Hammond High students embrace new friends from Crown Point High

Paige Hynek, 18, a Crown Point High School senior, center, is selected to be part of a group by Hammond High students, during an “ice-breaker” activity Tuesday to introduce students from both schools. Students were participating in the follow-up to an exchange program that began earlier in the school year at Crown Point High. The exchange allows students to shadow each other for a day and observe the similarities and differences.
(Photograph by Natalie Battaglia/The Times.)

Last Tuesday afternoon, some students from Crown Point High School who spent the morning at Hammond High were feeling a little jealous.

“(At Hammond) nobody’s judgmental or superficial at all,” said Sarah Maddack, 15, a Crown Point sophomore.

Maddack was one of 28 Crown Point students who spent the morning shadowing a student a Hammond High as part of student exchange program started last semester by a Hammond sociology class taught by Anita Cox.

In this photo taken Jan. 20, 2010, Paris Woods, left, and her mother Dinah Woods listen to personal trainer Scott Mathews instructions as they take part in their final session of a 20 month obesity prevention study at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Like nearly one-third of American teens, Paris is overweight and her doctor worries that she is headed for obesity. Wishing to avoid that scenario, Paris, and her parents participated in weekly sessions with a nutritionist, exercise trainer and physician preaching major lifestyle changes that could keep the 14-year-old from becoming obese. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Paris Woods is hardly a poster child for the obesity epidemic. Lining up dripping wet with kids on her swim team, she’s a blend of girlish chunkiness and womanly curves.

In street clothes—roomy pink sweats or skimpy tank tops revealing broad, brown swimmers’ shoulders—the teen blends in with her friends, a fresh-faced, robust-looking All-American girl.

That’s the problem.

Like nearly one-third of American teens, Paris Woods is overweight. Her doctor worries her weight will creep up into the obesity range. One out of four black girls her age is obese.

Support local performing arts groups at fundraiser

Members of the Southlake Children’s Choir rehearse for the February 26 fundraising event, Leap into the Arts, set for 6 to 11 p.m. at Halls of St. George, 905 East Joliet Street, Schererville. (Photograph courtesy of Judy Katz.)

Leap into an evening of song and dance February 26 as the Southlake Children’s Choir and the South Shore Dance Alliance get together for a gala fundraiser, Leap into the Arts, named because the event was held for the first time on Leap Day 2008.

Building on its past success, the performing arts groups are again collaborating to produce their third annual celebration of local talent. In addition to a family-style dinner, complimentary cocktail hour, raffle and silent auctions, there will be performances throughout the evening by the choir and dance troupe, as well as by guests from the Indiana Youth Ballet, South Shore Youth Orchestra and Wolffgang, the premiere girls’ choral ensemble at Hobart High School.

NWI Parent Blog—Rick Kaempfer’s business card says author/writer/blogger, but his real job is “stay-at-home-dad.”

We recently watched the movie “Mr. Mom” at our house, and the boys didn’t get most of the jokes. When that movie was released nearly thirty years ago, it was such a rarity to have the dad at home with the kids, many of the “fish out of water” jokes were obviously funny. Now, it’s so commonplace, those same jokes don’t work.

Lots of dads stay at home with the kids, and lots of moms go to the office.

In fact, when my youngest son Sean was five or so, he told me that he wanted to be a mom when he grew up…so he could go out and get a job.

Continue reading Rick’s latest post here on his “Father Knows Nothing” blog.

Helping teens sort those piles of crumpled papers

This undated photo shows Ana Homayoun, author of a new book, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week, working with a student. (Photograph by Misti Layne/Associated Press.)

There’s a reason why a new book about helping disorganized teenagers was published midway through the school year, rather than in September.

“When you go back to school in September, everything is fresh and everything is new,” said Ana Homayoun, author of That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week (Perigee/Penguin, $15.95). “But now you’ve got first-semester grades,” and that can be a reality check.

Midwinter is also a good time to establish new habits for what’s left of the school year, and getting a handle on all the crumpled papers lurking in backpacks, folders, desks and elsewhere is an important first step, Homayoun said in an interview.

You’re in line at McDonald’s and your child asks for Chicken McNuggets, french fries, and a strawberry shake—with lots of barbeque sauce to dip, of course. You remember the calorie counts you saw online—990 calories for the meal with four nuggets, a medium order of fries and a small shake. You decide on small fries instead.

Researchers in Seattle found that parents who saw calorie information on a fast-food menu chose lower calorie options for their children than parents who did not see that information. A mom led the study.

“I’m a pediatrician and a mom, and, given those two things, I really wanted to understand how menu labeling could possibly impact purchasing for children in a restaurant or fast-food environment,” said Dr. Pooja Tandon, pediatric researcher at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “Our objective in this study was really to see if the presence of calorie information on a fast-food menu would lead to lower-calorie choices.”

Expecting a baby? You’ll be giving birth to some major home-decorating costs as well. Estimates are that outfitting a nursery costs anywhere from $2,000 and $6,000, and that’s just the start.

Call it “ringing” up baby.

Americans spend about $27 billion annually on products for newborn to preschool-aged tots, according to industry statistics.

In this photo taken Jan. 9, 2010, Ooopsy the clown carries Nicholas Castillo as they form a conga line at his birthday party in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Ooopsy the Clown threw in a bubble machine for the monkey-themed party marking Nicholas Castillo’s first birthday. She usually charges extra, but what’s a clown to do in a recession that has some parents throwing less extravagant celebrations for their kids?

Ooopsy, aka Amy Tinoco, estimates the entertainment company she co-owns took in about $80,000 before taxes and expenses last year. That’s about $46,000 less than in 2008. She used to do an average of 12 parties a weekend. Now it’s down to three.

“I didn’t realize how good it was,” said Tinoco, who wore a red wig, multicolored skirt and blue clown shoes for Nicholas’ bash. “It’s a huge difference. I have a lot of people telling me they are having a party, they are just not having entertainment and catering.”

NWI Parent Blog—Photographer and writer mom of two, Beth always brings a new twist to the suburban mundane.

If I pay close enough attention, I realize that my kids teach me something every single day.

This morning, I realized that they have no idea what the snooze button is on an alarm clock and that they don’t need it and they don’t miss it.

I, on the other hand, schedule an extra 30 minutes just to snooze. Which is dumb.

Continue reading Beth’s latest post here on her “Laptops to Countertops” blog.

NWI Parent Blog—We’ve all gotta eat-might as well have some fun in the kitchen! Check here for recipes, cooking with kids, food finds, and more.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday. (That’s why you read my blog, for the breaking news.) And whether you’re having a party, going to a party or just watching the game by yourself - snacks are in order. Heck, even if you’re not watching the game, snacks are in order because it’s a Sunday afternoon and snacking is fun. In my house, we’ll be watching intently because our Colts are playing. Go COLTS!!! But this isn’t a football blog - it’s a food blog, so the question remains: What sort of snacks should we have?? I am going to give you two recipes today. The first is more of a grown-up snack and the second is more of a kid-friendly snack.

Continue reading Barb’s latest post here on her “Food with a Dash of Fun” blog.