Introduction In the United States, students who miss more than 15 days of school a year are considered chronically absent. While this has always been an issue in the US, the number of chronically absent students has doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic[1].The percentage of chronically absent students rose from 15 percent in 2019 to 28 percent in 2022[2].These numbers are concerning, as chronically [...]
Introduction When was the last time you rode a bike? For myself, it had been a couple of years since I had, until recently. Every time I left for college, I would look at my bike and think, “You should bring that, you might need it,” and I always would, but I’d rarely use it. But last fall, out of nowhere, my car [...]
What is Career and Technical Education (CTE)? Career and Technical Education (CTE) is a program that teaches specific career skills to students currently in middle school and high school. CTE is split into 16 “career clusters,” with each cluster focusing on skills necessary in industries such as health science, information technology, finance, and much more.[1] Each program focuses on developing applicable skills instead [...]
Introduction Routines are a common practice in today’s society. Most people have at least one part of their day scheduled into their daily routine, whether it be getting up at a certain time, going to work, or getting some exercise in. As a college student, I find I struggle to have a consistent everyday routine as each day I have a different class [...]
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Affirmative Action, and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): These terms have been popping up in educational and business circles in recent years. All three of these aim to create a more inclusive work environment, but what is the difference between them? DEI describes three crucial values that make an organization more accepting and diverse. It helps businesses meet the [...]
If you’re in the workforce, you’ve probably heard the term “work-life balance” before. Work-life balance refers to the time you spend working versus the time you spend focusing on things outside of work, such as family, friends, and hobbies. While this might seem simple, it can often be challenging to figure out how to balance work with other aspects of life. The positives [...]
Introduction Following years of hybrid and online learning during the pandemic, a healthy and supportive educational environment has proven invaluable to student success. As the role of specific standardized tests and practices in the classroom such as lecture-based teaching undergoes questioning, researchers and educators find themselves looking for new ways to engage students and educate them within the classroom. According to Harvard Business [...]
Introduction: My 15-minute city experience When I went abroad in the Fall of 2022, I lived for four months in the walkable city of Florence, Italy. Not only was the grocery store a 3-minute walk from my apartment and all of my school buildings within 15 minutes, but I was 5 minutes away from the Duomo and 10 minutes from the Ponte Vecchio, [...]
Introduction: As the world enters the year 2024, understanding and prioritizing mental health is more important than ever. For K–12 students in particular, mental health struggles are overwhelming children and making it difficult for students to consistently go to school and perform well. Disorders such as anxiety, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are the most common in children today, according to [...]
Introduction: The Impact of Travel Traveling: planes, trains, and automobiles! There are multiple ways to do it. Traveling could be hopping on a plane to another country for a month, taking a train to visit a relative for a couple of days, or driving across Europe or through multiple states. I wasn’t much of a traveler for most of my life, not understanding [...]