Getting rid of old cell phones- safely

I got a phone call yesterday from my husband. “Someone just called me,” he said. “I think they found Annie’s phone!”

That’s strange, I told him. Our daughter was in school; she had her phone with her. She inherited my first generation iPhone last summer when I updated to the 3G network and bought a new one. Hers is in a pink case, mine’s in a red one.

“It was a guy named Mark, someone in construction,” said my husband, with a funny edge to his voice. “He said one of his workers who didn’t speak English bought a phone at Savers for five bucks.”

But when the cell phone buyer saw there were photos of teenaged girls on the phone, he showed it to his boss –who then went through the directory and found an entry for “dad.”

“That’s how he found me,” my husband said.

Then I knew. I’ve been cleaning out drawers, trying to get rid of stuff around my house. I had packed up three or four old cell phones and their chargers as part of several “give away” bags. My husband had dropped off a bunch of bags…at Savers.

There are a few things to know about getting rid of old cell phones. The Federal Trade Commission advises owners to clear data from the phone’s contacts and other stored information, such as photos, videos, text messages, lists of calls.

Check the owner’s manual, your wireless provider’s website, or with the manufacturer to find the info on how to permanently delete information from a cell phone, as well as how to transfer it to a new device or to a computer.

Read more about how to dispose of electronic devices in an environmentally safe way on our Raising Arizona Kids magazine Did You Know? page.

The phone was old. We threw it in a drawer six months ago with the other phones that were gathering dust. In my zeal to pare down belongings, I almost put my daughter’s photos, her friends photos, numbers, texts – and who knows what – into the hands of a not so nice person.

What was I thinking?

The man that bought the phone agreed to meet my husband, who bought it back from him for twenty bucks, which we consider “reward” money.

Thank goodness they were nice people. Thank goodness they hit the dad button.

Six things kids should know by age 12

If Susan Engel, director of the teaching program at Williams College is right –well, it’s no wonder most students applying for college freak out over putting together a decent essay.

Engel makes the case for overhauling our educational system in the February 2 Op Ed page of the New York Times, responding to the proposed changes the Obama administration would like to make in how we measure school success.

“Developmental precursors don’t always resemble the skill to which they are leading,” writes Engel. For example, successfully teaching kids to recite the alphabet doesn’t mean you’re going to get a classroom full of kids who learn to read at lightning speed.

So, it follows: How can we expect kids to fire off an essay that paints a picture of who they are when we never encouraged them to play with a palette of words and ideas?

But making language a big part of the early childhood years does. Extended and complex conversations during toddlerhood, whether it’s in a daycare or at home, helps young children learn to play with language, to test out new ideas and concepts. Engel says this back and forth is key to giving children a chance to support their views with evidence, change their minds, and use questions as a way to learn more.

I’ve done this with my children. The first step in truly engaging your kids is to listen to what they say. Let them imagine out loud- and don’t interrupt when they express themselves.

The goal shouldn’t be for kids to achieve a random raw score number on a standardized test. Instead, by age 12, Engel proposes that all children should be able to…

• read a chapter book, write a story and a compelling essay

• know how to add, subtract, divide and multiply numbers

• detect patterns in complex phenomena

• use evidence to support an opinion

• be part of a group of people who are not their family

• engage in an exchange of ideas in conversation

If all elementary school students mastered these abilities, says Engel, they would be prepared to learn almost anything in high school and college.

Maybe then they’d be more likely to learn how to think, react to others, form their own opinions, dig deep inside to find out what makes them tick. And when it’s time to write a college essay, perhaps juniors and seniors would be more confident- and actually enjoy the process of expressing who they are through colorful, consise language –  instead of churning out the dull, predictable prose that admissions officers see over and over again.

Have you answered the SAT question of the day?

Today’s answer is (B) harbingers.

Thankfully, I was an English major, so I’m a bit quicker on the vocabulary questions than any about math. Yesterday’s question required knowledge of the sum of the both the degrees in the angles of a triangle and a quadrilateral. I guessed the right answer; but it was only a guess.

Sending an SAT question of the day by email to prospective test takers is CollegeBoard genius. Junior year is a great time to start; but you could encourage your high school student to subscribe as a freshman or sophomore.

It’s a great idea for parents to subscribe, too. Answering the questions and getting a feel for this test yourself, and then discussing the answers now and then with your student might be a good way to de-mystify what is often an anxiety-filled experience. For both parent and student.

You can log in, save your answer, and track your progress. And it’s free.

Is it an exercise that could potentially replace a formal SAT prep session with an organization or a private tutor? Maybe. It probably depends on how disciplined your student might be.

But for those of us who remember opening the envelope and seeing scores that fell short of our expectations back in the day, getting the answers right is pure redemption. And for high school students, taking this bear of a test on, one question at a time, will hopefully calm fears and build confidence.

AZ College Solutions now in the West Valley

AZ College Solutions specializes in eliminating the stress of college selection and the financial aid process.

The company is affiliated with national college planning business, The College Authority (Austin, TX)

AZ College Solutions says that the College Authority program has helped hundreds of families save between $40,000 and $80,000 from a four year college program.

The AZ College Solutions process starts with a free class that explains how colleges operate and what they are looking for in prospective students. The class also provides families with a practical guide they can use to become educated shoppers.

Subsequent one-on-one consultations help families put a custom plan in place to help maximize financial aid opportunities. Services include use of a unique college-matching tool and completion of all required college financial forms.

Classes will be held in Scottsdale on January 21st and 23rd and in the Glendale/Peoria area on January 28th and 30th.

Register at azcollegesolutions.com, e-mail info@azcollegesolutions.com or call 480-993-1920.

If you find this program to be useful, please leave a comment for me below.

Use the power of Facebook for good!

Anyone can sign up for Facebook. And even though your son or daughter uses “privacy” settings, don’t assume his/her profile is secure, says Katherine L. Cohen, a college admissions consultant. She runs the site Ivywise, and has written two books on the application process.

Since Facebook is open to everyone that means anyone can sign up, search for, and even “friend” your college-bound teen.  And some teens are very casual about accepting a friend request. You can’t assume that your teen’s Facebook page is secure just because she has privacy settings preventing strangers from seeing her profile, says Cohen.

What are the chances that a college admissions committee could take a peek at your student’s profile? It’s highly unlikely that admissions officers are searching for individual students to friend, says Cohen, because they simply don’t have that kind of time.

But what about a jealous Facebook “friend” who does have access to your teen’s profile?  Cohen suggests that this “friend” could possibly post unflattering comments, tag your teen in questionable photos –or even send that material to an admissions officer. Seems like an evil thing to do — but cyberbullying happens.

Cohen reports that a representative from one Ivy League school recently said that their offices receive a number of anonymous Facebook and Google “tips” each year about applicants.  “Tips” in the form of photos of students doing things that they shouldn’t be doing –and certainly shouldn’t be posting on the Web.  This rep told Cohen that on at least one occasion, an offer of admission actually had been revoked as a result.

Here are some tips from Dr. Cohen to clean up a student profile before the admissions process begins:

• Remove phone numbers and addresses from Facebook. Not only is this a general safety precaution, but it also reduces the ability to conduct a search for your son or daughter.

• Use the friend filter. Chances are, your teen is only using social networking sites to connect with friends, so using a friend filter enables him/her to accept requests from people he/she knows in real life. Your son or daughter, without a doubt, knows how to do this.  Just in case: hover your mouse over the word “Settings” in the right-hand corner, to the right of the profile owner’s name. Choose “Privacy Settings” and you’ll see the following choices:

• Discuss. This is a great opportunity for a discussion about how Facebook works, if you’re not using it yourself. Plus, Facebook features may have changed since your teen set up their page- so it’s a good time to review settings.

• Utilize private messages, or the “inbox” feature. Remind your teen to not post anything on someone’s wall that he/she wouldn’t want the grandparents to see – whether they’re on Facebook or not.

• Untag. Tell your teen to take his/her name off of any questionable photos. Then, talk to the person who posted the pictures and ask them to take them down or crop/remove him/her from the pictures. Of course, it’s not a good idea to engage in any behavior that may result in a questionable photo. Remember the grandparents!

Start suggesting these tips to your son or daughter during sophomore and junior year. It may take time to clean things up depending on how long your student has used Facebook.

Yes they can! Using Facebook to apply to college

What does Facebook have to do with applying to college?

College admissions expert Dr. Katherine Cohen, founder of Ivywise.com, says that there are a few ways that students can actually put the social networking site to use when starting the admissions process.

Facebook, says Cohen, and other social networking sites such as My Space, Twitter, and, of course, blogs, are rooted in individual expression. They strike a chord with teens as they search for ways to communicate who they really are to others.

And that’s exactly what many admissions committees want to see in college applications. Facebook is a useful tool that is sitting right under your college-bound student’s nose.

So as high school kids begin to get ready for the application process, usually midway through junior and senior years, Cohen suggests that they make their Facebook profiles an accurate, yet professional, extension of themselves.

This is good news. In our house, we are getting ready to go through the admissions process for the fourth, and final, time with our daughter, who is a junior.  And since she’s on Facebook so much, anyway, this has got to be a good way to kick start the process, right?

Here are Dr. Cohen’s tips:

Organize with Facebook

Use the profile to help track achievements, jobs, internships, clubs, sports, goals, interests, and even favorite books.  Some schools ask students what they have read recently, and this can be a great place to keep track.

Express interest with Facebook

Many colleges are creating pages on Facebook. “Friend” them, or become a fan. But do not, says Cohen, friend admissions counselors directly. This can be taken as a ploy to increase her chance of admissions and can do more harm than good.

Be yourself on Facebook

Don’t exaggerate or embellish who you are. Admissions deans are savvy folks who can spot this in a heartbeat. Students may want to impress admissions counselors with their Facebook, says Cohen,  but they should be sure not to misrepresent themselves.

Show your talents on Facebook

That said, social networking sites can be a great way to showcase talents. If your teen is a photographer or an artist, she should post her pictures.  If she plays music, she should create a MySpace page devoted to her work.  If she likes to write, she should start a blog.  This will show admissions counselors that she has a real passion for something, and that she’s proud of her work, says Cohen.

Keep in mind that as students get closer to applying, they should think about whether what they post passes the “grandparent test,” says Cohen.

And that will be easy for our daughter to find out, I suppose, given that her grandfather is on Facebook, her aunts, uncles – and her parents, too.

NEXT: Cohen’s tips on cleaning up a college applicant’s Facebook page.

The view from my kitchen counter

It's a cookie baking, Christmas card writing operation

The Juntunens on 12News

Editor/publisher Karen Barr and I carefully choose the stories that are featured each Monday at 5 p.m. for the RAK Report on 12News.

My job is to arrange the date, location and time for the shoots and interviews, focus the story for broadcast, and write up some interview questions. Then, I meet up with a multimedia journalist (MMJ) from 12News at the location. That’s where we “hand off” the story to 12News. The MMJ  shoots, writes, and edits the story for air.

Here’s Pete Scholz interviewing Amelec Juntunen, 9,  two weeks ago:

Amelec loves the lights and the lens

Not every story that we tell on the printed page is a candidate for the TV screen. But some stories, like the one that will air tonight, are so important and so inspiring that we just can’t wait to share them with our 12News audience.

Local writer Sue Breding wrote “Celebrating Family Day” for our December issue.

From our December 2009 issue

It’s the story about Craig and Kathi Juntunen, and why they decided to adopt three children from Haiti. At the shoot, I had the pleasure of meeting the entire family. When Pete Scholz from 12 and I arrived, Amelec and his sister Espie, 8, were making Christmas cookies at the huge island in the kitchen.

Amelec and Espie Juntunen

We talked to them a bit about cookie baking, their upcoming trip to Hawaii, and what they remember about Haiti. This will be their third Christmas in Scottsdale.

I tried to get a picture of Quinn, 4, but he moved too fast for me. He was mostly interested in playing with his train set. But Espie, and especially Amelec, were happy to answer questions on-camera.

Pete interviews Amelec

I think Amelec may have a future in broadcasting, he was a natural. You can see that Pete was enjoying asking Amelec the questions, too.

The camera loves Amelec

Kathi and Craig told us the story about what inspired them to adopt three kids from Haiti. They were living the high life of early retirement- Craig had sold a lucrative human capital business that served major tech markets across the country during the 1990’s. But the life that followed – world travel, cocktail parties, fundraisers, mindless chatter at dinner parties in lavish homes, and all the golf you can fit in your day – began to feel shallow and empty to them both.

Visiting Haiti was quite the contrast to that kind of life. Kids with no clothes, just standing by the side of the road. Mothers putting out mud pies to feed their kids. Dirty water, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition – it was enough to set the Juntunens into motion.

Within the span of a few months, they adopted Amelec, Espie and Quinn, made plans to begin raising money for the orphanage, establishing Chances4Children, a nonprofit that works with local groups within Haiti to provide the basics for needy kids there.

Craig wrote Both Ends Burning after he returned to begin his new life as a dad.

Craig describes the adoption adventure in detail while candidly chronicling his own personal transformation. It’s an awakening story; a rare peek inside the mind of a man at mid-life, searching for meaning, asking himself hard questions, and ultimately, finding the answers in the eyes of Amelec, Espie, and Quinn.

A seamless path to college guided by an ‘03 Georgetown grad

I met Rachel Bennett at a wedding a few weeks ago. We both know the groom, who is a board member of Phoenix Collegiate Academy.

It’s a non-profit, urban charter school, founded by Rachel last summer. It’s located within the Roosevelt School District in south Phoenix.

Rachel spent a couple of years teaching in that district on behalf of Teach for America after earning a degree from Georgetown University, and a masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State.

She stayed a few more years in the district after finishing her TFA obligation, trying to get on the principal track. She found that door of opportunity closed to her.

So she got to work. She decided to open her own school. She’s 28.

Rachel Bennett, PCA principal shows off a student's Toaster Project

She spent a year training with Building Excellent Schools, a program that immerses promising educators in how to effectively develop urban charter schools.

PCA is the first and only school in Arizona led by a BES alum.

Rachel found a site, hired teachers, and opened PCA last summer, enrolling around 70 sixth graders. She got the word out by knocking on doors in the neighborhood, apartments, trailer parks.

She did all this because she just couldn’t bear sending her students on to a world of mediocrity and low expectations after they’d made so much progress in her classes.

She glimpsed the future. She decided to change it.

At PCA, the talk is all about college. What it’s like, what you have to do to get there, what you have to learn, how hard you have to work, and…that you’re going. Rachel says that for many families, it’s the first time that concept has ever crossed their minds.

You enter PCA through a hallway lined with pennants from colleges all over the U.S.

College is everywhere at PCA

I got there just in time for the all-school morning meeting. The kids line up in the hallway to get ready for their day. They chant the multiplication tables, they sing the states and capitals.

PCA Morning Meeting

One teacher shares a 13 page paper he’s written for a class he’s taking, showing the kids the tiny print and the page where he’s sited sources. “Remember when you had to do that for your papers, too?” he asks the kids. They say yes.

He tells them that for college kids, now, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is like getting ready for the Super Bowl. Finals. He tells them how long it took them to write that paper, and how hard he worked on it.

The students at PCA have plenty of catching up to do. Rachel says that most of the kids, sixth-graders, were reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level when they started at PCA last August, some were at first grade level. So they work hard, and in order to fit it all in, they have double periods of both English and Math.

PCA kids listening to field trip info

The kids are attentive. They follow the rules and guidelines posted on the walls. They were working quietly when I visited, as they started their day, following the gauge on this sign in the classroom.

PCA Noisemeter: When to talk, when to shhhh.....

The students can arrive as early as 6:30 a.m., and they stay until 4:30 pm. They have enrichment programs after school to balance out the heavy duty academics. My favorite was hearing about the volunteer industrial engineer who brought in some donated toasters and assigned the kids the task of taking them apart, then putting them back together until they operated as toasters once again.

Toaster project

They all did. Then the kids build their own toasters.

The Solar Toaster

Scary Toaster

There are very, very clear rules at this school. A detailed point system with numbers assigned to any infraction is posted in class. It’s a way to make every kid completely accountable for his/her actions. It lends the sense of predictibility and logical consequences that all kids need.

Infractions by the numbers

Students may question any demerit as long as they preface their request with these words:

Rachel received a grant to start PCA from the Walton Family Foundation (think Wal-Mart). She’ll add the seventh grade next year, and by 2015 hopes to be at full capacity, serving students from 6th to 12th grade.

When I met her at the wedding, she told me she just barely made the deadline for listing PCA in the 2010 edition of our Schools, Etc., guide, due out in January. I’m glad she found us!

Two recent studies may offer inconclusive information on just how well public charter schools are serving our children; one that claims they are no better or worse than regular public schools; the other that charter students outperform their peers.

Giving innovative educators like Rachel a shot at refreshing the concept of “school” only exists because of the charter school movement. Imagining a better future for underserved children, thinking outside of the box about learning, and having the courage, herself, to say “I respectfully disagree” are three of the reasons Rachel Bennett is changing lives.

Rachel says she did not take the word “no” very well when she began planning Phoenix Collegiate Academy. Now, she’s teaching her college-bound sixth graders to think only “yes” when they imagine a seamless path to college.

Finals week: send a care package!

Today is my first born son’s twenty-third birthday.

I haven’t been with him on his birthday since he was a senior in high school, when he turned 18. I really, really miss him- but I’m sure he’s having, or had, a great birthday. I say had, since he is presently across the International Dateline. I’m sure he is relieved this year to celebrate his birthday without needing to study, or take, fall semester exams.

We’d send combination care packages for studying/birthday good stuff to him every year when he was in college. This was how I met Sheila Tullo. She was the basket lady of Charlottesville. She’d shop for the things my son loved (Garden of Eatin’ Red Hot Blues chips, Tostitos salsa, hot, green apple flavored shark gummies, and Twix bars). She would hand deliver the basket and always email me a photo of him with it, in front of his dorm or his apartment.

Sheila and I traded emails during finals all four years whenever I needed to order. We talked on the phone a few times – she had a daughter at a school a few hours away, so we would commiserate, talking about how much we missed them. I found Sheila through a series of desperate Google searches, putting in the name of the college town and the words gifts, baskets, treats. With her business, Baskets and Parties.com, she ships to 48 states. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I could get her to deliver a basket to China this year, where my son, now graduated, is teaching English.

But last week, I found a way to send my son a birthday treat in pretty much the same way. I Googled the same words, added the name of his city, and presto, I found AnnieFlower, Top Florist in China.

They offered a variety of cakes for birthdays, so I ordered a funny one with three smiley pear faces on the top. The cake was delivered to him at his school – so everyone, including his students, knew it was his birthday. The photo service was offered for an additional $10, but alas, not to the city where he lives. I’ve used other sites like Love.com/my (how did they get that URL?) this one to send gifts to our family members who live in Malaysia, and it works very well.

If you’re interested in sending a care package to a college student and you’d like to stay organic, check out Eco Express.com. You can ship organic chocolate, fruit, even some little spa gifts. I love the little Badger lip balm set for $10.99. Ecogifts even lists other environmentally conscious sites on the site.

The Global Exchange Fair Trade online store features some unique care packages for finals, too. You can order a basket of teas, gourmet-style snacks,
Or their simple sampler, which includes cocoa mix. Fair trade items, according to their site, provide low-income artisans and farmers around the world with a living wage for their work.

Design it Yourself Gift Baskets will put together a custom basket with a wide variety of goodies for a college student, with chocolates, snacks, some eco-friendly items, even a variety of citrus.

Dorm-Sweet-Dorm offers combination gift baskets like the Voratcious Vegan, the Gleefully Gluten Free, and the Breakfast Nook. You can also order stainless steel water bottles and Sweet Tree Bags, made strictly from recycled materials.

Know of any good sites with delicious, unique items that you can count on to deliver a care package to a stressed out college student during finals week? Or, if you ship homemade cookies or treats, what ships best? Only a few days left to get packages out to Massachusetts and Missouri!