Summer break has come and gone although I probably did take more of an extended hiatus from this blog than I should’ve.

But here’s a story that has broken that blogging lethargy - at least for a while:

Dave Mandelkern was the classic couch potato just a few years ago.

He sat in front of the television and “ate crappy food — junk food,” he said. Sure, he tried various activities such as racquetball and aerobics.

“But nothing caught on until I found this crazy sport,” said Mandelkern, who serves on the board of the San Mateo County Community College District.

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Ok, with students on their summer vacation, this education reporter will also take a break for a week or so, starting tomorrow.

I’ll be headed to Mexico for some fun and relaxation but don’t plan to completely tune my brain out (at least that’s the hope!).

The trip will be an opportunity for me to catch up on some reading and hone my Spanish with the locals there.

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Sorry but a favorite spot for fireworks watchers won’t be available this Fourth of July.

For years, people have parked their vehicles at Cañada College lots in Redwood City to watch the pyrotechnics from Redwood Shores to the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

But construction work will close the campus during the holiday - the first time in recent memory that will happen.

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It did not take long for Jim Cannon to get back his seat on the San Mateo County Board of Education.

Cannon was serving on the board when he recently signed on as interim principal for Washington Elementary in Burlingame.

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Three South San Francisco service clubs teamed up to raise $8,100 for classroom supplies for local schools.

The Kiwanis, Rotary and Soroptimist clubs recently gave a check for that amount to nine principals in the South San Francisco Unified School District. (Photo above by Joe Manio)

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1. The Adirondack Mountains are found in which state - Connecticut or New York?

2. Which river runs between Arizona and California before entering Mexico - the Platte River or Colorado River?

3. Karachi and Lahore, both cities with populations greater than 5 million, are located in which South Asian country?

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International leaders will drop by Skyline College on Monday to learn more about the economic and other systems in the U.S.

Two legislators from Uruguay will visit the San Bruno campus as part of a U.S. State Department tour.

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Attending school board meetings and talking with education experts have their value, but there’s no beating visiting classrooms, chatting with students and teachers, and seeing up close what and how the kids are learning.

I had some pretty interesting classroom visits the past week that reinforced that importance for me as an education reporter of going back to school as often as possible.

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First-grade teacher Denise Deghi will travel to the Bahamas on a well-deserved trip.

It’s not for vacation. She actually will still be teaching her students all the way here at the San Mateo Park Math and Science Magnet School.

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School districts are starting to come out with numbers showing how much the state’s budget woes would hurt local education.

The Jefferson Elementary School District board, for instance, is scheduled Monday to consider a list of possible budget-reduction measures.

In the South San Francisco Unified School District, Superintendent Barbara Olds there has given these chilling prospects:

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