The Peeps Chronicles

Peeps Rainbow Pops are NOT allergy-friendly
(Perhaps they're packaged on the same floor as the Peeps Bunnies.)

Easter Bunny's Gone Bye-Bye

A couple weeks ago Junior cornered me at CVS as we examined the Peeps Marshmallow display that contained one of the few allergen-free Easter candies that he can enjoy, again. He asked me as we compared the ingredients on the packaging if I was the Easter Bunny. He'll be eleven this year. I guess it was time.

We Have Food Allergies

It was during this same visit to CVS that he proved himself an adept label reader. So while I'm sad that my baby isn't a baby, anymore, I feel a sense of relief that he's now able to make educated decisions and avoid packaged foods that might contain dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, fish and/or shellfish.

Note: Allergen Information on the Peeps Rainbow Pops states that they may contain
peanuts, tree nuts, milk, wheat, soy, eggs, and coconut.

Peeps! We Can Enjoy Them, Again

For a while he'd enjoyed Peeps Marshmallows during the major holidays. That is until a couple of years ago an allergen-warning showed up on the packaging. We were disappointed because it was a candy that he was able to enjoy with his peers that didn't leave him feeling left out.

So imagine my surprise when he waved a box of Peeps Marshmallow Chicks in my face and said, "I can have these!" I was skeptical because the Peeps Bunnies I'd just scrutinized had the allergen information warning. But he was right; the Peeps Chicks did not. Thinking it was a packaging mistake, I told him that I didn't feel comfortable letting him have the Peeps Chicks. Being the practical kid that he is, he asked that I please call the Peeps people to verify.

Upon calling the Peeps 800 number, a pleasant customer service lady verified the information. She explained that the Peeps Chicks and Peeps Bunnies are manufactured on different lines on different floors and that in spite of their rigorous flushing of the equipment, that they are required to place the allergen information warning on the label, for which I'm thankful.

Really, it's little things such as these that make this Mama happy. We can enjoy our Peeps Chicks worry-free.

Happy Easter ... Peeps. :-)

Peeps Chicks Are Allergy-Friendly!

Peep Marshmallow Chicks are allergy-friendly

Peeps Bunnies Are NOT Allergy-Friendly!

Peeps Marshmallow Bunnies | Not allergy-friendly

1987 McKinney-Vento Act: Protecting the Educational Rights of Homeless Children

Over a million homeless children are in need of educational assistance in the United States.
The 1987 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act provides that support.

Families with young children now account for 40% of the nation's homeless population and in the course of the year, more than 1.3 million children are homeless. 

(Source: National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty) 

During my school guidance practicum at the middle school this week, I learned about a federal law and educational resources available to homeless children. These services are provided by the The Office for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. The law is called the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and it was passed in 1987 to protect the educational rights of homeless children who who are not able to advocate for themselves.

McKinney-Vento makes provisions for each school district to have a  McKinney-Vento Liaison who helps locate homeless children and their families to provide them with educational support and referrals to local services and agencies.

One in every 45 children in the U.S. is homeless each year. 

(Source: America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, National Center on Family Homelessness)

Homeless children lead unpredictable lives. For most, school provides them with the only sense of stability they know, and often the only two meals they'll see during the day. Everything -- their relationships, academics, behavior, physical and emotional health and safety are affected by the transient lives they lead. Think about it for a second. How could a homeless child concentrate enough to learn or be able to develop meaningful relationships if they're hungry and constantly on the move?

Over 40% of the children who are homeless are under the age of five. Ten percent of all children live in poverty.

(Source: National Center for Homeless Education) 

What causes homelessness for many of these children? Following are a few of the most common causes per the Office for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth:

• Lack of affordable housing
• Deep poverty
• Health problems
• Domestic violence
• Natural and other disasters
• Abuse/neglect

During my research for this post, I found two great videos. This first one was put together by a group of students who interviewed several McKinney-Vento Liaisons. It's inspiring and illustrates how much these educators care about the children and families in their districts.





So what are homeless children's McKinney-Vento Rights?

• To go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
• To stay in their original or last school even if they move to another.
• To get transportation to their original school.
• To immediately enroll in a new school.
• To automatically receive free breakfast and lunch at school.
• To receive Title I services.
• To receive all the educational and supplemental services that all other children are provided.

In Massachusetts they also have:

• The right to immediate enrollment.
• The right to choose what school to attend.
• The right to transportation.
• The right to participate in the same programs and activities as other students.

This next video was produced by the Anoka-Hennepin school district discusses McKinney-Vento and how students are identified.





The video outlines the warning signs that educators should look for that might suggest a student is homeless:

• Erratic behavior and attendance
• Tardiness
• Numerous absences
• Lack of personal records needed to enroll
• Inability to contact parents
• Lack of participation in school activities and field trips
• Unmet medical and dental needs
• Lack of immunization or medical records
• Poor personal hygiene
• Respiratory problems
• Skin rashes
• Chronic Hunger
• Fatigue
• Disengagement in class
• Isolation from former friends
• Mood swings
• Abrupt changes in behavior

(Source: Anoka-Hennepin McKinney-Vento Homeless Grant Video)

School guidance counselors and all other educators, from the school bus driver to the cafeteria worker, who come in contact with children at school, are charged with helping to identify these children. I encourage you to find out who the McKinney-Vento Liaison is in your district and ask them if there are any school supplies, book bags or other items you might be able to donate.

Please visit the following sites to learn more about McKinney-Vento and homeless children and youth:

• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• National Coalition for the Homeless
• Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program
• Horizons for Homeless Children

MIERCOLES MUDO: La Tortuga y La Rana

Kermit the Frog Meets Gamera

Where Do We Go From Here?

Watch Banned in Arizona on PBS. See more from Need To Know.

United States Circuit Judge Wallace Tashima recently upheld portions of HB 2281, an Arizona state law that prohibits Mexican-American Studies (MAS) from being taught in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). This is the same law that allowed school officials to remove books, such as Sandra Cisneros' THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET and Sherman Alexie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS from being used in classrooms (See Librotraficante for an essay and complete list of books by Elaine Romero).

Every time I've asked myself how the government and our courts could specifically prohibit the teaching of Mexican-American Studies (MAS) I've been reminded that fear stemming from ignorance, intolerance itself, and book burning are older than the bubonic plague. Anybody remember the great Library of Alexandria (A.D. 391), where mountains of knowledge were destroyed in religious fervor? There, original manuscripts of literature and history were lost forever. Luckily, HB 2281 has accomplished the opposite.

Banning books and killing ethnic studies is only going to further flame suspicions that those in positions of authority in Arizona seek to disempower minorities for political gain. Rather than be so afraid of our country's history that erasing it is the only plausible solution, why not accept it with all its blemishes, discuss it honestly and openly, and learn from it? It's revisionist history that engenders anger and resentment. 

Here are my responses to what Arizona believes it's outlawing:

I need to see tangible evidence of this. If discussing historical events makes certain people uncomfortable, then so be it. What's important is that students be allowed to talk about how we can avert making the same kinds of mistakes in the future, and MOVE ON.

Courses such as the Mexican-American Studies (MAS) program and others like it are needed to fill in gaping holes in a curriculum that is not culturally relevant to the majority of the students in many of these Tucson classrooms, particularly when these same classes have been shown to narrow the achievement gap for Latino students. And, please, let's not promote the reading of only one kind of literature. Our students should be reading literature as diverse as our country's/world's population. 

Tucson Unified School District (TUCSD) officials say they want a curriculum that treats students as individuals and that does not "promote ethnic solidarity." Great, let's see a proposal for a revised curriculum that is factual and inclusive. I'd like to see a curriculum that shows through examples that we can be individuals and still be part of a whole -- our country's history of immigration.

***

Two final thoughts:

1) Scholars should be the ones writing our students' curriculum, not politicians.

2) Moving forward, I'd like to hear civil dialogue and see respectful behavior.

Love Affair

© 2013 Ezzy G. Languzzi

Love Affair


What kind of love is it you offer
when you flee from me
after just a few days?

Tease

Stay, so I can love you.
I fear that I'll forget
the way you made me feel

Capricious.

Won't you linger for a while?
Hold my hand on this journey,
save me from disappointment,
shallow words
a mere flicker, here and there

Impossible

"I must prepare you for the next."

Destiny

What is it I seek?

Passion

Mercurial love that melds you,
to my starving hands
silky pages
seductive story
I love you

Please stay stay with me,
a little while.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Kindergarten Bookworm

The Secret Behind Resilience

What explains resilience?

Am I the only one who's ever wondered why some people are more resilient than others? For example, why is it that in a home where siblings are exposed to some kind of neglect, trauma or abuse, some are able to develop strong coping skills, going on to lead rewarding lives, while others don't?

I found my answer in a New York Times article my first semester of graduate school. It shook me. Prior to reading A Question of Resilience by Emily Bazelon, I'd never really considered the "nature" part of the "nature vs. nurture" argument for human development. Saying that someone was just "born" a certain way seemed too easy an explanation, like voodoo. As far as I was concerned, a person's environment and upbringing explained everything.

What I discovered in the New York Times article is that resilience is born out of both a person's genetics and environment.

"While children of average intelligence or above were more likely to exhibit resilience, the researchers noted that good relationships with adults can exert an effect that is as powerful, if not more, in mitigating the effects of adversity." Emily Bazelon, New York Times

Even though scientists have been able to identify genes that determine physical attributes, such as hair and eye color, genes that explain our psychology had remained a mystery. That is until a group of researchers identified 5-HTT, a gene that regulates the brain's serotonin levels. They discovered that the pair of genes in 5-HTT comes in two variations, two long alleles or two short alleles, with the short allele being the equivalent of getting the genetic "short end of the stick."

"Researchers are discovering that a particular variation of a gene can help promote resilience in the people who have it, acting as a buffer against the ruinous effects of adversity. In the absence of an adverse environment, however, the gene doesn't express itself in this way. It drops out of the psychological picture." Emily Bazelon, New York Times

We should all hope to have the protection of the long version of 5-HTT. Turns out that people carrying the long set are found to be more resilient, while those carrying at least one short allele are prone to developing depression and/or anxiety. The good news is that even if a person carries a short allele, it remains dormant until there's a trigger: stress or trauma.

The end of the New York Times article mentions a genetic test being made available through doctor's offices to test for the gene. What do you think? Would you want to know which set you carry?

Even though I'm fascinated by the topic and will be exploring it more as it relates to children in schools, I'm not sure I'd want to know.

Twin Kermits and Homeless Man Sing Under Pressure

Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend. I spent a little bit of my morning going through some YouTube videos I've favorited and came across one with my favorite Muppet, Kermit the Frog. I hope you take the four minutes to watch it, because this homeless man's creative spirit and display of resilience are an inspiration. And Kermit ... well ... he's always there when someone needs him.

Love you, Kermet.

Film Adaptation of Rudolfo Anaya's BLESS ME, ULTIMA in Theatres

Based on a book that was "banned, forbidden and burned." The film adaptation of author Rudolfo Anaya's BLESS ME, ULTIMA opens in theaters across the country, today. I only discovered the story a few days, ago, and am looking forward to experiencing both the book and film. In short, the story is about a young boy who struggles with his family's cultural norms and religious beliefs when Ultima, a curandera-healer, comes to stay with his family in New Mexico.  If you have an opportunity, please watch the two-minute trailer and check-out the BLESS ME, ULTIMA official website where you can find out if the film will be showing near you. In the meantime, there's always the book. :-)

NOTE: This is an unsponsored post.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson on TEDX: "Do Schools Kill Creativity?

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to watch a wonderful TEDTalks video about creativity. In the video, Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally reknown thought-leader in creativity, innovation and education, speaks to how public education strips our children of their creative talents, by defining for them what success should look like. 

Sir Ken Robinson contends that we've been conditioned to raise and educate children fearful of being wrong by stigmatizing mistakes both at school and at work. He's also critical of our universities, stating that "academic ability has come to dominate our view of intelligence" and that they [the universities] "design the system in their image."

Something else he said hit pretty close to home. That we should be careful how we toss around labels, such as ADD and ADHD, because what some might consider weaknesses, may in fact be strengths. What's important is that we allow our children to pursue their interests, without their schools' or our interference. I agree.

What do you think?

Creativity is diverse.

                    Creativity is dynamic.

                                    Creative is distinct.