Gap year

In today’s society, the achievement gap continues to exist. Author Diane Ravitch, wrote “The Facts about the Achievement Gap”, an excerpt from her book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, published in 2013. Ravitch’s purpose is to convey the idea that closing the achievement gap doesn’t solely rely upon the schooling system. She explains how her argument stems from our unwillingness to improve the conditions of communities and how…

Throughout the years, different variations have evolved concerning the dumpling’s filling, wrapping, and presentation, and its name has changed from Chiao-êrh, meaning “beautiful and delicate ears,” to a more appropriate Chiao-tzu, meaning “meat-filled dumpling.” “However, Chiao-tzu was not established as a New Year festival food until the following Ming dynasty (1368-1643)” (Hu 130). Though Chiao-tzu was not a New Year staple until it appeared on the royal table (approximately 1200 years after…

As each year approaches the transition between January and February, the holiday season seems to die down in America, with New Year parties following Thanksgiving and Christmas to complete the holiday trifecta. However, as some people clean up the confetti from the New Year countdown, Chinese and Vietnamese American families anxiously prepare for one of the most important cultural festivals from their homeland – Lunar New Year. From preparing auspicious New Year foods, to buying red envelopes…

Chinese New Year Vs. American Christmas On Friday, February 16th, 2018 the next celebration of the spring festival, also known as Chinese New Year, will take place. This is the most important part of the year in China, and is comparable to our Christmas. The two holidays have some similarities, but the two cultures are very diverse, causing many differences. In the story “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, these differences are seen at a Christmas dinner with both Chinese and American guests. The Chinese…

Speech for Year-Round School Do students feel bored by the end of their 3 month long summer? As a student I feel like a kid that has no school skills when I come back from summer break. This is why teachers take longer on the first few units because kids have forgotten the skills they needed for the next level education. I think Year-Round school would be more beneficial because it would solve kid’s problems of forgetting skills they need for the next level of education. If Year-Round school…

Vietnamese/Chinese New Year! The diversity of our country is surreal. No matter where each culture came from, they were able to bring their home to their new home – the United States. I was completely enamored with the Vietnamese/Chinese New Year celebration at the St. Andrew Dung Lac Catholic church’s event center, which also doubled as a Catholic bible school on Saturdays. The colors, the people, the food, music, and everything gave broaden my perspectives and experiences of other cultures. It…

Lunar New Year is a grand festival for Chinese people as family members from all around the world will head home for a reunion. It would be the only season in a year when all family members get to meet each other in person and have a perfect big warm Lunar New Year’s Eve meal together. However, in recent years, the younger generations are changing the traditional ways of celebrating Lunar New Year. They are less inclined to follow the customs or might have disconnected from their own cultures.…

The configuration of grade levels and amount of time spent within the school building within the United States varies across traditional and non-traditional school environments. McEntire (2002) examined how traditionally schools in America a separated by levels k-6, 6-8, and 9-12. However, there are districts that configure grades k-12 or even by single grade levels. Districts believe that the configuration of separation between elementary, middle, and high school best meets the varying…

professional sense. As a society we have been slowly but steadily making progress in gender equality in a variety of forms, but as one of the most progressive countries in the world, why are only 4% of the Fortune 500 CEOs women? In “The Confidence Gap”, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman examine the difference in confidence levels between men and women, and how this disparity can change. When ABC News’ Kay and BBC’s Shipman teamed together to write their book Womenomics, which explored positive…

Benefits of Year-Round Schooling Have you ever found yourself bored and ready to go back to school halfway through summer vacation? Maybe, you are so stressed out by the end of each quarter of school that you just need a break to relax. These problems, along with many other issues, can be solved by year-round schooling. Many people are confused by the concept of year-round school, and as a result, they don’t like the idea. Contrary to what many people believe, in year-round schools,…