CBS58.com: A Milwaukee fourth grader showed her slam poetry skills to the world on Monday night.

“In 20 years I’ll be in college getting my education that’s how I can make the world a better place, proud protective and passionate I am Pashia,” said Pashia Bowens.

Last week, we introduced you to Pashia Bowens.

The Lafollette student is one of just 15 across the country invited to New York City for the America scores National Poetry Slam.

The after school program has been at Milwaukee Public Schools since 2004.

It uses soccer and poetry to create a positive learning environment.

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Milwaukee Community Journal: Six Milwaukee Public Schools students now have something in common with creative icons including Richard Avedon, Ken Burns, Joyce Carol Oates, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford and Andy Warhol.

The six are winners of national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, earning national medals in categories from painting to science fiction/fantasy writing.

The winning MPS students’ entries were selected from among a record-breaking 320,000 works of art and writing. Fewer than 50 students from Wisconsin were among the national winners and one MPS student, Lilian Solheim of Milwaukee High School of the Arts, won two awards: gold and silver medals for her entries in painting.

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The number of Milwaukee Public Schools high school students enrolled in college-level Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme courses continues to grow, with the number at more than 4,000 for the current 2015-16 school year, according to a report presented to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors this month.

That figure has grown from about 3,200 just two years ago, in the 2013-14 school year.

AP and IB courses help challenge students to achieve and provide the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school.

MPS is home to 20 high schools with Advanced Placement courses, nine schools with middle and high school grades offering pre-Advanced Placement “SpringBoard” coursework and seven schools with International Baccalaureate programs, ranging from elementary school through high school.

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There are schools in America intent on breaking away from the norm.

From an “off-the-grid” school that relies on solar panels to classrooms in a public library, there are countless schools reimagining education.

Startup Noodle has released its first ever Innovative Schools report, which identifies 41 public, private and charter K-12 schools that rise above the rest. Launched by Princeton Review Founder John Katzman, Noodle provides educational resources to parents and teachers, and it spent the last year examining 140,000 schools to come up with this list.

Alliance School founded in 2005 in Milwaukee is a charter high school that calls itself the first in the nation with the explicit mission to reduce bullying.

“50% of our students identify as LGBT,” said cofounder Tina Owen, who opened the school with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Most of the school’s 196 students experienced bullying or harassment at previous schools. But those aren’t the only challenges they’ve faced. As much as 76% of the students are from low-income families (some are also in foster care) and 28% have disabilities.

Owen said the school’s philosophy is infused into the curriculum and into extracurricular activities.

“We teach them about different cultures and communities to raise their awareness, and our students also go to schools in the area to spread our anti-bullying message,” she said.