There has been an outpouring of love for a 23-year-old disabled woman whose dog was killed in front of her while a groomer(美容师) tried to trim(修剪) its claws.

    Calls and e-mails came from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Arizona as well as Oakland and Macomb counties, offering Laurie Crouch, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis(硬化症), everything from dogs to money, such as that from Jason Daly of Roseville who said, “ I would like to buy her a new dog.”

    A story about the death of Crouch's pet, Gooch, was printed on the front page of Macomb Daily. Crouch said a man sat on the dog to trim its nails. Gooch died after one claw was trimmed.

    Crouch yelled at the groomer to stop when she saw Gooch was struggling to breathe, but she said she was ignored. “If I could have walked, I would have put my hands on her and pulled her off my dog and physically stopped her, but I can't do that.” Gooch was not a trained service animal, but naturally helped Crouch by picking up things for her.

    “This case is absolute animal abuse(虐待),” Larry Obrecht, division manager of the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills, said.

    People who read the story contacted Oakland Press to offer help. A message, from Rebecca Amett of Giggles N Wiggles Puppy Rescue, in Roseville, said, “We have puppies to donate … and want to help the young woman who lost her service dog.”

    “When Gooch was with me, I was happy,” Crouch said, “I think I can be happy again but no animal can replace Gooch. There's never going to be another Gooch out there but I think I will find a dog that can bring me joy again.”

    Nancy Ballard, 60, went for a routine checkup that turned into something extraordinary. She had just completed her master's in botanical illustration. In fact, she was canting a painting of a plant she'd done when she arrived at her doctor's San Francisco office. “It would be great if we had artwork like that for our chemotherapy(化疗)rooms, ”the nurse said. Ballard asked to see one.

    She was shocked by what she found. The walls were bare, and the paint was chipping(剥落).She could tell where old artwork had hung because of the naked nails. It was a depressing room for a depressing routine—patients had chemo drips for perhaps several hours, often with nothing to look at other than those sad walls. She couldn't imagine how anyone could even think about getting healthy in a room like that. As it happened, Ballard's physician, Stephen Hufford was ill with cancer himself, so finding time to decorate the rooms was low on his to-do list. So Ballard made it her mission to brighten up the place.

    She wrote to 20 local interior designers and asked whether they would donate their time and money to transform just one of Dr. Hufford's rooms each. Six of them wrote back almost immediately. Each of them ultimately chose a theme: The dragonfly room, for example, now features bright artwork and dragonfly wall ornaments. Most rooms got new paint, light fixtures, artwork, and furniture. Each room cost about $5, 000.

    Dr. Hufford was delighted.“ All the patients feel soothed by it.” he noted. He even said that his own tone of voice was different in the rooms and that he was better able to connect with his patients.

    Ballard was so encouraged that she created a nonprofit to raise money and decorate more spaces. Since then, she has worked on 20 projects, including one in Pennsylvania. She once went to Philadelphia for a ribbon cutting, and a woman there was on her third battle with cancer. When she saw what Ballard had done, she said, “I'm gonna beat it this time.I thought I wasn't going to, but now I know I'm gonna beat it.”

    You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

    Jane Addams (1860-1935)

    Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community(社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American women to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

    If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.

    Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-present)

    When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona State Senator(参议员) and in 1981, the first woman to join the US Supreme Court（高等法院）. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

    Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

    On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. (抵制行动) It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movements. "the only tired I was, was tired of giving in." said Parks.

    Many people prefer eating out instead of cooking at home. A change appears to be taking place, though, and millennials are leading the way. According to one survey, more young people are starting to cook at home for three basic reasons: They can save money, eat healthy and waste less food.

    Popular TV chefs are also getting millennials excited about learning some basic cooking skills. Many millennials view cooking as a form of entertainment and self-expression. They proudly post pictures of their cooking creations on Facebook or Instagram, and invite friends over to share the cooking experience.

    Many millennials have also found ways to avoid wasting food. After roasting a chicken, they put the leftover bones in their freezer instead of the garbage can. Later, they use the bones to make chicken stock which is an important ingredient in many dishes.

    They also hate throwing out fruit that's too old. To avoid that situation, they bake ripe fruit like berries and bananas for 15 minutes at 175 degrees C. Then they freeze it overnight. After that, they place the fruit in plastic bags and store it their freezer for later use.

    Now any millennials only eat at restaurants that have excellent food-waste policies. These servants use every part of the vegetables they buy, including their stems and roots, in dishes. They also use beef, chicken and pork bones to make their own stock.

    Millennials also reduce food waste by only buying what they require. Before going to a market, they write down what they need and don't buy anything else. They say they won't purchase more food than they can consume.

    Families around the country are finding new options for their children's midday meal thanks to a growing number of delivery options catering to students. Kiddos Catering in Chicago adopts a method of providing restaurant meals to schools that contract with it. Owner Michelle Moses and her staff work with area restaurants to create a variety of kid-friendly choices and deliver the meals to the schools five days a week. Parents select the lunches from an online order form that lists the day's featured restaurant and its menu choices.

    "Each day is a different restaurant with six to 10 menu options," she said. "It offers so much choice to kids." The service appeals to parents because they think their children are less likely to toss out restaurant food than a packed lunch, Ms. Moses said. The schools appreciate that Moses handles the ordering, payment, pickup, and food distribution in the cafeteria. "Schools really want to be in the business of educating kids," she said. "They don't want to be in the food and beverage(餐饮) business."

    That doesn't mean that schools always like it when teens (or parents) take it upon themselves to order food through phone apps. Many schools have banned that practice, citing safety concerns about delivery drivers showing up at school unannounced and the burden of tracking down students to alarm them that their meals have arrived.

    "These types of deliveries pose an unnecessary security risk for students and staff," said Bernard Watson, director of community relations for Gwinnett County Public Schools in Suwanee, Ga. "In addition, our award-winning school nutrition program provides students with a wide variety of tasty, nutritious meals on-site, so there is no need to order food from outside."

    Jacob Levin, a recent graduate of Bexley High School in Bexley, Ohio, relied on a sub shop to deliver a sandwich to him during lunchtime meetings or other appointments that conflicted with his lunch period. "It was a convenient option. In most cases, I would not have been able to eat at school if it weren't for the delivery option," he said. "Having a restaurant-quality sub also was much more enjoyable than cafeteria food."

Social media is a great resource for you to find and share inspiration for your classroom on a daily basis. You will be able to find neat activities, fun games and creative crafts (手艺) to include in your teaching plans. Give them a try and they will be able to take your teaching style to the next level.

Teach Like You Mean It

Teach Like You Mean It posts tons of ideas for you to make your classroom feel more like home. It posts exciting ways that can make your classroom a fun place for your students to stay. It will show you quick DIYs with short videos and pictures.

Technically Its Kinder

Technically Its Kinder has so many great ideas for you to use in your kindergarten (幼儿园) classrooms. It posts tons of activities and games on a regular basis. It also provides ways to include technology in your lesson plans, which will help your students feel more comfortable with technology. 

Madly Learning

Madly Learning was created by Patti, who is a teacher and blogger. She shares very helpful videos where she shows you different DIYs that will help you come up with new things to add to your classroom. She also shares stories and pictures from her personal experiences as a teacher and mom as well.

Teachers Pay Teachers

Teachers Pay Teachers is a website where teachers can sell teaching products to other teachers. And they also have an Instagram account. You will be able to get inspiration for your classroom from other teachers. They share quotes, crafts, classroom ideas and so much more.