Today is World Food Day

Tweet The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization was founded on October 16, 1945, and in 1979, this date became World Food Day. This worldwide event is dedicated to increasing awareness of hunger and to increasing understanding, information, support, advocacy, networking, and year-round action to alleviate hunger.

This year, the focus is on the food crisis in Ethiopia, which has been worsened by the global economic crisis, rising food prices, and drought. The government of Ethiopia estimates that 75,000 children under the age of five are suffering severe malnutrition and that 25% to 50% of those children will die without proper treatment.

Even with advances in technology, an estimated 1.02 billion people in the world are malnourished. That is one-sixth of the world's population.

This year's theme is "achieving food security in times of crisis." Many activities have been planned including a World Summit on Food Security that will be held in Rome November 16-18.

In the United States, World Food Day is sponsored by 450 national, private voluntary organizations. Planning is done at the community level with special events such as seminars, research projects, fund raisers, and press releases to the media. One organization, Faces of Hunger, is having a film competition to raise awareness of hunger in the U.S. The competition is open to anyone 25 years of age or younger. Palms for Life Fund will offer the top three winners cash prizes of $5,000, $3,500 and $1,500, and give them exposure to a vast audience in a full-length compilation of the prize-winning works. The deadline for submission of films has been extended to October 30, 2009. For more information, see http://www.facesofhunger.org .

Wouldn't it be great if we could end hunger in our lifetime? If every community worked with national and international sponsors, ideas could be shared that would involve schools, businesses, churches, governments, service groups, and the media. With increased awareness comes increased action and increased action can alleviate world hunger.

Sources:
http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/
http://www.facesofhunger.org/
http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/
http://www.care2.com/dailyaction/homepage.html http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/209965929?z00m=19797966

Contest - Young Voices of America Speak Their Muse 2009

Tweet There are many types of contests and competitions for students. This is the last one I'll mention here, for a while anyway.

Young Voices of America Speak Their Muse 2009 is a poetry contest. The poem can be "Haiku, Quatrain, Cinquain, Sonnet, Limeric, Ode, Couplet, Tanka," or one of many other types. It must be original and previously unpublished. It should “speak your muse.” It can make people laugh, make them think, or inspire them.

Prizes will be awarded in three categories:
Kindergarten – Grade 2
Grade 3 – 6
Grade 7 – 12

Entries must be received by midnight November 27, 2009 and will be judged by noted poet Richard Peabody.

Website: http://www.youngvoicesfoundation.org/index.html?gclid=CI_17O-3sJ0CFYZM5QodOnHIjQ

Contest guidelines: http://www.youngvoicesfoundation.org/images/Guidelines_Young_Voices_of_America_Speak_Their_Muse_2009.doc

Contest - I Am What I Learn

Tweet The "I Am What I Learn" contest is designed to allow students to express how their education will help them fulfill their dreams.

A video (PSA, blog, animation, documentary, or other), not longer than 2 minutes, must be submitted by November 2, 2009. It will be judged on creativity, content, and the ability to inspire. The three winning finalists will be announced the week of December 1 and each will receive a $1000 award.

Entrants must be active students age 13 or older by October 8, 2009. The contest website is http://www.ed.gov/iamwhatilearn/index.html and contest rules are at http://www.ed.gov/iamwhatilearn/rules.html

The following is a video from that website that further explains the contest:


Good luck to all who enter.

Contest - Pest World For Kids

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For the next few days, I will be announcing some contests that I believe have merit and provide opportunities for students, their teachers, and their schools. The first is from a press release from the National Pest Management Association.

NATIONAL PEST MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS SCIENCE EDUCATION WITH ONLINE CONTEST

PestWorldForKids.org Launches National Pest PSA Contest for Students

August 19 (Fairfax, VA) — PestWorldForKids.org, an educational children’s Web site developed by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), today announced a national competition for students (grades 4 through 8) to win $3,000 for one lucky school’s science department. The contest challenges teachers and their students to create educational Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that highlight the health and property risks posed by household pests such as rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches, stinging insects and ticks.

“Insects are incredibly interesting and fun to learn about in the classroom,” says Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. “It’s when they come indoors – into our homes and schools – that they become pests. We are excited to offer students the chance to learn about pests, while at the same time using their creativity to explore an important educational topic.”

Using the Pest PSA lesson plan available on PestWorldForKids.org, teachers can assign students the task of creating :30 or :60 second television PSAs. Entries must be submitted by teachers between September 8, 2009 and December 23, 2009, and can be entered online or sent via U.S. postal mail.

Five finalists will win “bragging rights” as a top performing school in the Pest PSA Contest, and will have their entries publicly posted to PestWorldForKids.org. One school will be recognized as the grand prize winner and will receive a $3,000 award for their school’s science department.

PestWorldForKids.org is a free, entertaining and educational Web site developed for students and teachers in grades K through 8. The site features a pest glossary, a comprehensive pest guide, downloadable fact sheets and project PDFs, a report writing center, science fair projects and teacher lesson plans and games – all designed to teach children about the common insects and rodents in their natural habitats, and the health and property risks posed by pests once they find their way into the home.

For full contest rules and details, as well as examples of PSAs, visit http://www.pestworldforkids.org/ .

The NPMA, a non-profit organization with more than 6,000 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry’s commitment to the protection of public health, food and property.