"Everybody is a genius.But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."—Albert Einstein

    If you have a kid with special needs in the school system,chances are you have come across that saying hanging on a classroom wall.My five-year-old daughter Syona has cerebral palsy（脑瘫）and it means,combined with her communication and sight problems,that normal standard isn't always an accurate measure of her abilities.

    By now you have probably heard about Chris Ulmer,the 26-yearold teacher in Jacksonville,Florida,who starts his special education class by calling up each student individually to give them much admiration and a high-five.I couldn't help but be reminded of Syona's teacher and how she supports each kid in a very similar way.Ulmer recently shared a video of his teaching experience."I have seen their confidence increase rapidly."he said.All I could think was: how lucky these students are to have such good teachers.

    Syona's teacher has an attitude that can best be summarized in one word: awesome.Her teacher doesn't focus on what can't be done—she focuses on what can be done.Over the past several months,my husband Dilip and I have seen Syona's confidence increase tenfold.She uses words she wouldn't have thought of using before.She recently told me about her classmate's trip to Ecuador and was very proud when I understood her on the first try.

    I actually wonder what the influence would be if we did something similar to what Ulmer does with his students in our home.We've recently started our day by reminding each other of the good qualities we all possess.If we are reminded of our strengths on a regular basis,we will become increasingly confident about progress and success.

    The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob started to stand up and pushed the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. “How embarrassing! I am getting so clumsy in my old age.”

    Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others.

    Frank began,“My Dad was a fisherman. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.”

    Frank's voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!”

    He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got to the school, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, 'No, Dad.' It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face. I said, 'Dad, I'm too old for a good-bye kiss. I'm too old for any kind of kiss.' My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear. I had never seen him cry. He turned. 'You're right,' he said. 'You are a big boy ... a man. I won't kiss you anymore.'”

    For the moment, the tears began to well up in Frank's eyes. “It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back.”

    I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again.“Guys, you don't know what I would give to have my dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek.”

    Many students are involved in social practice besides study. On Monday, April 17, 2017, a unique partnership between Saint Agatha and Phalanx Family Services began. Saint Agatha is a primary school and day care program. Phalanx Family Services is a full-service, nonprofit （非盈利的）organization offering various programming for in-need families living in Chicago.

    Thirteen in-school youths, between the ages of 16~18, started training as young reporters in an eight-week camp organized by the two organizations. The program is designed to teach them how to become city reporters. After completing the program successfully, they will receive a job reporting for one of nine online news about the project.

    The very thought of 13 youths' improving reading and writing levels and hunting for career opportunities in journalism（新闻业）is exciting! Imagine, Chicago youths report positive and inspiring stories about the happenings around Chicago's black and brown communities, which are much better than frightening stories coming from local and national medium.

    I admire Saint Agatha and Phalanx Family Services for training youths in a needed skill set. As I see it, technology has harmed youths' reading and writing abilities. My father often says, “Youth is wasted on the young.” It sounds like the wisdom of the old. But Saint Agatha offers training and the opportunity for youths to take an active part in reporting the happenings and events they experience day to day in order to prove students don't waste youth.

    Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new “species” of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name — phubbers（低头族）.

    Recently, a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie（自拍照）in front of a car accident site, and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction of the world.

    Although the ending sounds overstated, the damage phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. “Constantly bending your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck,” Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying. “the neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching.” Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.

    But that's not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.

    It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight.

    Here's this week's list of four open jobs throughout the local area. Whether you're unemployed and need a job or you are just sick of the one you have, Roswell Patch wants to help. We know new jobs can be hard to come by these days, which is why we will try to post a selection of jobs we've found in the area on the site each week. Happy hunting!

    Part-time Spanish Instructor-World Language Institute, Inc. –Roswell World Language Institute, Inc. in Roswell is currently hiring a part-time, native-speaking Spanish instructor. Applicants must be able to pass a background check and drive a 15-passenger bus to pick up students from several schools, from 2 pm-6pm .Monday-Friday. The position pays $10 per hour. More information about the job is available online.

    Experienced Servers-Chill's-Alpharetta

    Chili's in Alpharetta is seeking experienced servers to add to its team. Qualifications will include being clean and neat and having great attitude and customer service skills. The pay is $2. 13, plus tips. Stop by the store to fill out an application. More information about this position is available online.

    Registered Nurese-North Fulton Regional Hospital-Roswell

    North Fulton Regional Hospital is looking for a RN/Registered Nurse to fill a 12-hour night shift. Applicants must be registered and previous hospital experience is preferred. More information about the position is available online.

    Software Engineer-Controlscan-Alpharetta

    Controlscan in Alpharetta is hiring a software engineer, Applicants should have five or more years of relevant experience, as well as advanced knowledge of computer technology. Pay is commensurate(相称)with experience. More information about the position can be found online.

    On the day the tornado hit, there was no indication severe weather was on its way—the sky was blue and the sun had been out. The first alert my husband, Jimmy, 67, and I, 65, got came around 9 p.m., from some scrolling text on the TV Jimmy was watching. He ran upstairs to find me in our third-floor bedroom, and we changed the channel from the presidential primary debate I had been watching to our local Pensacola, Florida, station.

    No sooner had we found coverage of the tornado than it was on top of us. Suddenly, the bones of the house shook, the power went out, and the wind began to roar through blown-out windows. We had three flights of steps to navigate to the relative safety of the first floor, where a closet fixed underneath a brick staircase might be the firmest place to wait things out. Everything around rattling, we struggled forward, uncertain whether we would make it.

    As we reached the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Shards of glass flew everywhere. A three-foot-long tree branch whipped, missing us by inches.

    By the time I reached the closet, the tornado had been over us for about a minute. Jimmy pushed me down to the closet floor, but the wind kept him outside. I grasped his arm as the tornado constantly sucked the door open and tried to bring him with it. My knees and scalp were full of glass, but I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house and into the bay. Then everything stopped. In those first quiet moments, I couldn't believe it was over.

    The storm lasted four minutes. Four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Of the houses left standing, ours suffered the most damage. Amazingly, none of us were severely injured.