Posts Tagged ‘school’
School district offers yoga to teachers worried about layoffs [VIDEO]
Watch this sotry: APS offers stress management to teachers worried about layoffs
As some Albuquerque Public Schools employees brace for budget cuts and layoffs, the school district is launching a stress management campaign to help them cope. It’s called the Spring into Health Campaign 2010, and it will focus on key habits that promote overall health.
It includes a free five week series of stress reduction classes, where an instructor guides people through meditation, breathing exercises and group talks.
APS officials say the program usually costs $300. For employees who can’t commit to the entire five week course, they can participate in a May 3rd stress management Webinar. Both are sponsored by Lovelace. APS will also host free yoga and Qigong classes.
Jennie McCary, APS’ Wellness Manager, said she understands the looming cuts are making employees nervous.
“When someone feels like they don’t have control and they’re anticipating a lot of anxiety, that can be really, really stressful,” McCary said.
APS officials announced they plans to lay off 180 people who retired, then returned to work. School principals are working on budget cuts, which could lead to more layoffs.
A clearer picture of how many positions will be cut will be available once APS submits its final budget to the school board at the end of May.
Each week, APS will promote a wellness tip.
Math tutor uses numbers to fight red light camera ticket [VIDEO]
A woman was caught on camera running a red in Collier County. But after her husband fought the ticket, it was thrown out. Now officials say there may be other drivers who were wrongly ticketed as well.
About 28,000 drivers have been caught on camera running a red light in less than a year. The excuses range from bad weather to not wanting to be rear-ended.
But Collier driver Mike Mogil claims the yellow lights are simply too short. And as it turns out, he’s right.
Armed with a stopwatch, Mogil may be driving a hole in the credibility of Collier County’s red light camera system.
“If the county, they are not going to follow their own rules, then why should we be required to follow the rules?” he asked.
When his wife received a ticket in the mail recently, the first thing she said was the yellow light was too short.
So Mike, who works with numbers all the time as a math tutor, put it to the test.
“I said, ‘If it’s really short, then you got short-changed and you got a ticket illegally,’” said Mogil.
The speed limit on Collier Boulevard, where she was cited, is 45 mph. According to county guidelines, the yellow light should be 4.5 seconds.
Mogil said he tested it 15 times with an average of only 3.8 seconds.
“And I said, ‘We’ve got a problem,’” he said.
He challenged the ticket Monday and a special magistrate dropped it when the county conceded the yellow wasn’t long enough.
“I think it was an oversight more than anything,” said Gene Calvert of the Collier County Transportation Department.
The county has already fixed the Collier Boulevard light, and says it will check 200 other intersections to make sure they meet the standard.
NBC2: Do you think there are other lights that may not be timed correctly?
Calvert: I doubt it very seriously, but I will be looking into it.
But Mogil says he’s already checked 65 intersections and found that only seven yellow lights are long enough.
“There’s a much, much bigger issue here and it has to be addressed,” e said.
The county says it will be checking the intersections with red light cameras first.
They encourage anyone who thinks they may have gotten a ticket incorrectly to challenge it, just as Mogil did.
Watch this story: Math tutor uses numbers to fight red light camera ticket
Forget bake sales! School booster club selling alpaca manure.
The music booster club at Central Community Unit School District 301 in St. Charles isn’t bothering with bake sales and car washes this year. Instead, it’s selling bags of something promoters call “paca poo.”
Minus the cute name, the product is alpaca manure.
Booster club secretary Gudrun Dorgan says it is a great garden fertilizer, and it comes in little pellets that are easy to work into the ground.
Parents, students and teachers will be scooping and selling droppings on Saturday at Inspiration Farm Alpacas. A 30-pound bag will cost $10.
Farm owner Jeff Koehl has been raising alpacas for four years and usually sells manure for profit. He says alpacas digest their food more efficiently than most farm animals, so their waste doesn’t smell too bad and doesn’t require lengthy composting.
Read more: School booster club selling alpaca manure.
Kids wear 20 pound ball and chain to encourage studying
Strict parents have the perfect way of making sure their kids do their homework – a ball and chain has been created that counts down a reasonable study time before unlocking.
Parents just put in a desired study time on the “Study Ball” and attach the more than 20 pound ball to their kids’ ankle.
A red digital display counts down the time and the chain unlocks and beeps when time is up.
The ball can’t be locked on for more than four hours and there is a safety key that lets parents open the chain at anytime.
The ball’s designer says he came up with the idea after a friend compared studying to jail.
The item is for sale online for about $90.
Narnia comes to life for blind child
Great story from my friend Phillip Murrell.
Today, we got a look at The Lions Narnia Braille Trail.
It’s the second phase of Darrell’s Dream Boundless Playground at Warriors’ Path State Park in Kingsport.
The new addition is a Braille trail that surrounds the existing playground.
It features eight sensory stations telling a story based on “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” fantasy by C.S. Lewis.
The playground, along with today’s new addition, is a place where children of all abilities can enjoy nature.
“We think it’s important to provide….remove barriers for people who are blind and vision impaired and to removed those barriers so they can play right alongside and learn from one another and their friends,” said Lions Club President Doug Haseltine.
The additions at the boundless playground don’t end with the Lions Narnia Braille Trail.
A tree house will open this fall. It will be accessible to children with and without disabilities.
Watch this story: The Lions Narnia Braille Trail Opens In Kingsport
Dogs help children learn to read [Video]
Burgh, a Bernese Mountain dog, is assisting in the Tailwaggin’ Tutors program.
“When it’s time for the kids to read, they sit down, she sits down next to them and she listens,” said Carol Vernon, a library employee.
It doesn’t even matter that all the stories sound the same to Burgh.
“(The children are) breaking out of their shell,” said Chris Bohrer, the dog’s owner. “They’re not so afraid to be around either a dog or an adult and they generally start reading louder and louder.”
The program has made for positive results.
“I just think because you’re training and reading to at least somebody before you read to an actual real person,” said Tommy Fanning of the Reading To Dogs program. “Whether it’s getting over shyness or just getting confidence in their ability to read aloud, or whether it’s actually improving their reading, I hear about it from the parents.”
The children are going from beginning readers to chapter books in a matter of weeks.
“However you can get them to love reading or enjoy reading, I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Janel Fanning, the mother of one of the students in the program.
Read more and watch this story: Dogs Helping Children Learn To Read
Girl makes special greeting cards for sick Dad
This is a remarkable young girl who is shining in the face of a major tragedy. This story is heart-wrenching, but there is something strangely inspirational about it.
If you can… please take the time to buy a stack of cards or donate to the family. I know that I will!
Watch this story with some tissue near by.
It would be hard to say no to Reese Schroeder, a beautiful 5-year-old girl with a big smile and her father’s green eyes. But it would be impossible to turn her away from your doorstep once you hear why she wants to sell her cards.
“Because I wanted to raise money for my dad because he’s in the hospital. But now, he’s not in the hospital anymore because he died,” she said.
Jon Schroeder died early Tuesday morning months after he’d been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. He was 29 years old.
While at the hospital, he suffered a collapsed lung and was diagnosed with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a rare and almost fatal disease.
During her father’s long stay at the hospital, Reese’s kindergarten art teacher decided an art project might help. She kept Reese after kindergarten for two weeks and helped her draw pictures of animals that would be printed on cards.
Julie Bauman didn’t even know the Schroeders but knew she wanted to do something to help.
“Stacie (Reese’s mom) is now a single mom with little three kids and I just knew there would be a lot of possible expenses to keep the house going, I just figured anything we could do to help,” Bauman said.
Bauman got a local printer to donate the card printing and then recruited volunteers to put the packets of cards together. She also brought Reese to her Monticello neighborhood to sell the cards to her neighbors.
“I think it’s really sweet, really sweet of her teacher and it’s really sweet that she’s able to go out and do that for her dad,” said Stacie Schroeder. “He would have been so proud of her.”
Jon never saw all of the cards while he was in the hospital because he was too sick. But he’ll be buried with them with a special note from Reese.
“I feel kind of happy that he chose to go with Jesus, but I do feel kind of sad that he’s not with us,” she said.
You can make a donation to the Jon Schroeder Benefit Account at:
Wells Fargo Bank
12916 Main St
Rogers, MN 55374You can also buy Reese’s card from the Albertville Primary School, 763-497-2688. They are $10 for a pack of 6. The money will go to help Stacie Schroeder raise her three kids.
Watch this story: Girl Makes Special Greeting Cards For Sick Dad
Heroic PE teacher pushes mother and children from path of car
A physical-education teacher at A.K. Suter Elementary School in Pensacola is being called a hero after he was struck by a car this morning near the school while he protected children.
Patrick Judd was transported to Baptist Hospital. Colleen Kirsch, spokeswoman for the hospital, said Judd was in good condition this morning.
Deputy Superintendent Norm Ross said witnesses saw Judd push a mother and her two children out of the path of an oncoming car.
By doing so, Judd took the brunt of the hit and suffered a leg injury.
District officials applauded Judd’s selfless actions Friday.
Laura Richards, 37, dropped off 6-year-old Abigail for school this morning and was crossing the street while talking with Judd.
She had 2-year old Laura Sophia sitting on her hip and 4-year-old Isabella holding her hand as she walked.
“He jumped back to take the full impact,” Richards said of Judd. “I don’t really know what happened. It happened so quickly but when it was all said and done we were safe on the side of the road and my daughters’ flip flops were still on the pavement.”
Richards said she know Judd because she sees him every morning and afternoon doing crossing guard duty. The last day of school before Christmas break, Richards said, Judd wears a Santa Claus costume while guiding traffic.
“We’re so grateful,” she said. “We pray for him and that he’ll be alright. If if he hadn’t been there it would have been us. My two little girls are so tiny.”
“The incident this morning was certainly an act of heroism,” Ross said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s been a longtime employee and has demonstrated throughout his career his dedication to students and the school.”
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said he was proud of Judd’s service to the schools.
“This is just another example of the dedication of our employees in this district,” Thomas said.
In 1999 Judd won the Elementary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year Award from the county.
Read more and see the family he saved: ‘An act of heroism’
Students use “Wall of Shame” to fight discrimination [Video]
I love the idea these students had and the story that came from it.
When it comes to negative stereotype students at the University of Memphis have a visual reminder this week. Monday, members of the Students Activities Council put up a wall in the student plaza to expose the discrimination that still exists.
The wall made of cinder blocks is covered with dozens of words of hate still used to stereotype different races, groups and individuals.
“I think it will really open people’s eyes to what people really think. A lot of things are just kept inside,” said Sean Fernandez.
Students spent weeks filling in these cinder blocksand say the words comes from real life experiences.
They say labels like generic, pretty boy or drama queen may not seem offensive, but if used over over in a negative way they can hurt . “What is kind of bothersome might be not be bothersome to you, but we still have the same feeling when something bothers us,” said Jenn Armstrong, President of the Student Activities Council.
The wall has only been up a day, but is already having an impact on students even employees on campus.
“I”ve never seen anything like it,” said Shamika Wright.
The wall will be torn down with ropes and chains and students are hoping along with they’ll tear down discrimination on campus.
“I just really want people to start talking,” said Armstrong.
Read more, watch this story and see the wall: Students Use Wall Of Shame To Fight Discrimination
School bus crew saves woman from burning house [Video]
“I thank God that I was able to get the lady out of the house.” said Bobbie Wright, who spends most of her time helping people. She seats and watches over physically challenged kids on the school bus and when she and her co-worker passed by a home on fire, they had to help save a life.
“I told Bobbie, I said Bobbie she’s trying to get out, there’s someone trapped inside and then Bobbie said ‘Open the door, let me out’ and I opened the door and she RAN out.” said bus driver Stephanie Bayless.
Firefighters believe the fire probably started in the living room area where 65-year-old Jimmy Wayne McKnight was bedridden in a hospital bed.
His caregiver Louise Pinkston heard the smoke alarm and told firefighters what happened next. “She attempted to go to the living room area where Mr. McKnight was at and it’s my understanding at that point she could not get to him or get him out” said Horn Lake Fire Chief David Linville.
Pinkston’s attempts at putting out the fire also failed. The only thing she could do was escape.
When Firefighters arrived they found smoke pouring form over opening of the house, and flames shooting out the living room and kitchen windows.
Ms. Pinkston managed to get to the other end of the house and out a small bathroom window.
That’s when Wright and Bayless passed by, and jumped into action. “She was hollering and so she was trying to lift the window up but she couldn’t get it up so I lift the window up, pushed the window up and got her out the fire,” explained Wright.
Wright herself tried to put out the fire, first by breaking a front window with an landscape timber, then with a garden hose.
Ms. Pinkston suffered heavy smoke inhilation, singed hair and minor burns.
As to why she felt compelled to help, Wright says the answer is simple. “I would want someone to do that for me or do that for my family if something like that happened, so that’s what I did, I just react.” she smiled.
Read more and watch this story: School Bus Crew Saves Woman From Burning House
Photo: From Flickr user hotonpictures
