The Power to Change
Click on the link below to see my recent post in the Durham News (News and Observer). I do believe it's time for a change. But meaningful change can only come from within…
“Eddie Moves Out”, Picture-Book Sequel to “Eddie the Electron”
If you're looking for an educational stocking stuffer this Christmas, please consider buying the first in the Eddie series if you haven't already done so. Whether you do it via *Eddie the Electron* or another avenue, the earlier you introduce your kids to science, the better for their (and our) futures…
3 Days Before Election, Adams Persists
With 3 days before the election, these quotes from Founding Father John Adams (one of my favorite persons ever to have roamed the planet) are more pertinent than ever…
Thought for the Day
It's easy to forget to thank these special people in our lives. I'm making a conscious effort to improve in that regard. The older I get, the more I appreciate how difficult it is to be more than is expected of you. Words of appreciation help. A lot. …
Fun Science: Easy Hands-on Chemistry Lesson
This is a picture of my 6YO son's “back-to-school Magic Crystals”, obtained after immersing dolostones in vinegar (with a little orange food coloring). I've never made mushroom crystals before, so we were both truly enthralled. Dolostones (which can be purchased from Educational Innovations) are dolomite rocks, which are primarily composed of calcium magnesium carbonate or CaMg(CO3)2…
Your Village
In organizing children’s events this summer, I’ve talked to several science museum directors and staff, mostly about how to ensure that people actually attend the events. It’s not a matter of young people wanting to be there. It’s a matter of their parents getting them there. Turns out it’s one of the biggest challenges for education directors across the country…
The Danville Science Center - A Unique Experience for Kids of All Ages
I spent last Saturday bonding with young people, pre-school through high-school, via my hands-on children's book readings at the Danville Science Center (DSC). While driving to Virginia from my home in Durham, NC, I worried that my kids, who accompanied me, would get bored in one place all day and would consequently interfere with my program and my sanity. Boy, was I wrong!
Middle- and High-School Strings Students Amaze at Animazement in Raleigh, NC, this Weekend
Yesterday, the Duke University String School's Youth Symphony Orchestra yesterday performed an Anime Symphony (entitled Space Brothers) at the 2016 Animazement Convention in Raleigh, NC. The symphony was written, designed and conducted by renowned Japanese movie composer and record producer Toshiyuki Watanabe, who flew in from Japan just for the event…
From the Desk of Melissa Rooney (Amberjack Publishing)
… At a subsequent writing workshop, I was told by way of consolation that Dr. Seuss would have a hard time getting published today. His books are too wordy, for one thing. …
An ‘A’ for Jordan
… On Friday, Jan. 29, Jordan High School teachers, students and their community partners were awarded an N.C. Beautiful Windows of Opportunity grant for a project that incorporates …
Durham's Bionomic Education and Training Center program and the Future of our Youth
In April, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency calculated that fifty-five percent of monitored waterways in the United States are impaired by pollution, meaning they are too polluted for healthy recreation, public drinking water and subsistence fishing. Twenty-five percent of the nation’s beaches are under advisories or closed at least once per year due to water pollution.
Goodbye Amazon, Hello Ninth Street
… Last year I hoped Americans would boycott the holiday materialism that feeds the corporate monster and its wealthy share-holders. In retrospect, I couldn’t even do this myself..…
Awards, Icing on the Environmental Cake
… Every year, the SWCD’s poster, essay, public speaking, and slide-show contests are open to all 3rd through 6th grade students. Each first place student wins $50, and their teachers win $30; second place students win $25.…
Neighborhood Revitalization: Be a Part of It
… Bill Anderson—passionate friend, neighborhood activist and watchman extraordinaire— recently became a realtor primarily to revitalize Durham neighborhoods House by House, Block by Block (as espoused in Alexander von Hoffman`s book)…
Come learn Thursday what ‘Lights On Afterschool’ is all about
… Lights On Afterschool is a nationwide project of the Afterschool Alliance (afterschoolalliance.org/index.cfm), which is dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to affordable and quality after-school programs. It’s a great way for families, companies, volunteers, anyone to learn about …
Why did you do that?
… I thought that women and doctors insisting on early births for nonmedical reasons lived only in cynical imaginations and television soap operas. Turns out that, in the last decade, the main stream has effectively reduced ‘full-term’ to 37 weeks…
For the Love of BETC
… Polluted runoff is a leading cause of impairment in at least 40% of North Carolina's waterways, including all of Jordan Lake and a significant part of Falls Lake. Forty percent of America's rivers and 46% of America's lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life…
Digging our Way Out
… Thanks to a heads-up from Ray Eurquhart, a long-time Durham Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) board member, in October I contacted the SWCD about the N.C. Community Conservation Assistance Program (CCAP), which funds up to 75% of qualifying stormwater management projects on public and private land…