By Jennifer Fontaine - The year was 1990, and I was a junior in high school. More than 50 percent of the students at my school participated in some sort of arts program from drama, speech, and debate to music and visual arts. So when we learned the School Board had voted to cut art-education funding that year by more than 25 percent, we organized a school-wide walkout. In the … [Read more...]
Avid4 Adventure – Boosting Kids’ Confidence at Summer Camp
by Heather Mundt - For many kids, summer means trading school drudgery for summer-camp fun. And if they're lucky, they'll experience an Avid4 Adventure camp, where fun translates to visiting recreation areas and learning to climb, bike, paddle or hike, for starters. Little do these kids know, however, they'll be learning just as much outdoors as they would in a classroom, … [Read more...]
Family Road Trip 101: Unplug to Connect With Your Kids
by Gina Vercesi - Listen. Do you hear that? No? What you're not hearing are your kids. They're in the backseat, quietly plugged into their electronics. Maybe the silence is welcome, they're not arguing, poking each other, or asking "When are we gonna be there?" on repeat. Nor are they talking about the funky, retro billboard they just saw, or searching for the letters of the … [Read more...]
Troll Forest – Expert Advice For Hiking Norway’s Most Whimsical Trail
by Ania Krasniewska - Before children, an ideal holiday for me consisted of visiting cities without doing much of anything, lying on great beaches with a stack of books to lose myself. As any parent who's tried to read more than two consecutive sentences in the presence of small tots knows, that vacation style changes when you have children. Our style changed even more when … [Read more...]