In a city where dropout rates are always among New Jersey’s highest and test scores are among the lowest, one experimental school, Camden’s MetEast High School, opened in 2005, had zero drop-outs among its first graduating class this year, and a college acceptance letter in each of their hands.
The class sizes are small, educators are called “advisers,” not teachers, and they stick with the same group of students all four years. As important, classes are built around the idea that students will learn by following their passions.
Urban High School Achieves Rare Feat: No Dropouts
New Bikes Help Kids Get to School in Zambia
Children shed tears of joy in Zambia as they received gifts of 100 bicycles from a Chicago charity this week. With the goal of making it easier for thousands of children in Africa to get to school, World Bicycle Relief plans to give away 50,000 bicycles in Zambia, where long distances and a lack of transportation keeps many children from going to school.
“Before getting a bicycle, I used to walk to school. It would take me 45 minutes. Now I can ride and reach the school within 15 minutes. I now get to school on time and have been appointed special status leader,” said Harsha Dias, Grade 9, from Kaluara (photo, right, by Leah Missbach Day)
Get involved in the World Bicycle Relief on their website.
(Read the AP Story on Huff Post)
Electric Car Share-Rental Program Launched in Baltimore
A new car sharing/car rental program, called AltCar, has been launched in Baltimore, Maryland with a fleet of all-electric battery-powered cars.
Sponsored by ExxonMobil, with the Maryland Science Center serving as a hub, tourists and locals can take their families for a spin with a free test drive in one of the 4-seater hatchbacks through July 31, if presenting an admission ticket from the museum.
Rentals of the Maya-300 vehicles, manufactured by the Canadian firm Electrovaya, will cost $14.50 per hour. But for members of the new car sharing network, hourly fees start at $7.50. The altcars can travel a distance of 60 to 120 miles in the city, depending on their battery size.
Car sharing is a service that provides members with access to the vehicle fleet on an hourly basis. Once you become a member (by completing the application process), you can choose to reserve any car you like, in advance, either by phone or online, and drive it for as long as you need. Use your reservation time to run your daily errands. Go grocery or hardware shopping, visit a friend across town, or take a client out to lunch. Rates include gas (in this case electricity), auto insurance, and maintenance.
One of the first car-sharing and rental programs in North America to use fleets of all-electric vehicles, altcar operates during the day from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor using non-highway city cars. The five-door, five-passenger urban vehicles are equipped with the safety, performance and convenience features common to any other rental car, except for their speed capacity limits.
The Maya-300 is solely powered by lithium ion battery technology, utilizing ExxonMobil technology in its separator film.
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and Malcolm Woolf, director of the Maryland Energy Administration, were in attendance at Tuesday’s launch event, expressing their gratitude and support to Electrovaya and ExxonMobil for their support of the Maryland Science Center.
In addition to the car-sharing program and to help raise awareness among Baltimore residents and science center visitors about the future of energy efficient transportation, ExxonMobil also has developed a state-of-the-art exhibit for the science center that includes hands-on activities for children and a full-scale car that showcases clean transportation technologies currently being used in the automotive industry.
ExxonMobil has invested more than half a million dollars in the car-sharing program and exhibit, including the purchase of the vehicles and development of the exhibit.
Learn more about altcar program at the Maryland Science Center website.
London Tube Announcements Now Include Inspirational Sayings
London commuters are getting a dash of inspiration in their daily ride to work. Drivers on the Underground’s Picadilly line have added to their service announcements the words of great thinkers such as Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Jean-Paul Sartre.
After the usual stop is announced, the driver adds a little wisdom such as, “Remember that a person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new.” The riders were loving it, said one Tube conductor.
Ship of Plastic Bottles to Send Eco-message as it Crosses Atlantic
You’ve heard of a ship in a bottle. How about a ship made of plastic bottles? That would be the Plastiki, designed to sail the Pacific on an 11,000-mile voyage highlighting the dangers of living in a throwaway world.
The launch date has been moved back to late 2009.
Students Take College Giving Courses
In a growing national movement, students are enrolling in newly created philanthropy courses and steering thousands of dollars to local charities.
At least 10 New England colleges, including Brandeis, Holy Cross, Boston College, Wheelock, and Lesley, will offer similar courses next school year, using seed money donated by corporate and family foundations. In the classes, students draw up mission statements for makeshift foundations, research nonprofits in their communities, and decide how to allocate the pot of money.
Artist Spreads Hope, Leaving Free Artwork Around Town
In 2003 artist Bren Bataclan launched a “found art” movement called the Smile Boston Project. He started leaving his cartoon inspired paintings for people to find and take for “free” all over Boston (in parks, trains, schools, hospitals, and on park benches. Attached to each canvas is a note saying, “This painting is yours if you promise to smile at random people more often.”
Since the recession started, he has changed his notes to a more uplifing message, “Everything will be alright.”
The Smile Project has left its mark around the globe as Bataclan has left his paintings in dozens of countries. The story is now being published as a book, at Amazon.com,
Watch the video below from CBS News, or see it here.
Human Waste to Heat Thousands of Homes in Britain
Within two years, thousands of people will be cooking and heating their homes using clean methane gas extracted from human waste.
The £4.3 million biogas conversion plant received government funding this week for construction near Britain’s second biggest sewage works in Manchester.
Other plants are expected to follow – eventually producing sewage gas for hundreds of thousands of people.
(Read more in the Daily Mail)
photo by michael connors, courtesy morguefile.com
National Parks Getting Green Makeovers (Video)
With solar panels, energy efficiency improvements and electric vehicles, US national parks are trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by ‘greening’ their own operations in an effort to lessen their impact on the environment.
AP Video below may take a moment to load, or watch it at the NewsRoom.
Lebanese Kids TV Series Aims to Heal Societal Rifts
Lebanon’s civil war may be over, but it’s no secret that social and religious divisions remain. Finding understanding and common ground between communities is the idea behind a new television series for kids that premiered this month.
Kilna Bil Hayy (All of Us in the Neighbourhood) was created in the hope of enlightening young viewers to the commonalities shared between Lebanon’s different communities.
The 13-part series, which was funded by Denmark’s Rockwool Foundation, focuses on six families that live in the same apartment building. Representing Lebanon’s wealth of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, the families are Armenian, Christian, Druze, Palestinian, Shi’a and Sunni. The building has a conscience, personified by a woman called Lina, who gives shrewd advice to the children in times of crisis.
Cyprus Leaders Agree to Open New Crossing Point
In an effort to boost peace efforts, Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have agreed to open a new crossing point linking their two communities on Cyprus during United Nations peace talks yesterday.
The remote crossing point was long demanded by locals living on both sides in the mountainous area of the Mediterranean island.
The crossing will be under escort of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, which has been in place on the island since 1964, after the outbreak of inter-communal violence.
Sears Tower Goes Green with $350 Million Renovation
Plans announced Wednesday unveiled a new green renovation plan for the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, The Sears Tower. The project will result in unparalleled energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions, cutting electricity use by up to 80 percent and incorporating its own wind power with the installation of compact turbines on the tower’s tiered roofs.
The energy savings will equal 68 million kilowatt hours or 150,000 barrels of oil every year. The sustainability plans also include installing solar panels on the tower’s 90th floor and planting 30,000 square feet of roof gardens.
Michael Jackson Video of Hope and Change: Man in the Mirror
Michael Jackson died yesterday but his musical legacy is alive and well, like this music video featuring his 1988 hit, “Man in the Mirror.” It uses historical film footage of key points in humankind’s evolution, with leaders championing civil rights and social justice around the world, to ultimately express beautifully a message of hope and peace — and CHANGE: “If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then Make A Change!” (full lyrics here )
Some of the footage used in the video includes: Rescue footage of Baby Jessica McClure; Martin Luther King; Funeral of John F. Kennedy; Robert F. Kennedy; 1984 Famine in Ethiopia; South Africans marching for the release of Nelson Mandela; Mahatma Gandhi; Live Aid; Willie Nelson at the first Farm Aid concert; Mother Teresa; Lech Walesa; Adolf Hitler; Iran hostage crisis; Muammar al-Gaddafi; Mikhail Gorbachev & Ronald Reagan at the 1987 INF Treaty signing; Jimmy Carter, Menachem Begin, & Anwar El Sadat at the 1978 Camp David Accords; Bob Geldof; Bishop Desmond Tutu; Jackie Kennedy; Coretta Scott King; Farm Aid; John Lennon & Yoko Ono and Keiko from the movie Free Willy.
(Thanks to Karma Tube for the inspiration to post)
Chicago Waiter Gets $4,000 Tip From Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp visited Gibsons Steakhouse in Chicago last week with co-star Marion Cotillard, director Michael Mann, and a dozen other folks, after the premiere of their new gangster movie “Public Enemies”.
They ordered several bottles of $500 Italian wine along with appetizers, and kept a waiter working until 2:30 am. Mohammaed A. Sekhani, who had been his waiter several times when Depp had stopped in during the filming of the movie, was paid generously for his time with a a $4,000 tip.
Boy Graduates From High School and College – in Same Week
Chase Abrams started taking college classes at the same time he began high school. The next thing he knew, he had two caps and two gowns.
Abrams was involved in the Pre-Accelerated College Enrollment program at Cal Sate Los Angeles. With his busy schedule, he didn’t miss any of the fun of high school, though maybe a little bit of sleep.
Watch the inspiring video below, or read it here at NBC.
(Thanks to another GNN supporter who sent this story as well!)
Scotland Passes Climate Change Bill, Opens Largest Wind Farm in Europe
The Scottish Parliament unanimously voted on Wednesday to accept a climate change bill that includes setting higher targets for cutting CO2 emissions — 42% by 2020, and 80% by 2050. Europe’s largest wind farm debuted south of Glasgow in May, and is already set to expand to help meet those goals.
The Guardian reported that the Whitelee wind farm “Already powerful enough to meet Glasgow’s electricity needs, will expand by more than a third,” as part of this major green energy push by Scottish ministers.
The new bill calls for more support for alternative energy production, such as wind and wave power, and more energy-efficient buildings. Coverage on Radio Scotland said that the bill also included a council tax rebate for private citizens who were taking measures to cut CO2 emissions.
Butterfly Species Reborn 30 Years After Extinction
Thirty years ago it was officially declared extinct in Britain.
But the beautiful large blue butterfly has made an astonishing return.
Around 20,000 will be flitting through the countryside this summer as a result of reintroduction efforts, scientists say.
Family Finds Money Clip of NBA Player (Video)
A Colorado family returns a silver money clip containing $360, a driver’s license, and a credit card to Memphis Grizzlies millionaire player Marko Jaric, four months after Jaric apparently dropped it.
Honesty is the best policy for this family, even when that amount of money would be significant for them, and not so much for Jaric.
Video may take a moment to load, or read the story at NBC-2. ..
Eleven Ways To Boost Your Energy
Here are 11 simple strategies that you can put into effect immediately. They will make a huge difference to your well-being and sense of energy and vitality.
If you have persistent low energy, you should consult your doctor because a thyroid problem could be responsible for your lack of pep.
Some of Jonny Bowden’s suggestions include simple things you may not have heard before, like boosting your Vitamin D intake by soaking in a few minutes of unscreened sunshine every other day and de-cluttering your space, which can unplug hidden energy channels.
(Forbes magazine has the list)
Photo courtesy of Sun Star
Beyonce Concerts Double as Food Drives
For the second year in a row Beyonce is asking her fans to bring cans of food to her concerts to help feed the hungry people of America.
The singer is inviting fans to donate non-perishable food items to ‘Feeding America’ so it can deliver more than 3.5 million meals to local food banks.
READ the news fromthe Bean Soup Times…