A School of Voices

Youth make the world a better place

I read a study that talked about our young generation being service-oriented. Do you know what that means? That means a lot of youth are doing many good things for others. They volunteer. If you volunteer you are giving of your time to help others and often without payment. This article, Youths volunteer in record numbers, in the post-gazette.com  highlights the outpouring of kid-generated fund-raising efforts for the storm victims.  It speaks about college freshmen who did volunteer work during their last year of high school. It talks about schools that have after-school activities that offer some kind of service. Young people cite "being asked" as the main reason motivating them to volunteer. They also said "it makes me feel good."

So what are some things you have volunteered to do to help others? Have you seen or been a part of a youth group that is performing a service of some type to help others?

It's great to read an article spotlighting the many good things our young people are doing. I am pround of them. If you haven't had many opportunities to volunteer share some great ideas on things you think young people could volunteer for that would make a difference in our world. Be creative and design a project in your mind that would be fantastic. Who knows?  Perhaps  your idea will spark another idea and our world will become a better place.

 

Words are fun!

Listen to these words----, chick flick, amuse-bouche, metadata, SARS, cybrarian, brain freeze, DHS, Wi-Fi and steganography. Did you recognize any of them?  Well you could check out the latest "chick flick", enjoy an "amuse-bouche", collect "metadata"-- but I sure hope you or no one else  is ever exposed to "SARS".  You're hearing some of the new entries that have made it to the dictionary.  You can find the meanings of these new entries at Miriam-Webster.

There's an article that explains the process whereby words are selected for inclusion into the dictionary. It takes roughly 10 years for a promising word to get into the dictionary from the time it first gets noticed. Some, however, get to the dictionary quickly, depending on the urgency of their meaning and impact.

Miriam-Webster has editors who spend a part of each day reading magazines and newspaers, looking for evidence of how words are being more commonly used. The new words reflect changes and developments in American society.

Hey, did you know that Merriam-Webster's Dictionary declared "blog" as the word of the year in 2004? There's a link on that page to the official scoop of how a word gets into a Miriam-Webster dictionary.

Put your shoulder to the wheel and have a little fun with words. Miriam-Webster has some cool games that let you have fun with words here and here. Think about words you use or have heard. Tell us about them. You might want to share an idiom, a word you love, a new word you have learned, or a new one you have heard lately. Tell us why you chose your word when you make a comment.

Now, I hope Derrick, a former student blogger is reading this. He coined the word "blook" when we wrote a "Blook on Blogs."  Now, blook may have been used elsewhere but I couldn't find it in the dictionary. I hope Derrick  submits it to Miriam-Webster!

Have fun with words!

Eating Right Can Be a Blast

The Washington Post has an article, Eating Right Can Be a Blast. The government is hoping to promote better eating habits with an online game and a food pyramid. The goal is to get kids to "eat right, exercise and have fun." says Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.

• Orange stands for food made from grains, such a bread, crackers, pasta and rice.
• Red is for fruit.
• Green stands for vegetables.
• Blue is for milk and dairy products, including yogurt and cheese.
• Purple designates protein, including beans, nuts, lean meat, seafood, eggs, and chicken or turkey without the skin.
• Yellow is the color of olive oil, margarine, butter and other types of fat.

The stairway is on the side of the pyramid to remind kids to be more active and get at least an hour of physical activity every day.

Blast Off is the online game that can be played at school or home. It lets kids see what foods they need to eat and how much daily exerice they need to stay healthy.

So, if you get healthy foods and exercise your rocket builds up fuel. With enough fuel, you can blast off to Planet Power.

If you get a chance try out the game and tell us what you think. If you know any tips to share about eating healthy or exercising, share those. Do you think getting healthy should be one of the top priorities of our nation? List your suggestions for how we could achieve that goal.