“To educate a girl is to educate a thousand people,” says Maimouna Samaké, a mother of six children (including five girls). “If you put one seed in the ground and rain comes, it will grow to produce many seeds.”

    Samaké, one of 2,000 residents, lives in a small village, Sounkala, in one of the world's poorest countries. Now she has a chance to see this wish come true thanks to Build On, an American non-profit organization that is building a school in her community.

    For 17 years, build On has been sending American high school students overseas to create schools in places where literacy (文化) and formal education are usually out of reach. The organization has built about 300 schools in Mali, Malawi, Nepal, Senegal, Nicaragua and Haiti. Its goal is to get young Americans in mostly urban areas to get involved in education. At the same time it can bring literacy to children and adults in poor villages in the developing world.

    Sounkala's current school only has about 70 children; mud floors, poor lighting, few desks and an absence of books mean that the school is not the most ideal learning environment. Therefore they certainly could use Build On's help.

    Samaké hasn't been to school, but she wants a better future for her five daughters, including Ramatou, 12, and Mariam, 10. “When a woman attends school, she will teach what she learns to her children,” said Ramatou, who wants to become a doctor. “She will also know how to take better care of her family.”

    Build On tries to build schools for grades one to three. If things go well over those three years, they return to help build another school for grades four to six, and then set up evening adult literacy classes.

    Ramatou and Mariam will not learn inside the walls of build On school since they are already in the sixth grade, but Samaké hopes that they will be able to attend evening classes to continue learning.

    Last week, Donna Strickland was awarded the 2018 Nobel prize for physics jointly with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou. It's the first time in 55 years that a woman has won this famous prize, but why has it taken so long? We look at five other pioneering female physicists — past and present — who actually deserve the prize.

    Jocelyn Bell Burnell

    Perhaps the most famous snub(冷落): then student Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967, when she was a PhD student at Cambridge. The Nobel prize that recognised this landmark discovery in 1974, however, went to her male supervisor, Antony Hewish. Recently awarded a £2.3m Breakthrough Prize, which she gave away to help under-represented students, she joked to the Guardian: "I feel I've done very well out of not getting a Nobel prize."

    Lene Hau

    Hau is best known for leading the research team at Harvard University in 1999 that managed to slow a beam of light, before managing to stop it completely in 2001. Often topping Nobel prize prediction lists, could 2019 be Hau's year?

    Vera Rubin

    Rubin discovered dark matter in the 1980s, opening up a new field of astronomy. She died in 2016, without recognition from the committee.

    Chien-Shiung Wu

    Wu's "Wu experiment" helped disprove the "law of conservation of parity". Her experimental work was helpful but never honoured, and instead, her male colleagues won the 1957 Nobel prize for their theoretical work behind the study.

    Lise Meitner

    Meitner led groundbreaking work on the discovery of nuclear fission. However, the discovery was acknowledged by the 1944 Nobel prize for chemistry, which was won by her male co-lead, Otto Hahn.

    The morning after an evening struggle to care for my three-year-old daughter, I couldn't wait to get her to school. I, as a mother, was tired from the anger and her inability to communicate because of her slowed language development.

    As I accompanied her into the car, I felt desperate. Nothing was right with our world. She'd been born around the same time when the nation was witnessing the birth of another Great Recession. My job and my house had been victims. Then this happened. My child's language delay was identified, but doctors struggled to properly help her, I felt like we both needed to he rescued.

    I returned that afternoon as disenchanted with the little girl 1 loved as when 1 left. Walking slowly toward the school's playground gate, I found her preschool teacher racing to greet me.

    “You should have seen her today!” His breathy words were supported by excitement. I didn't interrupt. “See that climber.” He pointed to a wooden piece of playground equipment that looked like a rock wall. I nodded. “Well, every day since she started school, she's tried and failed to make it to the top.” He took a breath. “And today she did it!”

    He expressed his joy just as he'd witnessed her conquering Mount Everest! “She cheered and celebrated! I wish I'd recorded it!” His words comforted me. My daughter had conquered her mountain.

    As she ran toward me, I recognized something I hadn't before. I saw her perseverance(毅力). I saw her strength. I saw a Hero.

    Everyday greatness celebrates ordinary people who do unusual things in big and small ways, showing courage, kindness, love and selflessness. We encourage you to click these brief accounts and invite you to share your own story.

    Maggie had never experienced an earthquake before, only prepared for it. As long as she could remember, preparing for an earthquake was routine (常规的) at school. Her family as well had made plans in the event of a natural disaster. Earthquakes are so much more common on the West Coast of the United States.

    Today Maggie was home alone. Maggie knew her mom would be driving home on the busy freeway, thinking about preparing supper for Maggie's dad. Maggie's dad would arrive at the airport. He was coming home from a two-week business trip.

    Maggie arrived home from school at the regular time. She was taking some biscuits from the kitchen cupboard, when she felt it. First just a tremor (微震), then the violent shaking. Maggie quickly ran under the large, wooden table in the dining room. The sounds of breaking glass and the crashing (坠落声) of many things were frightening. But the table remained undamaged, and Maggie hid herself in fear.

    After what seemed like a century the earthquake appeared to be over. Maggie could hear the sound of water rushing below her in the basement. The smell of natural gas was present in the air. Maggie knew where the main water valve (阀门) was located. Dad had shown her where it was and how to turn it off. Slowly and carefully she came out from under the table. The once tidy home was now almost unrecognizable. As Maggie reached the open basement door she could see the steps were still in good condition. She carefully made her way down into the dark basement. While still on the steps she felt the water rising and rising. Suddenly Maggie felt a lot of pain as a large ceiling beam (天花板梁) hit her head and shoulder. She fell onto some storage boxes…

    It's school time again! You're probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad for the vacation is over. Some kids feel nervous on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and maybe even a new school. Luckily, these "new" worries only stick around for a little while. Let's find out more about going back to school.

    Most teachers kick off the school year by introducing themselves and talking about what you'll be doing that year. Some teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class.

    When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules so you'll know what's allowed and what's not. Pay close attention so you'll know if you need to raise your hand to ask a question and what the rules are about visiting the restroom.

    You might already know a lot of people in your class on the first day. But it's a great day to make new friends, so try to say "hello" to the kids you know and new ones that you don't. Make the first move and you'll be glad about what you did and so will your new friends!

    Most teachers let you pick your own seat on the first day, but by the second or third morning, they'll have mapped out a seating plan. It's a good idea to write down where your seat is in your notebook so you don't forget.

    Here are a few final tips for a fantastic(奇异的) first day: Get enough sleep. Have a healthy breakfast. Try your best. Develop good work habits, like writing down your assignments(作业) and handing in your homework on time. Take your time with schoolwork. If you don't understand something, ask the teacher.

Here are four books recommended by one of the most respected editors from Reader's Digest. If you have time to dip yourselves into the books, they can surely offer much food for thought.

Face It

Debbie Harry

HARPERCOLLINS

Picture this: it's the late 1970s and the punk music scene is starting to take hold. The band releases the album ParallelLines, which becomes the greatest hit. Everyone wants to attend her concert and some teenage girls even dream to be her. Now 75, Harry bares all about herself in Face It, starting from her childhood. Part shocking, this book is as humorous, moving and vigorous as its subject.

Scatterbrain

Henning Beck

NEWSOUTHBOOKS

If there is no obvious connection among what we see, the brain will substitute in the rest of the information without you even noticing, Beck says in the chapter Memory. In this "user's guide for your brain", he argues that mistakes are the keys to success. He combines science with brain-boosting advice and real-life stories to take the reader on a fascinating adventure through human memory.

You're Not Listening

Kate Murphy

PENGUINERANDOM HOUSE

When was the last time you listened to someone? Really listened without thinking about what you wanted to say next? And when was the last time someone really listened to you? Compared with talking, listening isn't considered so important, argues journalist Kate Murphy, but she insists it is actually the more powerful position in communication. Her insights could transform your conversations, your relationships and your life.

The Right-Brain Work Out

Russel Howcroft with Alex Wadelton

PENGUIN

In 1968,1600 five-year-olds were given a creativity test. They were retested at ages 10 and 15 and their scores were compared against adults. While 98 per cent of five-year-olds were assessed in the "highly creative" range (genius level), only two per cent of adults could be considered "highly creative". In The Right-Brain Work Out, the authors promise to re-train your brain to be more creative, using 70 questions to challenge you.