Montgomery Community Media

With the holiday season fast approaching, many families will be traveling with their children. With that comes great opportunities for bonding as well as possible annoyance in handling children who misbehave during long car rides. Here are a few suggestions to improve the quality of a long car ride with children: 1) Identify potential issues […]

The essays on the College Board's Common Application must be between 250 and 650 words. Shorter or longer essays will be rejected when they're electronically submitted. It’s that simple. Or is it? Students understand the concept, but sometimes they still aren’t sure how long their essays should be. I helped a student whose completed essay […]

In the last year, Manna served over 36,000 Montgomery County residents facing food insecurity. It is impossible to imagine distributing food to the children, seniors, and families of our community without the 32,000 volunteers (last year alone!) fostering Manna’s mission alongside our staff. Even on evenings, weekends and holidays, these gracious individuals donated 64,626 hours […]

Understanding, analyzing and interpreting story elements is a significant part of the elementary language arts curriculum. While learning the components of narrative, and thinking from the perspective of the reader and the writer, Lightning Strike Kids Opera Company must know these elements on a profound level in order to create an original story. Characters, setting, […]

How do you get people enthusiastic again after the shutdown? Any psychologist will tell you that work – having a job and getting paid for that job – is one of the best things you can do for your mental health. It follows that being thrown out of work, especially when it’s done unfairly and […]

When E.J. Manuel left Florida State for the NFL draft no one knew how good the next quarterback in line would be. The Seminoles thought they had an irreplaceable quarterback in E.J. Manuel and that even if their quarterback was good he wouldn’t be close to Manuel. That is until freshman quarterback Jameis Winston stepped […]

My good-bye post as the Furloughed Fed. Today, I went back to work. After being gone — and not even checking emails — for 16 days, it felt like my first day on a new job. Where to start? What to do? But I’d say my first day back was productive. My Desk, 8:15 a.m. […]

If your family is going through a lot of stress because your son or daughter is applying to colleges, you’re not alone. As the deadlines approach, many applicants have begun tearing their hair out over the college application essays. The bad news–as I’m sure you’re discovering–is the senior year is even more stressful than the […]

For me, one of the most disheartening aspects of the federal government shutdown has been people’s reactions. Not their reactions to the shutdown itself, but the lack of empathy for the workers who suddenly found themselves furloughed.       Today, as we’re nearing a close, one of my Facebook connections posted the following: ZOOK- […]

Individuals cannot vote and make legal decisions until they are 18 years old. People are not legally allowed to drink until they are 21 years old. Yet, teenagers are allowed to get their learners permit at 15 years, nine months of age and their license nine months later. Some parents feel their teens are responsible […]