Professionals
* Superbowl
* US Open
* March Madness
* Masters
Kids
* Soccer
* Basketball
* Baseball
* Softball
* Hockey
Lessons from Sports
* Practice hard
* Perseverance
* Teamwork
* Coordination
* Sportsmanship
Monday, April 20, 2009
Arts
Arts still play a huge role in our nation’s culture because it is such a personal way of describing our emotions and moods in something bigger. Perhaps for this reason, arts are so commonly known in the entertainment, occupation, and hobby department. In the US, arts normally include a large variety of things. This can be art, including painting, sketching, drawing, pottery, sculpting, or computer art. These things make up museums, careers, children’s schedules, and even a leisurely activity to take up our free time. In this category, kids might take art classes after school or camps during the summer. Others may sketch at home in a personal sketchbook as close as a diary. Many love to create pottery; vases and vessels to keep at home. Still more have had paintbrush and pallet in hand since the day they could walk. Some of these kids will never again touch the tools of art; and yet some will grow up to be artists, works of whom displayed in the greatest museums in the world. Appreciating art may be even more popular in our country than being on the creation end. Millions flock daily to see masterpieces everywhere in the world, but some of the most famous are here—where we call home—at the Metropolitan. Things unique to our country’s art are abstract art, a newer, unrealistic style where viewers can interpret what they see in many different ways. Also, though not necessarily appreciated by all of the population, graffiti is seen in the country, most densely located in New York City. Graffiti includes letterings, images, and designs illegally spray-painted onto the sides of buildings, subways, and sidewalks. Though the deceiving title of “arts” leaves many to believe that the story ends here, another category of the arts is dance. Dance can also end up being a career, hobby, or entertainment for viewers. Many genres of dance—ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop, lyrical, break dancing, musical theatre, and tap are all common.
* Theatre
* Music
Arts still play a huge role in our nation’s culture because it is such a personal way of describing our emotions and moods in something bigger. Perhaps for this reason, arts are so commonly known in the entertainment, occupation, and hobby department. In the US, arts normally include a large variety of things. This can be art, including painting, sketching, drawing, pottery, sculpting, or computer art. These things make up museums, careers, children’s schedules, and even a leisurely activity to take up our free time. In this category, kids might take art classes after school or camps during the summer. Others may sketch at home in a personal sketchbook as close as a diary. Many love to create pottery; vases and vessels to keep at home. Still more have had paintbrush and pallet in hand since the day they could walk. Some of these kids will never again touch the tools of art; and yet some will grow up to be artists, works of whom displayed in the greatest museums in the world. Appreciating art may be even more popular in our country than being on the creation end. Millions flock daily to see masterpieces everywhere in the world, but some of the most famous are here—where we call home—at the Metropolitan. Things unique to our country’s art are abstract art, a newer, unrealistic style where viewers can interpret what they see in many different ways. Also, though not necessarily appreciated by all of the population, graffiti is seen in the country, most densely located in New York City. Graffiti includes letterings, images, and designs illegally spray-painted onto the sides of buildings, subways, and sidewalks. Though the deceiving title of “arts” leaves many to believe that the story ends here, another category of the arts is dance. Dance can also end up being a career, hobby, or entertainment for viewers. Many genres of dance—ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop, lyrical, break dancing, musical theatre, and tap are all common.
* Theatre
* Music
Education and Schools
Education and Schools
An alarm rings in the early hours of the morning, and a hand reaches blindly, knocking books, pens, and other odd items out of place in search of the “snooze” button on the alarm clock. A few minutes later, a parent’s concerned voice echoes from another floor, reflecting up the staircase and between the hallway walls. “Get up right now young man! Your bus is about to be here in five minutes! Do you hear me!?” A body tangled in sheets and blankets rolls off of the mattress, landing with a loud “thud” on the bedroom floor. Eyes still sealed shut, they shuffle to the bathroom where they fight the daily battle between the dark and light sides. Squinting, you allow beams of overwhelming daylight to gradually wake your mind. Toothbrush meets teeth after multiple failed attempts of landing toothpaste on brush, resulting in various sized blobs of Colgate dotting the marble counter. Following seconds of scrub, a final gargle and spit splashes the sink, most of it rebounding to hit you in the face. Clothes are most carefully selected, hair fixed, and a set of bare feet hurriedly hops down the steps. Half a spoonful of corn flakes are consumed washed down by one-fifth of a glass of milk. Backpack in place, feet barely inside their shoes, and the occasional instrument in hand, a shrill voice screams “Bye Mom!” and runs for the bus stop. This is the average morning of an American kid. In America, public schools are offered to all children K-12. These grade levels are most commonly divided into three smaller linked schools. First, children six or seven of age will enter an “elementary school”, consisting of grades Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, (sometimes even 5th and 6th). In this school, the students have one homeroom teacher that will teach them every subject, including things like math, reading, writing, and social studies. Smaller classes that occur fewer times each week are science, art, gym, and music, which are taught by specially qualified teachers. Elementary school is where we were all friends, homework was rare, and school was just for fun. Next, they will transition into a “middle school” or “junior high”, which may include 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Here, homework begins to weigh down the lives of students, despite ever busying schedules with sports, music, arts, and more. Cliques begin to take form, school becomes a drag, and students feel overworked. Finally, high school consists of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade which are called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior respectively. Most of high school becomes a blur of frantic SAT preparation, a national test that colleges use to choose which students to accept. Preparing college funds may be the biggest of parents’ worries for their children, along with which schools they get accepted into, how far away they’ll be from home, and exactly how much responsibility and independence their once-tiny-babies can handle. Welcome to the world of American education. And let’s just say, be glad you won’t be here long…
*Details on Saxe?
An alarm rings in the early hours of the morning, and a hand reaches blindly, knocking books, pens, and other odd items out of place in search of the “snooze” button on the alarm clock. A few minutes later, a parent’s concerned voice echoes from another floor, reflecting up the staircase and between the hallway walls. “Get up right now young man! Your bus is about to be here in five minutes! Do you hear me!?” A body tangled in sheets and blankets rolls off of the mattress, landing with a loud “thud” on the bedroom floor. Eyes still sealed shut, they shuffle to the bathroom where they fight the daily battle between the dark and light sides. Squinting, you allow beams of overwhelming daylight to gradually wake your mind. Toothbrush meets teeth after multiple failed attempts of landing toothpaste on brush, resulting in various sized blobs of Colgate dotting the marble counter. Following seconds of scrub, a final gargle and spit splashes the sink, most of it rebounding to hit you in the face. Clothes are most carefully selected, hair fixed, and a set of bare feet hurriedly hops down the steps. Half a spoonful of corn flakes are consumed washed down by one-fifth of a glass of milk. Backpack in place, feet barely inside their shoes, and the occasional instrument in hand, a shrill voice screams “Bye Mom!” and runs for the bus stop. This is the average morning of an American kid. In America, public schools are offered to all children K-12. These grade levels are most commonly divided into three smaller linked schools. First, children six or seven of age will enter an “elementary school”, consisting of grades Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, (sometimes even 5th and 6th). In this school, the students have one homeroom teacher that will teach them every subject, including things like math, reading, writing, and social studies. Smaller classes that occur fewer times each week are science, art, gym, and music, which are taught by specially qualified teachers. Elementary school is where we were all friends, homework was rare, and school was just for fun. Next, they will transition into a “middle school” or “junior high”, which may include 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Here, homework begins to weigh down the lives of students, despite ever busying schedules with sports, music, arts, and more. Cliques begin to take form, school becomes a drag, and students feel overworked. Finally, high school consists of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade which are called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior respectively. Most of high school becomes a blur of frantic SAT preparation, a national test that colleges use to choose which students to accept. Preparing college funds may be the biggest of parents’ worries for their children, along with which schools they get accepted into, how far away they’ll be from home, and exactly how much responsibility and independence their once-tiny-babies can handle. Welcome to the world of American education. And let’s just say, be glad you won’t be here long…
*Details on Saxe?
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