Tips for a Germ-Free School Year
By NG Kids
Sept. 8, 2009
The school year always brings new friends, new teachers, new assignments, and unfortunately some new germs. But not to worry, a new school year doesn’t have to mean new illnesses!
Follow these tips and you might score a perfect attendance record this year!
Wash your hands with soap and water after you sneeze, cough, or use the bathroom. Count to 20 or sing a couple of rounds of Row, Row, Row Your Boat while you scrub!
Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water aren’t available.
Use a tissue when you need to sneeze or cough. Throw your tissues in the trash—don’t attempt a Guinness World Record for the biggest pile of dirty tissues!
If you can’t stifle a cough or sneeze in a tissue quickly enough, sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
Take a multi-vitamin every day.
Don’t share water bottles or drinks. Your friend might not know he or she is sick and spread germs to you.
Don’t share your hair brush or hat. Little creatures like head lice could be hiding out and could be passed on from one person to another.
Stay home from school, sports practice, and parties if you feel sick or have a fever.
Wash your dishes with detergent and very warm water to kill germs.
Stay away from family gatherings and reunions if you are sick or if one of your family members is sick. Grandma and Grandpa and younger cousins may have a stronger reaction to the illness than you do.
Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. A healthy diet can help boost your immune system and help you fight off illnesses before they make you sick!
Sleep eight or more hours every night. A strong body will help you fend off infections.
Wash your hands after you high five, fist bump or shake someone’s hand.
Don’t double dip into the salsa or dip.
Get some fresh air and exercise every day. Outside air often carries fewer germs than stagnant indoor air.
Avoid crowded places like movie theaters and shopping malls if the flu has been reported in your town.
Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. These areas are germ spreaders.
Don’t share ear buds with friends. They can harbor loads of germs.
Blow kisses to your sick friends and family instead of kisses and hugs.
Get a flu shot if your doctor or school recommends it.
Source: National Geographic
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Who Were Our Presidents? Part 7
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Sept. 8, 2009
Editor’s Note: How many of us along with our children? Know who our Presidents were and what they have done in Office.
Each week we will pick a President and tell you about them and their accomplishes.
We hope that you will enjoy this series. And let us know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
7. ANDREW JACKSON 1829-1837
More nearly than any of his predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man.
Born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767, he received sporadic education. But in his late teens he read law for about two years, and he became an outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. Fiercely jealous of his honor, he engaged in brawls, and in a duel killed a man who cast an unjustified slur on his wife Rachel.
Jackson prospered sufficiently to buy slaves and to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and he served briefly in the Senate. A major general in the War of 1812, Jackson became a national hero when he defeated the British at New Orleans.
In 1824 some state political factions rallied around Jackson; by 1828 enough had joined “Old Hickory” to win numerous state elections and control of the Federal administration in Washington.
In his first Annual Message to Congress, Jackson recommended eliminating the Electoral College. He also tried to democratize Federal officeholding. Already state machines were being built on patronage, and a New York Senator openly proclaimed “that to the victors belong the spoils. . . . ”
Jackson took a milder view. Decrying officeholders who seemed to enjoy life tenure, he believed Government duties could be “so plain and simple” that offices should rotate among deserving applicants.
As national politics polarized around Jackson and his opposition, two parties grew out of the old Republican Party–the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, adhering to Jackson; and the National Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him.
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other Whig leaders proclaimed themselves defenders of popular liberties against the usurpation of Jackson. Hostile cartoonists portrayed him as King Andrew I.
Behind their accusations lay the fact that Jackson, unlike previous Presidents, did not defer to Congress in policy-making but used his power of the veto and his party leadership to assume command.
The greatest party battle centered around the Second Bank of the United States, a private corporation but virtually a Government-sponsored monopoly. When Jackson appeared hostile toward it, the Bank threw its power against him.
Clay and Webster, who had acted as attorneys for the Bank, led the fight for its recharter in Congress. “The bank,” Jackson told Martin Van Buren, “is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!” Jackson, in vetoing the recharter bill, charged the Bank with undue economic privilege.
His views won approval from the American electorate; in 1832 he polled more than 56 percent of the popular vote and almost five times as many electoral votes as Clay.
Jackson met head-on the challenge of John C. Calhoun, leader of forces trying to rid themselves of a high protective tariff.
When South Carolina undertook to nullify the tariff, Jackson ordered armed forces to Charleston and privately threatened to hang Calhoun. Violence seemed imminent until Clay negotiated a compromise: tariffs were lowered and South Carolina dropped nullification.
In January of 1832, while the President was dining with friends at the White House, someone whispered to him that the Senate had rejected the nomination of Martin Van Buren as Minister to England. Jackson jumped to his feet and exclaimed, “By the Eternal! I’ll smash them!” So he did. His favorite, Van Buren, became Vice President, and succeeded to the Presidency when “Old Hickory” retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845.
Editor’s Note: Here is some of the accomplishment of the 7th President:
He was military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. He was a polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s. His political ambition combined with widening political participation, shaping the modern Democratic Party.[1] Renowned for his toughness, he was nicknamed “Old Hickory.” As he based his career in developing Tennessee, Jackson was the first president primarily associated with the frontier.
· Jacksonian Democracy – “the people shall rule” – increased turnout of votes proving that common people had the vote & would use it to their ends
· reflected individualism, versatility, opportunism
· laissez faire
· supported spoils system
· did not support internal improvements (roads, canals)
· Webster- Hayne Debate 1829
· Indian Removal Act 1830
· Nat Turner’s Rebellion 1831
· Nullification Crisis 1832
· vetoes recharter of BUS 1832
· Tariff of 1832
· Force Bill 1833
· vetoes Maysville Road
· Texas Revolution 1836 & recognition 1837
· Specie Circular 1836
· Bank War 1836
We would like to know what you think? And is there anything else that he has done? You could win a prize dan@youngchronicle.com
Source: White House Askville
A Dream Comes True For 13 Year Old
By NG Kids
September 8, 2009
Laura Dekker is a girl with a dream–to be the youngest person to circumnavigate (sail around) the world alone in her yacht, Guppy. Laura isn’t new to sailing. She was born on a boat in New Zealand, and was sailing solo on lakes when she was six years old. She sailed across the English Channel to England and back at her father’s insistence that she prove herself before tackling the open ocean. Laura is 13 years old.
A Dutch court has ruled that Laura is too young to make the trip alone, and has placed her under state supervision for two months to make sure she stays on dry land.
Do you think 13 is too young to sail solo around the world? How old do you think someone should be before sailing such a huge distance alone?
Read more about Laura Dekker on the BBC
Source: Kids National Geographic
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Obama Speech to American School Children
By Fox News
September 7, 2009
Editor’s Note: The following are prepared remarks from President Obama’s Back to School Event scheduled for Tuesday in Arlington, Virginia
We would like to know what you think? Are you allowing your child to hear the President’s Speech tomorrow? dan@youngchronicle.com
The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.
I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.
So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.
And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.
Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.
And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too.
So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
Source: Fox News
Success Story of a Missing Child
By AP
Sept. 5, 2009
ST. LOUIS — A boy allegedly abducted in a custody dispute nearly two years ago has turned up alive, hiding with his mother in a small, specially built secret room at his grandmother’s Illinois home, investigators said.
Richard “Ricky” Chekevdia, who turns 7 on Sept. 14, was in good spirits and physically fit after being found Friday by investigators with a court order to search the two-story rural home in southern Illinois’ Franklin County, about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The boy’s mother, 30-year-old Shannon Wilfong, is charged with felony child abduction. The grandmother, 51-year-old Diane Dobbs, is charged with aiding and abetting. Wilfong remained jailed Saturday on $42,500 bond in Benton, Ill., where Dobbs was being held on $1,000 bond.
The boy was staying Saturday with one of his father’s relatives while state child-welfare workers investigated claims the father abused the child before his disappearance — allegations rejected by the dad, who’s thrilled the agonizing search has ended.
“Two years? You have no idea,” Mike Chekevdia, a 48-year-old former police officer who’s a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois National Guard, told The Associated Press by telephone Saturday from his house in Royalton, Ill., some three miles from the home where his son turned up. “I’ve lost sleep. I’ve lost weight. I’ve gained weight. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.”
After hearing his son had been found, Chekevdia said, “you could have knocked me over with a feather.”
Chekevdia won temporary custody of his son shortly before the boy and his mother — Chekevdia’s former girlfriend — disappeared in November 2007. Chekevdia said he long suspected his son was being stowed by Dobbs, although there were no signs of the boy at her home when it was searched with her consent after his disappearance. Wilfong was charged the next month with abducting the child but couldn’t be found.
For much of the time since, Chekevdia said, the windows of Dobbs’ home were blocked off by drawn shades or other items, presumably to prevent anyone from peeking inside.
“I had a firm belief he was in there, and yesterday it was confirmed,” Chekevdia said.
Investigators, during a news conference Friday, did not detail what led sheriff’s deputies and federal marshals with a search warrant to Dobbs’ house Friday, when they found the boy and his mother in a hideaway roughly 5 feet by 12 feet and about the height of a washing machine.
“We let him out of the (patrol) car and he ran around like he’d never seen outdoors. It was actually very sad,” Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Stan Diggs said. “He was very happy to be outside. He said he never goes outside.”
“Surprisingly,” Diggs added, “Ricky is in very good spirits. For someone who’s been isolated in that house with no other outside beings, he’s a very social, very polite, very talkative little boy.”
Dobbs, the grandmother, told the Southern Illinoisan newspaper of Carbondale, Ill., last year that her daughter had been forced into hiding to keep the child from his father. Dobbs called the dispute a “nightmare for all of us” and insisted her daughter had difficulty getting authorities to help.
Chekevdia, eager to get his son back in school and to a dentist, said waiting for Ricky to resurface required patience.
“It’s hard to sit back and watch things happen when you’re used to making things happen,” he said. “But I just bided my time and let the system work.”
Source: Fox News
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Upset over ‘leftist propaganda’ video
By Lisa Schencker
Sept. 3, 2009
A school principal has apologized for showing a video at an assembly that a politically conservative group leader is calling “radical, leftist propaganda.”
Children at Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington were shown a short video called “I pledge” on Aug. 28. The video opens with an image of President Barack Obama and part of a speech in which he says, “Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.” The video then features celebrities making pledges about how they will help the president and the world — and that’s where some say the problem lies.
Many pledges, such as supporting local food banks, smiling more, and caring for the elderly are noncontroversial. But other pledges, such as “to never give anyone the finger when I’m driving again,” “to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid” and to advance stem cell research cross the line, some say.
“Showing the video in a public school is completely inappropriate,” said Jennifer Cieslewicz, whose daughter is a first-grader at the school. “I don’t believe a video such as this that promotes certain values should be shown to elementary students, especially without parents being aware. ”
Chris Williams, Davis School District spokesman, said school principal Ofelia Wade and school PTA leaders decided to show the video as part of an assembly about the school’s theme for the year, service. He said the PTA board chose the video and Wade did not see it before it was shown in the assembly.
“It got to a point where she turned to her assistant and said, ‘Oops, I wish I would have seen this before. I don’t think I would have shown it,’ ” Williams said. He said Wade could see how some adults might find the video political.
“She acknowledges she was wrong and apologizes for it and says she’s sorry,” Williams said. Attempts to reach school PTA leaders Tuesday
evening were unsuccessful.
Williams said Wade plans to send a letter home to parents Wednesday about the issue.
Gayle Ruzicka, president of conservative Utah Eagle Forum, said the video was blatantly political. She said other offensive pledges included, “I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama,” “I pledge allegiance to the funk, to the united funk of funkadelica,” and pledges to not use plastic grocery bags and not flush the toilet after urinating.
“It’s very inappropriate to show a radical, leftist propaganda piece that political to children,” Ruzicka said. “If parents want their children to learn about those things and do them in the home, wonderful, fine, but it’s not the place of the school to show a one-sided propaganda piece to children without parents knowing about it.”
Cieslewicz said such values should be decided in the home, not at school.
“They shouldn’t be troubling our youth with the woes of the world and making them feel like we’re in slavery or they have to worry about how many times they flush the toilet or if they have a plastic water bottle,” Cieslewicz said, referring to pledges in the video to “end slavery.”
Ruzicka said she contacted local media about the video after receiving complaints from several parents. Ruzicka said she worried the video’s messages would confuse children whose parents might choose to use plastic bags when shopping or who want their children to flush the toilet after every use. Also she said she didn’t like a pledge “to be of service to Barack Obama” as he is here to serve Americans, not the other way around.
Ruzicka said she’d like to see the school district send a link to the video to all parents before an upcoming back-to-school night so they can voice their opinions and discuss it with their children. Williams said it’s unlikely the district will send out a link, but parents are welcome to access the video on YouTube.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
US Brings Home Little League World Series
By Laura Leigh Davidson
Sept. 2, 2009
A team from California came from behind to win the 2009 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. Chula Vista’s Little Leaguers beat the Chinese Taipei team from Taoyuan, Taiwan, by a score of 6-3. (Taiwan is an island nation off the coast of China.)
This is the fifth year in a row that a team from the United States has taken home the championship banner for Little League baseball.
The game was hard-fought. The two squads were deadlocked at 0 until Wen Hua Sung and Chin Ou hit back-to-back homers in the third inning to give Chinese Taipei a 3-0 lead.
Then relief pitcher Kiko Garcia took the mound for Chula Vista. After that, no more Chinese Taipei batters crossed home plate. Kiko didn’t give up a single run for the rest of the game.
Chula Vista broke its scoreless streak with one run in the third inning. The team brought three more runs home in the fourth to move ahead, 4-3. Two more runs in the fifth inning put the score at 6-3. Kiko pushed through some last-inning jitters and struck out Yu Chieh Kao to end the game.
“We knew we could come back,” 13-year-old Kiko told ESPN. “We always do.”
Celebrating the Big Win
The west-coasters threw their gloves into the air and piled on the winning pitcher in celebration. Then the Little League champs took a victory lap around the stadium. After that, they collected handfuls of dirt from the pitcher’s mound to help commemorate their special win.
“It’s just an amazing feeling,” 12-year-old third baseman Seth Godfrey said. “We went for it, and we did [it].”
Reporters were eager to know what the team wanted to do after the game. Shortstop Andy Rios said they were ready for a victory celebration at the team’s favorite restaurant back in Chula Vista. Seth agreed, and said he was hungry for some postgame fries.
Williamsport, Little League Capital of the World
This year’s World Series action drew more than 200,000 fans to Williamsport. The central Pennsylvania town is the only home the Little League World Series has ever known. The 10-day tournament featured some of the best 11- to 13-year-old baseball players from around the globe. In all, 16 teams competed for the championship: 8 U.S. squads and 8 from around the world.
Williamsport resident Carl Stotz founded Little League Baseball in 1939. The league’s original three teams played their first season in an empty lot. Today, approximately 2.7 million young boys and girls play little league baseball worldwide.
Source: Scholastic News Online
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Obama Going After Our Kids at School
By Joshua Rhett Miller
FOXNews.com
August 2, 2009
A suggested lesson plan that calls on school kids to write letters to themselves about what they can do to help President Obama is troubling some education experts, who say it establishes the president as a “superintendent in chief” and may indoctrinate children to support him politically.
Obama will deliver a national address directly to students on Tuesday, which will be the first day of classes for many children across the country. The address, to be broadcast live on the White House’s Web site, was announced in a letter to school principals last week by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Obama intends to “challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning,” Duncan wrote. Obama will also call for a “shared responsibility” among students, parents and educators to maximize learning potential.
But in advance of the address, the Department of Education has offered educators “classroom activities” to coincide with Obama’s message.
Students in grades pre-K-6, for example, are encouraged to “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.”
Teachers are also given guidance to tell students to “build background knowledge about the president of the United States by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama.”
During the speech, “teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful.”
For grades 7-12, the Department of Education suggests teachers prepare by excerpting quotes from Obama’s speeches on education for their students to contemplate — and ask as questions such as “Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us? How will he challenge us?”
Activities suggested for after the speech include asking students “what resonated with you from President Obama’s speech? What lines/phrase do you remember?”
Obama announced his intention to deliver the address to students during an interview with Damon Weaver, a middle school student from Florida who gained a following of his own last year on the campaign trail for his interviews of high-profile figures.
The Department of Education is using the president’s address to kick off a video contest titled, “I Am What I Learn,” in which students are invited to submit videos of up to two minutes on the importance of education in achieving their dreams.
Obama’s critics say the lesson plans and the president’s calls for a “supportive community” are troubling on many levels.
“In general, I don’t think there’s a problem if the president uses the bully pulpit to tell kids to work hard, study hard and things like that. But there are some troubling hints in this, both educationally and politically,” said Neal McCluskey, associate director of Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom.
Among the concerns, McCluskey said, is the notion that students who do not support Obama or his educational policies will begin the school year “behind the eight ball,” or somehow academically trailing their peers.
“It essentially tries to force kids to say the president and the presidency is inspiring, and that’s very problematic,” McCluskey said. “It’s very concerning that you would do that.”
Parents of public school students would also have to pay for that “indoctrination,” regardless of their political background, he said.
“That’s the fundamental problem. They could easily be funding the indoctrination of their children.”
Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said the suggested lesson plans cross the line between instruction and advocacy.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for teachers to ask students to help promote the president’s preferred school reforms and policies,” Hess said. “It very much starts to set up the president as a superintendent in chief.”
Amid the debate on the federal government’s level of involvement on issues like health care and others, Hess said, “There’s a lot of people” on both sides of the political spectrum who will rightfully be concerned with the president’s call to action.
“It shows exactly what the problem is,” he said. “This is going to open the door to all kinds of concerns.”
Messages to the White House seeking comment were not immediately returned early Wednesday.
After reading the Department of Education lesson plans for the speech, McCluskey said he noticed several passages that should set off “alarm bells,” including language that attempts to “glorify President Obama” in the minds of young students.
“It could be a blatantly political move,” he said. “Nobody knows for sure, but it gives that impression.”
McCluskey also noted that the lesson plans for young students contain suggestions to write letters to themselves on how they can help the president, but that suggestion is not in the lesson plan for middle and high schoolers — perhaps due to the likelihood of increased political ties at that age.
“You don’t want to see this coming from the president,” McCluskey said. “You don’t want to see this coming from the federal government.”
EDitor’s Note: FOXNews.com’s David Paulsen contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Who Were Our Presidents? Part 6
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Sept. 1, 2009
Editor’s Note: How many of us along with our children? Know who our Presidents were and what they have done in Office.
Each week we will pick a President and tell you about them and their accomplishes.
We hope that you will enjoy this series. And let us know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
6. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 1825-1829
The first President who was the son of a President, John Quincy Adams in many respects paralleled the career as well as the temperament and viewpoints of his illustrious father. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from the top of Penn’s Hill above the family farm. As secretary to his father in Europe, he became an accomplished linguist and assiduous diarist.
After graduating from Harvard College, he became a lawyer. At age 26 he was appointed Minister to the Netherlands, then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 he was elected to the United States Senate. Six years later President Madison appointed him Minister to Russia.
Serving under President Monroe, Adams was one of America’s great Secretaries of State, arranging with England for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession of the Floridas, and formulating with the President the Monroe Doctrine.
In the political tradition of the early 19th century, Adams as Secretary of State was considered the political heir to the Presidency. But the old ways of choosing a President were giving way in 1824 before the clamor for a popular choice.
Within the one and only party–the Republican–sectionalism and factionalism were developing, and each section put up its own candidate for the Presidency. Adams, the candidate of the North, fell behind Gen. Andrew Jackson in both popular and electoral votes, but received more than William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. Since no candidate had a majority of electoral votes, the election was decided among the top three by the House of Representatives. Clay, who favored a program similar to that of Adams, threw his crucial support in the House to the New Englander.
Upon becoming President, Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Jackson and his angry followers charged that a “corrupt bargain” had taken place and immediately began their campaign to wrest the Presidency from Adams in 1828.
Well aware that he would face hostility in Congress, Adams nevertheless proclaimed in his first Annual Message a spectacular national program. He proposed that the Federal Government bring the sections together with a network of highways and canals, and that it develop and conserve the public domain, using funds from the sale of public lands. In 1828, he broke ground for the 185-mile C & 0 Canal.
Adams also urged the United States to take a lead in the development of the arts and sciences through the establishment of a national university, the financing of scientific expeditions, and the erection of an observatory. His critics declared such measures transcended constitutional limitations.
The campaign of 1828, in which his Jacksonian opponents charged him with corruption and public plunder, was an ordeal Adams did not easily bear. After his defeat he returned to Massachusetts, expecting to spend the remainder of his life enjoying his farm and his books.
Unexpectedly, in 1830, the Plymouth district elected him to the House of Representatives, and there for the remainder of his life he served as a powerful leader. Above all, he fought against circumscription of civil liberties.
In 1836 southern Congressmen passed a “gag rule” providing that the House automatically table petitions against slavery. Adams tirelessly fought the rule for eight years until finally he obtained its repeal.
In 1848, he collapsed on the floor of the House from a stroke and was carried to the Speaker’s Room, where two days later he died. He was buried–as were his father, mother, and wife–at First Parish Church in Quincy. To the end, “Old Man Eloquent” had fought for what he considered right.
Editor’s Note: President Adams kept Americia out of the French and British war. We would like to know if you can come up more that he has accomplished? You can win a prize, dan@youngchronicle.com
Source: Whitehouse Wiki Answers
To Help Your Child to be Safe School Year
By Safekids/PIO
Sept. 1, 2009
As kids head back to school, Safe Kids’ new study “Characteristics of Distracted Drivers in School Zones: A National Report” reveals a scary truth: One out of every six drivers in school zones is distracted. With cell phones, email and text messaging being added to the list of more traditional distractions like eating and grooming, there are more ways than ever for drivers to become distracted – and potentially dangerous to children as they walk to and from school.
About 10 percent of drivers were caught using hand-held electronics—such as cell phones, PDAs, and Smartphones. These devices were the leading cause of distraction. And while laws on using electronics while driving are still being hotly debated, this research shows that simply having a law on the books could help reduce distracted driving. States that have laws are 13 percent less likely to have distracted drivers in school zones.
The Danger of Distracted Driving Recent studies have measured the driving skills of distracted drivers showing they perform as bad or worse than drivers who are drunk. This is frightening for anyone on the road, but it’s a particularly dangerous situation when kids are added into the mix.
Common Traits of Distracted Driving
Seatbelt use. Drivers that don’t wear a seatbelt are 34 percent more likely to be distracted than drivers who are buckled up. As a driver, if you engage in one risky behavior – you are more likely to engage in multiple unsafe driving behaviors.
Time of day. Afternoon drivers are 22 percent more likely to be distracted than morning drivers. Throughout the year, one in three child pedestrian deaths occur between 3 and 7 p.m., making afternoons the most dangerous time for children to walk.
Gender. Female drivers are 21 percent more likely to be distracted than male drivers. Moms today have a million things on their to-do lists and too often women are multitasking behind the wheel. But that doesn’t mean male drivers are off the hook—their rate of distraction was still way too high.
Traffic volume. People driving on roads with a lot of traffic are 16 percent more likely to be distracted than those driving on roads with less traffic.
Tips from Safe Kids Walk This Way
Safe Kids and FedEx have been working together for 10 years on the Walk This Way program where we educate children about walking safely. We conduct programs in more than 600 schools and have reached more than a million kids all across the United States.
Be a Safe Kid
Be a Safe Driver
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Source: USA Safekids
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com