Written for teens by a teen, but good advice knows no age limit By Kayla Schmidt Artwork by Annie Kennedy Imagine you’re walking through a luscious jungle full of a wide variety of fruits, plants and more. As you walk through this jungle, you encounter obstacles that distract you from your quest to find a rare plant. Well, not exactly ...

By Anastasia Mills Healy Design by Justin Negard In August, Cracker Barrel made national headlines when it unveiled its new logo, hoping to breathe new life into a business that faced stagnated growth and a 40 percent drop in stock prices the previous year. Gone was the iconic image of an older man sitting in a wooden chair leaning against ...

By Susan Trumpbour Artwork by Isabella Aranda-Garcia Fashion isn’t just about the fabric; it’s about the design. Some pieces might express an adventure filled with thrills of daring patterns and bold colors, while other pieces might convey the occasional “What was I thinking?” moment. Before we even speak, our clothes tell a story. Joseph Abboud, a legend in men’s fashion ...

By Isabella Aranda Garcia The internet started off as a whisper, slowly gaining its voice. AI, on the other hand, started off singing opera. The AI revolution is advancing at rapid speed; companies are building massive data centers, new AI-related and AI-adjacent jobs are coming into existence, and AI is becoming a must-have tool to excel at any job. If ...

By Anastasia Mills Healey Artwork by Justin Negard We all know overachievers. A National Merit Scholar who pitches for the state champion baseball team while also starring in the school musical, working in the office of an elected official, and discovering an enzyme critical to understanding a disease. This type of multi-talented student is what Lisa Bleich, the author of ...

Our brains can learn and change at any age, and lifelong learning helps improve resistance to age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease. By Gia Miller Artwork by Eliyahu Greenwald In December 2011, Eleanor Maguire, Ph.D., a cognitive neuroscientist at the University College London, published the results of a groundbreaking four-year study she conducted on “average-IQ adults” studying to become London ...

A sequel to our life skills course. By Ava Elghanayan Artwork by Aeneas Eaton Editor’s Note: Our last education issue (Sept./Oct. 2023) featured a life skills course that encouraged parents to teach teens about essential life skills that aren’t covered in the classroom. We explained how to teach everything from personal finance and grocery shopping to home repairs and job ...

Here’s how you can go to school without going to school. Writing by Kayla Schmidt Artwork by Anne Kennedy Have you ever wanted to learn the inner workings of an electrolytic cell? How to make the perfect crème brûlée? Or how to solve a quadratic equation with your eyes closed? Well, you’re in luck. With just a few clicks of ...

Rhythm starts with trust, not talent By Max Chwatko Artwork by Molly McGarvey I've always been the kind of person who claps on the wrong beat at concerts. It’s not that I’m rhythmically hopeless—my limbs just haven’t caught up with my ears. So, when I set out to write about beginner dance, I was stepping into an unfamiliar world. I ...

Music can regulate the nervous system, reduce pain and heal trauma Writing by Anastasia Mills Healy  Artwork by Justin Negard As a graduate student in 1978, when Dr. Concetta Tomaino was assigned to play atmospheric music for the mostly nonresponsive residents of a nursing home in Brooklyn, the staff who fed them through tubes and tied them to their wheelchairs ...

Writing by Kayla Schmidt Artwork by Molly McGarvey Reports of suspicious activity amongst the county have surfaced; citizens claim the water is “unsafe.” But who is the perpetrator? Well, it’s not really a question of who, but what. And that “what” are forever chemicals known by the name of PFAS. PFAS 101 Let’s start with the basics. What are PFAS? ...

Why Your Dog Hates Goodbyes Writing by Dr. Sarah J. Cutler Artwork by Molly McGarvey When you leave your dog home alone, what happens? Do they look out the windows or stand at the door anxiously awaiting your return? Do they ignore their food or chew items that smell like you, such as remote controls, doorknobs or pillows? Are they ...