The Test Kitchen of Life

I recently came across this interesting story.  

A young woman was complaining to her father about how difficult her life had become.  He said nothing, but took her to the kitchen and set three pans of water to boiling.  To the first pan, he added carrots; to the second, eggs; and to the third, ground coffee.  After all three had cooked, he put their contents into separate bowls and asked his daughter to cut into the eggs and carrots and smell the coffee.  "What does this all mean?" she asked impatiently.   

"Each food," he said, "teaches us something about facing adversity, as represented by the boiling water."  The carrot went in hard but came out soft and weak.  The eggs went in fragile, but came out hardened.  The coffee, however, changed the water to something better.

"Which will you be like as you face life?" he asked.  Will you give up, become hard - or transform adversity into triumph?  As the "chef" of your life, what will you bring to the table?

How Grandparents help their Children and Grandchildren

Here is a link that discusses the role that grandparents play in helping their adult children and their grandchildren.  It is titled "Since the Great Recession, More Children Raised by Grandparents."  While part of the study discusses this fact, it also relates the influence of grandparents in other aspects of life.  They can certainly be a great resource to help parents.     http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/764-children-raised-by-grandparents.pdf

Teen Rides Horse to School

Here is a link to an interesting story about student riding his horse to school.   The 16 year old lives outside of Philadelphia and rides his horse four miles to school everyday.
http://tweentribune.com/content/who-needs-car-student-rides-horse-school

SMART Girls Program at Penn College in Williamsport

Here is a link to a program for 7th and 8th grade girls interested in Science and Math.   http://www.pct.edu/smartgirls/  The program is on Saturday October 2nd.  The registration deadline is Monday September 27th.   Here is a description of the program:

Pennsylvania College of Technology developed Science and Math Applications in Real-World Technologies (SMART) Girls to counter an alarming academic and social trend: Girls tend to shy away from math and sciences as they enter adolescence and their important high school years.

SMART Girls provides young females, in grades 7 - 11, the opportunity to experience math and science as a foundation for careers in technology. Hands-on experiences will range from crushing concrete (working with compression strength) to cyber challenges (creating Web pages).

This project is funded, in part, by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-270), under the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Career and Technical Education, and in part by Pennsylvania College of Technology.