WZAKCleveland - 93.1 WZAK Cleveland's Home for the R&B Community » Back to School

FoodTips: Ideas for fun school lunches

Tom Joyner — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:00:37 +0000

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/lifestyle/foodtips-ideas-for-fun-school-lunches-wfts

Leave it to Ellie Krieger, host of “Healthy Appetite,” to make sure every color on the fruit-and-veggie spectrum ends up in her 7-year-old daughter’s lunch. The recipe name, Rainbows and Butterflies Pasta Salad, comes from the multicolored vegetables and, of course, butterfly-shaped pasta. Krieger says: “Drop in a blueberry yogurt or blueberry punch so they’ll get all the colors.”

Jamie Oliver has fought to improve school lunches in his native Britain, and he follows his own advice when making “pack lunches” for his daughters.

Make lunch interesting with a salad bag: Take a plastic bag, decorate it with stickers and fill with veggies. Teach the kids to add the dressing to the bag, then shake it over their heads to toss the salad. They can mix it right at the table!

Freeze a fruit box (not from concentrate) to make a “lunch-box fridge” to keep food safe while it sits in the coatroom. By lunch, the drink is like a slushy.

The worst thing at lunch is a soggy sandwich. Try this: Spread butter edge to edge to “waterproof” the bread before adding the meat and fillings. Use funny cutters to shape the sandwiches.

As a father of three, Tyler Florence has plenty of tricks for getting kids to eat well, like a high-concept lunch box: He stacks the meal in an empty tennis-ball canister. Just chill a small can of all-natural ginger ale or a bottle of water and place it at the bottom of the tube, then add an apple or a bag of popcorn, and the sandwich. “Customize it with stickers, and you have a cool lunch container for a healthy meal,” he says.

Karen Vaughn Book Club September 11: Push Has Come To Shove

Karen Vaughn — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:03:36 +0000

Have you been to a school lately? Have you sat through the six hours and forty-five minutes of excruciating tedium we send our kids to every day? When we ask our kids, “What’d you do in school today?” and they mumble, “Nothin’,” they’re telling the truth.

Steve Perry is like no other educator you’ve ever met. He “gets it.” He understands why some parents are downright panicked about what’s going on in their kids’ classrooms, and how other parents, whose kids supposedly attend the “good” schools, still fear that their children are falling behind. As Principal of one of the best performing schools in America — one that sends 100% of its mostly minority students to four-year colleges — Perry delights in poking the system. Present him with a “truth” about how education is supposed to work and – count on it – he’ll show it to be false.

Dictatorial teacher’s unions despise Steve Perry. So do lazy teachers. So do entrenched, unimaginative school boards. So do reactionary “curriculum guardians” who – as a lure to get kids reading – cling to the same old stodgy texts.

“That’s okay,” say Perry. That means he’s making a difference. In this book, his priority is to help kids who don’t have the advantage of going to his school, Capital Prep. He wants to save your kid, and the kid next door, and the kid down the street from getting a typical third-rate American education.

If you’re a parent who has worried recently about how depressed your child seems when he dresses for school in the morning…or how little of what happens during the school day seems to sink into her brain… or how much of your child’s homework is busywork, you need this book.

If you’re a teacher who is putting your heart and soul into the job but are surrounded by colleagues who are “phoning it in,” you need this book.

If you’re a committed, forward-thinking principal who wants to get rid of the faculty bad apples, but are continually stymied by Mafia-style teachers-unions, you need this book.

*If you’re a citizen who worries about the $1 trillion-plus GDP loss that America suffers every year because our system of education doesn’t measure up, you need this book.

In this solution-oriented manifesto, Steve Perry covers the full range of issues holding back today’s students. He shows parents how to find great teachers (and get rid of the bad ones)…how to make readers out of kids who hate to read…how to make the school curriculum thrilling rather than sleep-inducing…how to conduct an all-important education “home audit”… how to “e-organize” if school boards and administrators aren’t getting the message…how to build a “school of the future,” and much more.

The era of third-rate education is over. Steve Perry isn’t going to let the fools and scoundrels get away with it any longer. Push has come to shove!

NFL player opens Cleveland K-5 academy

Tom Joyner — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:10:25 +0000

http://www.newsnet5.com CLEVELAND - As the school year kicks off for many districts, some students in Cleveland will be heading to a brand new academy. The Steve Sanders Academy, named for NFL athlete and Cleveland native Steve Sanders, will open to the public Monday, August 29. The Ohio Community School will serve stu... Read more..

Back-to-school: iPhone Apps From Elementary To Grad School

Karen Vaughn — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:02:04 +0000

Whether you are a uniform-clad first grader hopping on the yellow bus, or a thirty-something grad student juggling work and a thesis statement, use your iPhone with some stellar educational and resourceful apps to keep on top of your game. Here are a variety of apps for students of all ages to start off on the right foot come fall.

Apps for Elementary/Middle School

The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Battle

The transition from summer break to early morning bus rides can wreak havoc on a young person’s attitude and school readiness. Ease them into earlier bedtimes with The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Battle app ($2.99). An interactive bedtime story is the perfect way to kick off their back-to-school routine while encouraging literacy and spending some loving, quality time with them.

Stack the States

An absolutely joyful way to learn the states and capitals of the good old U.S.A., even if you don’t have children, the Stack the States app ($1.99) is well worth checking out. And, children and teens are more likely going to love to learn if their adult role models enjoy the educational process as well. Make learning fun this back to school year with an app like Stack the States.

Apps for High School

SAT and ACT Vocabulary Builder by AccelaStudy

High school is all about preparing for college so don’t wait until the last minute to start studying for your entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT. Make your life easier in the long run and start improving your vocabulary from day one with the SAT and ACT Vocabulary Builder by AccelaStudy ($4.99).

Flashcards*

My go-to study trick in high school was making flashcards for everything from math formulas to Spanish words. Instead of carrying rubber-banded stacks of index cards everywhere like I did back in the ‘90s, get the free Flashcards* app for your iPhone and study on-the-go whether you’re on the couch or on the train.

Apps for College

Physics Chemistry Maths Formulas: Formula MAX

The step up from high school math and science classes to college caliber courses is pretty steep. Be prepared to make a major impact on your first day with the Formula MAX app ($1.99). This savvy app has all the physics, chemistry and math formulae you need in one handy place.

IntelliTask Pro

Half the battle of getting through college is organizing your tasks. Even now, I still have nightmares of showing up at class without completing an assignment, and I’ve been out of college more than 10 years! Save yourself some future bad dreams and organize all your homework in one place with the IntelliTask Pro app ($1.99). It was designed by a Purdue University student in a mobile class and is perfect for the multitasking college student.

Apps for Grad School

Literary Terms – Oxford Dictionary

Two words: thesis statement. For English lovers who are chasing their Master of Arts, definitely download the Literary Terms – Oxford Dictionary app ($14.99). It has extensive coverage of literary terms used at all levels and is even fun for casual lovers of literature who aren’t in school. The Oxford Dictionary makers have dozens of apps for students of all disciplines including economics, physics, medical, zoology and many more.

Source: http://www.appolicious.com

Back to school: Simple Homework Tips For Parents

Karen Vaughn — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:31:27 +0000

Shifting into school mode can be difficult for any child, especially after a long summer of fun. Consider the following tips when helping your child make the inevitable transition:

Planning and time management

Children often struggle with planning and time management. They may find it difficult to think ahead to plan a project, or they may not schedule enough time to get everything done. They may forget to write down homework assignments.

To help your child plan her work and manage her time, try these strategies:

- Use schedules and routines. Make sure your child does her homework at the same time every night.

- Help your child to keep a notebook or planner to write down all assignments and due dates.

- Help your child break larger assignments into short pieces and set deadlines for each piece.

- Use a countdown timer on your child’s desk to quietly illustrate how much time is left for a given activity.

The same strategies should be used consistently at home and at school. You and your child’s teacher should discuss effective strategies and encourage your child to use them.

Conquering procrastination

Children may put off starting work, especially large or complex assignments. Your child may need to learn how to:

- Plan how much time to schedule for an assignment.

- Identify what materials he will need for the assignment.

- Break the assignment into manageable pieces.

- Have a system for keeping track of progress.

- Reward himself for successfully completing tasks.

Children can use the following steps to help them complete an assignment:

- Read the directions carefully and think about what is being asked.

- Identify key words or phrases that tell you what you need to do. Box or circle them.

- Figure out what materials you will need and get them all out.

- Tell yourself in your own words what you are supposed to do.

- Start the assignment.

The same strategies should be used consistently at home and at school. You and your child’s teacher should discuss effective strategies and encourage your child to use them.

Staying organized

Children often struggle with organization. They may have trouble finding the materials they need to do their work. They may lose homework or forget to hand it in.

To help your child organize her work, try these strategies:

- Help your child organize her desk or work area. Keep school supplies in the same place. Label important items.

- Help your child organize her binders and other materials.

- Try colour-coding to keep track of materials, notebooks, and binders for different subjects.

- Keep visual reminders of things your child needs to do, including checklists, to-do lists, a notebook for homework assignments, and a calendar.

- Make a brightly coloured folder for homework that can live in your child’s knapsack.

Your child’s teacher can also help by establishing a routine for handing in work at a consistent place and time.

Helping with homework

Children often have trouble with their homework. It is important to address these problems early, as they can affect a child’s school performance. In younger children, homework problems may result from weaknesses in language, memory, or organizational skills. As children get older, they need to do more complex assignments and more independent work, and homework problems may get worse.

To help your child with homework, try these strategies:

- Use schedules and routines. Make sure your child does his homework at the same time every night.

- Keep visual reminders of things your child needs to do, including checklists, to-do lists, a notebook for homework assignments, and a calendar.

- Help your child to keep a notebook or planner to write down all assignments and due dates.

- Help your child break larger assignments into short pieces and set deadlines for each piece.

- Help him graph how much homework he completes each day, or find another method he can use to keep track of his progress.

- Set up a reward system to provide positive reinforcement for completing homework.

- Help your child organize his desk or work area. Keep school supplies in the same place. Label important items.

- If your child often forgets to take completed homework back to school, it may help to make a brightly coloured folder for homework that can stay in your child’s knapsack.

At school, your child’s teacher can try similar strategies:

- Have a consistent time and place to hand in work.

- Teach children how to use homework planners.

- Give appropriate, clear instructions.

- Give positive reinforcement for handing in work.

Collaboration between home and school is important. You and your child’s teacher should discuss effective strategies and encourage your child to use them. As your child gets better at using the strategies and completing his homework, you can provide less direct support.

Back-to-school can mean vaccines for tweens, teens

Tom Joyner — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:47:53 +0000

http://www.newsnet5.com

WASHINGTON – Backpack. Notebooks. Whooping cough shot?

If you haven’t worried about back-to-school shots since your tween or teen was entering kindergarten, better put vaccines on the to-do list.

Older kids need a few new immunizations starting at age 11, including a shot to guard against the worrisome resurgence of whooping cough. And for the first time this year, 16-year-olds are supposed to get a booster shot, too, for a scary type of meningitis.

Many slip through the cracks. One reason: Schools don’t require adolescents to comply with a list of national vaccine recommendations like they do kindergarteners.

Another reason: “Kids this age go to the doctor much less,” says Dr. Melinda Wharton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who had to scramble to get her own daughter that meningitis shot before she headed to college.

“This whole back-to-school push is a good time for parents to think about their kids in terms of what vaccines are recommended.”

But when it comes to whooping cough, a growing number of states are requiring updated shots as students enter middle school and beyond.

A new California law requires a staggering 3 million students to show proof they’re protected as they head back to class.

“It is that kind of effort that’s going to help us stem the outbreaks,” says Dr. Mark Sawyer of the University of California, San Diego.

Aside from an annual flu vaccine, here are federal recommendations for preteens and teens:

–A Tdap shot between ages 11 and 12. It protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis or whooping cough — and the latter is key as the cough that’s so strong it can break a rib is on the rise.

Young children get vaccinated before kindergarten but that protection wears off, and pertussis outbreaks in middle or high school no longer are rare. While older kids usually recover, whooping cough can cause weeks of misery — and worse, they can easily spread the bacterial infection to not-yet-vaccinated infants, who can die.

Last year was especially bad for whooping cough, with more than 21,000 U.S. cases and at least 26 deaths. California was hard hit with more than 9,200 cases — the most since 1947 — and 10 babies died.

The new California law aims to ensure everyone entering seventh through 12th grade got a booster at some point. Before the law, about half those students were estimated to be unprotected, says Dr. John Talarico of the California Department of Public Health.

With vaccine vans parked at schools and special Tdap lines at some county health departments, an immunization program for the poor and underinsured has been distributing three to seven times more shots than usual in recent months, he says.

–A first dose of what’s called meningococcal conjugate vaccine between ages 11 and 12, with a booster dose at 16.

This fast-moving bacteria can cause meningitis or a bloodstream infection. It’s fortunately rare, causing fewer than 2,000 cases a year. But it can be so aggressive that someone can feel fine one day and be dead the next — and its main targets are adolescents and college freshmen. Why? That’s not clear, but about 10 percent of the population carries the germ harmlessly in their noses and throats. Carriers tend to spread it by coughing, kissing and sharing drinking glasses, especially in crowded conditions like dormitories.
Infection initially mimics a stomach bug, with fever and vomiting. Up to 15 percent of patients die. One in five survivors suffers permanent disabilities including brain damage, deafness or amputated limbs.

CDC’s statistics show that 54 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds had gotten vaccinated by 2009. But the booster dose is new advice — scientists only recently learned that that first dose wears off after five years. So if your child didn’t get vaccinated until, say, 13 and now is 18 and heading for college, Wharton says don’t forget the booster.

–Finally for girls ages 11 to 12, there’s the HPV vaccine for strains of human papillomavirus that can cause cervical cancer. The idea is to start the three doses needed early enough to be fully vaccinated well before the girl becomes sexually active. But in 2009, only 27 percent of girls ages 13 to 17 had gotten all three doses.

“We were very disappointed in those numbers,” Wharton says.

A vaccine version is sold for boys to prevent HPV-caused genital warts, although CDC hasn’t yet recommended its routine use.

Wharton’s final advice: Adolescence is a good time to catch up on any shots that were recommended after your child started kindergarten and thus missed, like the second dose of chickenpox vaccine that became routine for the 5-year-old set just a few years ago.

Central Promise Neighborhood Back to School Rally

WZAK — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:08:23 +0000

Friday August 19th 2011 2-6p Central Promise Neighborhood Back to School Rally Location: East Tech High School 2439 E. 55th Street Cleveland OH Students attending school or living in the Central Promise Neighborhood will receive uniform vouchers, haircuts, participate in activities and obtain valuable information to get them prep... Read more..

How to find the backpack that’s right for you or your kids!

Dauphne Walker — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:35:36 +0000

http://www.newsnet5.com

CLEVELAND – Your kids have the paper, the pencils and maybe even the books they need to head back to class. Now, they need something to put it all in.
But while they may be focusing on their favorite colors or characters, you may want to think about their health and safety.

The American Occupational Therapy Association reported kids should carry no more than 15 percent of their body weight in a backpack. But it’s not just about what’s in it.

Consumer Reports testers said how your child carries that backpack can also contribute to back pain.

“You want to make sure that they’re wearing both shoulder straps and the backpack is close to the body. When you look to purchase one, you want to make sure that they have contoured, padded shoulder straps, which soften the load of the backpack,” Alex Willen said.

Abdominal straps can also help distribute the weight.

Remember, backpacks are not one size fits all. Consumer Reports said the bottom of the backpack should line up with the curve of the lower back and not more than four inches below the waistline, and the anchor points of the shoulder strap should rest one or two inches below the top of the shoulders.

Also, while you’re shopping, look for loose threads, sloppy stitching and fabric edges that could fray.

And one safety feature to look for: Get a backpack that’s waterproof and equipped with reflectors or reflective fabric. It can make your child more visible at night and help prevent a tragedy.

Getting your kids back on track for school!

Dauphne Walker — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:35:24 +0000

http://www.newsnet5.com

CLEVELAND – Some children dread it, while others can’t wait. The first day of school will be here before you know it. Here are some things you need to start doing now so your child will be prepared for the classroom.

Anna Catalina Gross is a stay-at-home mother of three young children. Two of her kids are in school, but they’re not the only ones enjoying summer break.

“It’s kind of nice to be able to not have any schedules. We’re all together and I really like it,” Catalina Gross said.

Guidance counselors say the vacations need to stop one or two weeks before school begins, so kids can get back into the routine of school.

Make sure they’re reading and working on skills they were perhaps deficient in last year. That way, they will be ahead of the curve when school begins again.

Steve Sanders Academy – Free Community Day

WZAK — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:55:56 +0000

Sunday August 14th 2011 10am-2pm Steve Sanders Academy - Free Community Day Location: 4129 Superior Ave Cleveland OH 44103 K-5 grade school enrollment day, Free Food, Live Music... Read more..