Quick Hits (2.15.13)

Kayla Sieper, 5th grade, lover of foods. A mom-daughter duo’s veggie meatball soup and whole-grain roll has made it to the finals of a Florida county cook-off. The contestant, 5th grader Kayla Sieper, declined to comment on her culinary prospects, instead sharing that she is one to play “some serious basketball.”  (Carrollwood News)

Heartbroken and banned from China. Chinese culture minister Cai Wu recently demanded that all foreign musicians who performed in China have a college degree. That’s bad news for Celion Dion, Canadian superstar who recently performed at the Chinese “Spring Festival Gala,” who has never attended college. (The Atlantic)

Obama returns to preschool. Preschoolers at the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center got a special lesson on the art of magnification  from President Obama, who visited Decatur, Ga. on Thursday to talk about his plan to expand preschool education. The pictures are classic. (Huffington Post)

It really wasn’t Lake Woebegone, where all the teachers and children were above average. Also, the Finland example may not be quite what you have heard. Kathleen Porter-Magee and Jennifer Borgioli take on the 4 biggest anti-testing myths. (Common Core Watch)

An accidental win. The Colorado High School girls basketball team won their game 3-0 after this amazing pass. (YouTube)