Want to boost the chance of your story being published in Reader's Digest and win $25,000? Here are a few of our favorite entries so far in our "Your life: The Reader's Digest Version" contest. After reading these, head over to Facebook and submit your own story about a special moment or lesson that shaped your life.

    "There's Always a John" By Darla Boyd

    My first year of teaching, there was a kid named John in my class. John was difficult to control and he nearly drove me crazy. While talking about him one day, an old teacher put his hand on my shoulder and said, "There will always be a John. Your job is to learn to discover what makes him different and help him succeed." The next year, there was indeed another John. But that advice taught me that there is something to appreciate in everyone.

    "An Early Key Lesson" By Elaine West

    Before I began my first teaching job, my mother, a teacher of 30 years, gave me a very special gift, five simple words that have had an effect on my entire life." Make friends with the janitor（门卫）." Her wisdom taught me the respect for all types of characters and continues to enrich my life to this day. Just five little words but what an impact they can have when you take them to heart.

    “Raising Mommy” By Jan Davis

    Being a mother can always present challenges and rewards. Someone told me early that children will teach you everything you need to know. Being a mother is being raised. Our children become our advisers. Their dreams become our professors, as we are taking notes carefully. The sounds of their laughter and smiles are a great reward to us. Their tears remind us that it is okay to fail, and that we should wipe the tears away and try again.

    Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. We go fishing, sit in the garden, have a picnic, live in the suburbs or go to the seaside. The most popular leisure activity in Britain is going for a walk. When joggers jog, they don't run the streets. Every one of them tend to go to the park or the river.

    But despite this, our children are growing up nature­deprived(剥夺). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.

    The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(多动症). Those whose accommodation had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.

    ADHD is one of the great problems of modern childhood. One study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.

    The life of old people is measurably better when they have access to nature. The increasing concern for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.

    We need the wild world. It is essential to our well­being, our health and our happiness.

    My 10-year-old Donna said, “Mom, I made a new friend at school today. Can she come over tomorrow?” Donna was a shy girl and I wanted her to make some friends to bring her out of her shell.

    “Sure, honey, that sounds great.” I said, thinking back to my own best friend, Lillian. We lived across the street from each other in Washington Heights, New York. We met at the age of 10, too. Like my daughter, I was shy, but Lillian drew me out. She was one of the friendliest people in school, with shiny black hair and a mile-wide smile.

    In senior high school, Lillian went on a trip to Florida. This was the first time we had to be away from each other for a few days. “I'll be back soon.” she told me. But three days later, Lillian's sister told me that she had fallen into a river and hadn't come out any more. Soon, my family moved to New Jersey. Whenever I thought of her, tears came into my eyes.

    The next day Donna brought her new friend home. “Hi, Mrs. Loggia.” the little girl said. Her hair was so shiny and black and she shot me a big smile. “My name is Laura.”

    My daughter's new friend was so much like Lillian. I was still puzzled (迷惑) when Laura's mom came to pick her up later that afternoon. I opened the door to let her in. “Judy!” she cried. “It's me, Lillian's sister, from Washington Heights.” Yes, my daughter's friend looked familiar. She was Lillian's niece.

    Water covers 70% of the Earth, but only 3% of it is clean and suitable for human consumption. Even if you live in an area with enough rainfall, using water requires energy to process, pump, heat, re-pump, and reprocess it.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Save water from your taps.

    Turn the tap off while you are brushing your teeth, shaving, washing your hands, doing dishes, and so on.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Get wet, and then turn off the water while you soap up. Turn it back on for long enough to wash away the soap.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Take a timer, clock, or stopwatch into the bathroom with you and challenge yourself to cut down your showering time. You could even play music while in the shower and challenge yourself to cut down the number of songs it takes you.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Use wastewater from the bath, washing machines or dish washing on the garden.

    If possible, connect a pipe to the outlet on your machine to send the water outside onto your garden. When hand-washing dishes, rinse (冲洗) the dishes into a container, and empty the container into your garden.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Either pour it directly into the bowl, or use it to refill the toilet tank when you flush.

A. If you're not sure whether wastewater is suitable for plants, you can use it to flush (冲) your toilet.

B. Not all toilets will be able to flush effectively with a reduced amount of water.

C. Turn the tap off when you shower, too.

D. Replace your clothes washing machine with a high-efficiency washer.

E. Shave outside the shower, or turn off the shower while you shave.

F. Take shorter showers.

G. Fortunately, there are ways to save water for everyone.

    Dance Classes

    Ballet

    Ballet teaches grace, posture(姿势) and flexibility. Students focus on the use of proper ballet items(物品),expanding their knowledge of classical ballet techniques and improving motor skills for classical ballet practice. The class is a formal ballet class.

    Age 8-10

    September 7, 2019-May 16, 2020

    10:30 am-12:00 am on Saturday

    Creative Movers

    Students can explore creative movement, balance, focus, the development of skills, motor planning and balance. The class helps build strength, flexibility and self-confidence, and allows children to realize expression in a positive and encouraging environment.  Children use their imagination to celebrate movement and have lots of fun.

    Age 3-5

    September 7, 2019-January 18, 2020

    9:00 am-9:45 am on Saturday

    Jazz

    Jazz includes movements from both classical ballet and dance techniques. This class will focus on traditional jazz dance. Students will be introduced to jazz-style rhythms and movements. In order to ensure proper placement for your child, we invite all students to participate in a sample(示例) class. Students and parents work with program staff to meet students' personal dance goals.

    Age 5-6

    September 7, 2019-May 16, 2020

    2:00 pm-3:00 pm on Saturday

    Hip Hop

    Students will be introduced to several different aspects of hip hop dance including popping, locking, breaking and totting in a high-energy environment. Our hip hop instructors are highly knowledgeable and will provide students with a wonderful view of hip hop dance.

    Age 7-10

    September 7, 2019-May 16, 2020

    1:00 pm-2:00 pm on Sunday

Rachel Carson was a science writer widely respected for her books about oceans.But she also devoted years to gathering scientific research that would awaken the public to the dangers of modern chemical pesticides.Her work,Silent Spring,became one of the most influential books of the 20th century.And it launched the modern environmental movement.

Born in Pennsylvania,she became a marine scientist working for the US government,primarily as a writer and editor.Her first three books,Under the Sea-Wind,The Sea Around Us,and The Edge of the Sea were physical explanation of life in and near the sea.They made Carson one of the best-known and respected science writers.But then she turned her time and talents to a new subject.

Carson had been concerned about the dangers of the pesticide DDT since the mid-1940s.At first DDT was a symbol of the progress of modern chemistry.It had saved countless lives by killing lice and mosquitoes that spread deadly diseases.But Carson doubted whether spreading large quantities of poison throughout the environment could be completely safe.She painstakingly gathered research to prove that the chemical industry was overconfident about the safety of chemicals that hadn't been tested.

Carson published her research as a book,Silent Spring,in 1962.It caused an uproar.Carson was immediately attacked by the chemical industry.Millions of citizens tuned in to watch a television program analyzing the issue.Carson's calm and reasoned arguments turned the audience in her favor.Finally,her work convinced the president to call for an investigation.Eventually 12 of the most toxic chemicals Carson wrote about in Silent Spring,including DDT,were banned or cancelled.She grew physically weak and endured a lot of pain.Yet she refused to stop working on the book.She died on April 14,1964,at the age of 56.Her writings helped move the nation toward a new understanding of how humankind depends on the interconnection of all forms of life on Earth.