Young adults have power in the community

Do you realize that when you start attending high school, you rise in status in the community? You become a “young adult,” and with that comes a little bit of influence. Your voice carries some weight. Why? Because you are on the verge of becoming a voter. You’re a voter in waiting. In a short time, you will be voting for the members of your school’s board, in addition to your city, township – and library - government. A local voter has real power, because in more instances than you might realize, local elections can turn on a couple of votes.

Young adult programming, collections, events and other resources are offered here at the Zion-Benton Public Library. In an effort to connect even more, ZBTHS/ZBPL Youth Advisory Board were surveyed earlier this year as to what they’d like to see here. The following is a list of suggestions:

• Anime DVDs
• Manga and anime drawing books
• “Giant Book of Manga”
• Display of popular and new young adult titles
• Complete manga series
• Online DVDs
• New parts of “The A List” and “The It Girl”
• Complete series of “My Name is Alice”
• “Shadow Kiss” by Richelle Mead
• “Fashionistas” by Chloe Walsh
• Chess club

These YAs had to be asked to make suggestions, because YAs don’t know they can make requests. They can. Every one of these suggestions has been followed, seriously considered or will be seriously considered, because the views of young adults hold sway in the community, not only at the library but at all public organizations.  So express yourself. Use the library as a meeting place to get involved in the community. If you can’t find an organization you want to join, start one — right here at the library. Send us an email or call us at 847-872-4680, ext. 174, and we’ll help your group organize. It costs you nothing, and you have all the information resources you’ll need.

Make your voice heard in the community. You have the power.

Access a universe of knowledge with active reading

Just going through the motions in doing Zion-Benton Township High School’s summer reading assignment is not going to get your mind right in preparing for the 2009-10 school year. To get out of the blocks right off the bat, students need to use active reading techniques to keep brain synapses popping at peak efficiency.

Active reading is the key, which is why as part of the assignment’s directives, students should highlight, underline or take notes when they come across key passages in the book. Active reading is becoming actively involved with the book you are reading. Drawing out the important and interesting points in a book is the essence of reading comprehension and the key in accessing the portal to a universe of knowledge.

The first step in preparing for active reading is to have a dictionary at hand to define unfamiliar terms. You must know what the words you’re reading mean to enter the portal. When you begin reading, summarize the text, ask questions, give assent and even protest vehemently on an ongoing basis. Active reading is engaging in a mind dialogue with the author. Read each sentence carefully and then determine “what it says” and “what it does.” Describe the main idea of each paragraph in your own words.

Tips for active reading

Underline or highlight sentences, paragraphs and passages. Look for key information or passages that you like reading that “speak” to you. Don’t concern yourself with what other readers would and wouldn’t highlight. Read for yourself, and you’ll think for yourself. Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading.

Take notes – highlighting is good, but taking notes, actually writing down the words of selected passages, both improves memory and clarifies the themes of the book.

Note key words, headlines and sections. Record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each point. When you don’t want to mark the text, keep a folder of notes you make while reading. Performing active reading by making notes will maintain your concentration and enhance your understanding by making these stories come alive in your mind, transporting you to another dimension of acquired knowledge.

Ask questions and make connections. In preparing to read note questions you want the author to answer. While you’re reading, note questions which the author raises. Ask yourself questions about things that confuse you. Find common ground with you and your life. Does what you are reading remind you of something? Something that once happened to you? Of someone you know?  

A pause refreshes your vision

Pause occasionally and guess what might happen next. Predicting is a skill. To develop a skill you have to practice. Good readers stop often and check their predictions as they read.

Pause  once in a while to determine what you know, what you think you know and what has changed about what you thought you knew. Make inferences – take something you know; connect it with something you already know.

Pause every so often to evaluate, make judgments and think critically about what you’re reading. Take notes as you read to have the facts support your evaluations. Compare and contrast characters, setting, events, themes and ideas. 

Pause for the cause of drawing conclusions. Put information together to figure themes out. When you make conclusions, you fuse all the information together to decide what the story means.  You take all the facts you have read and make conclusions.

Let the writing flow from the book to your mind. Think of your mind as a sponge, soaking in the themes and emotions of the book. As you read, you gather information. As you gather information your brain is busy evaluating, making connections, checking predictions and adjusting predictions if needed.

Summer reading preserves sticky mind

Reading skills for school-age readers often deteriorate during the summer because the mind doesn’t get adequate exercise. While most kids view summertime as an opportunity to think about anything other than school, it’s not a good idea to let their brains veg out all summer.

Research shows that on average, students who go academically unchallenged during the summer will “forget” approximately 20 percent of what they have mastered in the previous school year. Keeping your brain fit by reading promotes memory and increases learning ability.

That’s why at Zion-Benton Township High School, summer reading is assigned for every class. All 2009-10 students are requires to read one of these assigned books before the start of the school year:

Incoming freshmen

•  Zee-Bees (Robert E. Osmon): true story of local history encourages incoming freshmen to become part of the larger Zion-Benton community.
• Survival of the Sickest (Sharon Moalem): examines how disease has helped mankind survive short-term environmental threats by privileging deadly dieases.
• Please Stop Laughing At Me (Jodee Blanco): explores the issue of bullying and its underlying psychological effects and long-term ramifications.
• Dreams From My Father (Barack Obama): traces the personal history of the current U.S. president.

Incoming sophomores

•  The Pact (Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt): reflection on how forming positive relationships can help people make positive choices, even in difficult circumstances.
• Of Beetles and Angels (Mawi Asgedon): refugee story documents the struggles and successes of a young man’s journey from Ethiopia to Wheaton, Ill.

 

Incoming Juniors

•  My Forbidden Face (Latifa): narrative of a young woman growing up in 1996 Kabul, Afghanistan, when the Taliban takes political control of the city.
• Three Weeks with My Brother (Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks): two brothers rely on each other throughout their lives, including when tragedy strikes.

Incoming Seniors

•  Tuesdays With Morrie (Mitch Albom): a relationship between a student and his former teacher dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig): motorycles play a big role, but this book is also a philosophical look at human emotions and interaction.

Paying for college during a bad economy

The recent downturn in the economy has cut many college savings funds in half. Parents and college-bound kids are going to have to make some tough choices between now and next fall, and the toughest of those choices will be dealing with the financial reality that a large portion of their college funds are gone.

There are still options to fund a college education that don’t require assuming huge debts from student loans. Go here to find out how to go to college at minimum expense.

Fed stimulus provides summer jobs for YAs

Lake County residents ages 18-24 have the opportunity to land summer jobs, thanks to new federal stimulus funds. The Lake County Workforce Department received nearly $2 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to put young adults to work this summer.
This funding will not only provide summer jobs to young adults, but it will also help local organizations by supplying them with summer help at no cost. Lake County is now recruiting workers and employers for the program, which will serve roughly 350 people this summer and another group during the summer of 2010.
Interested employers should send an email to jobcenter@lakecountyil.gov . Lake County Workforce Development is looking to allocate the $2 million in federal stimulus money to partner agencies that can provide summer employment. Lake County is seeking a variety of work sites in local government and non-profit organizations across the county to provide jobs. Lake County Workforce will recruit, screen and pay the workers.
This opportunity is open to Lake County residents ages 18-24 who meet the program’s low-income criteria. There are limited positions available in each community. Interested young adults in Winthrop Harbor, Zion and Beach Park should call the hotline at 847.377.3444 to add their name to the waiting list. Walk-in or mailed information will be accepted for waiting list placement at the Workforce Development office, 1 N. Genesee St., in Waukegan.
Individuals who call the hotline should leave the following information:
• Name
• Telephone Number
• City you live in
• Age
Participants chosen for the program will be contacted in April and May to begin processing paperwork. Please leave only one message on the hotline system.

Press Play @ ZB Library

Press Play is the theme of Teen Tech Week 2009, which will be celebrated March 8-14. Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), Press Play @ the Library is about connecting teens with different technologies available through the library.

Teens can literally press play on digital devices such as mp3 players, DVD players, gaming controllers and more. Press Play @ the Library is about teens creating and sharing their own content for the fun of it, like videos, music, and digital artwork.

Play through games can be encouraged with tournaments, tech trivia contests, and video games. On Friday, March 13, the ZB Library and the Zion-Benton Township High School IMC are co-hosting all-day videogaming in the IMC. Open gaming will be available during the school day, and a special tournament fundraiser for the IMC Student Advisory Board will be held after school.

At the ZB Library, teens can “press play” on various digital devices to learn more about the world around them. They can press play to watch film documentaries, listen to an audiobook, get live online homework help through BrainFuse, learn a new language and more.

Teens, in order to gain the skills necessary to compete in the future job market, need access to digital and online information and trained professionals who can help them use these resources effectively, efficiently and ethically. Librarians and educators know this and work with teens on a regular basis to ensure they develop these skills. Teen Tech Week is a chance for libraries to throw open their physical & virtual doors and show their communities all the great things they’re doing for teens with technology.

Teens’ use of nonprint resources has increased dramatically in recent years. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 71 percent of teens report that the Internet is their primary source for completing school projects. Yet multiple studies have shown that the majority of teens lack the critical thinking skills and technical expertise to use the Internet and other electronic resources effectively, which is where libraries can help. School and public libraries are trusted resources for accessing information, and librarians are the experts who can help teens develop the skills they need to use electronic resources effectively and efficiently.

Zee-Bee Teen Review: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”

By spetersen919

This  is Harry’s final fling as he finally goes after Voldemort and discovers some surprising facts along the way. I really enjoyed the book because of all the suspense and action that is presented in the book. I think that other teens would like reading this book because of all the things that Harry discovers about himself in the process of getting rid of the most powerful wizard of all time. All in all I give it a 5-star rating.

Brainfuse is a portal to learning open to all ZB Library users

Students who fall behind in school need extra instruction to get back up to speed. They need a tutor, whether it’s a teacher, parent or a paid instructor to lift them back on the educational track. If a struggling student doesn’t get that little extra, it often jeopardizes their educational career.

Tutoring services beyond what working parents and overburdened public school teachers can provide are costly and are unaffordable for many residents in our community. That is why the ZB Library has subscribed to Brainfuse, an academic tutorial services in the form of actual human beings providing one-on-one instruction for students and residents of all ages and education levels living in Zion and Benton townships.

Brainfuse HelpNow is a unique blend of one-to-one homework help, state-aligned skills building, and a full-services writing lab. With HelpNow, patrons are just a click away from expert tutors and a powerful suite of services to accommodate virtually any need, including:

• One-on-one homework help
• Skills building that meets state educational standards
• Writing assistance featuring live assistance and a 24-hour writing lab

Working with a Brainfuse tutor live online, struggling students are evaluated as to exactly what type of instruction they need to get back on track. Tutors then help students with their school assignments, which goes beyond the mere “question-and-answer” homework help. Traditional homework help services require students to ask specific questions in order to receive help. But these services cannot help students who are struggling to learn or master a new concept, or who have issues that run deeper than a set of questions. Recognizing this reality, Brainfuse created its HelpNow program: a suite of services designed to meet the needs of today’s student.

HelpNow tutors are trained, qualified instructors. They have the experience and tools necessary to guide students through new or difficult material. Rather than merely providing answers to homework problems, HelpNow tutors bestow knowledge.

HelpNow is the first tutoring service of its kind to offer several types of writing assistance. Live writing assistance during the initial stages of the writing process can help with organizational structure, idea brainstorming,
preparing an outline, etc. With the 24-hour writing lab, students submit writing in file format, and then Brainfuse writing tutors return the file with comments within 24 hours. This priceless type of writing instruction helps students better organize and present their thoughts by evaluating writing in terms of voice, word choice, ideas and content, sentence fluency, organization and conventions.

Are you a student who having trouble in one or more of your classes? Or are you a parent of a child having trouble making the grade in school? This free service offered by the ZB Library will lift struggling students back up academically, and it’s offered free at your library. You can access Brainfuse online on the library’s web site, or if you need personal assistance, you can inquire about it at the Adult Services or Youth Services desks at the library.

Zee-Bee Teen Review: “Queen Bee”

By mlyons730

 

Queen Bee is a graphic novel by Chynna Clugston that is about two 7th-grade girls battling to be the most popular girl in middle school. It’s very realistic. I loved it and thought the characters were very funny. I definitely recommend this for any young teen. It makes middle school seem like a challenging AND hilarious event.