Sign up: The Emerge School for Autism—to be located at LSU’s Innovation Park—is currently accepting applications for kindergarten classes being offered for the first time next school year. Billed as the first tuition-free school for children with autism in Louisiana, the Emerge School uses a special education model that includes applied behavioral analysis and speech as well as occupational therapy. Applications are due by Friday, Dec. 15. Students must live in East Baton Rouge Parish to qualify for admission, have a DSM-V diagnosis with a qualified specialist and a current Individualized Education Program plan from the parish. A lottery for qualified applicants will take place in February 2018. Get more information.
In the finals: A team of LSU accounting students has earned a spot in Deloitte’s 2018 national Audit Innovation Campus Challenge, the university has announced. The competition exposes students to emerging technologies and requires them to think creatively about how to leverage the technology during an audit, says Sanaz Aghazadeh, an LSU assistant professor of accounting, in a news release. The six-student team was one of eight to compete in the AICC regionals held Nov. 14 in Atlanta. The students will now compete in the national competition on April 6-7 at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas.
Spending: More than 174 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the just-concluded holiday weekend, according to a new survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Average spending per person over the five-day period was $335.47, with $250.78—75%— specifically going toward gifts. The biggest spenders were older millennials, ages 25-34, at $419.52. Read more.
