spelling

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57773502?fbclid=IwAR2kKd7Cj3zwJBEACwDQHhzkNHKus65TDMBC3aP4nsVo-c_0pxl9C9FOgkI

Zaila Avant-Garde is 14 years old and lives in New Orleans, USA. Last week she won the US Scripps National Spelling Bee. This is a competition that began in 1925 and is held annually. Schools from across the US send students to compete to represent their region. At the final there are three rounds; round 1 is a written spelling test of 25 words, round 2 is an oral test where competitors spell each word out loud. If they miss or get a letter wrong,  they are eliminated and have to leave the stage. The final round is televised and usually includes 10-16 students.

In the final round, Zaila had to spell querimonious and solidungulate. Her final word was Murraya. You can watch a video of the moment she wins in the link above. She checks for meaning and pauses before spelling it out.

Zaila is the first African-American student to win the competition since it began almost 100 years ago.

Zaila practices spelling 13,000 words for 7 hours a day but says her spelling is just a hobby. She also loves basketball and she holds the world record for the most basket balls dribbled at one time. Here is an amazing video of her basketball skills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2E1m8Fseg

Asked on CBS This Morning about why she practices spelling for 7 hours a day, she compares having the roots of words to like having a back-pass in basketball, "There are a lot of words and ... it sounds really difficult but if you study and know the roots, it's really easy. Just knowing roots it's really helpful in spelling and I love that part of it." Watch the interview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z6CWoBd5lQ

- what is a spelling bee?

- how do you think it feels to spell a word our loud knowing if you get it wrong, you are eliminated?

- Zaila talks about knowing roots of words, what does that mean? 

- Why do you think knowing the root to a word is like a back pass in basketball?

- How has Zaila become so good at basketball and at spelling?

- As the first African-American winner, what is she showing about education in the past and education today?

- what can we learn from Zaila?

- why is this about No Outsiders? 

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders,com 

Disney

 

https://people.com/travel/disney-world-removes-gendered-introduction-to-fireworks-show/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-article&utm_content=20210704&fbclid=IwAR1H5N5Fhn4V9P3FNEXL67tpHTEVksbzRiuzxTWz3ElSNarl6J0li6WHi1Q

Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom has changed the way they welcome guests at the start of the firework display each night. The announcement at the beginning of the show has previously been, 

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dreamers of all ages, in just a few minutes the Magic Kingdom invites you to enjoy our night time spectacular Happy Ever After."

The new announcement is an attempt to be more inclusive; how do you think it might have changed?

"Good evening dreamers of all ages,  in just a few minutes the Magic Kingdom invites you to enjoy our night time spectacular Happy Ever After."

Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Josh D'Amaro blogged recently about the change in dress code for employees, which will now allow different hairstyles and costumes;

"It's important for me to share how we're creating a place where everyone is welcome and taking action to create meaningful change. Our new approach provides greater flexibility with respect to forms of personal expression surrounding gender-inclusive hairstyles, jewellery, nail styles and costume choices; and allowing appropriate visible tattoos. We're updating them not only to remain relevant in today's workplace but also enable our cast members to better express their cultures and individuality at work."

Disney has "four keys" for all employees to abide by; these are safety, courtesy, show and efficiency. After staff feedback, a fifth key has been added- inclusion.

Josh said, "We want our cast members - and future cast members - to feel a sense of belonging at work. The world is changing and Disney parks are committed to change with it."

- what is Disney? Is it famous and popular?

- what words have changed in the announcement at the start of the fireworks?

- what do the old words assume about the audience?

- why do you think Disney have decided to drop "Ladies and gentlemen, boys ad girls"? What dos that show they are now assuming about their audience? (or not assuming)

- why do you think Disney are changing their employee dress code?

- what is personal expression?

- What does inclusion mean?

- "We're updating them not only to remain relevant in today's workplace but also enable our cast members to better express their cultures and individuality at work." what does this mean? Is it important?

- What do you think about the four keys? What are they about, why do you think were they chosen?

- why do you think employees have added inclusion to the list?

- "We want our cast members to feel a sense of belonging at work" - why?

- "The world is changing and Disney parks are committed to change with it."- how is the world changing ?

- what can we learn from Disney?

- why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, Everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

batsgirl

 

https://scoop.upworthy.com/70-year-old-lives-dream-yankees-bat-girl-six-decades-after-being-rejected

In 1961 when she was 10 years old, Gwen Goldman was a huge fan of baseball team the New York Yankees. She would go to watch games with her Dad and when she was away at summer camp he would send her newspaper clippings so she could follow her favourite team.  Gwen wrote to the then manager Roy Hamey to tell him about her dream of being the team's bats girl. 

The manager wrote back to Gwen to say this would never happen; "While we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys and no doubt would be an attractive addition on the playing field, I'm sure you can understand that in a game dominated by men, a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout."

Gwen gave up on her dream but kept the letter; she later framed it and hung it on her living room wall. 60 years later her daughter Abbey wrote to the New York Yankees to tell them about the letter and as a surprise they invited Gwen to be a batsgirl for them at their next match. 

Gwen was given a full Yankees uniform and walked out with the team where she threw the first pitch. She said, "It's been a thrill of a lifetime"

Gwen said to the current manager Brian Cashman that she never held the original rejection against the team and she kept the letter to show her love for the Yankees and, "hold on to a dream. It wasn't what I wanted to see but they wrote me a letter and I've always loved them... but I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that 60 years later Brian Cashman would make this become a reality."

In a letter to Gwen in June 2021, Brian Cashman wrote, "A woman belongs everywhere a man does, including the dugout ... it's not too late to reward and recognise the ambition you showed in writing that letter to us as a 10 year old girl. Some dreams take longer than others to be realised. But a goal attained should not dim with the passage of time."

There is a lovely short video abut this story in the link above

- what do you see in the picture, where are they, what are they doing?

- why do you think Gwen wrote the letter in 1961?

- what do you think the New York Yankee manager Roy Hamey thought when he read the letter?

- "girls would be an attractive addition on the playing field" what do you think he means by this?

- Roy Hamey didn't have to write a reply to Gwen, why do you think he did so?

- How do you think Gwen felt when she received the letter from Roy Hamey?

- why did she keep the letter?

- why did her daughter write to the New York Yankees 60 years later?

- How do you think Gwen felt when she read the new letter from Brian Cashman?

- "A woman belongs everywhere a man does, including the dugout" why did Brian Cashman write that?

-"Some dreams take longer than others to be realised. But a goal attained should not dim with the passage of time." what does this mean?

- what does this story show us about ideas and society and time?

- what can we learn from Gwen?

- what can we learn from the New York Yankees?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

run

 

https://www.upworthy.com/10-happy-stories-from-this-week

This photo shows Olympic champion David Brown running the 100m. David is blind and so when he runs he is attached to his guide Jerome Avery using a rubber finger band. Jerome also calls out obstacles and tells David how far he has to go. The aim is for the pair to run as one person; in a video in the link above you can watch David and Jerome work as a team. They are current world and Paralympic champions.

In a recent interview David said, "It's really hard t put in to words how much you have to trust somebody when you can't see something. It's an individual sport but you've got to be able to depend on somebody else to help."

- what do you see in the picture?

- where are they, what are they doing?

- do you notice anything different about the runners?

- why do you think they are attached?

- what are the challenges David faces as a blind Olympic runner?

- how are those challenges overcome?

- how do you think David felt when he started training as a runner?

- do you think anyone could guide David in his races? What is needed?

- "The aim is for the pair to run as one person" how do a pair achieve that aim?

- do you think anyone ever advised David to do something else? What do you think his response might have been?

- what can we learn from David Brown?

- why is this about No outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

Childcare

 

https://www.upworthy.com/a-mother-without-child-care-took-her-baby-to-a-job-interview-a-lot-of-moms-can-relate

A videoof a young mum taking her baby to a job interview has gone viral, enabling young parents to share experiences of juggling child care with careers.

Maggie Mundwiller lost her job in the middle of lockdown, just six weeks after her baby Mylo was born and in the last year she has been searching for employment. But Maggie explained; "A lot of people are not able to pay for the child care if they're unemployed, even if there is one parent that is employed, You have so many other bills that you have to pay for."

Maggie was interviewed for a marketing job and got a last minute call for a follow up interview but her family were all busy and she couldn't find anyone with such short notice to look after Mylo. Maggie asked the company if they would re-schedule the interview as she couldn't get a babysitter and the company reassured her they were child-friendly. Maggie told them she would be there in a few hours, and she took Mylo with her.

Maggie said she hoped to "make a good impression and make light out of a situation that's a little bit different than what we're used to." so she dressed Mylo in a suit and gave him a reference to hand in to the employers. Mylo's reference listed his skills:

Skills

• can destroy a clean space in 30 seconds
• can take off own diaper
• can say about 5 words that start with B&D
• can smell flowers with my teeth
• can walk down stairs holding mums hand
• can throw a ball

Experience

none

Education 

Mum and Dad University

References

Mum and Dad

In the link above you can watch the video on tik tok of Mylo getting ready for the interview.

Maggie later said the interview went well because she had nothing to hide, "I could be my authentic self without hiding parts of my personal life."

Maggie's video got 9 million views on tik tok and was praised  by many people for highlighting the issue of childcare. Senator Elizabeth Warren said, "I can remember what it was like as a young mum trying to juggle a big new job - standing in the drive way, bouncing my baby on my hip, panic mounting because the babysitter hadn't come yet. That's why I'm in this fight for quality, affordable child care."

Maggie got the job.

- what do you see in the picture?

- what do you think the story is about?

- what do you think a job interview is like, what do you have to do, how do you have to present yourself?

- why don't people usually take babies to job interviews?

- how do you think Maggie felt when she couldn't get a babysitter?

- why do you think the company said they were child-friendly?

- why do you think Maggie wrote out a reference for Mylo, did she need to? What was she showing the company?

- "I could be my authentic self without hiding parts of my personal life." what does this mean, why might people sometimes feel they have to hide parts of their personal life?

- years ago, what was the attitude in society about mums having jobs?

- how has society changed today?

- why does Senator Elizabeth Warren say she is in the fight for quality, affordable childcare? what are the arguments for and against companies providing child care for employers?

- how is this story related to the Equality Act 2010 in the UK?

- why is this story about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com