Five Things You Need to Know Today, March 21

Today is Monday, March 21. Here are five things you need to know:

1. Happy second day of spring: The forecast calls for snow this morning, turning to rain after 4 p.m. No accumulation, highs around 40.

2. Now that the weather has taken a turn for the better it’s the perfect time to visit some of the Massachusetts state parks. Or, like, all of them. Sign up for a Park Passport, and when you go, inside a colorful, birdhouse-like box, your kids will find a very cute park stamp designed by a local artist, that they can put in their passport books.  Also, new this year, you can download the passport book from the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s website, and assemble it yourself (it’s not hard, we promise.)

3. During the month of March you can buy a bouquet, and help students. Through the non-profit Charity In Bloom, 20 percent of the proceeds from an arrangement at Winston Flowers will go to Boston Partners in Education, to help students who are falling behind. Now that's a pretty good excuse to buy flowers.

4. If you've got a kid and you're in the lottery for Boston Public Schools, the schools say the "algorythm is running" and results could be mailed to you any day. The Globe has a major package of stories about the lottery process. If you haven't seen it, it is worth a look.

5. Miss anything this week? Catch up on local news with our Week in Review.

For more things to do in the South End visit our Events Listings.