One of the most practical parts of my college education (and my entire education)was my student teaching. For six month, I gradually took over until I was completely teaching the class. It wasn't quite the same as a real teaching job. However, it was definitely a good way to get some real world experience. School should prepare students for the job market. Therefore, are our kids receiving enough practical education so they can be successful in the real world?

When teaching kids, it's important to be able to have a purpose for everything we teach. As parents and teachers, we should ask ourselves: what can this be used for when kids enter the job market? I can think about a college class I took where we had to analyze various movies. I honestly can't think of how analyzing "Rambo" benefited me. Perhaps, I would have been better off taking an auto shop class or a carpentry class. After all, I can't change a tire and I'm completely incapable when it comes to using power tools. The Guardian points out that the current generation is one of the most educated but lacks the skills to mend a hole in a shirt or put up a shelf. We have become a society that hires someone else to do these basic tasks. So how can we fix this?

    Perhaps, learning how to think is not enough. Rather than focusing on standardized tests so much, schools need to give students more practical application. Cooking is actually helpful when teaching children about fractions, measuring and multiplication. Students can learn how to double a recipe and see the relationship between 1/4 and 1/3 cup. As kids get into the upper grades, money management should be a focus. Making a budget and learning about interest rates are good ideas. I used to give my students real restaurant menus and a budged. They had to come up with what they could buy, including the tip with a set amount of money. In college, rather than only focus on the craft of writing, I wish I would have learned more about marketing and publishing my writing. Finally, internships in both high school and college should be required.

It appears that some high schools are doing a better job of preparing students for the real world. For instance, according to NBC News, in Michigan, "the Utica Center for Science and Industry uses technology to prepare students for automotive and military industry jobs." The program aims to combine students' skills with employers' needs. Students take optional courses in areas such as "multimedia, engineering or mechatronics" and also take part in activities where there isn't one right answer. For me, giving kids the opportunity to create is the key point. So far, the program is showing success.

According to a Gallup poll, fifty-seven percent of American workers say "the type of work they do generally" does not require "a bachelor's or a more advanced degree." Therefore, if a college degree isn't helping the majority of Americans at their job, then what is required? Many jobs require a skill. Electricians and contractors have specific skill that allow them to complete their jobs. Whether students go to four-year school or not, I think it's important for everyone to have a skill. After all, a Forbes article states that half of college graduates are working at jobs that don't require a degree. Clearly, being smart and qualified isn't always enough to make it in the real world.

    I'm going to encourage my kids to go to college and earn a degree. I'm also going to encourage them to think outside of the box and give them a practical education too. After all, you never know where life will take you.

    When the fork was stolen off Bart Michiels's mountain bike last summer, he wheeled it nearly three miles from his home in Chelsea to Frank's Bike Shop on the eastern end of Grand Street.

Mr. Michiels passed many other bike shops along the way, including one that offers free coffee. But for 20 years, he has remained devoted(忠实的) to Frank's. “Frank's the man,” he said of Frank Arroyo, the owner. “I don't care where he is in the city — I'll go.”

    Mr. Michiels doesn't have to worry about Mr. Arroyo's relocating (搬迁). The shop has stayed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for 40 years.

    After Mr. Michiels left, Marvin Priess arrived. A professor of chemistry and math, Mr. Priess wheeled in the Ross 18-speed he had bought at Frank's in 1978 and still rides today, at age 68. Mr. Priess said that over the years, every single part of it that couldn't be repaired had been replaced, sometimes more than once, at Frank's. Customers don't come for the ambience(环境). It's crowded and dirty; buckets of parts and boxes of training wheels line the entryway.

    The store is filled with about 500 bikes and you will find Mr. Arroyo, 72, six days a week. He has been in the bike business since age 14. Born and raised on the Lower East Side, he has employed and taught many young people in the neighborhood. He is also willing to repair bikes in any condition, as well as his neighbors' walkers and wheelchairs.

    English Epps, a lawyer, needed a new seat; his had been stolen. “I've been coming here since I was in the third grade,” he said, adding: “There's a new bike shop on Delancey Street, but everybody comes here.”

    Each year, hundreds of thousands of wild animals around the world are killed in trophy hunting—the organized shooting of animals for pleasure. The hunters then bring parts of the animal home with them as their "trophy" to remember the hunting.

    Trophy hunters pay big money to kill animals. Some of the money goes to helping wildlife protection. Trophy hunting also attracts business, which encourages people to preserve land and breed(饲养) animals that would otherwise be endangered. Cathy Dean, head of the Save the Rhino Charity, says that at the start of the 1900s there were only 50–100 southern white rhinos. Now, there are around 18,000. This is partly because some of them were raised specially for trophy hunting.

    But things don't usually go on one way. According to WWF, elephant populations have fallen from 1.3 million to just over 400,000 since the 1980s. Over the same period, hunters from around the world have taken home more than 100,000 African elephant trophies. Trophy hunting is not illegal(非法的) but unfair on the animals. In 2015, Cecil the lion was shot by a US trophy hunter. Cecil was a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, Africa. Cecil was lured with bait(诱饵), shot with an arrow and struggled in blood for more than ten hours before his hunters tracked and finished killing him. His son, Xanda, met a similar fate two years later.

    Cecil's death caused worldwide outrage and protests(反抗) against trophy hunting. Countries including Australia, France and the Netherlands banned(禁止) the import of lion trophies—they stop hunters from being allowed to bring home parts of the animal they kill. They believe that people will stop trophy hunting because the activity might lose its attraction if hunters can't bring their trophies home.

    The UK Government said that it would consider a ban on trophy-hunting imports by 2017, but no action had been taken. In April 2019, a letter by protesters against trophy hunting was sent to the UK government asking to ban trophy-hunting imports. On 7 May, the official in charge of the environment, Michael Gove, said that the UK would not ban the imports for the time being. This left the world in a state of a shock. Hopefully the UK will place a ban on trophy-hunting imports, which would be an important message and inspire others to treat animals better. We're waiting for the day to come.

    Western conservation groups are seeking stricter laws to deal with trade in endangered wildlife, but Dr. Paul Jepson warns that this isn't the best solution. He highlights the case of the Bali starling (八哥). Bringing in tougher laws created unexpected outcomes, which contributed to the bird's extinction in the wild in 2006.

    He said that the traditional law enforcement (执行) approach that outlawed (宣布……非法) ownership of the Bali starling in the 1980s and 1990s increased rather than reduced the demand for wild-caught Bali starlings. The bird has become a popular gift among the rich of Indonesia, who can gain more status by owning one.

    Instead, a case-by-case analysis might be needed. Last year, he said, a bird association set up a network of breeders (饲养者) among the owners of Bali starling on the island of Java. By introducing a "crowd-breeding" model, it transformed the bird into a species whose price and source of supply were publicly known. This lessened the status of keeping such birds and thereby reduced their profitability to black market suppliers.

    Another case was on Nusa Penida, an island southeast of Bali. A Balinese conservation group planned to release starlings on the island. Critics tried to block the plan, saying the island was outside the birds' native zone. Eventually, the Governor of Bali came up with a proposal. The starlings were given to a local temple as a ceremonial offering before they were released. This gave the Bali starling status as a "sacred bird", giving them protection under customary laws. Now the released starlings established a breeding population on Nusa Penida.

    Dr. Jepson commented, "I do not want to criticize the international approach seeking tighter law enforcement, but this case study shows we should not oversimplify how we respond to the problem of the wildlife trade. There is a growing body of evidence that shows more different approaches are sometimes needed to fit with the local social and political realities. We should tailor solutions on more of a case-by-case basis."

    The Great Depression that followed the stock market crash of 1929 saw hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work. In the years of great fear and depression, a lot of American citizens looked desperately to the federal government for assistance. Of all the programs designed by President Roosevelt when he took office in 1932, few were more criticized - or had more lasting impact - than the Work Projects Administration, better known as the WPA.

    The intention of the WPA, which functioned from 1935 to 1943, was to design and administer public works projects to help relieve unemployment. The majority of these projects involved historic or artistic attempts. The WPA's Writers Project, for example, was responsible not only for such practical works as state guidebooks but also for the collection of historically valuable oral histories. Over 2,900 of these records were collected in 24 states. They provide an irreplaceable firsthand account of people's diets, customs, celebrations, and political and religious beliefs at the time.

    The artworks created through the Federal Arts Project are one of the WPA's most lasting achievements. Out - of - work painters, both famous and unknown, created paintings that beautified schools, libraries, and government buildings, WPA photographers traveled across the country recording the hardships of life on small rural farms. When the United States entered World War Ⅱ in 1941, WPA artists were enlisted to produce posters supporting the war effort. Many WPA artworks, including hundreds of small drawings picturing scenes of everyday life, still exist today.

How was 2019 for you? Was it pleasant and full of joy? Or was it unpleasant and full of sadness? Either way, some good things happened this year that can warm your heart. Let's take a look.