(NewsUSA) - Every child has potential, and all children deserve the opportunity to learn, thrive, succeed, and pursue their dreams. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s students are struggling. Half of all K–12 students are a full grade behind academically. Furthermore, 42% of low-income eighth graders lack basic reading skills and 54% lack basic math skills.

Moms and dads want a more responsive K–12 education system and the freedom to choose how and where their children learn. Over the past year, these parents have mobilized, spoken up, and demanded change. Their efforts compelled lawmakers to listen, leading to increased public and private school choice options across 20 states in 2023.

More American families now have unparalleled opportunities to send their children to different public, charter, magnet, online, and private schools or educate them at home. Cue the rise of microschooling. These innovative learning environments are small and often theme-based, providing a more personalized educational experience. And their popularity is growing.

According to EdChoice, over 39% of school parents nationwide either already have a child enrolled in microschooling or are keen on learning more about its potential.

These schools are both unique and diverse. For example, Black Mothers Forum Microschools, a growing network of microschools in Arizona, aims to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and replace it with a “school-to-purpose pipeline” through a culturally nuanced and inclusive approach.

Another example is the Prism Microschool in North Newton, Kansas. It offers a distinctive educational experience centered on tailoring each child’s education to their individual needs to nurture creativity and academic growth.

Across the nation, microschools like these are gaining traction. Organizations such as the Vela Education Fund, the National Microschooling Center, and the Yass Prize have been instrumental in shining a spotlight on these alternative models, ensuring that they flourish and grow. National School Choice Week (NSCW), hosted by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation (NSCAF), will showcase the full range of nontraditional models, including microschools, later this month.

Now is the time for both parents and state leaders to look to the future. Parents, I urge you to explore these new educational frontiers. If the traditional school setting doesn’t suit your child, microschooling, or any other nontraditional model, might offer the tailored, engaging experience they need.

As we all collectively look to the future, let’s embrace the potential of innovative educational models. By doing so, we aren’t just changing schools; we’re transforming lives and laying the foundation for future generations—one child at a time.

Andrew Campanella is president and CEO of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that hosts National School Choice Week each Januaryand the author of The School Choice Roadmap: 7 Steps to Finding the Right School for Your Child.

Every child has potential, and all children deserve the opportunity to learn, thrive, succeed, and pursue their dreams. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s students are struggling. Half of all K–12 students are a full grade behind academically. Furthermore, 42% of low-income eighth graders lack basic reading skills and 54% lack basic math skills.

Moms and dads want a more responsive K–12 education system and the freedom to choose how and where their children learn. Over the past year, these parents have mobilized, spoken up, and demanded change. Their efforts compelled lawmakers to listen, leading to increased public and private school choice options across 20 states in 2023.

More American families now have unparalleled opportunities to send their children to different public, charter, magnet, online, and private schools or educate them at home. Cue the rise of microschooling. These innovative learning environments are small and often theme-based, providing a more personalized educational experience. And their popularity is growing.

According to EdChoice, over 39% of school parents nationwide either already have a child enrolled in microschooling or are keen on learning more about its potential.

These schools are both unique and diverse. For example, Black Mothers Forum Microschools, a growing network of microschools in Arizona, aims to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and replace it with a “school-to-purpose pipeline” through a culturally nuanced and inclusive approach.

Another example is the Prism Microschool in North Newton, Kansas. It offers a distinctive educational experience centered on tailoring each child’s education to their individual needs to nurture creativity and academic growth.

Across the nation, microschools like these are gaining traction. Organizations such as the Vela Education Fund, the National Microschooling Center, and the Yass Prize have been instrumental in shining a spotlight on these alternative models, ensuring that they flourish and grow. National School Choice Week (NSCW), hosted by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation (NSCAF), will showcase the full range of nontraditional models, including microschools, later this month.

Now is the time for both parents and state leaders to look to the future. Parents, I urge you to explore these new educational frontiers. If the traditional school setting doesn’t suit your child, microschooling, or any other nontraditional model, might offer the tailored, engaging experience they need.

As we all collectively look to the future, let’s embrace the potential of innovative educational models. By doing so, we aren’t just changing schools; we’re transforming lives and laying the foundation for future generations—one child at a time.

Andrew Campanella is president and CEO of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that hosts National School Choice Week each January and the author of The School Choice Roadmap: 7 Steps to Finding the Right School for Your Child.

(NewsUSA) - Think of it as “Sex and the City” with a new twist: from HIS point of view!

It’s a new book by the so-called Mr. X entitled Sex and the Sixty-Something Guy: Online Post to Bed Post, a provocative inside look at navigating the mazes and minefields of New York City’s post-divorce dating scene -- from a decidedly male perspective.

He was in his 50s, a successful businessman, financially set, had settled down early. And now divorced after four decades of marriage, he was about to re-enter the world of dating.

He never could have imagined what awaited him.

From bars to bedrooms, anticipation to disillusionment, and attraction to subtraction, he is now sharing his escapades in great detail under the pseudonym of Mr. X in this tell-all narrative.

Mr. X offers up the book as a cautionary tale to help men navigate the treacherous field of today’s dating environment and help women understand the male mindset and reasons things happen, at least from one man’s vantage point.

But more than that, Mr. X takes readers through more than 100 dates, eight relationships, and 11 trips throughout the world with his significant other du jour. His experiences resemble everything from a candy store to a minefield.

Fresh from a life-changing divorce after decades of marriage, Mr. X provides an unfiltered and insightful male perspective on the complexities of sex and companionship for men over the age of sixty. He unveils the surprises, disappointments, and joys of engaging with potential partners, shattering stereotypes and exposing dating culture's inner workings.

With humor and unflinching honesty, Mr. X navigates the landscape, offering valuable insights for genuine connection-seekers. From intimate conversations in quiet downtown restaurants to encounters of a decidedly more surprising nature, this book captures the challenges and triumphs of midlife dating.

Sex and the Sixty-Something Guy transcends its genre by becoming a heartfelt and modern exploration of personal growth and rediscovery told from a perspective we rarely read today.

The book is clearly appealing to both genres.

“Whether you’re newly divorced or contemplating a divorce, these honest and heartfelt stories and reflections portray a realism that is hard to find elsewhere,” says one Amazon reader. “Although Mr. X tells these stories from his own perspective, there is much to be learned by mature readers of any gender.”

Says another, “It underscores the importance of conversation and illustrates the many ways we connect, or try too hard, or not hard enough. Women will find this book surprising because men don't always care about the things they assume they will, and men will find this book interesting if they ever wonder what single life would be like if they were wealthy and could date anyone they pleased. It's an eye-opening book.”

"Mr. X's raw and humorous take on modern dating is a revelation,” says another reader. “Sex and the Sixty-Something Guy is an eye-opener, dispelling myths about age and romance. A brutally honest journey that's both entertaining and enlightening, offering a fresh perspective on what it means to seek connection in the digital age."

Purchase the book at https://bit.ly/47AJhJV.

(NewsUSA) - Advances in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), offer the United States government a unique opportunity to accelerate two key defense goals of preparing for the future character of conflict and strengthening our military overmatch against our international rivals, according to experts at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a bipartisan nonprofit organization.

Although the United States has opened a critical technological advantage over the rest of the world with the recent advances in GenAI, this advantage may be fleeting, and a new report from SCSP outlines four critical areas for the Department of Defense (DoD) to consider as priorities to optimize the United States’ advantages.

Enable Decisional Advantage. GenAI shows great promise as a decision aid, and the DoD should identify was to securely integrate GenAI models to promote faster and better informed decision-making in operations centers and weapons platforms.

Enhance Operations. The DoD is already exploring GenAI for predictive maintenance and certain back-office support functions. However, AI-enabled models have potential in many other areas, including logistics and sustainment, investment and divestment, generation of experimental courses of action, and decisions related to global force deployment management.

Develop Talent. GenAI will create demand for new skill sets in areas of defense. The DoD needs to establish policies to recruit, develop, and retain talented individuals who can develop, evaluate, build, and employ GenAI tools for military effects.

Identify New Defenses. GenAI will pose threats to the United States through many channels, including disinformation, as well as from chemical and biological agents. The DoD should identify potential threats and plan for additional defensive measures, notably ways to counter AI-generated attacks of all types from adversaries.

To help manage the potential benefits and risks of GenAI in the area of defense, SCSP also calls on the DoD to build an automated orchestration platform that can access a range of tools and datasets, and to develop defense-specific AI trained in military terms and jargon, but secured to avoid revealing the terms on which they were trained.

Looking ahead to warfare trends, human-machine collaboration and teaming, software advantage, and empowerment of warfighters in battle situations will be affected by advances GenAI, and the United States must take action to optimize its current advantages and apply GenAI for defense, according to SCSP. 

For more information, visit scsp.ai.

(NewsUSA) - Over the last thirty years, the efforts of parents, educators, and state leaders have laid the foundation for a pluralistic sea change in how we think about the education options available to families in the U.S. But over the last four, things went from incremental to warp speed. In 2023, 20 states added or expanded school choice programs, which, in sum, affected the largest group of eligible families in a single year, ever.

Some of the things most commonly associated with the modern school choice movement, like public charter schools and private school scholarship programs, are as old as I am, dating back to the early 90's. Others, like microschooling and hybrid homeschooling, have exploded in popularity due to the decidedly different lifestyles of the 2020s.

With so much change, it is critical that parents around the country understand the new landscape in American education. Events like National School Choice Week, a celebration organized by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation and happening nationwide from January 21-27, can be the perfect place for parents to explore changing options.

What does school choice look like in the country today? 33 states ensure parents can choose a traditional public school other than the one to which they're assigned, making it mandatory in at least some cases. 46 states (Montana being the newest) allow charter schools. All 50 states offer public magnet schools. 31 states offer private school choice programs. 35 states have a free, full-time online public school option for students. And the number of homeschooled students has nearly doubled in the last 7 years, now topping 3.1 million.

Today, the question for families is not whether they have school choice, but how they will utilize these transformative opportunities. By understanding the array of options, making personalized choices based on each unique child, and collaborating with educators, parents hold the key to shaping a future where every child has the chance to thrive. School choice is not just a policy; it's a pathway to a more personalized and empowering educational experience for our children and all families have the right to choose what's best for their kids.

Shelby Doyle, based in Nashville, TN, is the vice president of public awareness at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that hosts National School Choice Week each January and maintains the nation’s largest online portfolio of English- and Spanish-language school navigation resources.

(NewsUSA) - Thought you weren’t eligible to give blood? Updated guidance is making it possible for more people to donate than ever.

Blood donations are essential for surgeries, cancer treatment, chronic illnesses, and traumatic injuries.^[1] But only 3% of eligible Americans give blood each year.^[1] Recent federal guidance may help change that. In May 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eliminated its previous blanket waiting period for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with MSM. The agency now recommends individual donor screening assessments to establish eligibility.^[2],[3]

“This change represents a shift toward a more inclusive and science-based approach to blood donation eligibility,” says Dr. Kamille West-Mitchell, chief of the blood services section in the transfusion medicine department at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. “It acknowledges that the focus should be on assessing individual risk factors for bloodborne infections rather than making exclusions based on sexual orientation.”

Other groups who are eligible to donate blood and may not know it include teens who are at least 16 years old (in most states) and people whose chronic conditions are being controlled through treatment.^[4],[5]

Under the new guidance, all prospective blood donors, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, will now answer questions about their sexual history to determine whether they are at high risk for HIV. If a prospective donor has had a new sexual partner or more than one sexual partner and had anal sex in the past three months, they will be deferred temporarily.^[6] Prospective donors taking medications to prevent or reduce the likelihood of HIV infection (PrEP or PEP) may also be deferred because those drugs may delay detection of HIV.^[6]

An equitable donor screening process is critical for a safe and reliable blood supply system,^[6] and FDA officials say that the new requirements will continue to ensure the safety of both donors and recipients.^[6],[7]

In the meantime, the demand for blood remains constant. Blood banks across the country urgently need donors of all types. But some are in particular demand. For example, Black blood donors can help Black patients with rare blood types who often need blood donated by someone of the same race.

Interested in making a lifesaving difference? Become a donor.

For more information, visit the NHLBI’s Blood Diseases & Disorders Education Program.

[1]Facts About Blood Supply In The U.S. | Red Cross Blood Services

[2]Blood Donation by Gay and Bisexual Men (aabb.org)

[3]Recommendations for Evaluating Donor Eligibility Using Individual Risk-Based Questions to Reduce the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products | FDA

[4]Blood Donation Eligibility Requirements | Red Cross Blood Services

[5]Questions About Donating Blood | Red Cross Blood Services

[6]ABC FAQ on FDA's IDA Change (americasblood.org)

[7]Inclusive Blood Donation Guidelines Updated | Red Cross Blood

(Vanessa Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief NewsUSA Tech) - Intel’s Meteor Lake introduced A.I. chips that brought in a new type of A.I. power dedicated specifically to A.I. processing, the Neural Processing UnA.I. It was designed to work similarly to the human brain, with many nerve cells and synapses to transmit and receive signals. The end result is a processor that outperforms any CPU or GPU. Rolling out to laptops before desktops or mobile platforms, Intel looks to bring A.I. directly onto consumers’ PCs, giving end users better privacy, lower latency, and bypassing the need to pay for third-party services.

Story by Vanessa Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief NewsUSA Tech

(Vanessa Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief NewsUSA Tech) - The Video Game Awards is a highly-anticipated ceremony often held in the early weeks of December. To no one’s surprise, Baldur’s Gate 3 won a game of the year at the recently concluded Video Game Awards for 2023. Cyberpunk 2077 also won best ongoing game, with Resident Evil Village bringing home the award for best VR/AR. With the continuous evolution, These awards would highlight the industry’s creative diversity and technological advancements.

Story by Vanessa Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief NewsUSA Tech

(NewsUSA) - Many wonderful organizations focus on finding homes for dogs in shelters, but one dog breeder is on a mission—to promote smarter dog breeding and fewer dogs in shelters to begin with.

“Prevention is the key to avoiding canine suffering and reducing the burden on shelters and rescues,” says Kate Dalman, a Crystal Lake, Illinois, breeder of German Shepherds. Dalman’s goal is to improve the competitive and largely unregulated world of dog breeding by educating breeders on best practices. 

Dalman, the owner of Herzog German Shepherds and founder of the nonprofit Herzog's Heroes, has established the Herzog Conscientious Breeders Alliance (HCBA). The Alliance, named for her first German Shepherd, is open to those who work with any dog breed.

The Alliance’s current goal is a year-end campaign to raise $20,000 to launch a first-of-its-kind breeder directory that will help create transparency and accountability in breeding programs.

“Current breeder databases allow breeders to pay for higher rankings,” says Dalman. “Our algorithm is completely transparent, and it will change how people choose the breeders they work with.”

Dalman and CEO, Mary Lanckhoff, are currently working to establish breeder guidelines and collaborating with rescue communities to curb unscrupulous breeders and reduce the number of dogs who end up in shelters.

The breeder guidelines will encompass the latest industry standards, genetic diversity recommendations, and responsible puppy placement strategies. The HCBA training program currently in development will teach breeders ways to minimize their footprint on the shelter population.

"These guidelines will make unscrupulous breeding practices far less lucrative for breeders trying to cut corners and make a quick buck exploiting dogs," says Dalman. "On the other hand, dedicated breeders will receive recognition for their work."

The directory will allow people looking to purchase a puppy to search for breeders with good reputations, and to identify breeders with bad reputations. "This will enable people to search a breeder before deciding to work with them and it will prevent unscrupulous breeders from continuing to fly under the radar," Dalman says.

Dalman and her colleagues continue to encourage breeders to join the HCBA, establish best practices to minimize their impact on the shelter community, and mentor up-and-coming breeders.

“We want to recognize breeders doing their part, but also lift up those breeders who need help,” she emphasizes. “This will create a higher breeding standard for everyone, which is what we want for dogs everywhere."

Your donations can help meet the end-of-year goal to launch the breeder directory! For more information, visit About 1 — Herzog's Heroes (herzogsheroes.org).

(NewsUSA) - The designation “GenNext” represents adults ages 18-34, the life stage often referred to as “emerging adulthood,” and refers to the next generation of workers, heads of households, consumers, and investors with significant decisions to make about their future. Many in this group are optimistic, despite experiencing personal and professional challenges wrought by recession, inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and job transitions with changing workforce expectations, according to a survey from financial services firm Edward Jones, with Next360 Partners and Market Cast.

Overall, the survey found GenNext to be a resilient group, although 80% of respondents currently see themselves as struggling or surviving financially.

“Our research offers a deeper understanding of GenNext, an age group defined by their shared experiences, not the year they were born,” says Lena Haas, head of Wealth Management Advice and Solutions at Edward Jones. “With most worried about rising costs and an inability to save, this will have vast implications for the wealth management industry.”

Contrary to popular belief, GenNext is hardworking and ambitious, but this demographic has distinct approaches to work and life in the face of today’s social and economic challenges. Money matters, but so does comfort, security, and stability.

Members of GenNext also value flexibility, and are open to alternative career paths, which further impacts their saving, spending and investing.

GenNext does not expect the same job stability as previous generations, according to the Edward Jones survey. They place less value on employer loyalty and plan for highly mobile careers of moving from one job to another, wearing many hats, and engaging in “side hustles” and multiple jobs to fund their lifestyles. Although they were born in the digital era, the GenNext lifestyle prioritizes real-world experiences; more than half of survey respondents reported being happiest when at home with friends and family, and they value face-to-face connections in work and home life.

GenNext cited a short-term mindset when it comes to finances, prioritizing everyday expenses, budgeting and saving for large purchases over other financial matters. When it comes to financial planning, more than half (52%) talk to their parents, many of whom may have long-term relationships with financial advisors. Although only 12% currently discuss finances directly with a financial advisor, two-thirds (68%) said they viewed financial advisors as a sounding board for ideas.

“Working with a financial advisor can help improve your financial knowledge and confidence and help you feel more in control,” added Haas. “It’s never too early to get started. Financial advisors can help remove burden and complexity and help you focus on the most important first steps.”

Visit edwardjones.com/financialfuture for more information.

(NewsUSA) - When it comes to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), the United States government needs to adjust its mission and tradecraft to advance American interests, according to experts at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a bipartisan nonprofit organization.

Despite its current position as a global leader GenAI, the issue facing the United States is how to shape GenAI’s global use and function so that it reinforces these interests, according to a new report from SCSP.

The authors outline recommendations for a new model of statecraft and the creation of global institutions to chart a way for GenAI to be used for good, and to put guardrails in place to protect against negative consequences.

SCSP advises the U.S. government to bring together different departments, authorities, talents, and tools, and to establish domestic regulatory policies that also reflect a global context, to work alongside like-minded allies, but not to disadvantage the U.S. private sector in global competition.

Platforms Statecraft. A platform approach to foreign policy and GenAI should include an updated mission with competition around technology platforms, as well as joint efforts across government agencies, modernization, and sub-national diplomacy to ensure that U.S. policy is tied into domestic innovation at the state and local levels.

New Tools. The adoption of GenAI tools by the Department of State will change the way workforces do their jobs, but these high-tech tools do not replace decision-making by policy experts; instead, GenAI tools provide additional, and potentially novel, recommendations and solutions based on an amount of information that no one human can process as quickly as a machine. Agency-wide programs to leverage GenAI could include a centralized GenAI infrastructure, a tailored GenAI system to handle sensitive information, and training policy makers to understand how GI works and where human oversight is needed.

Global Frameworks. To manage GenAI as a geopolitical and transnational issue, SCSP recommends creating a leaders-level forum to bring together key nations and address the highest-level risks that GenAI may pose; a leaders-level agenda item on GenAI in bilateral dialogues between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of Chine to help manage strategic stability risks; and a working-level forum for like-minded national to explore positive use cases around GenAI and mitigate against practical challenges.

For more information, visit scsp.ai.