Midwest
What are microschools and why is the education model growing in Indiana?
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Microschooling institutions are growing in Indiana and are projected to expand within the state because parents are “upset” with the public school options in their school district, Gov. Mike Braun told Fox News Digital.
“I see it happening because while I’m here, we’re going to make sure parents are in the driver’s seat of their own kids’ education,” Braun said.
Braun held a signing ceremony on Tuesday, celebrating education bills that boosted teacher pay and bolstered universal school choice in his state.
“Those are the parents most upset with the current offerings you got out there, but they may not want to do it themselves,” Braun added.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said that Indiana has been at the forefront of providing parents with variety, options, and competition in the education marketplace. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
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An Indiana official sent Fox News Digital a report showing that there are an estimated 140 micro-schools in Indiana.
Microschooling is a hybrid of homeschooling and the traditional school model that could be privately run or held at public institutions.
The Indiana Microschool Collaborative describes microschools as “a small learning space in your local community where each student has a personalized learning plan built around their needs, interests, and goals.”
An example of this is Purdue Polytechnic High School Lab School — a private school in Indianapolis, which has about 20 students in either ninth or 10th grade, offering customized education. The Lab’s classes are conducted in a Lutheran church in Indianapolis.
“The Lab School opened in the fall of 2023 with a model that school leaders describe as part one-room schoolhouse, part all-day advisory period,” ChalkBeat Indiana reported.
Microschooling institutions are growing in Indiana and are projected to expand within the state because parents are “upset” with the public school options in their school district, Governor Mike Braun told Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)
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Nature Gifts Microschool, based in Indiana, will operate as a public charter school accepting students on a first-come, first-served basis.
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded like public schools, yet independently run, allowing for innovation and new education models.
Since Nature Gifts is a charter school, the taxpayer dollars will go directly to the students in microschools because of their administration model and smaller class sizes.
Braun added that Indiana has been at the forefront of providing parents variety, options and competition in the education marketplace. “Microschools, to me, are just an innovation that says, ‘Hey, I’m not happy with that public school system. Don’t maybe like that charter option. We’re going to put our own microschool together,’” Braun said.
Rural families have been taking advantage of microschools since they have limited options. There has been an uptick in parents choosing to homeschool their children since the coronavirus pandemic, indicating a growing trend of parents overlooking public schools. While microschools are not a new concept, they operate similarly to homeschooling.
Corey DeAngelis of the American Culture Project. (Fox News Digital)
Microschools are not only growing in Indiana, but also across the country. Some reporting shows an uptick in parents choosing this form of schooling since 2024.
An Indiana official sent Fox News Digital an additional report showing that Indiana has the third-most microschools, behind Arizona and Florida.
Corey DeAngelis of the American Culture Project told Fox News Digital that the growth of microschools is emblematic of a growing trend of states giving parents more options outside their neighborhood public school and parents being fed up with the traditional public school setting.
“When the government schools closed their doors and left families hanging, families tried to figure out homeschooling, and one way that they were able to economize on the process of homeschooling, was that they had to get five to ten children together in a household,” DeAngelis said.
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Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots: What to know in case you win
Here’s what to know in case you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
The Illinois Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Pick-3 numbers from June 7 drawing
Midday: 7-7-1, Fireball: 9
Evening: 1-2-7, Fireball: 1
Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick-4 numbers from June 7 drawing
Midday: 0-0-9-5, Fireball: 0
Evening: 5-3-1-7, Fireball: 5
Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning LuckyDay Lotto numbers from June 7 drawing
Midday: 22-24-36-37-41
Evening: 09-10-27-37-41
Check LuckyDay Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes up to $600: Claim at an Illinois Lottery retailer, a Claim Center, by mail, or via an e-Claim. By mail, send the required documentation to: Illinois Lottery Claims Department, P.O. Box 19080, Springfield, IL.
- Prizes from $601 to $10,000: Claim at a Claim Center, by mail, or via an e-Claim.
- Prizes over $10,000: Claim at a Claim Center or by mail.
- Appointments Required: Schedule an appointment for in-person claims.
- Documentation: Bring a photo ID and Social Security number proof.
When are the Illinois Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky Day Lotto (Day): 12:40 p.m. CT daily.
- Lucky Day Lotto (Evening): 9:22 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto: 9:22 p.m. CT on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.
- Pick 3 (Day): 12:40 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Evening): 9:22 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Day): 12:40 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Evening): 9:22 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Illinois editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Indiana
Where to watch Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics on June 8: TV channel, start time and streaming
The WNBA has returned with a brand new collective bargaining agreement and a league full of loaded rosters as the 2026 season tips off.
A rookie class headlined by Dallas Wings top pick Azzi Fudd, Minnesota’s Olivia Miles and Washington’s Lauren Betts is ready to make a mark in the pros while the defending champion Las Vegas Aces look to keep their dynasty alive with a fourth title in five years.
As the the season gets going under a new media rights deal, it can be tough to figure out which channel each team is playing on every night. Here’s everything you need to know to tune in when the Washington Mystics host the Indiana Fever on Monday.
What time is Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics?
Tip off between the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) on Monday, June 8.
How to watch Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics on Monday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Monday, June 8, 2026, at 6:11 a.m.
Watch the WNBA all season on Fubo
WNBA scores and results
See scores, results for all of today’s games .
See WNBA scores, results from June 7
Odds for WNBA games today
The latest WNBA odds can be found below from the best sports betting apps . Some odds may include games scheduled on future dates.
Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard on Tailgate Tour for new coaches
Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard on the opportunity for new coaches on Tailgate Tour
WATERLOO – It was probably a bit more than two years ago when the hints, innuendo, gossip and speculation started to accumulate.
In conversations with coaches or administrators or the otherwise well-connected within Iowa State athletics circles, any discussion about the not-too-distant future of Cyclone sports would take a sort of detour.
‘You know,’ they’d say, ‘Jamie isn’t going to be here forever.’
Do tell, I’d ask.
‘It wouldn’t shock me,’ they’d note, ‘if Jamie called it a career sooner than you’d think.’
Jamie being, of course, Jamie Pollard, Iowa State’s longest-tenured athletics director. He is, of course, still Iowa State’s athletic director, and he’s under contract to be so through 2030 after signing a five-year extension early in 2025. Which, given the gathering momentum of speculation about a potential impending retirement, surprised plenty of people plugged in to the Jacobson Athletic Building when it was announced.
So the rumor mill, as it so often does, began spinning again. This time, with an explanation of why it was wrong the first time.
Iowa State president Wendy Wintersteen, who would announce her own retirement three months after that Pollard extension, asked the athletic director to extend his record-setting tenure to keep continuity and stability on the university’s front porch while it underwent change at the top.
Or so the story went.
“I don’t know that I’d say that’s 100 percent accurate,” Pollard said last month when I presented him with that scenario at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour.
“It’s close.”
Whatever the exact machinations, Pollard will enter his 22nd year guiding Iowa State athletics this fall, but, you know, he won’t be forever.
“I’ve basically said if this was a game of soccer, we’d be in extra time,” Pollard, 61, told me. “Nobody knows how much time is left on the clock, including the player.
“A big thing for (wife) Ellen and me, is there is a ‘next,’ and we want to physically and mentally be able to enjoy ‘next,’ but, at the same time, I want to make sure when that day comes, that we hand it off in as good a spot as can be.”
Which is no small reason why that retirement many were expecting was postponed when Wintersteen told him her career was winding to its end. After being at a place for two decades, what’s a few more years? Especially if it helps keep that place you care deeply about better situated for the future.
Eventually, though, that postponement will end. That future will arrive – without Pollard.
“At some point and time that’s going to happen for all of us, right?” Pollard, who recently became a grandfather, said. “When’s the right time to do that? We’ll have to figure that out.
“It’s a work in progress.”
That work is complicated by the sheer volume of volatility collegiate sports are currently enduring. When the industry’s leaders become regulars at congressional testimony, it’s a pretty good sign that things are not going smoothly and orderly. And even more locally, Iowa State just had a head coaching change in football, axed its gymnastics program, began a women’s wrestling program, projects a future budget shortfall and has something like a $200 million development underway with CyTown.
I’m not saying an AD changeover will be like a couple of jugglers trying to pass flaming chainsaws, but I mean, maybe I am?
“At some point in time, you have to transition it to whatever comes next,” Pollard said, “and unfortunately, our industry, the ground’s changing under our feet as we talk. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with that part of it, and I think a big part for Iowa State is just making sure our financial situation is as solid as it can be.
“It’s clearly not what it once was, but we’re never going back to those days, either.”
Budget issues softened, but still significant
It made headlines last year when Iowa State athletics presented that it was projecting a $147 million budget deficit through 2031, largely, the school said, due to the House settlement that allowed for revenue sharing with student-athletes. Essentially, it was a new $20 million-plus yearly line item for a department whose budget only eclipsed $100 million in 2022.
The Cyclones, through internal alterations, have been able to cut that project deficit, essentially, in half, Pollard said. Still, something like a $75 million budget shortfall over the next five years is nobody’s idea of a good time.
“The low-hanging fruit has been picked,” Pollard said. “You can’t just always go back to raise ticket prices, donations – that’s going to have to be a part of it, just plain and simple, but that’s not going to get us there, either.
“There’s going to have to be some other decisions that are made, whether it’s campus-wise, regents-wise or state-wise.”
Pollard noted there could be changes to how Iowa State handles its tuition, scholarships and student fees. The state, he said, could make the athletic department the beneficiaries of a gambling tax hike or provide direct support for CyTown, which the university is betting on being an “economic engine.”
“There’s just things like that,” Pollard said. “There’s still some fruit to be picked, but it’s not the low-hanging fruit.”
Which begs the obvious question – is any of that fruit of the fermented variety?
Will Iowa State sell alcohol at games?
Pollard has long been resistant to calls to serve alcohol to the general public at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum.
It’s been a consistent position for the better part of two decades. You may remember he said, “People are flat-out slobs,” last year when asked for reasons why Iowa State doesn’t sell booze at games. It made the news and everything.
Still, a $75 million deficit is a $75 million deficit, and, well, booze means dough.
“It’s something we’re considering,” Pollard said. “Continuing to discuss.”
Iowa State has been selling alcohol at Jack Trice Stadium in recent years when musical acts have taken up residence, and that’s been something of an educational experience for Iowa State.
Reviews I’ve gotten have been hit-and-miss in how well it’s actually worked from a fan perspective. Which is to say, the expedience with which you can get a beer hasn’t been great. Of course, that is exactly the sort of thing Iowa State is trial-running during these concerts.
“The stadium’s not built to clog the concourses for people standing in line to go to the bathroom or go to the concession stands,” Pollard said.
Then there’s also the 4,000 people who leave Iowa State football games at halftime to hit the tailgate lots before returning to the game. If Jack Trice Stadium goes wet, re-entry goes away.
“As the person who will get the emails from those 4,000 people,” Pollard said, “that will be a tough pill for those people to swallow.
“There’s tradeoffs, so those are things we’ve got to work our way through.”
Ultimately, though, the door is open. Or, rather, it is being kicked down by a $75 million deficit. Which is enough to convert longtime holdouts like Iowa State – and, specifically, Pollard – to reconsider their stance.
“As athletics director, I’m the voice for the campus,” Pollard said, “so to say it was Jamie Pollard who didn’t want to sell alcohol, that was just me representing the university’s decision. I agreed with the decision, but it wasn’t just my decision.
“Secondly, we have to look at the fruit that’s not low-hanging, and there will be tradeoffs. I’ve had several donors that are upset if we sell beer. But that will be a discussion with those people, ‘If we do this, this is why we’ve had to do it.’”
Tailgate Tour turns 20
After doing media interviews, shaking hands and talking ball at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour stop at SingleSpeed Brewing, Pollard made his way to the end of the brewery’s long bar to order a flight of beer.
Before long, he was at the microphone. As the sun streamed in through the windows behind him, he addressed the couple of hundred Iowa State fans spending their lunch hour welcoming the Cyclone big shots to northeast Iowa.
There was talk of the success of the last year. The optimism for the future. There was, too, a bit of reminiscing about the 20 years of Tailgate Tours that have made their way across the state. This entire operation – one that reaches thousands of Cyclone fans in their hometowns every year – has been Pollard’s project.
The first era of those road trips created connections. The next sustained and grew them.
After talking to the Cyclone faithful, shaking some more hands and talking some more ball, Pollard walked back to the Iowa State bus, bound for the next stop.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
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Where to watch Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics on June 8: TV channel, start time and streaming
