Art forms, including music, dance and painting, have been shown to  have a significant and positive effect on both children and adults. In fact, therapy through art is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight.

According to the Arizona Art Therapy Association, art therapy by definition is a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. 

Artplay in Phoenix is offering emotional-wellness sessions for children ages 3-15 using art-making, music, movement and play to explore and learn to manage feelings. Additionally, they are offering “drop-in” art projects that children can create and take home for $15. 

Artplay also offers “Helpacks” that parents may order on-line. Each pack includes five therapy-based toys that help kids manage their emotions, plus a fun explanation sheet. Parents can choose from the Sadness Helpack, the Anger Helpack, the Fear Helpack or the Anxiety Helpack. The packs are $25 each and can be ordered via Artplay’s website at artplayhealing.com.

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Public libraries have been serving patrons since the ancient Greeks developed the idea in the fourth century B.C. But what about creating a personal space at home to encourage reading and provide children with skills that will enhance their public library experience? 

According to studies, about 25 percent of Arizona fourth-graders are prepared to read proficiently and children who are read to at least three times weekly are nearly twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent in reading.

The “Read On Greater Phoenix” network identifies three easy steps to create a special reading place in your home aimed at making literacy a fun part of daily life: 

Select a special space for your child to look at books that is inviting and permanent; this can be an entire room or a cozy corner. Include a chair or pillows and a small shelf or basket for favorite books. 

Make the books easy to reach for small children – you can even include paper and pen to encourage them to write new story endings.

Include stuffed animals so your child can read to a favorite pal, another great tool to improve literacy.

Additional literacy tips to incorporate into your new in-home reading space can be found at vsuw.org/readingtips. Families are also encouraged to share their home libraries on Valley of the Sun United Way’s Facebook page at facebook.com/myvsuw and on their Twitter feed @myvsuw using hashtag #minihomelibrary.

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Ready … set … go! You have 15 minutes of undivided attention from your child’s teacher to discuss their academic progress. So, how should you prepare yourself to maximize the face-to-face time you have with your child’s teacher? 

With parent-teacher conferences in full swing, many parents may be asking themselves, “How can I get more out of parent-teacher conferences so that they make a difference to my child’s success?” 

Research shows that students with more actively engaged parents are more likely to attend school regularly, have better social skills, earn higher grades, graduate from high school and go on to college or other post-secondary program. 

Expect More Arizona President and CEO, Pearl Chang Esau, offers some useful questions, collected from teachers, to ensure a productive parent-teacher conference that allows you to explore how your child is performing and helps you to set goals to strengthen/improve his or her performance: 

When does testing take place throughout the year?

How did my child perform on the benchmark and state tests, and how did he or she compare to his or her peers?

What areas do we need to work on to help him/her improve or be more challenged?

What joint goals can we set between now and the next parent-teacher conference period?

What resources are available if my child has special needs, is gifted, or just needs more support?

How else do you evaluate my child’s skills and knowledge beyond testing?

What type of activities can I incorporate into my child’s everyday routine that could help his or her progress?

 Visit expectmorearizona.org for additional academic success materials for parents.

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Attention writers! ASU’s Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives’ Sustainability Solutions Festival and Creative Nonfiction magazine are seeking personal essays and true stories about innovative solutions for sustainability. One writer will be awarded a $10,000 Walter Sustainability Solutions Best Creative Nonfiction Essay Award and all essays submitted will be considered for publication in a special “Human Face of Sustainability” issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine. The deadline for submission is May 31, 2013; full contest guidelines and details are available at creativenonfiction.org/submissions/human-face-sustainability.

In addition, ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and Creative Nonfiction magazine are seeking an artist to illustrate the winter 2014 issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine, “The Human Face of Sustainability.” A variety of media will be considered (e.g. line drawings, watercolor, collage, etc.) and the selected artist will receive a $3,500 cash prize from the Sustainability Solutions Festival. The deadline for art submission is May 31, 2013; full contest guidelines and details are available at creativenonfiction.org/submissions/artists-wanted. 

The Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives are the result of a $27.5 million investment in ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability by the Rob and Melani Walton Fund of the Walton Family Foundation. Within the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, diverse teams of faculty, students, entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators collaborate to deliver sustainability solutions, accelerate global impacts and inspire future leaders through eight distinct program initiatives. 

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Beginning next month, the Phoenix College Men’s Soccer coaching staff and players will host their annual Youth Soccer Academy, open to girls and boys of all ages, kindergarten through grade 12. 

The program will focus on individual soccer technique for beginners to advanced levels, with May camp dates beginning the first of the month. Registration cost for the four-week May camp is $60 with June camp dates also available. Pre-registration is encouraged, however, walk-up registrations will be accepted. The Youth Soccer Academy is held at the Phoenix College Hoy Stadium or the PC Practice Field.

For more information, contact David Cameron at david.cameron@phoenixcollege.edu or call 602-285-7665

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Over the past decade, the web has become a free source for college-level course materials called OpenCourseWare (OCW). Whether you’re a college student, a self-educator or a homeschooler, OCW provides an on-line format for anyone interested in learning on their own. 

What are some of the advantages of OCW? It’s free and available to anyone with web access. In China, a site called Netease attracts 1.2 million visitors a day; users see OCW as a way to learn English, find out more about the study-abroad experience and establish their own study groups, according to the OCW Consortium, a worldwide community of hundreds of higher education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing OCW and its impact on global education.

The drawbacks of OCW include not being able to take courses for credit and the inability to interact with the professors who create the materials. Nonetheless, OCW continues to attract more users each year with seemingly endless options from which to choose. A good starting point might be tapping in to the OCW Consortium  at ocwconsortium.org. 

The OCW Consortium’s search index currently contains 6,974 courses from 65 sources in 19 languages.

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Cox Communications has launched The STEM Journals, a new educational TV series that explores science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with a fun twist. The show is hosted by Brad Piccirillo and follows his “STEM adventures” around the state. The first episodes cover the following themes: 

Arachnids: Investigate the creepy world of scorpions, spiders and other eight-legged things 

Volcanology: Explore some of Northern Arizona’s over 600 volcanoes that make up the San Francisco Volcanic Field 

Cognitive psychology: Study cognitive psychology through magic, sports and trauma on the ASU campus and at Brainstate 

Rocks: Examine nature’s most basic building blocks and find out exactly why rocks rock

The STEM Journals airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. on Cox channels 7 and 1007, on-line at cox7.com/stem or on-demand on Cox channel 2640. Visit cox7.com/stem-journals for more information.

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A strong memory is dependent on the health and vitality of your brain. Whether you are a student studying for finals or a working professional wanting to stay mentally sharp, there are some tips and exercises to improve your mental performance. 

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers from the Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia in Japan found that people who were more physically active during the day were less likely to experience brain shrinkage in their frontal lobe. The frontal lobe plays a role in problem solving, personality, judgment and memory.

Your brain depends on adequate exercise and sleep– physical exercise increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss. Regular exercise can also protect brain cells and enhance the effects of helpful brain chemicals. Also, adequate sleep is critical to learning and memory function; sleep deprivation leads to the inability of the brain to operate at full capacity and, when this happens, creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking skills are compromised.

Healthy relationships matter– research shows that having meaningful relationships and a strong support system are actually vital to brain health and function. A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people with the most active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decline. 

Laughter is the best medicine– did you know laughter engages multiple regions across the entire brain? Listening to jokes and working out punch-lines actually activates areas of the brain vital to learning and creativity. Here’s a fun fact: physically, a smile requires the use of approximately 36 muscles, but a frown uses 97 muscles. A smile releases the muscles on your scalp, which in turn lets the blood flow more easily, which brings more oxygen to the brain. 

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Arizona Tax Law ARS 43-1089.01 allows Arizona taxpayers to claim a credit of up to $200 per single taxpayer or $400 per household when they contribute to extracurricular activities or education programs in the Arizona K-12 public or charter school of their choice. 

So, what exactly is an “extracurricular activity?” It is any optional, non-credit, educational or competitive, school-sponsored activity such as sports, visual and performing arts, field trips and before- and after-school clubs. Of course, when considering supporting a local school, you may select which school and program you would like to support and the amount of the tax credit does not have to be for the total allowance. In addition, the credit may be split between one or more schools. 

To contribute to programs you value, visit your local school’s website to learn how to contribute, stop by your local school office to write a check, or go to arizonaschooltaxcredit.com and select one of the schools that accept on-line tax credit payments. Note that payment must be received by December 31^st in order to apply the tax credit to that calendar year. 

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According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 61 percent of parents believe that their children should go to college after high school. Parents, who start preparing early for college and become familiar with the options for financial aid and college savings, will help make college a reality for their children.

One college savings plan in particular is the Arizona 529 Plan. It’s named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code sponsored by the State of Arizona, and is designed to provide a parent, grandparent, or anyone else an opportunity to save for a child’s educational dreams in a tax-deferred savings vehicle.

The Arizona Commission for Post-secondary Education notes that Arizona offers one of the most diversified 529 plans in the country that includes the following benefits:

• Qualified distributions are exempt from federal and Arizona state income taxes
• Tax deductions for Arizona taxpayers contributing to a 529 plan up are up to $1500 for married tax filers and $750 for single filers
• Assets are not considered when determining Arizona financial aid awards
• Savings can be used at all U.S. DOE accredited universities, colleges, private colleges and vocational schools in the U.S., as well as eligible foreign institutions 
• Allows for anyone to make contributions

A complete College Savings Planner is available for download on the Commission’s website at az529.gov 

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