Attention Classroom Teachers! Win a Grant for your Class Trip Next Year!

Consider the Education First (EF) Approach  
to Educational Travel   

Travel for fun, travel for inspiration, travel for world peace.

 

For over 55 years EF has been dedicated to one global mission:
Opening the World Through Education.

Explore America with your students!

Let this be your homework this summer: Win
a travel grant for a class trip for your students. Then create your own tour with EF's guidance.

Official free trip terms and conditions

1. HOW TO ENTER: No Purchase Necessary. To enter, contestants should either call EF Educational Tours at 1-800-637-8222 or EF Explore America at 1-800-503-2323 and express interest in the contest, visit eftours.com or efexploreamerica.com or send in a postage-paid business reply card entry form. Required information includes the contestant’s name, address and telephone. EF Educational Tours and EF Explore America can be contacted at Two Education Circle, Cambridge, MA 02141. One entry per person.

STEM tours that examine
the real world

2. ELIGIBILTY: The contest is open to either full or part-time teachers or administrators at the middle school, junior high school or senior high school level living in the United States. Employees (and their immediate families and household members) of EF and its affiliates are not eligible.


Explore America! with your students.
Click on links below for additional information. With a little work and a lot of patience, you & your class could enjoy a free trip next year!     
Explore America Travel  

   
Enter to Win a Free Trip for Next Year

Education First Travel Brochure

Contact Us

Tours at Gettysburg or Valley Forge where
reenactors recreate their valiant efforts. 

Social Studies Tours:  Investigate important elements of our society by walking the streets where history happened and today's culture was created.

Teen Repertory Auditions for As You Like It Ages 14-20

 

Photo attached by Bill De Kine 

Auditions are March 4th and 6th in Middletown for actors ages 14 - 20 looking for a fun and challenging acting experience this spring.

Oddfellows Playhouse Teen Repertory Company 2024 announces auditions for

“As You Like It", the classic comedy by William Shakespeare.

Audition dates are March 4th & 6th, 6:30 - 9 pm at Oddfellows Playhouse, 

128 Washington Street, Middletown.

Anyone wishing to audition should:

*Register for one of the two evenings at www.oddfellows.org, or fill out the audition form directly at https://forms.gle/XkmKQWZMgdRvBzpp9.

*Arrive on time, dress to move, and be prepared to stay the entire 2.5 hours

*Open to anyone ages 14 - 20

*Everyone who auditions and commits to the rehearsal and production schedule will be cast!

Rehearsals begin March 18th and will be Mondays and Thursdays, 6 - 9 pm. 

Performance dates May 16th - 18th and 24th-25th.

“As You Like It” is a comedy about love, friendship, cross-dressing, envy, entanglement, survival, forgiveness, confusion, nature, singing together and loyalty. It offers many engaging and challenging roles. The play will be directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Dic Wheeler.

Tuition for Teen Rep is $300. Financial aid or work-study are available for all who need it. To register for one of the two auditions, go to https://forms.gle/XkmKQWZMgdRvBzpp9. For more details or more information, email info@oddfellows.org or call (860) 347-6143.

FEBRUARY 17, 2024: HAPPY NATIONAL RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY. PASS IT ON!

 

Happy National Random Acts of Kindness Day!  Pass It On!

Saturday, February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It is easy to do and celebrate. All you have to do is to be extra kind and extra nice to someone that you know and don't know. 

 

Here are some ways to practice this random act on February 17th & every day such as compliment a stranger, treat a homeless person to lunch according to the "Random Act of Kindness Day-February 17,2024¨ article from NationalToday.com. Also, say hello to people you don't know and people you do, write a positive handwritten note to your teacher, friend, coworker, or supervisor, pick up litter at a public park or school, place positive notes at work and home, pay for someone’s coffee or snack, shovel someone’s driveway, check on a neighbor, spread cheer wherever you go and on social media.

According to the National Day Calendar ¨Kind words and actions can seem so small, but their effects are truly endless."  Please remember “No Act of Kindness, No Matter How Small Is Ever wasted.” Aesop.  Most importantly, smile. Please be kind to everyone you see every day one smile at a time.

Once you do this today don't stop on February 17th. Make it a habit and do it every day.

Enjoy The Videos. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=O9UByLyOjBM&utm_source=The+Random+Acts+of+Kindness+Foundation&utm_campaign=4a6fdb2e61-

 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-hartman-on-the-road-kindness-101-teacher-facebook-group/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgIulNiyoiY

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNerk3_hdlE

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YynxFjMXF1Y

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_CE7GqqrvY

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wondering what to do on this snowy day? Try these targeted exercises to Revitalize your Legs & Hips!

   Almost too good to be true!___________

The targeted exercises featured below can bring almost immediate relief for some hip and leg pain. The exercises are tested & designed to work -- and they do! 

The source of these exercises is Silver Sneakers, a widely known, fitness program for seniors that's included with many Medicare Advantage insurance plans and includes FREE membership to countless gyms & fitness centers across the country.   

  "SilverSneakers programs are helping millions of people on Medicare defy the odds, shatter stereotypes and answer every challenge with, 'I can do this!'”  [That attitude is contagious and the exercises are very effective!]

  "SilverSneakers includes access to every participating gyms and fitness centers in the network. [That’s means a possible free membership at more than 15,000 locations.] We also offer fitness classes for all abilities led by our SilverSneakers trained instructors at gyms and other locations."

Check to see if SilverSneakers membership is free with your Medicare Advantage plan. If it is, you plan will likely include (free) access to every participating gym and fitness center in the SilverSneakers' network. And, by the way, dozens of SilverSneakers targeted exercise routines, like those presented below, are available on YouTube with no login. Give them a try!

Do you have Pain & Stiffness
from Sitting Too Much?

Try these targeted exercises to
Revitalize your Legs & Hips

It only takes a few minutes a day to feel better. 

  Here are FIVE Silver Sneakers exercise routines in one link, video demos are included, no login required. You may have seen these when they were shown on The Middletown Eye in 2021. 

https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/pain-from-sitting-too-much-here's-how-to-fix-it/ 

  SilverSneakers.com online has hundreds of on-demand video demos. Many are targeted so that you can easily identify the type of routine you need. Many Silver Sneakers routines are available on youtube, no login required. It only takes a few minutes a day to feel better. 

ZOOM Genealogy Club - Saturday, February 24, 2024

 

Presenter:  Annette Burke Lyttle
Topic:  Finding & Using Digitized Manuscripts
Time:  1:30 PM (ET)

We will welcome Annette Burke Lyttle to talk about where you can find digitized versions of manuscripts for your genealogical research.

Manuscript collections can contain genealogical gems. Letters, diaries, photos, histories, and many more information-packed wonders reside in repositories around the world. Many repositories are digitizing parts of their collections and making them available online, but finding these collections can still be a challenge. Learn how to search for online collections, use finding aids to determine their usefulness for our research, and locate amazing records.

Please register by 4:00 PM Friday, February 23.  The invite will be sent out on that Friday.

Godfrey Premium members can register for free at the following email: zoomregistration@godfrey.org

If you are not a Godfrey Premium member and want to attend the presentation, you can pay $10 via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/us/home) with the payment sent to Godfrey Memorial Library.  Then register using the above email.

Circophony Teen Circus Presents: Enjoy the Silence

 

Photo attached by Bill De Kine of Circophony

Circophony Teen Circus presents Enjoy the Silence February 29th - March 2nd in Middletown.

Enjoy the Silence is a tale of a group of contestants on a reality TV show who are challenged to take

a vow of silence.

The contestant who can outlast the competition and stay silent the longest

wins a luxury trip to space!

Directed by Allison McDermott, Enjoy the Silence runs February 29th - March 2nd

at Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown.

Performances are at 7 pm on February 29th, March 1st and 2nd, and there is also a

2 pm matinee performance on Saturday, March 2nd.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $10 for kids and students. The performance on Thursday, February 29th is a “pay-what-you-can” Preview. 

Enjoy the Silence includes acrobatics, juggling, contortion,

stilt walking, unicycling and more! Circophony Teen Circus is a collaboration

between Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater and the

Middletown-based theater company ARTFARM. 

This year’s show includes a cast of 15 trained performers ages 13 to 20.

McDermott has created an original circus-theater piece

annually for the past 7 years and it is a highlight of winter in Middletown.

This winter’s show features acrobatics and contortion choreography by Naja Muller,

poi choreography by Grey Simon,

and equilibristics and capoeira choreography by Joel Melendez.

Scenic design is by Dan Schmidt, costume design by Marion Imbruglio,

lighting design by Emma Graydon, sound design by Rowan Trowbridge-Wheeler,

and properties design by Patience Armstrong. Technical direction by Myke Halpin.

Oddfellows Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street in Middletown. Tickets for

Enjoy the Silence

are $18 for adults and $10 for students and may be purchased at www.oddfellows.org or by emailing info@oddfellows.org or calling (860) 347-6143.

Circophony’s Enjoy the Silence  is made possible with generous support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD; Middletown Commission on the Arts; City of Middletown Health Department; American Savings Foundation; George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation; The Fund for Greater Hartford; State of Connecticut Judicial Branch (Youth Violence Prevention); Evan Boyd Knoll Memorial Fund; Community Foundation of Middlesex County; Middletown Youth Services Bureau; Thomas J. Atkins Memorial Trust Fund; Middlesex United Way; and many generous individual donors.