Gratitude makes the journey better and so does kindness

Tag: education Page 1 of 3

Weekly column: Teachers deserve to be listened to for the sake of us all

Originally published as a column on Monday, February 22, 2021 on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News.

You may have peeked at the news of the new variants appearing in some schools in the Lower Mainland. As I started writing, two more schools have been added to the exposure list for the U.K. variant, bringing the total number to five.

We are told there are ways to reduce the risk and generally improve our state of health. Eating healthy and getting daily exercise, washing hands and airing out properly so fresh air can reduce the number of disease-causing particles.

Weekly Column: Helping youth succeed makes for a better society

Originally published as a column on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News on Monday, October 28, 2019.

I just read an uplifting news story. It was about the tuition waiver program for the former youth in care. About 1,119 young people got a fresh start in life due to the program. I can only imagine how empowering the feeling, and I can safely assume that the gratefulness born from that will create many happy ripples along the way. To say that we need more of that in today’s world is an understatement.

Talking to high school graduates or young adults who are trying to find their way, the one limiting factor many are pointing to is money. Going to school for higher education is one expensive affair. Some say they will not go to university until they are sure of their choice so they will not pay tuition money for nothing.

Weekly column: Let’s help our young ones quit it once and for all

Originally published as a column on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News on Monday, September 2, 2019.

It is an interesting case of ‘better than smoking’ that has been adopted by many. Vaping, they said, does not present the same risks as cigarettes do. That many e-cigarette brands are developed, and owned, by tobacco giants…well, that’s a tell-tale like no other.

Weekly Column: It Is High Time We End Mental Health Stigma

Originally published as a column on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News on February 11, 2019. 

It’s almost a year since I encountered human pain in a way that I never thought I would and there is rarely a day I do not think of it, more so because it happened in the place I go for mornings hikes with the dog. A young person had decided to end their life and that grey, cloudy morning was draped in heartbreaking, haunting silence. It is impossible to imagine the mental pain of making that decision, and impossible to imagine the pain of loved ones left behind.

Weekly Column: Let’s Include Financial Literacy In Our Children’s Education

Originally published as a column on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News on January 28, 2019. 

Here’s some sobering news from a recent article in The Globe and Mail: 46 percent of Canadians are within $200 from financial insolvency at each month-end. Blame it on higher interest rates, but also on less than desirable financial literacy.

In October of last year, a survey by debt consolidation firm BDO Canada revealed that approximately 3 in 10 Canadians do not have enough money to buy the things they need. They still buy them in the end but getting deeper into debt. Among those who carry debt, the average non-mortgage debt hovers around $20,000.

Weekly Column: Climate Change Challenges Will Never Be Solved With Cat Doors

Originally published as a column on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News on January 7, 2019. 

If you want to chuckle, check out the amusing story of how a $2,000 cat door installed in a West Vancouver home can help fight climate change (embedded in the $3 million home it belongs too.) To be fair, the article has some good information on passive houses, or net-zero homes, but you might find yourself jaded by the time you get to the part where the 11-foot windows are described (shipped from Europe, they were.) Carbon footprint applies to the whole product and the processes involved in building it, no?

Weekly Column: Restriction On How We Use Cannabis Have Their Place

Originally published as a column on CFJC Today Kamloops and Armchair Mayor News on October 15, 2018. 

October 17 is just around the corner. Cannabis will be legal (and the province expects a hit from the first orders, predicted to come as a huge wave as many want to make history by ordering as soon as cannabis becomes legal,) and many others are bracing for what the legalization brings about.

One of the concerns is driving while under the influence.

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