Month: September 2015

Elementary school lunch menus

Originally published Sunday, Sept. 13
Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools
Monday, Sept. 14
Macaroni and cheese, carrots, peas, fruit cocktail, milk.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Corn dog, garden salad, green beans, pineapple tidbits, milk.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Chicken strips, tater tots, celery sticks, orange wedges, milk.
Thursday, Sept. 17
Taco burger, refried beans, banana, milk.
Friday, Sept. 18
Hot dog, tomatoes, cheesy broccoli, sun chips, mandarin oranges, milk.
Additional options available: Chef’s salad, fruit salad or yogurt muffin basket. Vegetarian options also available.

Turner Public Schools
Monday, Sept. 14
Cheeseburger; chicken and dumplings, garden salad, corn, fruit, mandarin oranges; Italian chef salad, corn, fruit, mandarin oranges, Italian bread.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Chicken nachos with white queso; chili with cornbread, garden salad, Texas pintos, fruit, banana orange mix; taco salad, Texas pintos, fruit, banana orange mix, cornbread.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Chicken patty; meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, glazed carrots, fruit, peaches, roll; chicken Caesar salad, glazed carrots, fruit, peaches and roll.
Thursday, Sept. 17
Hot dog with macaroni and cheese; meatball sub, French fries, garden salad, fruit, applesauce; Cobb salad, fruit, applesauce, fruit streusel muffin.
Friday, Sept. 18
Pepperoni pizza; Italian sub on deli bun, garden salad, broccoli with dip, fruit, pineapple; popcorn chicken salad, broccoli with dip, fruit, pineapple, fruit streusel muffin.

Piper Public Schools
Monday, Sept. 14
Cheeseburger; chicken and dumplings, garden salad, corn, fruit, mandarin oranges; Italian chef salad, corn, fruit, mandarin oranges, Italian bread.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Chicken nachos with white queso; chili with cornbread, garden salad, fruit, banana orange mix; taco salad, Texas pintos, fruit, banana orange mix, cornbread.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Chicken patty; meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, glazed carrots, fruit, epaches, roll; chicken Caesar salad, glazed carrots, fruit, peaches, roll.
Thursday, Sept. 17
Hot dog with mac and cheese; meatball sub, French fries, garden salad, fruit, applesauce; Cobb salad, fruit, applesauce, fruit streusel muffin.
Friday, Sept. 18
Pepperoni pizza; Italian sub on deli bun, garden salad, broccoli with dip, fruit, pineapple; popcorn chicken salad, broccoli with dip, fruit, pineapple, fruit streusel muffin.

Bonner Springs Public Schools
Monday, Sept. 14
Cheeseburger; turkey club wrap, garden salad, corn, fruit, mandarin oranges; Italian chef salad, corn, fruit, mandarin oranges, Italian bread.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Chicken nachos with white queso; grilled chicken sandwich, garden salad, Texas pintos, fruit, banana orange mix; taco salad, Texas pintos, fruit, banana orange mix, cornbread.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Chicken patty; fish patty, mashed potatoes with gravy, glazed carrots, fruit, peaches, roll; chicken Caesar salad, glazed carrots, fruit, peaches, roll.
Thursday, Sept. 17
Hot dog with mac and cheese; barbecued pork on bun, French fries, garden salad, fruit, applesauce; Cobb salad, fruit, applesauce, fruit streusel muffin.
Friday, Sept. 18
Pepperoni pizza; French dip, garden salad, broccoli with dip, fruit, pineapple; popcorn chicken salad, broccoli with dip, fruit, pineapple, fruit streusel muffin.

TEDxWyandotte scheduled for Tuesday

Originally published Sunday, Sept. 13

Vi Nhan Tran, local actor, musician, and storyteller, and Dre Taylor, Kansas City Keys Nile Valley Aquaponic Project, are among those who will take the stage at this year’s TEDxWyandotte event, “Breaking Through,” on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Registration begins at 5:15 p.m. with food and drinks available, and the program will begin promptly at 6 p.m.

With a roster of experts and innovators, TEDxWyandotte is confronting the barriers that divide people and challenges people to move beyond them. At this year’s TEDxWyandotte, the focus will be onurban solutions to deeply-rooted problems.

Supported by lead sponsor Kansas City, Kansas Community College, this independently organized TEDx event will gather speakers and audience members from diverse backgrounds to create new synergies, connections and collaborations across disciplines.

Confirmed speakers for the 2015 event include:

• Vi Nhan Tran, “The Empathetic Power of Storytelling.” Through music and personal stories about his family’s refugee journey, Tran demonstrates what he calls “the empathetic power of storytelling.”

• Annette LeZotte, “Sorting Out Race.” – LeZotte will speak about the Kauffman Museum’s exhibit “Sorting Out Race: Examining Racial Identity and Stereotypes in Thrift Store Donations.”

• Hong Hong Hui, “My Pipa Speaks for Me.” – Growing up playing this amazing instrument was a privilege for Hong Hong Hui. Through music, she will show how it has inspired her through life’s challenges.

• Dre Taylor, “Males to Men.” – Dre Taylor is the project manager for the Kansas City Keys Nile Valley Aquaponic Project and the Males to Men program. He will talk about the innovative ways his programs engage youth to overcome sometimes daunting circumstances and develop goals for their future.

• Janice Burdine, “Negative Space.” — While invisible to mainstream society, we never stop being productive “in the background” which is why her images seem to emerge from that space.

• Shannon Oleen, “What I learned from living on a canoe.” – Living without regular comforts, including cell phones, leads to a realization of how disconnected we’ve all become.

TEDxWyandotte works to capture the transition of Wyandotte County to a thriving city by offering the community a forum in which to hear local stories from people involved in making the change happen. Organized by local volunteers, the annual event is in its third year and is eagerly awaited by many people in the community.

More information on TEDxWyandotte and registering for the event can be found at tedxwyandotte.org. Tickets are $20 each. Groups of 20 or more may attend for $15 each, and should contact Shari Wilson at 913-269-3022 to register. KCKCC students with valid ID attend free. Tickets include a T-shirt.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event
TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast event in nearby Whistler. The annual TEDGlobal conference will be held this October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in holding local, self- organized TED-style events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Can America calm its road rage?

Originally published on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015

by Scott Morofsky

Often it’s frightening. Sometimes it’s deadly.

Road rage – where flaring tempers mix with two-ton machines – continues to be a problem on America’s highways, leading to accidents, assaults and occasionally even murder.

It’s a perplexing problem in part because it can happen at anytime and anywhere that roads and vehicles are involved, yet specific statistics on its frequency are hard to come by.

All that aside, though, there are solutions that can at least reduce the number of road-rage incidents.
People who are easily angered by slower drivers, detours and other traffic disruptions can be taught to be more aware of their responses and modify them to reduce accident risks, according to research published this year by the Society for Risk Analysis.

That let’s-calm-down approach is applauded by Scott Morofsky, author of the books “The Daily Breath: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time” and “Wellativity: In-Powering Wellness Through Communication” (www.Wellativity.com).

“Sometimes there’s this tendency to throw on the brakes when someone is tailgating us, or use an obscene gesture at an aggressive driver,” said Morofsky, who developed the concept of Wellativity, which helps people address any behavior that inhibits wellness.

“But when you encounter an aggressive driver, you don’t want to engage them or do anything to further agitate them.”

What are some of our behaviors that can aggravate other drivers? The No. 1 culprit is drivers who are texting, according to a 2015 Road Rage Report by Expedia.com, the travel site. Those texting drivers upset 26 percent of us.

Other offenders, in descending order, are tailgaters, left-lane hogs, slow drivers and drivers multi-tasking.

Of course, those examples represent situations that can raise your ire after you are behind the wheel. Often, the foundation for fury on the highway was laid before you got into the car. Maybe you had an argument with someone earlier. Maybe you are stressed because you are running late for an appointment.
“Probably all of us at some time have been angry and someone wisely told us to take a deep breath,” Morofsky said. “That’s actually good advice because breathing and taking in oxygen plays an important role in every area of our health and well-being.”

Morofsky offered these tips for heading off your own road rage or avoiding the rage of others:
• Don’t turn that ignition. If you are feeling stressed and anxious before you even start your trip, then the time to calm down is now, not after you are on the highway. Get a grip before you start the car, Morofsky said. Take that deep breath you always heard would work. You might even try counting from one to 10, inhaling on one, exhaling on two, up to 10 and back to one again. “You want to be relaxed before you head out,” he said.

• Stop right there. If you are already driving, and you feel your anger is starting to affect your judgment, pull over for a few moments. “Breathe and ask yourself, is my problem important enough to risk lives?” he said. “Taking a few conscious breaths could prevent a catastrophe.”
• Don’t react or retaliate. You can’t control those other drivers, but you can control how you react to them. If someone is tailgating you, flipped you off or is just infuriating you with bad driving habits, ignore them, Morofsky said. Engaging in some sort of road-rage argument will just further raise your blood pressure, and could prove dangerous in some circumstances. This is just one more opportunity to take that deep breath, he said.

Scott Morofsky is the author of the books “The Daily Breath: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time” and “Wellativity: In-Powering Wellness Through Communication” (www.wellativity.com).