Like many kids in my generation, I grew up on Harry Potter. My mom read the first few books to me at bedtime until I started reading them on my own. She continued reading the books too, and we talked about them together as I grew up. Until I came to college and heard criticism from writing professors for citing the series as [...]
It’s no secret that college graduates are entering a competitive workforce. Seniors spend their last semester polishing resumes, scouring the internet for job listings and preparing for interviews. However, many employers are beginning to notice a substantial gap between the knowledge with which graduates leave college and the skills that are required for entry-level positions. A new slew of programs offering nanodegrees, a [...]
For the fall of 2014, 49.8 million students were predicted to have attended public elementary and secondary schools in the United States. Of these students, all were expected to be absent on the same day: Thanksgiving. In other countries, of course, this was to be a normal school day. But different holidays aren’t the only variances that can be seen between school days [...]
I owe a lot of who I am to Maplewood, New Jersey, the small town where I grew up. A 30-minute drive from New York City, this diverse, artistic and socially conscious community fostered my passions for creative writing and social activism. I loved to read at the library a short distance from my house, listened when friends with different experiences of race [...]
Most of us know about the famous Smithsonian Institution, which includes a collection of 19 museums and galleries, most in the DC area, that house countless artifacts from American and world history. But did you know the Smithsonian also has a renowned education program? In 2015, the Smithsonian Associates celebrates 50 years of successful educational programming. The Smithsonian Associates offers museum-based education on a wide [...]
If I said “LOL,” “OMG” or “BRB,” you’d know what I meant, right? How about “IYKWIM”? Throughout the history of the English language, people have worried about the language changing and adapting. Paranoia began as early as the Norman Conquest of 1066, when William the Conqueror introduced Norman French into the language used by those in powerful positions in England. Ever since then, English has [...]
Did you know a device considered by scholars to be the world’s oldest analog computer was created over 2,000 years ago? The device is officially named the Antikythera (ante-kith-er-uh) Mechanism. It was retrieved from an ancient shipwreck discovered in 1901 off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera. The ship is believed to be a merchant vessel that met its end around 60 [...]
Explaining the difference between eating your grandpa and asking him to eat with you can be tricky to distinguish without proper comma knowledge. Like any skill, grammar should be practiced to get better at it. Many students struggle to keep up with the demand of grammar in school; rules like subject-verb agreement, preposition placement and semicolon usage cause students to seek out aid. [...]
As a young child, Dr. Seuss was my best friend. In the bright early mornings I would climb onto my fern-green couch and read. Surrounded by a pile of books and stuffed animals, I would read his rhythmic stories aloud. With my chest puffed out proudly, I spoke in the best adult voice I could muster. According to that little girl, I was [...]
Remember high school yearbook superlatives? Almost everyone had a classmate who, even if they weren’t voted “Most Likely to Succeed,” everyone knew would become a millionaire before the ten-year reunion. Mine was Ben Drucker, founder of Valet.io, a fundraising platform. In high school, his business ventures were always being written about in our school newspaper. Wouldn’t it have been great if he could [...]