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http://optimistworld.com/samsung-solve-for-tomorrow-contest/

Samsung announced that entries are open for the fifth annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest – a nationwide competition to raise enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by challenging students and teachers to tackle critical issues across the country. Through the competition's community-based learning approach, youth take topics out of traditional classroom settings and explore, in a hands-on way, how these subjects address core problems that impact their lives and their regions. 

"At Samsung, we know that interest in science, technology, engineering and math is critical for the jobs of today, the future of tomorrow and our long-term business success," said David Steel, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics North America. "By launching the Solve for Tomorrow Contest for a fifth year, our goal is to excite students about these subjects and provide schools with the resources to continue fostering the innovators of tomorrow. We saw very strong community impact and engagement last year, and we're looking forward to building on that momentum."

The first 5,000 teachers to enter from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will receive a professional development course from PBS TeacherLine; entries close on October 31, 2014. In November, 255 state finalists will be selected and from that pool, 51 state winners (representing all 50 states and Washington, D.C.) will be announced in December. Of the state winners, 15 will be selected as national finalists and will present their projects to a live panel of judges in March. Five national grand prize winners will then be selected by a panel of judges, Samsung employees and public online voters.

Additionally three special awards will be given by DIRECTV, the National Environmental Education Foundation and Digital Promise to contestants in the 51 state winner pool who will be recognized for their pioneering use of math, environmental innovation and civic engagement, respectively. Throughout the competition, approximately $2 million* of prizes will be presented by Samsung, Adobe, Fortune, PBS TeacherLine, DIRECTV, the National Environmental Education Foundation and Digital Promise. 


"Science, technology, engineering, and math are vital for success in most 21st century careers. If you are looking for a fun and challenging way to engage your students in STEM, look no further than the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest," said Kimberly Bloch, a teacher from Sunburst Middle School in Montana who led her eighth grade class to win the 2013-2014 Solve for Tomorrow competition. "I strongly encourage all teachers to enter the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest by answering the three simple questions and engaging your students in the exciting world of STEM. You never know where this challenge could lead. It could lead right to the White House, like it led us!"

Last year, more than 2,300 schools from every state and the District of Columbia entered the challenge; five teams were named national grand prize winners, and one of the winning teams attended the White House Science Fair as honored guests for their work in the competition.

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest was created in 2010 to encourage innovation while addressing the technology gap in classrooms across the country. The competition is a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow initiative which aims to engage students nationwide in active, hands-on STEM learning. Since 2004, Samsung has provided more than $15 million in technology to more than 750 public schools in the United States.

To enter or to learn more about the competition and past winners, please visit:http://www.samsung.com/solve

Source: The New York Times: Nonprofits Provide Jobless Men With a Fitting for a Second Chance
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/nyregion/a-fitting-for-a-second-chance.html?_r=0
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @rachelswarns

 



By RACHEL L. SWARNS AUGUST 3, 2014

Felix Gonzalo, 54, left, and Troy Lewis, 48, check out their new outfits in a mirror at FEGS, a nonprofit organization that runs the program Suited for Work, which helps unemployed men get ready for job interviews.

Joseph Campbell noticed them whenever he hunted for work on the streets of Manhattan: the purposeful men wearing pinstripes or herringbone, seersucker or linen.

He admired the sleek suits, the starched shirts, the gleaming cuff links. They all signaled success and prosperity. Or, as Mr. Campbell put it: “Somebody who wants to take care of some serious business.”

Somebody else. Not him.

He didn’t have a suit hanging in the homeless shelter where he lives. So he arrived at a job placement agency last week in a black T-shirt, green canvas shorts and Nike boots. He had a job interview scheduled for 3:30 p.m. — his first in months — and he was itching to get going.

But the case managers at the agency told him he had one last appointment before he headed out, for something unexpected: a fitting, and a second chance.

Even as the economy slowly gathers steam, men like Mr. Campbell, who lack college degrees, are increasingly falling behind. Many manufacturing jobs that kept blue-collar workers afloat have vanished. And wages have plunged.

Between 1979 and 2007, wages for men under 30 with only a high school diploma fell nearly 29 percent, according to a 2011 study by Andrew Sum, a professor of economics at Northeastern University in Boston. And that was before the Great Recession and the weak economic recovery that has followed.

Mr. Campbell, who is 32 and has a high school equivalency diploma, can tell you what it’s like to feel the floor collapse beneath your feet. He lost his last job, cleaning a food court, in June 2013, then his apartment, and then the life he once knew.

He has been in free fall ever since, relying on food stamps to buy groceries and counting on friends, relatives and the New York City shelter system for a place to sleep.

As for clothes? Men in his position often turn to secondhand stores, church donations and gifts from friends and relatives. “It’s hard,” Mr. Campbell said. “Real hard.”

So when the job counselors directed him to the Suited for Work office last week, he felt as if he had stumbled into a new world. Brand-new suit jackets from designers like Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis and Michael Kors hung from the racks. A kaleidoscope of ties beckoned. Dress shirts sat neatly stacked on the shelves, their pearly buttons calling for nimble fingers.

Mr. Campbell had landed at one of the few nonprofits that provide jobless men with free suits and business attire. An array of programs provide professional clothing for women. Very few offer such services to male job seekers, according to the nonprofit staff, who say the trappings of success give struggling men the confidence they need to brave an uncertain job market.

“We really see the gear as much more than clothing; it’s a suit of armor,” said Gary Field, who runs Career Gear, which teams up with nonprofits and government agencies to provide their male clients with corporate wear.

At Suited for Work, volunteers and staff members from FEGS Health and Human Services, a nonprofit social services agency that provides job placement services and suits for its clients, guided Mr. Campbell through their boutique. With donations from companies like Men’s Wearhouse, Peerless Clothing Inc. and Nautica, they have put more than 8,000 clients in new professional clothing since the program started in 2008.

Troy Lewis, 48, who was preparing for an interview with a service hiring livery car drivers, walked out last week with a crisp white shirt, a shimmering purple and black tie, and a smart gray suit by Pronto Uomo.

Felix Gonzalo, 54, who hopes to land a job as a long-distance trucker, left with a handsome Botany 500 ensemble and a yellow paisley tie.

As for Mr. Campbell, he found a charcoal gray Michael Kors suit, a mauve dress shirt and a purple striped tie. He adjusted his collar in front of the floor-length mirror and marveled at the transformation.

He hadn’t been sure that he needed a suit for this interview. After all, the company was looking for a restaurant deliveryman, not a supervisor. But the longer he looked, the more convinced he was that he would stand out in a crowd of job applicants.

Asked how he felt, Mr. Campbell smiled: “Like new.”

With his job interview less than two hours away, the Suited for Work helpers scrambled to hem his trousers with safety pins and to replace his Nikes with a pair of wingtips.

And then he was out the door, on the subway and arriving at his job interview right on time. The company manager, who interviewed him, offered him a part-time position on the spot, for $8 an hour.

The two men shook hands on it and Mr. Campbell said goodbye.

“Nice suit,” the manager said.

From Swedish meatballs to sleek urban kitchen designs I thought the folks at IKEA had thought  of everything when it came to affordable home"must haves" for my Pinterest Board. Until now! What could possibly go better with fluffy throw pillows and hard wood floors than a loving Labrador to curl up with you on your Swedish sofa? Um...NOTHING! 

The IKEA store in Chandler, Arizona is one of the first U.S. locations to partner with the Humane Society of Arizona to advertise shelter dogs in their home displays. The dogs are advertised using life size cardboard  cut outs of the animal featuring the adoptee's information on QR codes.

According to an article published in Business Insider, six dogs have already been adopted from the Humane Society of Arizona as a result of IKEA's advertising. The store is scheduled to roll out more cut outs at the end of July! 

According to an article published in Business Insider, the idea for the program originated in Singapore, with a partnership between Ikea and Home For Hope, a coalition of pet adoption agencies that includes Save Our Street Dogs and the Animal Lovers League.

About the photo: Meet Fern! This lovable Lab is one of our #GPP animal correspondents! (Fern is a rescue pup from Wright Way Rescue and already has a loving home!)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-pet-adoption-2014-7#ixzz38EyNXLmG