Do you know an outstanding junior high or high school teacher, coach, guidance counselor, librarian，or headmaster? Nominate (提名)that special teacher you'll always remember and give him/her the chance to be recognized in a famous national magazine through "Educators of the Year Contest"!

Prizes

    Cash awards will be given to those from across the country who are given the honor of Educators of the Year. Besides, your winning essays will also be published in our magazine.

Guidelines

    We will only consider essays written by teens, and nominations must be for junior high or high school educators only. Elementary school educators are not suitable.

    Convince us your educator is special. Tell us about his or her style of teaching, his or her role in school activities, and community service. What has your educator done for the entire school, your class, for you or another student? Give examples with specific details. Keep your essay between 200 and 1,000 words. Remember to include the first and last name, position, and school of your educator in your essay.

Don't forget to submit (提交)your essays through our website. You can also read our submission guidelines for more information on this website.

The Deadline

    The deadline for submitting your essays is December 30. Your essays are accepted and will appear in our magazine all over the year. Winners will be made public after the January issue is published.

    Metro Pocket Guide

    Metrorail(地铁)

    Each passenger needs a farecard to enter and go out. Up to two children under age five may travel free with a paying customer.

    Farecard machines are in every station. Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the stations and farecard machines only provide up to $5 in change.

    Get one day of unlimited Metrorail rides with a One Day Pass. Buy it from a farecard machine in Metro stations. Use it after 9：30 am until closing on weekdays, and all day on weekends and holidays.

    Hours of service

Open: 5 am Mon.—Fri.         7 am Sat.—Sun.

Close: midnight Sun.—Thur.    3 am Fri.—Sat. nights

    Last train times vary. To avoid missing the last train, please check the last train times posted in stations.

    Metrobus

    When paying with exact change, the fare is $1.35. When paying with a SmarTrip^® card, the fare is $1.25.

    Fares for senior/disabled customers

    Senior citizens 65 and older and disabled customers may ride for half the regular fare. On Metrorail and Metrobus, use a senior/disabled farecard or SmarTrip^® card. For more information about buying senior/disabled farecards, SmarTrip^® cards and passes, please visit MetroOpensDoors.com or call 202­637­7000 and 202­637­8000.

    Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorail services by calling 202­962­1100.

Travel tips(提示)

    •Avoid riding during weekday rush periods—before 9：30 am and between 4 and 6 pm.

    If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost & Found at 202­962­1195.

    “To another little girl.”

    That's what 3-year-old Ariana of Winterport, Maine, said when her father Josh Smith asked where her donated (捐赠的) hair was going to go. It was then that the dad of two realized his young daughter had a heart that was too big for words.

    “I run a charity called Extra Life where I play video games to help raise money for kids,” he said. “Ariana happened to be sitting next to me when a video was playing, showing a little girl who was bald(秃顶的), lying in a hospital bed with tubes in her.” When their daughter got curious, Smith and his wife Crystal explained how medicine was what made the child in the video lose her hair.

    “Without a second thought, Ariana said, 'She can have some of my hair,'” Smith said. “That's when my wife told me that there are many organizations that we could donate it to.” The Smiths chose “Locks of Love” to send Ariana's generous gift to a child with medical hair loss.

    A week later, Ariana was taken to the family hairdresser where 10 inches was cut from her hair.

    “It was her first haircut,” Smith told ABC News. “She can be so selfless like that. Her first reaction is 'How about me giving up something that I have, so a little girl can feel pretty?'” Smith posted his daughter's moving gesture on his personal webpage, where it has received almost 645,000 views in just two days.

    “She'll take an adult-like approach and it's really amazing,” Smith said. “She is just a little kid, but if she sees somebody in need, she certainly cares for them. This made Ariana feel special and she'd definitely like to do it again.”

    Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had "seven fathers," because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated (躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

    In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university's Writers' Workshop, however, she felt lonely－a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her "creative voice".

    "It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn't think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That's when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn't write about."

    Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book talks about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school to graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children's book, and a short-story collection.

    Most people feel lonely sometimes, but it usually lasts only between a few minutes and a few hours. This kind of loneliness is not serious. In fact, it is quite normal. For some people, though, loneliness can last for years. Now researchers say there are three different types of loneliness.

    The first kind of loneliness is temporary. This is the most common type. It usually disappears quickly and does not require any special attention. The second kind, situational loneliness, is a natural result of a particular situation－for example, the death of a loved one, or moving to a new place. Although this kind of loneliness can cause physical problems, such as headaches and sleeplessness, it usually does not last for more than a year.

    The third kind of loneliness is the most severe. Unlike the second type, chronic(长期的) loneliness usually lasts more than two years and has no specific cause. People who experience habitual loneliness have problem socializing and becoming close to others unfortunately, many chronically lonely people think there is little or nothing they can do to improve their condition.

    Many researchers agree that the loneliest people are between the ages 18 and 25, so a group of psychologists decided to study a group of college students. They found that more than 50% of the students were situationally lonely at the beginning of the term as a result of their new circumstances, but had adjusted after a few months, 13% were still lonely after seven months due to shyness and fear. They felt very uncomfortable meeting strangers, even though they understood that their fear was not reasonable. The situationally lonely students overcame their loneliness by making new friends, but the chronically lonely remained unhappy because they were afraid to do so.

    Psychologists are trying to find ways to help habitually lonely people for two reasons: they are unhappy and unable to socialize and there is a connection between chronic loneliness and serious illness such as heart disease. While temporary and situational loneliness can be a normal, healthy part of life, chronic loneliness can be a very sad, and sometimes dangerous condition.

    "You're going to the doctor," your mum tells you. But why go to the doctor when you're not sick? Regular checkups (健康检查) are a good idea for kids. These visits happen when you're feeling fine and are sometimes called "well-child" visits because you're well.

    It's a chance for the doctor to see that you're growing and developing normally. It's also a chance for your parents to talk with the doctor about any issues, such as safety or nutrition, so they can help you stay healthy. And it gives you a chance to ask any question you might have about your health. You might wonder when you will grow taller, for example, or if you weigh the right amount.

    A checkup may start when a nurse calls you and your parents from the waiting room. He or she might start by checking your weight and height, as well as your blood pressure and maybe your temperature.

    Blood pressure: This shows how hard your heart is pumping blood throughout your body.

    Body temperature: Using a thermometer, the nurse can find out if your temperature is in the normal range. If it is higher, it means that you have a fever and your body is working to fight off an infection (感染).

    The nurse may check your hearing and vision. If you have trouble with either one of these, you might need to see a hearing expert or an eye doctor. Urine (尿) can tell whether something is wrong with the way a person's body is working.

    All of these numbers, measurements, and test results will go into your medical record, so the doctor can look them over. Then it's time to meet the doctor.