05.28.08
Posted in Education, Michigan, Environment, Detroit, Radio at 10:59 am by Tim

Kudos to Wayne State University for their recycling efforts. Since 2006, the school’s Living Green Task Force on Environmental Initiatives has been working diligently ”…to protect the environment and enhance the campus.” WDET-FM, Detroit Public Radio, licensed to Wayne State, is doing its part, too. Join the radio station for “Recycling at Eastern Market” on Saturday, June 7, from 9am-1pm. Learn more about what you can bring to the event, and please participate, if at all possible.
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04.29.08
Posted in Education, Michigan, Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Great Outdoors at 1:50 pm by Tim
Congratulations and bon voyage to the roughly five thousand of University of Michigan students from the graduating class of 2008 who participated in the school’s first-ever Spring Commencement on the venerable Diag, featuring keynote speaker Bob Woodruff. I wasn’t at the event last Saturday, but wandered through the area briefly on Friday, and enjoyed seeing the impressive setup and backdrop. It brought back memories of my own graduation at Crisler Arena many years earlier — won’t reveal exactly when that was, but the date was April 29, and let’s just say this is one of those “spike” anniversaries — and the untold number of times I dashed through the Diag on the way to class, sometimes barely looking up to enjoy the setting. Caught up recently with a U-M classmate of mine, Julie Yolles, and we both found it hard to believe how long it’s been since we donned cap and gown ourselves.
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04.21.08
Posted in Sports, Education, Games, Michigan, Environment, Great Outdoors, Family at 9:48 pm by Tim
Kudos to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for their “No Child Left Inside” campaign to get kids out of the house this spring and summer, and throughout the year, especially in light of studies that indicate children spend less than 30 minutes per week outside, one-ninth the time current adults spent outside when they were of the same age. On that note, I encourage you to check out GoCityKids, filled with a range of activities for you and your brood, and searchable by major city.
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03.13.08
Posted in Education, Michigan, Environment, Volunteering at 1:16 am by Tim
For those who possess any of the following: 1) a green thumb, 2) time, or 3) money, consider helping out Amanda Maria Edmonds and her expert team at Growing Hope, dedicated to “improving lives and communities through gardening.” Here are the group’s many current programs, with which you easily can get involved. It’s almost spring, there’s no better time! Learn more about the organization in this guest piece I wrote for the terrific Quicken Loans blog, What’s the DIFF?
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02.28.08
Posted in Education, Michigan at 2:52 am by Tim
I did just that about a month ago with this “non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.” I’m tutoring students grades 6-8 at West Middle School in Ypsilanti, just one of the many participating schools. Rewarding, important, and often quite fun.
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