The Adventure Guides Program

    New Member Information for the Adventure Guides Program (for children aged 4-12)

    What Is the Adventure Guides Program All about?

    The objectives of the program are:

    Fostering companionship and setting foundation for positive, lifelong relationships between parent and child

    Increased understanding of one another

    Expanded awareness of spirit, mind and body

    Great memories

    Fun!

    Parent and Child Will Be Joining…

    The nationwide affiliated(隶属的) program sponsored by local YMCA's and part of the National Council of YMCA's

    A smaller group of families called a "circle"

    What Is the Time Commitment?

    Program runs from October to May (ending with the Memorial Day Parade)

    One "circle" activity per month (one circle decides on fees and dates)

    Additional all participant activities (scheduled by Wilton Family Y) —additional fees and registration required.

    Outing Dates: To Be Announced

    What Do I Do Now?

    Registration is on-going. Registration forms are available online under "Registration".

    You will be notified by the Wilton Family Y of which "circle" you and your child are in and who your "circle" leader is.

    You will be notified by your "circle" leader as to when your first parent/child "circle" meeting will take place.

    Fees:

    Participant: Full Child or Family member $110. 00 / Program member $200. 00

    Sibling(兄弟姐妹): Full child or Family member $75. 00 / Program member $150. 00

    Adult: Family member FREE / Program member $125. 00

    Wilton Family Y Contact Information:

    Geoff Malyszka Teen Director 762-8384 ext. 224

    E-mail: gmalyszka@wiltonymca. org

    Kim Murphy Early Childhood Ed. Director762-8384 ext. 214

    E-mail: kmurphy@wiltonymca. Org

    Many people feel stressed out about buying and giving gifts around holidays．But have the holidays become too materialistic and more about the gifts than the feelings behind them?

    Throughout the world，many cultures mark holidays with gifts and food．Holiday traditions bring people together and allow us to feel a part of family and community．The gifts and food that we share are all about expressing a sense of appreciation and joy．The gifts of a few generations ago were probably more common and homemade．Even the people who could afford expensive presents probably didn't do as much buying and spending as we do today．

    But with our culture growing more commercial，sometimes the original meaning behind the tradition gets lost．Not only is the pressure on spending money on the right present，but many people also find that when gifts become the focus of a holiday，it puts too much emphasis on receiving．It's too easy to have high expectations of what's in that beautifully wrapped box—and that can set anyone up for disappointment．No wonder we often hear about people having the“holiday blues”—feeling sad or empty．

    Not all people think the holidays are too materialistic，of course．Most appreciate the traditional aspects of the holidays．And some love shopping and are just fine with all the giving and receiving．But if you're feeling a little empty about the holidays，what can you do? One key to a relaxing and meaningful holiday is finding what works best for you，both in terms of gift giving and other holiday traditions．Putting some thought into what the holidays mean to you and then focusing your energies on those aspects that leave you feeling most satisfied can help you let go of the stuff that may be stressing you out．

    Emily Temple-Wood was 12 years old the first time she was bullied(欺凌) online. They left ugly comments on her Wikipedia and Facebook pages about her looks "that would make my mother's hair curl." says Temple-Wood, now 22 and in medical school. The reason? "I was a woman on the Internet," she said.

    Over the years, she considered how she might take revenge(复仇). Then, as a freshman in college, it hit her: "What do misogynists(men who hate women) hate most?" she asked herself. "Women who are productive!" Her solution: For every rude comment she received, Temple-Wood would post a biography(传记) of a woman scientist, and thus, in 2012, Wiki Project Women Scientists was born. She wrote about her heroes, like Barbara McClintock, who received the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Caroline Still Anderson, one of the first African American women to become a doctor in the United States, in the late 1800s. With help from other women, many of them scientists who have also been bullied online, Temple-Wood has published hundreds of these biographies and women of all ages have taken notice.

    "When I was a kid, I could count the number of women scientists I knew about on one hand," wrote Siko Bouterse, who used to work for the Wikimedia Foundation. "But our daughters have the chance to get much more knowledge about scientists who look like them because of Emily.

    The ugly comments still come, says Temple-Wood. Being a strong woman online is not easy. "We all have days when we break down and need to have a glass of wine," she says. "I tell people who are being bullied that it's OK to be sad. But now you need to find a productive way to take revenge."

    Gardeners such as Prince Charles who claim that talking to plants encourages them to grow have long been seen as a little silly. But scientists have discovered evidence which suggests the Royal may actually be right and they could be listening to him. Biologists at Tel Aviv University in Israel have found that flowers can act as a plant's "ears" to help them detect the sound of approaching insects.

    When the researchers played recordings of flying bees to evening primrose flowers, within three minutes the sugar concentrations in the nectar (花蜜) of its flowers increased. The fluid, produced to attract pollinating (授粉) insects, was on average 20 percent higher in flowers exposed to the buzz compared to those left in silence or exposed to higher pitched sounds. Professor Lilach Hadany, who led the study, said: "Our results document for the first time that plants can rapidly respond to pollinator sounds in an ecologically relevant way."

    However, Prof Hadany said a plant's ability to respond to pollinators may be weakened in city environments or beside a busy road. While plants require water, sunlight and the right temperature to grow, it is widely believed they do not have senses in the way animals do.

    But the study, published on the open-science website BioRxiv, suggests the efforts of gardeners who talk to their plants may not be in vain. "Plants' ability to hear has implications well beyond pollination—plants could potentially hear and respond to herbivores, other animals, the elements, and possibly other plants," Prof Hadany added.

    A month-long experiment conducted by the Royal Horticultural Society in 2009 found female voices appear to speed up the growth of tomatoes. The research offers a possible explanation — women's voices were at the right frequency for the plants to hear.

    Your colleague's sharp comment keeps replaying in your mind. Two of your students are trapped in a "he said/she said" battle. When you reflect on your emotional reactions, you sometimes get caught up in cycles of negative feelings, which can make you feel even worse. If so, the answer may lie in a skill called "self-distancing", the ability to take a step back and view yourself more objectively. According to a research, when people adopt self-distancing while discussing a difficult event, they make better sense of their reactions, experience less emotional suffering, and display fewer signs of stress.

    But what might self-distancing look like in action? Consider a typical "he said/she said" student conflict where they are each focusing on their own feelings. One is thinking, "I can't believe he did that to me." And another insists, "She really hurt my feelings." However, if you ask them to take the self-distancing, they might step outside of themselves and ask broader questions: "Why was he so hurt in this situation?" or "How did her anger affect him?"

    Although this approach may sound too simple to be effective, studies indicate that a change in point of view can have a powerful effect on the way people think, feel, and behave. Here are several different techniques you can try.

    First, consider how a thoughtful friend might respond after quietly observing their situation. Besides, avoid using the pronoun "I". Focus on using third-person pronouns, he, she, they, and they were able to see the stressful event as challenging rather than threatening. Finally, ask yourself, "How would I feel about this one week from now or ten years from now?" This form of mental time travel may be effective because our attention is directed away from our immediate, concrete circumstances.

PhoneSoap: Charge and Clean Your Phone

    You may charge your phone every day, but do you clean your phone as much? Whatever your hands touch, your phones touch. It has been discovered that some phones have 18 times more bacteria and viruses than any surface in a public restroom. So it probably won't surprise you that a 2011 University of London study found that one in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them—specifically, the bacteria called E.coli.

    The research on bacteria and viruses led to the invention of PhoneSoap. It is not actually liquid like dishwasher soap. It is a phone charger that uses the electromagnetic radiation used in hospitals to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, cleaning your phone while it charges.

    "There are really certain types of bacteria and viruses that we should not be in touch with, and they are really on our phones," says Wes Barnes, the PhoneSoap co-founder. It all started while his cousin and co-founder, Dan LaPorte, was in his cancer research lab at college. "He realized he got the idea of getting rid of bacteria and viruses on the phones," said Barnes. "In the lab they used UV-C light for destroying them. He realized this would be the fastest, most powerful way to kill any bacteria and viruses living on electronic machines."

    PhoneSoap looks like a little metal suitcase. Your phone rests in to charge and get cleaned at the same time. Instead of plugging your phone into the wall, you'd plug it into the PhoneSoap charger box. The process only takes a few minutes but, Barnes says, "The idea is that you can leave it in there overnight if you want to keep charging. Reflective paint keeps the light completely around the phone so it cleans the phone fully."

    The co-founders spent 2013 finding the right companies and they started shipping the product in late November. By last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PhoneSoap was all grown-up. Both co-founders have left their previous jobs and are selling PhoneSoap nonstop. "We're shipping almost more than we can handle each day," Barnes says. "It's been a great adventure."