Races! The mattress mayhem is an annual Kentucky event. Among the winners and losers, officials handed out a prize for the best "cone eater." Nice way of saying the "worst driver." As for any arguments about who had the fastest time...

Goodbye

AZUZ: ...One look at the scoreboard will put that debate to rest. Better not sleep on any competition there. After all, when it comes to bed races, you never know who might be a true nap-tural. We never get tired of puns, so we'll dream up some more tomorrow. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.