Many of us remember our first teachers—and though they’ve likely had thousands of students throughout their teaching career, they often remember us, too.
One day, while watching the Minneapolis news on KARE-TV, retired kindergarten teacher Lorly Schik recognized one of the reporters as her student from 30 years ago.
After writing Cory Hepola a letter and sending it to his parents, the reporter set up a meeting, and brought flowers to her home. After an initial hug, the pair eagerly sat down to open up a box full of memories.
Five years after a soldier was given a gift that raised his spirit during days of war, Jackson Smith paid back his best friend Brian.
Both good deeds were made possible by NFL quarterback Drew Brees, who, at the time, had just won the Super Bowl but was happy to send some down-home love to a New Orleans Marine.
The photo above (right) was sent to Smith at the front lines, showing the star athlete holding a life-sized cutout his picture.
“When I saw that picture, I cried my eyes out. I felt that Brian had pulled off the greatest act of friendship in the history of Mardi Gras,’ wrote Jackson Smith. “At a time in my life when I knew little beyond doubt and exhaustion, his gesture brought me through. I believed that I could never repay him or Drew Brees for what they had done for me.”
In the end, he did repay the favor to Brian, with the help of the same New Orleans Saints star QB.
Kindergarten is a huge change for all children, but it can be even more difficult for those on the autism spectrum. Getting my son to school for the first half of last year was a feat in itself. Each morning, he experienced panic attacks and meltdowns before we even reached the car. By the time we got to school, I would have to hold his hand to his classroom. When we reached his classroom, I would spend a good 10-20 minutes calming him down until he felt comfortable enough to join the rest of his class. When he got home each day, he would spend hours crying.
I would attend lunchtime with him each day, so it would give him something to look forward to at the half-way point. Also, it gave me a chance to be in my “mom detective mode” to see if there was something going on that I was missing.
He seemed to get along fine with his fellow classmates, and after many conversations with all of his teachers, I was at a standstill. Services for autism in our area outside of his school are hard to come by, so when I found a new behavioral therapist within ten minutes of my home who specialized in autism, I was excited.
After working with my son for a period of time, the therapist thought he was working so hard on controlling his emotions at school that he would quite literally blow up at home because that’s where he felt the most comfortable. It made sense.
Over the next few months, I had tried everything with my son to help ease his anxiety. I bought weighted blankets, vests, an abundance of sensory toys and we even did kid yoga twice a day. I joined online support groups, in-person support groups and even brought him to the doctor to see if medication would be a good option for him.
After Christmas break, I was surprised to see him return from school one day in January with a big smile on his face. I didn’t even question it right away until a week later when my son started talking about an interaction with another teacher. The next morning when I brought him to school, he had a little bit of a swag to his step. And when we passed a classroom with a teacher from a different grade level, my son stopped and gave Mr. T a big high-five. He still wanted me to walk with him to his classroom and do our normal breathing exercises–but that all slowly changed in the last five months of school.
Each day when he would come home, he would immediately say Mr. T gave him a high-five again today or Mr. T said hi to him. It would later change to, he gave Mr. T a high-five and a hug today. The high-fives didn’t cure my son’s anxiety, but it gave him something to look forward to, which is so important when so many decisions are taken away from our kids.
For the rest of the school year, his high-fives with this kind teacher were always the biggest highlight of his day. And very slowly, my son needed me less and less. By May, he didn’t need me to walk past the front of the school with him, and on some days, he even asked to take the bus.
The best acts of kindness are when someone doesn’t even know they’re doing something that affects someone’s life. They’re just doing it because. My son had no previous interactions with this teacher, but for whatever reason, he was comfortable with him when he almost always has a hard time interacting with people he doesn’t know well.
Always take the time to smile or give a high-five. You very well could be the one to help put a little swag in someone else’s step. Thank you Mr. T for unknowingly giving my son something to look forward to each day.
So, just remember — that simple act of kindness you perform just might have a far grander role is God’s plan than you realize!
In the last two weeks, the willingness of German and Austrian residents to provide sanctuary and aid appeared to be boundless, as thousands of refugees fleeing Syria arrived by bus and train.
The eagerness to help is so great in Munich that the city has been “obliged to draw up waiting lists for volunteers who want to assist,” according to the Independent.
“Spontaneously hundreds of ordinary citizens came to the station in support, welcoming the arrivals with applause.” wrote Elke, a student in Munich to friends overseas. “They bring food and drinks, toys, and whatever else they have to give to people who have nothing.”
This 100-foot-tall structure in the shape of a tulip can deliver clean, sustainably-produced energy, even at night, because it is the world’s first hybrid solar power generator.
Photos by Aora Solar
Designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan and Aora Solar, the solar turbine can power 60-80 homes at a time, combining sculpture, architecture, and infrastructure to create a magnificently efficient—and appealing—power source.
Currently, the “solar tulip” stands as an artistic beacon of power in Samar, Israel and Almeria, Spain, where a bloom at the top of the tower captures sunlight from a series of mirror reflectors. After the sun goes down, the solar generator is powered by diesel, biogas, and natural gas. Plans are also underway to construct a solar-tulip facility near Arizona State University in Tempe.
Dotan explained his design saying he fashioned the turbine as a flower “to create emotions, excitement and awareness of the destruction of natural resources.”
The solar tulip’s ability to work as a stand-alone plant is an advantage in countries without developed utility grids, which is why solar tulips will also soon be sprouting up in Ethiopia, according to the Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy.
How does it work?
From the centerpiece in the tulip flower, super-heated air travels down and turns a turbine blade, generating 100 kilowatts of electricity and 170 kilowatts of heat energy.
The system’s low water consumption – the tulip powers the micro turbine with heated air instead of steam – is especially appealing in the desert Southwest, which has led to the partnership between Aora-Solar, Arizona State University and GreenFuel Technologies.
It’s also a modular system, which means it can expand to meet the energy needs of a growing community–just like planting more bulbs leads to bigger garden.
Everyone warned me that my grandmother with Alzheimer’s might not recognize me and would remain disconnected during what would be my final visit to her hometown in Wisconsin.
She was 98-years-old and I hadn’t seen her in a decade– me, living a thousand miles away and she, living far from any airport.
I was determined to make this last visit count… But how?
As editor at Good News Network, I had seen stories about the power of music to unlock the personality of elderly shut-ins. So, ’Bring polka music’ – Check.
I thought about the handmade items she gave us, but the afghan blanket keeping me warm every winter was too bulky to bring on a plane.
Then, I remembered the “peek-a-boo doll’. When she was in her 60s, she gave these cheeky dolls to my sister and me when we were teens. I kept it wrapped in an old record store bag up in the closet. This was just the device I needed to break through the wall of isolation and indifference.
I made sure my sister recorded the moment on video–a moment that produced so much joy, a moment that proved she could still light up the room, with her giggling and folksy Midwest talk, even while dementia cloaked her mind.
Afterward, I played the tune Beer Barrel Polka, and we all sang along. She knew every lyric.
(WATCH the video, and laugh, below)
When the somewhat-lewd Peek-a-boo Doll was shown to the other old ladies and staff playing Bingo in the next room, they couldn’t stop laughing, saying, “Kate made that?”
My beloved grandmother died this week, two months shy of 100.
If bouts of nausea leave your head spinning and stomach churning, a new cure may fit right on your wrist.
Acupressure bands are an old method for fighting seasickness used by Chinese fishermen. They wrap around the wrist and have an adjustable post that presses down on the acupressure point called the “Nei Kuan,” located about three finger widths up from the wrist, on the forearm between the two prominent tendons there.
After discovering the device relieved her morning sickness, Romy Taormina created a modern version of the acupressure band. She liked the application, but wasn’t wild about the way the wrap looked, so she started her own company to produce a more hip version.
Her product, called Psi Bands (pronounced sigh bands), is FDA-cleared and designed to treat nausea, whether from motion sickness, chemotherapy, pregnancy, or anesthesia.
When Kris Wittenberg first heard about them, she drove 45 minutes from her home in Eagle, Colorado, to the nearest store selling PsiBands to buy some for her 10 year old daughter, Addison, who frequently got car sick.
“She loves them,” Wittenberg told Good News Network, “Plus, she thinks they’re cute.”
Wittenberg compares them to the trendy Swatch watches of the 1980’s, but thinks they have a 21st century focus on how to treat disorders and discomfort.”
“It wasn’t a drug, it wasn’t a medication,” Wittenberg said. “She doesn’t get sick on drives now, and she can even read in the car.”
Wittenberg says the bands are all she’s ever needed to control Addison’s motion sickness over the past four years. She also gave some to a friend going through chemotherapy.
Taormina cites four published studies on her website attesting to the effectiveness of the bands in treating nausea from chemotherapy, morning sickness, motion sickness, and anesthesia.
The company also makes financial contributions to the National Breast Foundation and other cancer charities.
While a cure may make people feel better in the future, Taormina’s company has delivered Psi Bands to the local cancer center in Pacific Grove, California, to help patients in her hometown feel better while going through chemo today.
When a 20-year-old college student went to visit her grandparents in India back in 2010, she noticed that many people were living without light—that, or they were using bulbs that fairly quickly ran out. She immediately decided to buy energy efficient bulbs for ten families using her own money.
Mansi Prakash, now an economics major at New York University, came up with a solution that was simple but effective, one that would go on to change the lives of thousands: sending eco-friendly light bulbs to small villages.
“Most families have light bulbs—they just weren’t turning them on and using them,” Prakash told TakePart. “For someone who couldn’t afford food three times a day, paying the high electricity bills was not an option.”
If they used an 11-watt compact fluorescent bulb instead, which costs about $2 and lasts 3-4 years, residents would save 80% on their energy bills. The money saved could go toward health care, food or education.
Being able to turn on lights whenever you need them can give families more hours in the day to be productive, and allow children more time to study.
Prakash, who was born in India and raised in the Philippines, has since founded the nonprofit Brighter Today and–with help from the Clinton Foundation–has been distributing energy-efficient bulbs that are donated by electronics giant Philips.
To date, her nonprofit has helped bring cheaper electricity to 5,300 homes in rural India.
Prakash is also focused on a new solar project called Light for Life that she hopes will illuminate homes that have no access to electricity. It is another innovative device that brings in daylight with a plastic bottle, bleach and water.
(READ more at TakePart) Photos: Brighter Today, Facebook
The hunting of mountain lions has been illegal in California since 1990, but because of their proximity to humans and civilization in California, these big cats have had a hard time crossing the street safely.
Construction of the world’s largest “nature bridge” should help reduce the number of statewide, automobile-related wildcat deaths.
The green overpass will connect the protected public lands of the Santa Susanna Mountains and the Santa Monica mountains after plans are finalized and construction begins in 2017.
Spanning over eight lanes of traffic on the 101 Freeway, the Liberty Canyon wildlife corridor is likely to measure 200 feet across and 165 feet wide. The highway will be bordered by drought-tolerant vegetation, and will cost between $33 and $38 million dollars.
It’s important for mountain lions to be able to roam over—and claim—new territory freely. If they can’t, the species risks inbreeding and territorial fighting between packs.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is still putting together the finishing touches on the design plan, and have begun a fundraising initiative to help with expenses.
When a father started using the streets in Southeast Washington to teach his young daughters the alphabet, he inspired an animal art movement.
Streets running east and west in the U.S. capital are lettered – A Street, B Street, C Street, and so on. Stephen Young started using the streets to teach his young daughters the alphabet back in 2011, telling them what animal’s name began with each letter.
He pitched the idea of putting actual animal sculptures at intersections to the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, a nonprofit community arts group, and they ran with it like a cheetah. “C” is for cheetah, by the way.
Animals have been popping up around the neighborhood ever since – like the Koala on K Street above. Some of the others:
“D” is for Dog, a daredevil darting through fire.
“E” is for Emus, elevated above the esplanade.
“F” is for Falcarius, fearful of becoming food for a Capitalsaurus.
When the letters run out, the streets are given names in alphabetical order while streets running diagonally are named after states. So…
“N” is for North Carolina, and for Narwals noodling up a post.
“V” is for Virginia, and Viceroy Butterflies vying for valued space.
In all, there are ten animal sculptures so far — for the letters D, E, F, G, I, K, L, N, S, V. The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop still has room for 16 more – creating a walking tour of the alphabet for kids to learn their ABCs.
(READ more at the Washington Post) – Photos: Terry Turner, Good News Network
A new shingles vaccine will be on the market within two years — and unlike the current one, the new shot will be nearly 100% effective and not weaken over time.
A study of 16,000 patients, aged 50 and older, found the new vaccine 97% effective — regardless of age. Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline developed the vaccine and conducted the studies.
Shingles is a painful rash of blisters that can engulf the whole body. Anyone who’s ever had chicken pox is at risk of shingles. Once you get chicken pox, the disease never leaves your body. As you age, your immune system weakens and the disease can reactivate as shingles.
There is a vaccine now, but that one is only 64% effective and it weakens over time. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control only recommends it for people 60 and over — and by the time they turn 70, the current vaccine is only 38% effective.
The new vaccine adds something called an adjuvant — a chemical that “wakes up” the immune system. It’s been used effectively in other vaccines and, in the case of shingles, allows the immune systems of elderly people in their 80s to better keep the virus at bay.
(READ more at NPR News) — Photo: CDC, Public Health Image Library
Alabama school standards for teaching science are evolving.
Education leaders have pushed past old standards which led to requirements like stickers on biology books warning that evolution was “a controversial theory.” Those now are gone.
Added are more hands-on experiments and course material about global warming and climate change.
There has been little opposition in Alabama, where both topics normally raise the ire of politicians and some parents. Three years of planning for the new standards went smoothly and they now have the backing of the state’s science teachers association.
The biggest change is in the area of “doing science” — involving students in conducting experiments and hands-on exploration of scientific topics. Science teachers love that because it will help students understand the subject better than relying on textbooks alone.
(READ more at NPR News) — Photo: Per Henning/NTNU, CC
The village of Zundert’s most famous native would have been awestruck at the sights, smells, and sounds of these 500,000 dahlia tributes.
Every year, the Corso Zundert parade brings out the competitive streak in locals who spend an entire year planning massive floats covered in dahlia flowers.
This year, to honor Vincent Van Gogh on his 162nd birthday, the colossal creations were themed around the artist’s paintings and self-portraits.
Dutch citizens take the parade very seriously, and usually start conceiving ideas for the float days after the competition ends – that’s 363 days of planning for the next celebration.
Between the months of May and August, teams of competing workers toil over the float’s frame, culminating in a feverish scramble the night before the parade when fresh flowers are finally nailed into place.
“By the First Sunday of September the fever burns within us,” the Corso Zundert website reads. “Will the moving floats be finished in time? Are there enough dahlias? And who is going to win this time?”
Photo Credit (and top) by Werner Pellis
The first Zundert flower parade took place in 1936 in honor of Queen Wilhelimina’s birthday, but the ‘parade’ only consisted of a modest bicycle and farmer’s cart. Since the village is known for having over 50 different species of dahlias, the idea of a larger flower parade eventually blossomed.
In order to keep a cap on the competitive craziness, the judges have limited the float size to 62 feet long, 15 meters wide, and 30 feet tall.
Because of its historical significance in the Netherlands, winning the trophy for best float is considered to be one of the greatest honors a Dutch citizen can receive in their lifetime.
Photo Credit: Erwin MartensPhoto Credit: Werner Pellis
Whenever anyone asks me how old my little Wiley is, I always say, “The rescue folks told us they think he’s between two and four years old.”
That being said, I definitely remember the exact day and time we picked him up, the day he became our baby.
I didn’t know that “Gotcha Day” was a thing until PetSmart charities sent our Chihuahua mix a care package that included a toy that says “Adopt,” a festive glittery bowl, some streamers, and a “Pup-Pie” (here on Amazon) that looks like a doggy cake.
Snow the Shepherd Instagram
Since many rescue dog owners never find out the actual day of their dog’s birth or their exact age, “Gotcha” day is intended to celebrate the day your pup was adopted.
The first official Happy Gotcha Day celebration will kick off this weekend, Sept. 11-13, at 1,400 PetSmart stores hosting events throughout the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Every day, 1,000 pets find a new home through PetSmart adoption centers nationwide.
“For adopted pets, confirming a birthday is tough, so we wanted to call out to these new pet parents with a special day, ‘Gotcha Day,’ to celebrate the moment they brought home their newest family member,” said Eran Cohen, executive vice president of customer experience at PetSmart.
With the weekend festivities, and Facebook outreach, they hope to find families to take in 15,000 homeless pets across the country–dogs and cats that may have no known birthdays but finally have a day to call their own.
Photos by Richard W. Rodriguez/AP Images for PetSmart
As one of the 100 search-and-rescue dogs deployed at Ground Zero, this golden retriever holds a special place in the hearts of many New Yorkers.
Bretagne (pronounced ‘Brittney’) is the last known living dog to have worked at the 9/11 site and she and her owner were invited back to New York City from Texas for a day curated to honor their work and celebrate the dog’s Sweet Sixteen birthday.
BarkPost teamed up with 1 Hotels and her owner, Denise Corliss, to give Bretagne her best day ever. The pup got the royal treatment in a special suite overlooking her favorite NYC spot, Central Park. She was presented with a doggie “Key to the City” by Hudson River Park, and even got her own personalized billboard in Times Square.
She was given a surprise birthday party with tons of presents, a dog friendly cake, and a surprise donation in her name to Task Force 1, so they can keep training more search and rescue dogs, like Britagne.
Bretagne has had a long career, which included working on a rescue team in New Orleans ten years ago after Hurricane Katrina.
Now retired, Bretagne continues to give back to her community by volunteering at school programs that help children learn to read.
(WATCH the dog’s birthday fun in the video below)— Photos courtesy of BarkPost
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Ever since his wife died last year, 86-year old Jake Reissig has visited her grave site every day, bringing a single rose – something he did often during their 65 years of marriage.
But this summer, with Texas in a severe drought, he added something else to his daily ritual. When the the grass around his wife’s grave was turning brown and dying, Reissig brought a hose and started watering it.
One day, the Conroe resident noticed a young woman kneeling down and crying beside the grave of her late husband, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.
“After they talked and shared stories, she thanked him and left,” Reissig’s son Roger posted on Facebook. “Dad decided to honor this soldier and start watering his grass along with Mom’s daily. He does it every day. He said it is the least he can do for him after all that he sacrificed for us.”
When the parents of the fallen soldier, who was named Joseph Villasenor, later saw how Reissig was tending the grass of their son’s grave, they couldn’t believe a stranger could be so kind and hugged him standing alongside the two green plots.
Reissig doesn’t consider the soldier to be a stranger anymore. He talks to “Joe” every day while he waters —a simple act of compassion that has touched a veteran’s family and made an old man’s son even more proud of his father.
(WATCH the video from KPRC below) Photo: Robert Reissig, Facebook
Getting out of an abusive relationship isn’t easy—but actually packing up and moving out is even more daunting.
Hundreds of women have Aaron and Evan Steed to thank for coming to the rescue. These owners of a California moving company have volunteered to complete the move for them, free of charge.
When they first started their business, Meathead Movers in 1997, the high school athletes were simply looking for a way to earn some extra cash. Back then, their fee was usually $20 and a pizza.
As their business grew, the Steeds started getting occasional, frantic phone calls from women with little or no money who wanted to quickly move out before their abusers returned home.
The sympathetic movers always declined any compensation and rushed to the address to load their belongings.
One day, in 2000, a situation turned volatile when the abuser came home in the middle of the move. It was then that the company decided it had to ensure that the women and the moving crew were both safe, so they partnered with a local women’s shelter.
“What was good about that is, they could be vetting the requests for help, supporting the women with counseling, and making sure when we went in, the proper restraining orders were in place, or police were on hand if necessary,” Meathead’s CEO Aaron Steed told Good News Network.
Beth Raub, director of the local women’s shelter, said that one of their staff is always on-site the day of the move so they can “call law enforcement if things get dicey.”
Since those days in 2000, the company has expanded into Santa Barabara, Ventura, Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties. Whenever they open a new office, within the first week, they head to a local women’s shelter and knock on their doors.
“It’s the special service we like to offer,” Aaron said on a phone call. “These moves became very personal to us, made all the employees so proud, and became part of our mission statement.” He also said the same services are offered to any victim of domestic violence–male or female.
Aaron Steed (right) says MM hires student athletes to give them an income while in school.
Yesterday, the company launched a new campaign that asks other businesses to “get creative” and help victims of domestic violence. Called #MoveToEndDV, the Meathead Movers hope to inspire others to rethink how they can work with shelters, or help women as they try to rebuild their lives and move into their first home or apartment.
“Some of our ideas are for businesses to offer free security systems, a dog kennel service, or for an auto-mechanic to provide oil changes,” Aaron said. “All those little things would help defer costs of starting over.”
Their goal is to spark 100 new stories of businesses offering services, and form a like-minded community. Already they have received pledges from stylists for free haircuts, from a realtor offering rental searches, and a counselor who has offered to help.
“We’re so excited about it,” said Aaron. “It brings so much more purpose and passion to our lives and if we can be an example for others, that is so much better.”
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Graffiti artists are so often viewed as hooligans and rabble-rousers who vandalize property and cause trouble for respectable members of society. But perhaps their expressive spark can be put to good use?
The Mexican government asked an alternative art group specializing in murals and graffiti known as Germen Crew to paint a village of 209 houses.
The result is an entire town covered from street to rooftop with a 215,000 square-foot rainbow. The goal was to try and rehabilitate the town of Palmitas’ image and inspire the local youth.
Germen Crew made sure to ask for community participation to bring the town together for the project.
For the past 13 years, the young painters have created unique forms of street art in hopes of keeping Mexico on the map as a country with a strong and modern cultural identity. The group also aims to challenge whatever stereotypes the world might have about their country and it’s people.
Since Palmitas has been beautified, crime in the community has dropped dramatically and the 452 families living in the town feel happier and more confident in their shining new city.
If you dine out with friends, need a compatible roommate, want to stay current with neighborhood happenings, or care about historical street scenes, these four innovative apps will make life in The Big Apple—and in some cases, other cities, too—a whole lot easier and more enjoyable.
Split a restaurant check with friends in a single click
Photo by Lars Plougmann, CC
Instead of counting cash or stacking credit cards—much to your waiter’s dismay, we’re sure—to divide up the bill among your friends, use Cover, which lets you check in, pay the bill, and add the tip using ApplePay or your credit card.
It’s also a quicker way to pay even if it’s just you picking up the check. The app will even calculate the tip for you, based on what percentage you want to leave.
Ah, simplicity!
You do have to make sure the restaurant takes the payment method first—over 300 restaurants do—and let your server know that is how you’ll be footing the bill.
The app is also available for use in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Find out what’s happening in your very own neighborhood
The Blockfeed app lets you know what’s happening, and when, in any of New York City’s five boroughs.
In addition to notifying you about fun things to do, it also aggregates the most popular local news based on social media feeds, tracking your location and keeping you up to date on important neighborhood news via a local news stream.
Hold up your phone to see what the view was like 100 years ago
Photo by takomabibelot, CC
OldNYC, a digital project that comes straight from the New York Public Library, lets you see what one of 35,000 buildings used to look like up to 100 years ago.
Many of the photographs were actually taken by one man, Percy Loomis Sperr, who spent decades photographing the city.
Using the app, just hold up the viewfinder, and you’ll be directed to a photo from a database that contains buildings as they appeared back in the day. The database is also full of photos of important historical moments, like a shot of Union Square in 1885 during Ulysses S. Grant’s funeral procession.
Other cities have instated similar apps, like London’s Streetmuseum app, and the website WhatWasThere.com, which gives you access to old photos from around the world.
Photo by Jim Wall, CC
Know what you’re getting into with your new roommate
Roomi, an app that helps you find the perfect roommate before you co-sign that lease, aims to take the risky guesswork out of committing to a cohabitation.
The company aims to take the “fear of the unknown out of moving” and ensure that people feel more at-home wherever they live.
The app, which is free, seems to be successful in making it easy for people to post room openings, and connect with each other. Roomi just features NYC right now, but they plan to expand.
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For the rest of the school year, his high-fives with this kind 
The sympathetic movers always declined any compensation and rushed to the address to load their belongings.
