The holiday season is officially here, bringing with it the promise of exciting opportunities to relax and unwind, spend quality time with family and friends, and celebrate a brand new year. For many people, finding time to attend parties, confirming final details for vacations, shopping until you drop and putting smiles on kids’ faces are among the primary concerns.
The average child in America will spend less than 10 percent of his or her life in school through the 12th grade. If we are serious about education reform, we need to understand what's happening to our students the other 90 percent of the time, and adapt to those realities.
More than a month before Christmas, the stores already are filled with Christmas displays and holiday Carols play over the sound system.
There are frequent conversations in Memphis about what our city brand should be. Some people suggest that it should be about transportation, other say logistics, and some say our river heritage. Those are important assets of Memphis, but they are things. They don't really speak directly to our community values and who we are as a people.
I remember the "good ol' days" when I knew Thanksgiving was coming because the stores were putting out Thanksgiving decorations in November. We all know those days are long gone; if you are like I was last year, you may have found yourself setting up your Christmas decorations in October!
Nutrition is the single greatest environmental influence on babies in the womb and during infancy, and it remains essential throughout the first years of life. Prenatal malnutrition, for example, has been linked to later adverse health and cognitive outcomes. Likewise, malnutrition in infancy and early childhood is a key risk factor for cognitive deficits, lower academic achievement, and behavior problems.
