A brave 12-year old girl teaches children to never ever give up. In March 2011, Jessie Joy Rees and her family received a devastating diagnosis—she had brain cancer and the prognosis was not good. But the Rancho Santa Margarita girl, who lost her battle less than...
Nearly half of O.C. 3rd graders are at risk of falling behind. Literacy is crucial to an individual’s ability to achieve his or her full potential. But grim statistics show that the ability to read proficiently can be defined as early as third grade, when functional literacy...
After-school programs have shown powerful results in keeping at-risk youth out of trouble in the afternoon. It’s known as the "witching hour," the school-is-out-but-parents-aren't-home-yet time between 3 p.m. and about 6 p.m. every weekday, when children as young as elementary-school age, may be unsupervised. A lot of...
Nearly half of Orange County’s students may head back to school with empty backpacks and unmet needs. We all remember—or experience with our children—the mixture of nerves and excitement that accompany the start of a new school year. First -day-of-school outfit? Carefully-chosen backpack? Pristine packages of school...
With an older-adult population explosion on the horizon, Orange County needs to be prepared to address a new set of challenges and needs. There is no denying it, as baby boomers age, they bring with them a population explosion previously unseen in modern times. The numbers...
Groups encourage responsibility in keeping the county's waters free of runoff. An ideal climate, 42 miles of coastline, hills, canyons, beaches -- these are just some of Orange County’s natural allure. But these characteristics aren’t just great real estate selling points; they are integral to the...
Family violence breaks the deepest bonds of children’s trust, but there is hope through healing. Family violence can happen to anyone. Relationship violence touches one out of every five people in California, and nationwide the figure for women is one in four, according to a 2012...
Anaheim's mayor thinks city's success lies in establishing key core values. In November 2010, when Tom Tait was elected mayor of Anaheim, his campaign focused on bringing "kindness and freedom" to one of California's largest cities. After 10 years on Anaheim City Council, Tait felt he knew...
The heartbreak of deployment. The sacrifice of war. The joy of a long-awaited homecoming. We see the stories play out in emotional home videos and Hollywood productions. But what if returning from combat was nothing like the script we expect to see? The truth is that...
Arts education has been severely compromised to the detriment of creative thinking and the strength of our current and future workforce. It’s no secret that budget cuts have decimated arts education programs in public schools-- and in low-income schools in particular. But it turns out that...