NewsBites for KidzÔ March 7 2004
The
‘terrible’ system has produced world-class pupils : INDIA
Dr.
Seuss turns 100, still tops with kids : North Carolina, USA
Students
learn English, teach kids with Dr. Seuss: MINNESOTA, USA
Read
Across America Day" inspires students
Forreston
teen mentors students and helps them succeed: Illinois, USA
Student
drive helps New Guinea kids:Minnesota, USA & New Guinea
Students
get call from outer space - Astronaut calls classroom from ISS : MICHIGAN, USA
Students
get glimpse at galaxy's mysteries: Florida, USA
Students
told they should live their dreams: AUSTRALIA
ANA
offering hypoallergenic kids meals: JAPAN
Taxes
aren't for adults only; children may need to file, too
More
pocket money to children in China than in Japan, ROK, Vietnam: survey
Thousands
of children go hungry in a land of immense wealth: USA
Holt
students 'Paws to Read' : MICHIGAN, USA
Second
Grade Students Reading To Dogs : NY, USA
First
deaf students join Maun SSS : BOTSWANA, AFRICA
Students
to prefer books over celebrations: HARYANA, INDIA
Muslim
students share culture : Evanston, USA
Japanese
Students are Goodwill Ambassadors to Rogue Valley : Oregon, USA
Students:
Yes, si, this class is fun :Illinois, USA
1,000
Street Kids to Be Reformed : Zambia, AFRICA
Yayasan
nursery pupils mark new Hijrah year :Brunei Darussalam
Hollywood
Snaps Up Rights to German Children's Book
Students
opt for Tolkien's Elvish language: ENGLAND
Iraqi
kids in Chennai comfort :From Iraq to India through Jews and Christians
Improved
discipline, grades as SWAHA pupils Meditate: TRINIDAD
History
buff takes pupils back in time : USA
News for Kidz Site Map Earlier NewsBites
The ‘terrible’ system has produced world-class pupils :
THE TIMES OF
MARCH 02, 2004
The current examination and
evaluation system puts too much pressure on students and even parents,
and thereby leads to stress, they say. ‘They’ being parents, students,
teachers and others involved in
academic training. This is especially true of the board examinations, they
chorus. Their remedy: Do away
with the examination and do away with the stress. But surely this is some
sort of utopian ideal which can
never be attained.
Today, stress is part and parcel
of daily existence. It is stressful just to be alive today, so why should the
teen-years be any different? In fact, the ability to perform under pressure will
stand these students in good
stead as they get ready to enter the big bad world. To mollycoddle them
would be to insulate them from the realities of the world and render them unfit
to face up to competition later in life.
Besides, stress results not so
much from the kind of examination children face as from the exaggerated
expectations parents have of their children. Parents are becoming increasingly
ambitious about what their
children must achieve academically. In a way it is their own unfulfilled
aspirations that parents are foisting
on their progeny. As a child put it poignantly on a television show
recently, perhaps because his parents
did badly in physics, they expected him to become another Einstein.
The media, the school authorities
and other interested parties are all contributing to the frenzy and the
stress. In reality the examination system is merely a bogey that the parents
raise in order to subjugate their
wards and mould them to their taste and expectations. That our education
system is sound is borne out by
the fact that our students perform exceptionally well in universities
abroad and our home-grown graduates
are being wooed by many countries and corporates.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/530610.cms
SEUSS-TENNIAL
Dr. Seuss turns 100, still tops with kids : North Carolina, USA
BY MEREDITH BUSE
: The Herald-Sun
Mar 1, 2004
DURHAM -- Oh, the Thinks you can Think.
You can think up some birds.
That's what you can do. You can think about yellow or think about blue.
You can think about chickens or
old Mother Goose, but today is the day when we'll think about Seuss.
To mark what would have been the
100th birthday of the prolific children's author, some
daycare centers and libraries will read Dr. Seuss stories today and the rest
of this week.
More than 500 million copies of
books by Theodor Seuss Geisel
-- who wrote under the names Dr. Seuss,
Theo LeSieg
and Rosetta Stone -- have been sold worldwide, according to his publisher,
Random House.
Geisel and his stories have inspired everything from movies and a Broadway
musical to political parodies
and recipes, plus an entire line of clothes and products, such as
lunchboxes, clocks and chairs. This
week's local celebrations, however, seem to be focusing on the books.
While listening to "The Cat
in the Hat" Monday at Bragtown Branch Library,
3-year-old Ethan Crichlow
stared wide-eyed and sometimes smiled at the reader.
He and about 20 other 2- to
4-year-olds sitting on the floor fell silent as Shelley Geyer's voice dipped
and
shrieked, and they watched as she turned page after colorful, crazy page.
When asked if he liked the story,
Ethan nodded yes but didn't speak.
"Dr. Seuss is just one of
those writers who really knew how to reach kids," said Geyer, who has been
a
library volunteer since 1997.
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-453650.html
Students learn English, teach kids with Dr. Seuss:
MINNESOTA, USA
By Dave Aeikens
On the 100th birthday of one of
the world's most famous children's writers, students who once spoke little
or no English spent part of their day reading to children.
Fifteen Apollo students in an
English class for students who speak primarily another language read Dr.
Seuss books to children Tuesday.
Arlene Almanza, an Apollo High School sophomore, was
one of them.
"It helps us because there
is also a lot of rhythm in the book, and it helps you with pronunciation,"
said
Almanza, who moved to
The Apollo students are in Sue Peterka's English Language Learners class. They read to 3-,
4- and
5-year-olds from the HeadStart/Reach Up program at
It was a learning experience for
all the students.
Students improve their reading
skills and boost their self-confidence and self-esteem by reading to others,
Peterka said.
"It's a safe environment for
them to enhance their skills," she said.
The session was part of Read Across
Association sponsors to promote
reading.
Peterka said the event introduces her students to Dr. Seuss.
Times photo by Kimm Anderson, kanderson@stcloudtimes.com
Apollo High School student Anna
Rodriguez can't help but giggle Tuesday as she reads Dr. Seuss' "One
Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue
Fish" to preschoolers from
"They get to meet somebody
who is a big part of our culture, someone who changed the whole idea of
reading for kids. It's supposed to be fun," Peterka
said.
Other events at Apollo included
community leaders reading to students, a book drive and a Dr. Seuss film
festival. Students were encouraged to read their favorite books, or even wear
pajamas or bring their
favorite blanket.
The Apollo students read Dr.
Seuss' "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." They helped the
children
color pictures from "The Cat In The Hat," one of the better-known
Seuss books that was made into a major
motion picture in 2003.
They also formed a circle and
played a game similar to the hokey pokey using foam fish.
Anna Rodriguez, an 11th-grader
who moved from
learning from the children as she reads to them. She wore green frog slippers.
"It helps me to be able to
read more easily," Rodriguez said.
Nhu Lam, an 11th-grader who came to the
aren't simple to read.
"I want to impress the kids,
so I have to learn it really well," Lam said. "It helps with my
pronunciation."
Adam Nguyen is a 10th-grader
whose primary language is Laotian. He read to the children and helped them
color.
"It gave me a chance to have
fun with the little children," Nguyen said.
http://miva.sctimes.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?CMN/Local/read.mv+20040303054415+7+
Read Across
3/2/2004 9:50 AM
By: Debbie Tanna
& Web Staff, News 14
Students line up for
breakfast and some may even try green eggs and ham.
Tuesday is Dr. Seuss’ 100th
birthday and school children across the nation are celebrating. To coincide
with Seuss' birthday, it's “Read Across
Educators hope the beloved author
will inspire students to pick up a book and read.
Students line up for breakfast and some may even try green eggs and ham.
Cafeteria workers at
children who are brave enough to try it. The eggs are really the product of
green food coloring and they're
perfectly safe to eat.
Some of the kids have turned
their noses up to the idea and have chosen a more traditional breakfast of
cereal.
Community leaders in
You'll see a few Dr. Seuss
look-alikes roaming the hallways of schools. Several at
traditional garb and will help entertain throughout the day.
This is a big celebration in
schools in
at inspiring kids to read.
http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=43679&SecID=2
By DAN HAUGEN, Courier Staff
Writer
Irving Elementary kindergartner
Ricky Rodriguez, at right, recites his rhyming words during a class visit to
principal Mary Jo Wagner on the birthday of Dr. Seuss Tuesday.
BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff
Photographer
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2004/03/03/news/metro/cce7b4378afd549686256e4c00542184.txt
Forreston teen mentors students
and helps them succeed: Illinois, USA
By Jane Lethlean
The Journal-Standard
"I think everyone should
know about volunteerism," Natasha Phillips said. "It promotes
something good."
Phillips, the daughter of Mike
and Hannah Phillips of Forreston, knows a lot about
the subject of
volunteering. At the ripe age of 15, the
others.
Not only is she an honor roll
student at
mentors elementary students and has helped create a Forrestville
Summer Youth Program to promote
activities for the youth in her own community. She is also mentor at her school
and at the Boys and Girls
Club in
Natasha Phillips, right, helps
Grady Coffee with his homework at the
who is a mentor with the ACE program at the Boys and Girls Club in
mentoring students to help them do well in school.
Helping others makes Phillips
feel good and she wishes other people would recognize the importance of
giving their time to help those in need. Her work as an elementary mentor is
something she has embraced
and works at least three days a week, helping first and second graders
with their homework.
"I like to work with
kids," Phillips said. "I want to covey to these kids that working
hard in school is what will
shape them for the future.
"Mentoring makes me
happy," Phillips added." The kids are fun to get along with and they
look up to me as
their role model, and that makes me feel good."
Phillips has to squeeze her own
studies in between her many activities. She is currently in rehearsal for the
be found in a corner somewhere, doing her own homework.
Karlene Johnson, project coordinator for a safe community, at the
things about Phillips before she met her. Johnson had been told about
Phillip's leadership skills and it
wasn't long after their first meeting that Johnson came away knowing that
Phillips possessed "special
qualities."
"Natasha is a girl who knows
what she wants," Johnson said. "She wants to help anybody. She comes
off
shy at first, but just get her talking."
Johnson said that Phillips's
thing is "to be involved" and that she is very comfortable with
herself and likes
the world. Johnson see the strengths that
Phillips has and knows that she is someone who will make her
mark on society.
"Natasha wants to be a
diplomat," Johnson said. "Her generosity just doesn't allow her to
say no."
Phillips is also a junior staffer
at the Boys and Girls Club. In her role as a junior staffer, she shows her
leadership qualities and works directly with other staffers at the
Phillips takes on many roles
during her volunteer work at the Boys and Girls Club.
Aside from her mentor work, she
also serves as reporter for the quarterly newsletter called "Our
Times."
And when she isn't helping kids
with their homework or contributing to the newsletter, Phillips can be
found working on the Youth Advertising Media Task Force. Here, she works
with Jim Estes on the official
Website for the Boys and Girls
Club and she is also working on making a documentary about the club.
James Rhyne,
program administrator at the Martin Luther King Boys and Girls Club, credits
Natasha with
developing ideas for the the center.
"Natasha is a very hard
working, caring young lady and is very involved with the Boys and Girls
Club,"
Rhyne said. "She is an all-around good kid."
What drives this young woman to
succeed is her innate desire to help others. It is through her volunteerism
that she promotes goodwill towards others. Phillips says that she would
like to see more young people get
involved in their community.
One of the things that she helped
start within her own community in Forreston is the
which helps benefit St. Jude Children's
with over 20 riders participating. This year Phillips plans to hold another
bike-a-thon in September.
Phillips said she tries to get
her friends to be more involved in giving of their time, but she said that many
of
them ask "how much will I get paid."
Phillips hopes to continue her
selfless efforts towards others as she grows older. She aspires to go to
college and become a diplomat in a foreign country, perhaps not surprising for
a girl who was born in
science and pre-law.
"I chose
hope that I can influence others to do the same."
Phillips is on her way to paying
for college. Since she was 6-years-old, she has competed in scholarship
and beauty pageants. They provide a way for her to show off her talents in
dance, which she has studied
since she was a child. She has a love for music and has chosen hip-hop dance
as her talent.
Because of her contest wins, her
college fund is growing. She will next compete in the Miss Illinois
American Junior Teen Pageant to
be held July 2 - 3.
Being a part of the American Coed
Pageant System, she said, has been a great way for her to meet others
just like herself while working towards her own future.
Phillips also tries to be an
example for the young kids that she comes into contact with. She knows that
outside influences often determine a future and she plans to promote as much
as she can to youth about
staying in school, staying away from drugs and above all helping others.
"Influences with kids my age
are so strong," Phillips said. "I think that if I lead by example,
someone I touch
just might have a better future."
http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2004/03/02/daily_features/feature01.txt
Student drive helps
By Brandon Stahl, The Daily Journal
It began as a simple presentation
in a social studies class.
Allie Aho,
a seventh grader at the Fergus Falls Middle School, brought her grandparents to
class on Dec.
16 to have them talk about their
experiences in
Jerry and Darlys
Hess had visited Papau two years ago as guests of a
missionary. They described for the
students the poverty many of the children live in. They went to the country
with two suitcases full of
clothes, they said. They returned with the suitcases empty and only the
clothes on their back, giving
everything else away.
"We didn't have a clue how
poor and primitive it was," said social studies teacher Tom Uvaas, who led the
class. "The people there walk most places. They have very few roads,
and so little money."
Two kids in the class that day
raised their hands, asking how they could help. With the help of Uvaas, they
organized an informal donation drive. Two of the students from the class told
their church,
Lutheran, and their congregation
responded by adding to the donations.
Two months later, they had
collected money and several boxes of toys, clothes, shoes, dolls and purses,
which Aho's grandparents will take with them when
they go back to Papau this summer and will give it to
the kids there.
"I was not planning on
having five or six huge containers of clothing," Uvaas
said. "But it wasn't just the
amount, it was the act of kindness."
Aho didn't want to stop there, feeling it important to make a connection
with the Papau children. She and
her grandparents spent the past
two months trying to find names and addresses in New Guinea to start a
pen pal program at the school.
"Being a pen pal takes a
much greater commitment," said Uvaas, who also
helped with the pen pal
program. "Giving is a one moment deal. We them told If
they really become a pen pal, they can't just do it
one time."
Two weeks ago, Aho gave 20 of her classmates the addresses of
with boys and girls with girls. Aho told them to
keep their letters simple.
"The first letter should be
about themselves," she said.
Aho said she that the first batch of responses should arrive in two to
three weeks.
"It's fun to know you're
communicating with another person. It's exciting," said Aho, who said that letters
from
Uvaas hopes the letters will help his students learn to appreciate other
cultures.
"I hope it helps them to
appreciate the things they have and all the luxuries they have," he said.
"[Both the
drive and the letters] gives them
an opportunity to share."
http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/articles/2004/03/02/news/news03.txt
Students get call from outer space - Astronaut
calls classroom from ISS :
MICHIGAN, USA
By Darla Hernandez, ABC News
Genesee Township — (03/01/04)--It
was one giant leap for some students at
understanding outer space.
ABC12's Darla Hernandez had more.
Students have been preparing questions for months and Monday they
had the chance to get them answered one on one by a live astronaut in
space.
Neil Walter, an eighth grader at
Armstrong Middle School, had some questions that were out of this world.
"I
had butterflies in my stomach," he said. "Just to talk to them
and know how far they are up above Earth."
(abc12
Image)
Walters and 11 other classmates
were connected by a ham radio operator to astronaut Michael Foale
at the
International Space Station for
some Q&As.
"Please describe what Earth
looks like from outer space?" asked one student.
"It looks very blue," Foale said.
"How does it feel when you
take off and land?" asked another.
"It's very abrupt," Foale said. "It's like lying on a washing
machine."
For Walters, just 10 minutes
talking to an astronaut seems to be life changing. "I like space and
everything
about it," he said. "When I grow up I'd like to be an engineer and
work for NASA."
Many students told ABC12 the
10-minute contact time -- although short -- was full of insider space details
and cool information.
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/news/030104_NW_da_call.html
Students get glimpse at galaxy's mysteries:
Florida, USA
The students at St. Philip's
Episcopal School have been studying the universe, and with Space Day, a
NASA engineer brings outer space to them.
BY TRISHIA HUGHES,
Mar. 04, 2004
CORAL GABLES-The students at St.
Philip's Episcopal School didn't need to go to outer space to dress up
like astronauts and learn more about Mars, the space shuttle and the
international space station.
Instead, outer space came to
them.
For students in second through
fourth grades, Friday was ''Space Day,'' and the feature attraction was
NASA -- in the person of engineer
Troy Bentley.
Bentley made the four-hour drive
from the
He was greeted by ''aliens''
complete with silver hair and antennas, green faces and third eyes on their
foreheads.
The students have been studying
outer space since January, and Space Day was the payoff, with Bentley,
who is a lead development engineer for 3-D modeling and simulation efforts
ready to add to their already
budding knowledge.
The walls of the auditorium were
transformed into planets drawn by the students and space gear was
passed around and tried on by both the students and the teachers.
''That was really neat,'' said
fourth-grader Thomas Mackie on the astronaut gear. ``The helmet was my
favorite.''
Becoming an astronaut may be a
dream of many children, but Bentley reminded students that NASA was
full of opportunities, include those that would allow them to stay firmly
on Earth.
''There are so many questions out
there waiting for someone like you to grow up and answer [them],'' he
said.
But for those who had their
hearts set on exploring the universe and experiencing the same
weightlessness of an astronaut in orbit, Bentley organized an ''eating in space''
contest.
Two chairs were placed on their
backs and the ''astronauts'' laid down in them with bibs around their
necks and spoons in their hands.
After a countdown, the crowd of
students began cheering on their classmates as they raced to be the
fastest and cleanest one to finish a Jell-O pudding snack on their back.
Speed wasn't the problem, but
trying to stay clean in ''space'' proved to be a challenge.
It was fun and it taught everyone
there was more to being an astronaut than floating around up there.
Bentley passed around macaroni
and cheese ''space style'' -- a kid favorite until they saw it freeze-dried
and sealed in an air-tight pouch.
As psyched as the students were
to be in the presence of a NASA employee, parent Luis M. Perez was
equally as enthused.
It was Perez who persuaded his
wife, Desiree Caskill, to contact NASA and get them
involved in Space Day.
''I always wanted to be an
astronaut,'' he said with a smile. ``With all of these kids here, if just one
of them
sparks an interest then that's great.''
Bentley agreed, which is why he
said he chose to help out.
''I think it's the excitement and
knowing that I'm able to touch the future while I'm here,'' he said.
Aside from Bentley's
presentation, Space Day was loaded with projects and games.
The kids did everything from
building a mini space station out of pipe cleaners and empty spools of thread
and playing in a bounce house, to doing the standing broad jump and
multiplying the distance by six to see
how far the jump would have been had the students been in zero gravity.
''I liked it when we were inside
the bounce house jumping around like we were on the moon,'' said
second-grader Cristina Schlesinger.
Greg Sobel,
who runs the science program at St. Philip's, said Space Day became a lot more
meaningful to
the kids when they got to dress up and build things.
As the kids filed out of the auditorium
carrying their ''space stations,'' their talk of rockets and spacesuits
continued.
''The seed has been planted,''
Perez said. ``Curiosity is always there -- you just have to push it in the
right
direction.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhood
s/east/8090956.htm
Students told they should live their dreams:
AUSTRALIA
Schoolgirl who battled dyslexia realised her dream
Tuesday, 2nd March 2004.
AS a schoolgirl in country
And that was just the teachers.
In a town where most people were
either miners or factory workers, Nina's family , her
father and mother
were both potters , were considered different.
''We lived on the poverty line,
out of op shops,'' Nina said.
A hearing problem also hindered
Nina socially and academically.
She was bullied by her classmates
in primary school and written off as ''dreamy'' by her teachers.
In secondary school, Nina's desk
was put outside the classroom because she ''just didn't get it'' and a
teacher used her work to show what not to do.
''My only escape was my
imagination,'' Nina said.
And two teachers who cared.
''They heard a voice crying out
from inside and took the time to listen,'' she said.
''These men where my guardian
angels.'' Nina somehow passed her Year 12
exams and headed for
Melbourne where she got a job
with a bank.
There, Nina's problem was
discovered.
She was dyslexic.
But knowing what the problem was
made it easier to handle and Nina now lives life to the full.
''Dyslexia is not a handicap, it
is a gift.
I am a creative and imaginative
person,'' she said.
Nina now manages the children and
young adult section of the Written Dimension Bookshop in Noosa
Junction.
Recently, she was the guest
speaker at the
students to dream and then to live the dream.
In the audience at the
investiture was Coolum High Year 11 student Sam Eldridge.
Sam's father, Chris, was a
teacher in country
Chris Eldridge was one of Nina
two ''guardian angels''.
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/data/full_stories/march04/02/7.html
ANA offering hypoallergenic kids meals: JAPAN
Yomiuri Shimbun
MARCH 2,2004
All
meals, which do not contain flour, buckwheat, dairy products, eggs or
peanuts, on its international flights.
The airline company said Tuesday
the service was designed to accommodate children who suffer from
food allergies. It requires passengers to reserve such meals four days
before their departure date.
In each meal, the bread is made
of rice powder, and the hamburger contains pork, salt and starch, and no
egg. Whipped cream does not accompany and is not used in any of the
deserts. A detailed list of
ingredients is available on the company's Web site.
Airline companies have offered
some options for passengers who have allergies, such as switching dishes
on the menu. However, complaints have been received by ANA as some
children who have serious
allergies were unable to eat anything that was offered.
ANA hopes to improve its food
service to compete with Japan Airlines and Japan Air System, which will
complete their merger by April.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040303wo11.htm
Taxes aren't for adults only; children may need to
file, too
Patricia Bliss The
Olympian Online
Your children might be required
to file a tax return. Working in a store or fast-food restaurant, mowing
lawns, baby-sitting, earning income from investments -- all can result in
taxable income for kids. The filing
requirements for children vary depending on whether their income comes from
working, investing or both.
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040302/business/5682.shtml
More pocket money to children in
People's Daily,
March 06, 2004
Compared to their counterparts in
the neighboring countries of
children have more money in their pockets, indicated in a survey by Japanese
scholars. Among the four
countries Chinese urban youngsters have the biggest absolute amount of pocket
money, but what's
worrisome is the gap between the children of the same age, too big the gap. And
Chinese parents are too
casual in giving money to their children, and the children, however, have a
less control on the money given
to them.
According to the survey, Japanese
high school students aged 13 or 14 have 2,000 to 3,000 yen to use each
month (about 140 to 200 Renminbi yuan). The absolute amount for the ROK students is slightly
lower, but
there is no big difference between the two countries considering the
purchasing power. While the amount
in
When describing the situation of
Chinese children's pocket money, Japanese scholars said the "gap
between the rich and the poor"is shocking. In a
Chinese class there are students who have over 1,000
yuan for pocket money each month, but also those who have almost none. Even
in families of equal
income, parents give noticeably different amounts of pocket money to their
children due to their different
conceptions in education.
In
money kept at almost the same level. Parents would even ask each other's
amount privately and agree on a
certain sum to avoid comparison and jealousy among the children.
Another phenomenon popular in
free to use their pocket money. Although they have a bigger sum, especially
money given by relatives
during the Chinese lunar New Year, the money is usually spent by parents on
tuition fees and textbooks. In
expenditures shouldered by their parents. Japanese and Korean parents are certainly
careful in giving
pocket money, but once given they no longer ask how it is going to be used,
thinking it a way of teaching
children how to deal with the money by themselves.
In
while in
amounts upon children's requests.
There are two ways for
controlling the pocket money in the four countries,
one is to give a fixed amount
regularly and let children to make use of it by themselves. The other is to give
upon children's requests or
wishes, negotiating every time for a control. Japanese parents favor with the
former and the ROK and
Vietnamese parents with the
latter while both ways are used in
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200403/06/eng20040306_136702.shtml
Thousands of children go hungry in a land of
immense wealth: USA
Friday, Mar 05, 2004
It's difficult to pin down the
exact numbers, but most nutrition experts agree that on any one day, about 13
million children go hungry across the
For older children, the situation
improves during the school year when many receive free or reduced-price
lunches.
But when the schools close, like
they did in the
recently because of heavy snow, these children -- instead of cheering over the
free day off -- must put up
with emptier stomachs than usual, child advocates say.
Even more worrisome to people who
help feed such children are the long summer months of school
vacation.
"The food banks see an
increase of families with children during the summer months," Lynn Parker,
director of nutrition policy at the Food Research and
A massive private effort by
humanitarian and religious organizations across the country feeds about 23
million people a year, including 9 million children, many from an ever growing
category of people in the
called the working poor.
Second Harvest, which coordinates
the programs, says that's a 9 percent increase since 1997.
Other groups, like the
for emergency food assistance.
Whatever the figures, the federal
government takes up much of the slack by supporting e and reduced
price school breakfasts and lunches at schools. And critics say it's just
not enough.
US President George W. Bush's
proposed budget for 2005 raises the amount slightly to US$12 billion for 29
million children in the school programs.
But child advocates, while
admitting the budget cuts do not undercut current food programmes,
say the
figure fails to provide better nutrition in the form of fruits and vegetables
instead of traditional high starch
diets consumed by the less affluent.
"Cafeterias would be able to
buy fresh vegetables and fruits instead of having to serve cheap but
empty-calorie food like macaroni
and cheese," said Erik Peterson, spokesman for the
Food Service Association.
Other child advocates say Bush's
proposed US$12 billion will not accommodate the rising need stemming
from unemployment and economic recession in the past years, or to cover the
rising food need for
children during the summer months.
"There hasn't been such a
demand since 1998 because families are struggling to find jobs and the
recession hasn't been taken into account," said Deborah Ortiz, director of
family income at the Children's
Defense Fund. "We are very disappointed with the President's budget plan."
"He's talking about a
funding increase for going to the moon [and Mars]," she added. A stronger
federal
budget for food for children would help diversify their diets and provide
more vegetables and fruit and
other healthy foods, Ortiz said.
But political conservatives
disagree. They say that the nutritional programs are not necessary.
"Child hunger is not nearly
as bad as the Washington food advocacy groups make it out to be," said
Kirk
Johnson, welfare research analyst
at the conservative Heritage Foundation in
says there are more than 1 million children hungry in the
He points to the fact that
instead of going hungry, about 15.3 percent of US children are considered
obese.
"Statistics show that poor
people are even more likely to be overweight," he said.
His statements reflect a popular
attitude that poor people on the welfare dole, including the many adults
who receive food stamps, abuse the system and perhaps even overeat because
of it.
However, food advocate groups say
recent research shows that often, hunger is the cause of obesity.
"If people are hungry, they
will eat high fat food to fill them up," said Larry Brown, director of the
Center on
Hunger and Poverty. Especially in the
and more accessible than fresh fruit and vegetables.
That is a fact that the Heritage
Foundation's Johnson found hard to believe.
"It's a preference issue,
not a money problem. You can get the salad. The question is, would you rather
have the salad or the hamburger? I would rather have the hamburger,"
he said.
Another fact cited by critics of
public nutrition programs as proof of the affluence of food aid recipients is
the more than 75 percent of American households defined as
"poor" by the
car.
But to Brown, director of the
Center on Hunger and Poverty, driving in one's own car to the food bank to
pick up dinner for the kids is not a contradictory image.
"Hungry people in the
As members of the growing
"working poor," they often own cars and hold jobs -- but don't earn
enough to
buy food after paying rent and other expenses.
Carolyn Genia
is one such person. In her hometown of
US$2 above minimum wage. But the mother of two says there are days she struggles to feed her
children.
"There are times my children
would go hungry if it wasn't for the local food pantry," she wrote in one
of the
many "Hunger Stories" Americans regularly post on the Web site of
the hunger relief organization Second
Harvest.
Brown said the country would need
to spend about US$90 billion a year to end hunger in the
"That's not going to happen
in the current political climate," he said.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/03/05/2003101235
Holt students 'Paws to Read' :
By Sally Trout
March 05, 2004
HOLT - More than 900 Holt Junior
High School students watched a dog retrieve a portable phone, pick a
quarter off the auditorium stage and remove his trainer's coat and shoes.
Dart, a black
disabilities live independently and also to get students interested in a "Paws
to Read" fund-raiser.
CHRIS HOLMES/Lansing State Journal
Four-legged lessons: Becky Canale and Dart, her Labrador retriever, take part in a Paws With a Cause
program Wednesday at
Allison Bosshart
and students Jeremy Rochow and, in the background,
Jay Dudley.
It's is the second year the
students will raise money for Paws With a Cause, a
Wayland-based group that
trains and provides assistance dogs. Last year, students collected $661; they
hope to raise more this year.
"With this program, students
learn to give and share with others while encouraging the pleasure of
reading," Holt library teacher Allison Bosshart
said.
The school's read-a-thon, from
March 10 to March 24, coincides with the International
Association's March is Reading
Month.
A number of mid-Michigan school
districts plan special activities to promote reading.
Students at
Webberville Elementary School
offers daily reading activities, such as "poem in a pocket" day.
At Haslett's Ralya
Elementary, students hope to read for a total of 1,049 hours. The challenge is
called
"IditaRead"
after the 1,049-mile Iditarod race from
Through Paws to Read, Holt
students collect pledges for minutes spent reading and earmark the proceeds
for Paws.
While Dart did all the work at
the school Wednesday, Sable patiently awaited commands from her owner,
Susan Stewart.
Sable is a college-bound
assistance dog.
She will go with Stewart to
school while Stewart studies to be a physician's assistant. A nurse from the
Grand Rapids area, Stewart was
injured while whitewater rafting and now uses a wheelchair.
Teachers hope Dart and Sable will
motivate more students to be part of the reading project.
"There are students who love
to read, and others are reluctant readers," Bosshart
said. "We hope the dogs
will hook the reluctant readers enough to get them reading and enjoying it
more."
Jeremy Rochow,
a seventh-grader, is one of those who love to read.
"I read about an hour a day
and will be part of the reading project," he said. "My goal is to
raise $30 for
Paws."
Students get extra reading time
in school and are expected to read at home.
Ingrid Holtry,
a Holt eighth-grade science teacher and Paws field trainer, encouraged school
officials to
participate in Paws to Read.
Holtry and her husband, Ben, also raise puppies for
Paws training.
"One of the best things for
me personally was to see two of my dogs working with new owners' as their
hands, legs and companions," Holtry said.
www.pawswithacause.org
http://www.lsj.com/news/schools/p_040305_paws_4b.html
Second Grade Students Reading To Dogs : NY,
Program Aims To
Build Self-Confidence
At some schools in the
There is a new program called
"
worries.
Kids at
say it's working wonders with the children's self-confidence.
Marci Wenn
is a social worker who introduced the program at Petrova
Elementary about a month ago, and
she says it's already making a difference.
"I think overall everybody
is really happy with (it)," Wenn said. "You
can see the smile as soon as the dogs
come in the classroom."
Only second graders are taking
advantage of the program right now, but the schools are hoping to expand
it to all grades in the future.
http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/education/2898766/detail.html
First deaf students join Maun SSS : BOTSWANA, AFRICA
SHIRLEY NKEPE, Staff Writer
3/2/2004 11:17:43 PM (GMT +2)
HISTORY will be made next week
when three deaf students join senior secondary school in
trio will be the first deaf students ever to go past Form Three in
Secondary School (SSS) will have
the honour of admitting the students.
Speaking to Mmegi
in an interview yesterday, Director of Secondary Education, Reuben Motswakae
revealed that the students - two boys and a girl - are from
(CJSS) in Molepolole,
Shoshong CJSS in Shoshong
and Ramotswa CJSS. Unlike Dithejwane and
Shoshong, Ramotswa CJSS deaf students have their own
classes. Motswakae said special education
teachers will be posted to Maun to take care of the
needs of the three deaf students. “We will transfer some
of them to the school,” he said.
Maun SSS, Motswakae said was selected after a
thorough exercise in which the Special Education
Committee in his department went
out to assess and identify the most conducive place and school where
the students could be integrated. “However, schools such as Mater-Spei, were also found to be conducive
and we hope to send some students there in future,” he explained.
Motswakae said the admission of the three students, three weeks after the Form Four lessons took off is
the final for this year. The students he said performed comparatively well
as per the special education
policy. The policy sets lower cut-off points for students with special needs.
So far visually impaired
students have benefited from the policy.
“We have been employing it (the
policy) to cater for other students with special needs including the visually
impaired students, often admitted at
http://www.mmegi.bw/2004/March/Wednesday3/6646157291900.html
Students to prefer books over celebrations: HARYANA,
INDIA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
MARCH 03, 2004
only be a half-hearted affair for a majority of students in city schools,
especially those appearing for their
board exams.
"I only wish the festival
could have come after the exams. I cannot afford to lose time celebrating, as I
will
be preparing for my maths exam," said Sahil, a class X student from St Kabir’s.
"The most I will do is only
apply ‘tilak’ to the visitors to our home,"
he said.
The examinations sure have
dampened the children’s urge to go out and splash Holi
colours. The pressure
to score good marks in the examinations has taken precedence over the
joys of Holi revelry.
"My parents will allow me to
celebrate the festival only for a short time. I will most probably spend my
time
studying," said Anushka, a class IV student of a
city school. Even in cases where the students are away
from the watchful eyes of their parents, exams seem to take precedence.
"The festival will be there in the
future too.
But I have only one chance to get
good marks in my board exams. I will be studying throughout the day,"
said Sunil Bisht of
However, there are others who
would like to take out time to celebrate. "Holi
has been falling in between the exams almost every year.
I think I will take some time out
on the day to colour my friends. It will be a good
way to relieve the
examination anxiety," said Abhinav Kumar, a class
XI student.
Those who have decided to give
the festival a miss are, however, trying to figure out ways to avoid getting
splashed with colours.
" I think I will stay inside my room and tell somebody to lock it up from
outside," said Akhilesh, a plus two
student.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/533658.cms
Muslim students share culture : Evanston, USA
By Jodi S. Cohen
March 3, 2004
At one meeting of
scarves. At another, they passed around prayer beads used to praise Allah.
With Islam facing increasing
scrutiny, a group of students is taking unusual steps to find out as much as
they can about the fast-growing religion, often turning to their classmates
for answers.
Prompted by questions on
everything from why Muslim women wear the head scarves, or hijab,
to the
proper meaning of jihad, Muslin students Anum and Kashan Malik launched the club
last fall and have
watched the membership steadily grow.
"I got the idea that if people
were really interested, why not start a club?" said sophomore Anum Malik, one
of about 20 Muslim students at the school. "Instead of this being a
time when Muslims are in hiding, we
should speak out and explain ourselves instead of having people think wrong
things."
The school's Islam Awareness
Group is considered remarkable in the
non-Muslim than Muslim participants. Instead of being a gathering place for
students of the same religious
background, the
Islam and learning its cultural
customs.
Every other Friday, a dozen or
more students meet during lunch in a social studies classroom decorated
with posters and trinkets from
The Malik
siblings lead the wide-ranging discussions that recently touched on famous
Muslims, the
definition of jihad, the Arabic alphabet and excerpts from the Koran. They explained
that Islam preaches
non-violence and encourages education for men--and women--contrary to how the
religion often is
portrayed.
Hope Kaye, an Evanston senior who
has attended several meetings, said she enjoys the relaxed
atmosphere as students eat lunch and ask questions.
The first meeting last fall
attracted only four students, but about 15 attended a recent session.
"Frankly, if only one person
had their misconceptions cleared up, it's worth it," said Kaye, who is
Jewish.
Shabbir Mansuri, director of the California-based
Council on Islamic Education, said many colleges and
universities have Muslim student groups, and high school clubs are expanding as the
Muslim population
nationwide increases and moves into new neighborhoods.
The
said.
"That's an American way of
doing it--to reach out to others, saying, `Get to know me,'" he said.
"It is as
American as apple pie."
Several meetings have focused on
the meaning of jihad, or struggle. The word most recently has been
associated with terrorists who use it as their justification for what they call a
holy war.
But the Maliks
told their classmates a better definition is an internal struggle to become a
better Muslim.
"It would be like I want to
go to a party but my parents told me not to. Then I have an internal
struggle,"
Anum Malik said.
When students asked her why women
wear head scarves, she explained that the coverings are not
intended to be oppressive and that women are not forced to wear them as they
were under Taliban rule in
The club has debated
that the country was trying to become more secular, while others said
Muslims were unfairly targeted.
"People are really
appreciative that we have the club," Kashan Malik said about classmates at the
3,200-student school. "It really helps them understand more about our faith."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0403030282mar03,1,7897560.story
Japanese Students are Goodwill Ambassadors to
Rogue Valley : Oregon,
By Dorene
Stamper / Staff Writer-SONews.com
as they perform the Soran Dance of
and has now reached
Japan, arrived in Oregon as
goodwill ambassadors, performing and delighting local audiences.
On March 2, the young women
performed the Soran Dance for the students at the
School in
The gym filled slowly with
students as the dancers waited in the alcove doorway leading to the outside.
The
girls were dressed in kimonos, with the skirts tied up revealing their legs
and bare feet. The dance they
were about to do depicts fishermen as they cast out their nets and bring in
the fish. With kimonos tied,
these young girls walked in, forming several lines and were now ready to
perform the Soran Dance.
Sachiko Watanabe,
their teacher from the Hijiyama Girls High School,
welcomed the students and teachers
then turned the mike over to Keiko, a student dancer, to finish the
greeting.
After the greeting came a short history of the
dance by another student.
"Our girls will dance to a
work song from
northern island of
island had subsisted largely on fishing, hunting and gathering."
The Soran
Bushi is a fisherman's song and served to coordinate
the labors of the men of the village. Soran
is an expression that set the rhythm as men pulled in the nets heavy with
the herring that were plentiful in
the local waters.
The men ask the seagull,
"Where are the fish running?" And the seagull answers, "Sorry, I
don't know and I
have to go now. So ask the waves." Then the men ask the waves and they
tell them that the fish net is full
and so they begin to pull it in, chanting, "Soran,
Soran. We are small and the full net is heavy,"
they sing,
"But together we bring it in
because fish is our living."
Meanwhile, "back at the
beach" the women have gathered to make rice balls for their hardworking menfolk,
and the children romp with joy at the prospect of a bountiful catch which
translates into wealth for the
people of the village.
As the music started, the girls
began to dance in synchronized movements. Simple yet strong actions
which make the Soran dance a riveting sight. The
girls were full of enthusiasm and vigor as they performed
this ancient dance of the Bushi fishermen.
The American students and
teachers alike couldn't get over the strength of the girl's movements, how
agile
they were, yet very graceful in all movements.
When the dance was finished the
students were in for a surprise. Sachiko Watanabe
gave them a quick
lesson on the words, 'Dokkoi-sho, Dokkoi-sho', 'Soran, Soran' and 'Yahhhh' for an ending
shout.
Next the Hijiyama
students broke their lines and divided into six groups and taught the students
the six
patterns so they too could dance the Soran. The six
patterns are:
Waves
Roll up the fish-nets
Pull the heavy fish-net
Grab the fish and toss them into
the boat
Row the boat
Express their joy with a lot of
fish.
Now that they had been taught, it
was time for all to dance together. The music started and the Hijiyama
students danced along sides the RVAS students and their teachers. There were
lots of smiles and laughing
as new friendships were made and all enjoyed the electrical excitement of
the dance they call the Soran.
After the dance had ended, and
all was quiet once more, two of the Hijiyama
students, Yui and Yuuka,
climbed the steps leading up to the stage and walked over to the mike. They
thanked RVAS for inviting
them to their school and hoped that all had had a good time. From the
smiles on the students, teachers and
faculty there was no doubt that they all had a wonderful and memorable
experience.
On March 5, their teacher Sachiko Watanabe has to return home to
hands of another teacher to finish off their eight week tour. The students
of the
are truly delightful and very charming. No country could ask for a better
representative then what was
shown by these remarkable young ladies.
http://www.centralpointnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=178363&cp=4310
Students: Yes, si, this class is fun :
BY TONY BERTUCA
STAFF INTERN, Vernon Hills Review
March 4, 2004
Students of the dual language
program at Hawthorn Elementary North are not only
learning to become
fluent in two languages, but they are also learning to appreciate different
cultures.
Established two years ago, the
program places 12 children from Spanish-speaking homes and 12 children
from English-speaking homes in a single class together. The class spends
the first part of the day being
taught in Spanish and the second part of the day being taught in English. In
the morning, they may read a
book in Spanish; in the afternoon they may do their math in English.
"It is an extremely popular
program, and we have a large waiting list with a lottery," said Assistant
Principal
Eileen Conway. "Kids
involved in the program learn an understanding and appreciation for each other
and
each other's culture in a diverse community," she said.
The dual language program is
available for children in kindergarten through third-grade. Next year, the
program will be available to fourth-graders and then to fifth-graders the year
after that.
"There is no self-imposed
segregation with these kids," said first-grade dual language teacher Dany Levy
"The English-speaking kids
play and relate to the Spanish-speaking kids the same way they relate to each
other. I really don't think that children see race until society forces
them."
Role-playing
Levy conducts role-playing
exercises to teach her students about the harshness of racial prejudice.
"I'll tell all of the kids
with blue eyes to go and sit in a corner and face the wall," said Levy.
"Then, I'll teach
everyone else for a few minutes while the kids with blue eyes stare at the
wall. After a few minutes, I ask the
blue-eyed kids, 'Now that wasn't very fair for me to pick on you because you
were different was it?" Levy
said. "The kids always get it."
Levy's classroom is filled with
brightly colored posters, decorations and student artwork that reflects
cultural diversity.
Last Christmas, Levy's class
produced and decorated their room with papel picado, intricate paper cutouts
that hang from ceilings and walls in Spanish-speaking countries. "We
want to teach children to think
outside the box," said Levy. "We cover holidays and traditions
practiced in both cultures," she said. "We
learn about everything from Cinco de Mayo to Martin
Luther King Day."
Parent participation is an
integral part of the program.
"I have a different parent
who volunteers to come into class and help out each day," said Levy.
"Both
Spanish-speaking and
English-speaking parents come in and learn to be bilingual right alongside
their
kids."
Volunteer parent Bonnie Roussel has two children in the dual language program. Her
son Jaime is in
third-grade and her daughter Jillian in Levy's first-grade class. Roussel said she enrolled her children in
the program because she believes that they will absorb the Spanish
language more quickly at a younger
age.
"My son in third-grade
always helps his sister with her Spanish homework," said Roussel. "My kids enjoy
the program, and I love to see them interact together in Spanish."
Roussel is also aware of the social education her children are receiving.
"I want them to learn that everyone
is different, with different homes and different holidays, and that it is
OK to be different," she said. "I think
one of the major benefits of the program is that the English-speaking kids
and Spanish-speaking kids can
work together to help each other learn, and I've seen them do that when
I've volunteered," Roussel said.
Levy said her students will enjoy
more opportunities because they will be bilingual. "Research has been
done that proves that bilingual kids perform better or equal to monolingual
kids on standardized tests," she
said. "Even when they are adults, they will be so much more marketable
if they can speak another
language," she said. "It is a gift to be bilingual."
Students are attracted to the
dual language program because it's fun.
"English is fun. I love to
learn English," said first-grader Juan Jahen.
"We help each other all the time," he
said. Juan wants to become a police officer when he grows up so he can keep
helping people.
"I like to learn Spanish
because it is fun," said Juan's classmate, Ariella
Panos. "We do fun things like learn
sentences with pictures and make our own Spanish books."
Shale Brenner enjoys the program
because she wants to learn to speak as many languages as possible. "I
already speak English, Spanish, French and one word in Swahili," she
said. "We all have a lot of fun
together."
Levy gets as much out of the
class as her students do.
"Just knowing that these
kids are our future and that I am helping them understand each other, is a
great
feeling," she said. "If someone could just come in and see what I
see every day in these kids, they would
understand why I love my job so much."
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/vh/03-04-04-230578.html
1,000 Street Kids to Be Reformed :
Reporter, The
Times of
March 3, 2004
GOVERNMENT will renovate three
at least 1,000 street kids this year.
Youth Sport and Child Development
Minister Gladys Nyirongo said in Parliament yesterday
the camps
would accommodate street kids to be collected from across the country.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200403030803.html
15 students take off for snowy slopes :
A GROUP of
The 15 students and four staff
members from St Christopher's
week-long skiing trip to Anzere.
The children, aged 10 and 11,
will take part in a variety of activities including tobogganing (sledging), a
barbecue on the piste and a torchlit
procession through the village.
"All of the children and
staff are very excited about the trip. It's a wonderful opportunity for the
children to
experience a different climate and make new friends and to develop in terms of
maturity and
independence," said physical education head Alistair Bond.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=75827&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=26351
Yayasan nursery pupils mark new Hijrah
year :
By Dk Suria Rina PHA
Pengiran Anak Hariisah Widadul Bolqiah with her mates
taking part in an activity held to mark the new
Islamic year.
Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal
Bolkiah nursery school held a celebration to
commemorate the new Islamic
year Hijrah 1425 at its nursery hall at Jalan Kebangsaan in the capital.
More than 100 pupils from the
nursery, Kg 1 and Kg 2 took part in the celebration which is one of the
religious activities held annually by the school.
His Majesty's grand daughter, Pengiran Anak Hariisah
Widadul Bolqiah Pengiran Anak Dato
Laila Utama
Haji Abdul Rahim from Kg 1 also took part in
yesterday's event.
The celebration began with the
recital of "Peliharakan Sultan".
To enliven the occasion, several
activities were held such as the Nasyid performances
by pupils of Nursery
2 Yellow, Pink and Green.
The children also gathered in the
nursery hall to take part in the writing and colouring
activities. Their
respective teachers accompanied them in all the activities lined up for the
occasion.
Amongst the objectives of the
celebration are to teach the children at the nursery to write the "Hijaiah"
letter and at the same time to encourage their participation in the school
activities.
http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/tue/mar2h16.htm
03.03.2004
New Line Cinema has acquired the film rights
to best-selling German children's author Cornelia Funke's
fantasy novel "Inkheart." It's an
unprecedented success for a German writer.
Many writers dream that one day they'll hit the
see which top studio snags the rights to the big-screen version of their
book.
with her famous "Harry Potter" series, but German writers
generally don't make much of a splash in
Tinseltown.
That may be changing, thanks to
the Hamburg-based writer Cornelia Funke. In recent
months the
44-year-old mother of two has
found herself in the middle of a frantic tussle between Heyday Films and New
Line Cinema, both desperate to
secure movie rights to her book "Inkheart."
New Line Cinema has won and has
signed her up for a three-movie deal -- similar to the hugely successful
Harry Potter series produced by
Heyday Films -- which will also cover the subsequent two volumes in
Funke's planned trilogy. The second part of the series is due for publication
in
In an interview with DW-TV, Funke was still reeling from her sudden A-list status,
saying "all these famous
names were being bandied around….Tom Hanks….Brad Pitt…the names kept on
coming at me, they talked
about taking $50 million in the first weekend…it was everything you imagine
Runaway success at home and
abroad
Cornelia Funke
is
she began her career as an illustrator, but soon became bored of the books
she was working with and
decided to go it alone.
She published her first novel at
the age of 28 and now has some 40 titles to her name. German publisher
Cecilie Dressler Verlag
has sold some 2.5 million of her books in
into around 26 languages.
A slow-burning success at home as
well as in far-flung countries such as
to wait a while to be noticed by English-language publishers.
With English-language markets
notoriously slow to pick up on foreign fiction, it wasn't until 2002 that the
prolific author made her debut in the
Times bestseller and scooped
several European children's literature awards. It's also the first of Funke's
novels to get a movie treatment, with filming set to begin in
Publishers then wasted no time
releasing "Inkheart" in late 2003. Still
no. 7 after 20 weeks on the
Times bestseller list, it's even
giving illustrious rival authors such as Rowling and Lemony Snicket
a run for
their money.
Scholastic promptly rushed out Funke's "The Princess Knight" in February, and is
now eagerly awaiting
the second part of the Inkheart trilogy, "Inkblood", which was recently delivered for English
translation and
will be published world-wide next year.
Following the footsteps of J.K.
Rowling
Fęted by the English-language
press, Funke realized it wouldn't be long before
Fortunately for her, her brand of
fantasy fiction seemed to capture the zeitgeist perfectly, and the studios
were soon queuing up to get in on the act.
With its "Lord of the
Rings" trilogy down and dusted -- and currently basking in Oscar glory -- , New Line in
particular was looking around for another fantasy franchise.
"Inkheart"
is a fast-paced adventure story about a young girl whose father has the power
to bring
characters from books to life. When he's kidnapped by a power-hungry villain from
a rare children's fable,
his daughter gets together with a group of friends both real and imagined
to set things right.
In an interview with The Guardian
last October, Funke stressed that she would be
signing with the studio
most likely to give her creative control. "What for me is most
important, and what disturbs especially the
Americans, is that I don't talk
about money," she said. "I could do a bidding war, but I don't want
to,
because the only thing that interests me is creative control, and they don't
like that."
However, now that Funke has clinched the deal, she seems to be content that
the studio "will stay true to
my book."
Author DW Staff (jp)
http://www.dw-world.de © Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_1128557_1_A,00.html
Students opt for Tolkien's Elvish
language: ENGLAND
AFP MARCH 05, 2004
extraordinary maybe - but this time it is an Elvish
language devised by The Lord of the Rings author JRR
Tolkien.
Students at the school in
form of Elvish based on Welsh sounds and invented
by Tolkien, a former professor in ancient languages
at
"The recent success of the
Lord of the Rings films has increased the interest in learning Elvish," said
special needs coordinator Zainab Thorp at Turves Green Boys'
The final instalment
of a film version of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
trilogy - which contains several scenes
in Elvish - won 11 Oscars at the Academy Awards
last weekend in
Tolkien was an expert in ancient languages who had developed two forms of Elvish: the more common
Sindarin; and Quenya,
which related to Finnish, and was largely a ceremonial language.
"A couple of the boys are
very into role-playing games. Knowing Sindarin is
useful when giving orders to
their Elvish armies," Thorp said.
"The reason I'm offering the
lessons is to give the boys, some of whom have special educational needs,
something to boost their self-esteem," she said.
"It's also very useful if
they want to go on to university to study, as it involves looking at some of Tolkien's
old manuscripts. This develops some very complex skills," she said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/540711.cms
Iraqi kids in Chennai comfort :From
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
MARCH 04, 2004
funded by an American Christian organisation brings
20 Iraqi children to an Indian hospital for heart
surgery.
Iraqi children arrive at Chennai
airport on Wednesday
It all began when the
Israel-based organisation Shevet
Achim, which in Hebrew stands for Brothers
Together, decided to expand its
operations outside
hundreds of children with heart condition in desperate straits.
E-mails were sent out three
months ago to hundreds of paediatric cardiologists
across the world seeking
help for the Iraqi kids. Replies came from surgeons in US and
child there.
But an e-mail from Chennai’s
International Centre for Cardio Thoracic & Vascular Diseases offered to
take
in 20 kids and perform free surgery if their passage could be arranged.
Christian Broadcasting Network
(CBN), an American organisation, picked up that tab.
"We hadn’t even
opened," Dr K M Cherian, who heads the Chennai Centre told TNN in an interview. "But we
decided that instead of spending money on a formal inauguration, we’d use it
to treat the Iraqi kids."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/535514.cms
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=744657
Improved discipline, grades as SWAHA pupils
Meditate: TRINIDAD
By Wayne Bowman,
March 7th 2004
Teacher and students in a
meditation session at the
The school has employed
meditation and yoga as a means of combatting
indiscipline at the school.
Driving recklessly, the man
behind the wheel of the pick-up seemed he could care less about the lives of
the school children making their way home on Friday along the narrow
In fact, his reckless behaviour forced at least six of the students to jump into
the ditch running along the
road, which has no pavement.
Now, one would have expected this
driver to fall under the wrath of the children and to be on the receiving end
of insults and obscenities. Heck, that's how many kids and most adults would
react.
That was not the case here
though. The six children simply climbed back onto the road, checked each
other to ensure that no one was hurt, and continued their trek to Sangre Grande.
This was when I realised that there must be some validity to the story I
was in pursuit of: I was making my
way to the
anger management and other issues.
The school employs non-religious
meditation and yoga to assist the students in controlling their tempers
and dealing with stressful situations.
Since starting in January 2003,
students, parents and teachers alike have seen marked improvement in
behaviour, interaction and grades among the students.
The school's principal, Pundit Balram Persad, said before they
started to teach meditation and yoga there
were problems with discipline at the school.
"We had some problems,
nothing extreme like heavy violence with knives and such, but a lot of pushing
and shoving, name-calling, expressions of anger, restlessness and the use
of obscene language," Persad
said.
Persad further explained that there were many valid reasons for the students
to be stressed and, at times,
angry. The principal said he and his teachers began to take a deeper look
into the daily experiences of the
students in an effort to get to the root of the problem.
Commenting on efforts to deal
with school violence and indiscipline by introducing more guards, a police
presence and conducting searches, Persad said:
"These are all good, but are really only band-aids. What
happens when the adhesive power of a band-aid wears off? It falls away. We realised that we needed to get
to the root of the problems and dig away at these, treat with these and
then we could begin to build by
laying down the foundation of proper values within the children."
Among the stress factors
identified were dysfunctional families, daily problems with transportation to
and
from school and limited extra-curricular activities.
For the non-Hindu students there
were additional factors such as the adjustments they were required to
make because they were attending a school housed in a temple, Persad explained. One of the major
adjustments was that they had to have their meals in the courtyard and not in the
school once they
contained meat.
Persad decided that it would be best to find a way to assist the students in
learning to cope with the
challenges, while working on dealing with the various issues.
He explained that meditation and
yoga exercises were chosen because they helped the body combat
stress in a positive way by oxygenating the tissues better and removing
carbon dioxide, thus making the
body stronger. It also rejuvenated the brain and spinal centres,
thus sharpening the thinking centres, he
added.
Meditation also relaxes the lungs
and heart rate. The breathing exercises of yoga help to calm the nervous
system, relaxing the body and mind. It also helps to improve blood
circulation.
"The practice of meditation
and yoga is a powerful tool in the management of stress. We teach
non-religious out of respect for the non-Hindu students. We get the children to
focus on values and
affirmation. They chant statements such as 'I am a peaceful being. I am a loving
being'. They learn deep
breathing and how to control their breathing," Persad
said.
Persad also uses pop culture to underscore the effectiveness of meditation to
his students. He shows them
films and interviews of
yoga. Instructors from the Raja Yoga Centre come in and teach the students.
Since the 2003 start of the
programme, Persad said there has been a marked
improvement: students are
no longer having conflicts amongst themselves and their grades have improved
tremendously.
The meditation, however, was not
all that was done to ease the stress being experienced by the children.
Persad and his teachers also put several things in place to make life easier
for the children.
PTSC now provides transportation
for the students, some of whom come from as far as Mayaro,
Navet,
Biche, Manzanilla
and Arima.
Along with the Hindu religious
observances and celebrations, the school also encourages the non-Hindu
students to express their own religious identities. There are functions to
observe: Eid, Christmas, Spiritual
Baptist Liberation Day and other
religiously significant events.
Persad has also established a Culture Day on which students of all races and
religions are encouraged to
share aspects of their culture with the other students through displays and
performances.
There are also now several
extra-curricular activities for students, including a debate club, drama group,
dance troupe, tassa group, choir, boys' cricket
and girls' cricket teams.
In fact, a student of the school,
Mark Moffet, was last week selected for the National
Under-15 cricket team.
In an effort to get parents more
involved in the school life of their children, Persad
introduced a system
under which students get extra credit whenever their parents attend PTA
meetings and other school
activities.
"The students make sure that
their parents attend everything because of the extra marks they get. What
this really achieves though is [to] build a stronger relationship between
parent and child and get the
parents actively involved in the children's education. There is also a
Sound-Off session in which the
students are allowed to air their frustrations and speak out about whatever
they have problems with at
school. This gives them the assurance that they have a say in how the school
they attend is being run,"
Persad said.
The
denominational, government-assisted school.
Currently, there are 315 students
between Forms One to Three. The school will have its first Form Four
batch this coming September. Although run by the Hindu organisation,
the Society Working for the
Advancement of Human Aspirations
(SWAHA), the school is open to students of all religions.
The school is currently housed at
the Tulsi Manas Hindu
Centre, but a new building is at present being
constructed a few metres away and should be ready to
house the students come September 2004.
Speaking to the students, one
gets the sense that they are, for the most part, well-adjusted and well looked
after by their teachers. They are respectful and quite articulate when asked
questions about their school
and the meditation classes.
Persad said there were still many challenges being faced by the school and
its students. Among them are
the dangers they face daily on the
pavement. Persad has made several requests to the
authorities for the road to be widened and for a
pavement to be constructed. These have proved futile to this point. There is
land on either side to allow for
the widening.
For now, however, the students of
into ditches whenever an uncaring, reckless driver whizzes by. This gives
them a daily opportunity to put
to test the meditation and yoga exercises that they are being taught to
help them cope better with the
challenges of life.
What some students say
Roxanne Skeete,
15:
"Before the meditation
classes, I was very aggressive and got vex easily. Now I am more calm, relaxed
and
can control my temper. It has also helped me in my studies. I used to drop
asleep over my books while
doing homework, but now I just take a few deep breaths and I'm awake and
able to do my work."
Rasheeda Ali, 13:
"Meditation works for me. My
grades used to be down, but now I'm doing better. I do it at nights when I'm
studying."
Avinish Pattoo, 13:
"When I get vex, I breathe
deeply and I calm down. I also used to have a pain in my foot sometimes and now
I don't get it anymore."
Jagdees Gosine, 12:
"I am more flexible and I've
realised how great my inner self is. It helps my
lungs exercise and wears pain
away."
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article?id=16867483
History buff takes pupils back in time : USA
Students encouraged to look for history in their own back yards
BY TARA PETERSEN, Staff Writer
Katerba, township historian, took time out of his normal workday to talk to
students about history — from Native Americans to Colonial times.
John Katerba
shows students at the
Americans used
Katerba, 38, first explained that the names of various locales have historical
significance dating back to the
Lenape tribes.
"Manalapan means ‘land of
good bread,’ which means the soil is good for planting. … Matchaponix
means
‘land of
poor bread,’ " Katerba said.
PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI staff Following the presentation from
Katerba at the Woodland School Friday, Tommy Himmelreich
and Daniel Morgan, both 10, look at old
photos and a jersey from the first softball team formed in
Katerba made modern-day comparisons to help students understand their
ancestors.
"We get on the highway and
get hungry, we stop at a rest stop at a McDonald’s.
[The Lenapes] used
Monroe as a rest stop," Katerba said.
Katerba encouraged the children to be curious about their environment, and
spend more time outside.
"You can be curious and use
your mind, and if [an object] looks out of place, you might have found an
Indian artifact," Katerba said. "You’ve got to get out of your house and
away from the TV to find them."
Brianne LaRocca reacts as John Katerba
shows a paddle once used for disciplining schoolchildren long
ago.
Katerba described building a home to help students appreciate modern
conveniences.
"There wasn’t a Home Depot
to buy wood and tools. Today you can buy 2-by-4s to build things," Katerba
said. "Imagine having to make each piece of wood one at a time out of
a tree."
Katerba showed several artifacts and tools, including a large wooden peg that
settlers used for nails, and a
T-shaped drill that was turned by
hand.
"Back then, if you could see
the smoke coming from somebody’s house, [your house was] too close to
them," Katerba said, attempting to describe
the rural community character.
Katerba explained "barn-raising" and described the sense of
community that people felt. He held a simple
blacksmith-made latch and said, "This was what people held their doors shut with
— there was really no
crime back then."
Katerba talked about the night that Gen. George Washington spent in the
township just before the
Monmouth. He also described what
it was like to rely on trains and horses before the invention of the
automobile.
"You could tie your horse up
at the station and take the train for the day," Katerba
said. "For 5 cents you
could go to Hightstown."
Children found it hard to keep
from giggling and chatting among themselves when the topic turned to life in
the one-room schoolhouse.
"Girls were on one side,
boys on the other," Katerba said. "There
were no desks, only benches along the
wall. Kindergarten all the way up to high school, students were in one
room."
He also said children walked as
much as three miles each way to school.
"In the bad weather they
would stop off at some houses along the way and dry off or warm up, and then go
on their way," he said. "Everybody knew everybody else.
"What do you do when you
misbehave?" he asked, waiting for the children to answer "detention."
Katerba brought out a very large wooden paddle and said, above the rising
sounds of astonishment, "This
was used for detention back then."
Katerba also showed students a 115-year-old dress and an old baseball jersey,
and described the chores
expected of the children.
"Somebody had to make this
[dress] one thread at a time. It was constant work back then just to
survive,"
Katerba said. "You didn’t go home and play Game Boy."
Katerba said he recalled days in the more recent past when he used to get
fresh milk from Forsgate Farms
delivered to his house each morning by a milkman.
"A lot of farms are
disappearing. It’s sad," he said.
He continued to try to encourage
children to play outside more.
"I spent all of my summers
outside and came home at dark," he said.
After the talk, 10-year-old Ami
Banker said she found the history of the one-room schoolhouse the most
interesting.
"I never knew the boys and
girls were [separated]. I didn’t know how difficult it would be for the
children,"
Banker said. "I think I
wouldn’t get much time to do what I wanted."
Nick Dini,
10, said he liked the story of the baseball player.
"The guy hits a home run
every day and his dad wouldn’t let him play in the major league," Dini said.
Morgan Papanestor,
10, said she thought her neighborhood had a lot of artifacts.
"Near my house there are a
lot of interesting things," she said. "My neighbor found an
arrowhead."
Katerba, who works full time at the township’s utilities authority, is working
on the municipal historical
commission as a volunteer.
He said he first became
interested in history in elementary school and later got involved as an adult.
"I noticed the community
changing around me. I knew the farmers around me, and they started moving
away," he said.
Katerba said he is looking forward to the township and the commission opening
a museum focused on
local history at the Dey Farm,
http://ebs.gmnews.com/news/2004/0304/Front_Page/038.html