The Verizon Innovative App Challenge - the no-coding-skills-needed contest that gives middle and high school students a chance to bring their problem-solving app ideas to life - is back! In its fourth year, the App Challenge calls students to gather teams, dream up ideas, and create concepts for mobile apps that could solve problems in their schools and communities.
For the first time, the App Challenge will be open to teams representing non-profit organizations in addition to schools, and even more students will earn free tablets and cash awards for the groups they represent. The deadline for submission is Nov. 24, and the winners will be named in January 2016.
Bill Nye, the Science Guy, is helping Verizon to encourage students nationwide to submit their ideas and to organize their teams now.
Created by the Verizon Foundation in partnership with the Technology Student Association, the App Challenge offers hands-on, experiential learning to ultimately help students envision brighter futures for themselves that they may never have imagined, as business owners, app inventors and professional coders.
To view the multimedia release visit:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7593951-verizon-innovative-app-challenge/
Vitamin Bee, LLC today announced a new collaboration with the Bayer Bee Care Program through its “Vitamin Bee®” character to help promote the Feed a Bee initiative, bee advocacy and healthy nutrition awareness for children.
Created by veteran director and animator Geoffrey Kater, Vitamin Bee is the central character in a nutrition education program that encourages kids to eat nutritious foods and empowers them to make healthy lifestyle choices. Their approach is to teach children and have fun while doing it, with the help of a dynamic animated character, as well as an entire curriculum that entertains and educates through the use of videos, quizzes, activity sheets, games and hands-on lessons.
“Vitamin Bee is a great role model that teaches kids about the value of the honey bee to our planet, our food supply and our daily lives,” said Geoffrey Kater, creator of Vitamin Bee. “We hope that getting kids to appreciate the role of the honey bee at an early age will encourage them to be great bee advocates for their entire lives. Vitamin Bee speaks a language that kids understand and uses humor to teach them these important lessons. I think we’ve created a great thing here and I’m so happy to be working with the Feed a Bee program and to be part of the Bayer Bee Care Center to help educate schools, kids and families alike.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7452952-bayer-vitamin-bee-feed-a-bee/
Positive strides have been made since 1995 to advance science literacy in the United States, but teachers and parents agree that more hands-on, experiential learning must be adopted in order to improve science education for future generations, according to the results of the 2015 Bayer Facts of Science Education Survey released today.
For 20 years, Bayer has issued the survey, which assesses science education in the United States and evaluates its development. Although positive strides have been made, survey results emphasize the critical need to improve science education and literacy for future generations. Teachers, for example, universally agree (99 percent) that more hands-on experiential learning in general would benefit student learning.
In response, Bayer is announcing a five-year commitment to provide 1 million hands-on science learning experiences for children by 2020, timed to the 20th anniversary of the Making Science Make Sense® program, Bayer’s company-wide initiative that advances science literacy across the United States.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7452954-bayer-children-science-education/
Today Evergreen Packaging, with support from KidsGardening.org, announces the launch of the second annual Carton 2 Garden contest, a nation-wide competition inviting K-12 students to repurpose milk and juice cartons to build creative gardens or enhance their schools’ existing garden. The Carton 2 Garden Program promotes hands-on teaching, with opportunities for building important problem solving and life skills, and awards more than $25,000 in prizes to schools across the country. This initiative underscores Evergreen Packaging’s on-going commitment to raise awareness about the importance of eco-friendly packaging.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7670651-evergreen-carton-2-garden-contest-2015/
Spring is around the corner, and it won’t be long before it’s prom and graduation seasons for many high schoolers. Rites of passage for many, these are times for teens to celebrate, but can also be times of poor decision-making, especially when vehicles are involved. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 2,524 teen drivers and passengers were killed and 177,000 were injured in 2013. Twenty-seven percent of these fatalities occurred between April and June, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
“The statistics are staggering, especially when you consider that most of these accidents and fatalities are preventable,” said Randy Petro, Mercury Insurance’s chief claims officer. “We don’t want any families to suffer through the loss of a child, so Mercury is taking action with the launch of the ‘Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge.’”
The Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge kicked off with a free defensive driving program, which included hands-on driving skills training and classroom material. An interactive website provides teens with detailed instruction, as well as gives parents the tools to shape responsible driving behavior.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7772251-mercury-teen-drive-safe-challenge/
With the help of President George H.W. Bush, Bass Pro Shops and representatives of the States of Texas and Florida, RBFF and the George H.W. Bush Vamos a Pescar™ Education Fund has announced the very first grant donations to organizations bringing conservation, education and fishing and boating experiences to Hispanic families. A total of $50,000 in grants were awarded last week during a ceremony at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, TX.
The George H.W. Bush Vamos a Pescar™ Education Fund was founded by RBFF in 2014, with an initial $125,000 donation by Bass Pro Shops Founder and CEO Johnny Morris, in honor of President George H.W. Bush’s milestone 90th birthday. The mission of the Education Fund is to bring hands-on fishing and boating experiences, along with conservation activities, to Hispanic families across the United States. This event announces the first grants made in furtherance of this mission.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7806451-vamos-a-pescar-ghwb-fund/
Camp Invention, the nation’s premier summer enrichment program for over 25 years, has been providing children in grades one through six the opportunity to exercise their curiosity, amplify their creativity and be adaptive to different environments.
A program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, developed in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Camp Invention leverages hands-on activities to promote STEM learning and build 21st century skills. The program curriculum is created new every year and is inspired by some of our nation’s most brilliant minds. These innovation experts include Inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame as well as a team of experienced educators.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7667852-camp-invention-stem-epic-curriculum/
As brain health becomes an ever greater concern for people of all ages, the nation’s largest senior living provider is now guiding its residents on developing and putting into practice personalized brain health plans. Brookdale devised the new resident program with the help of a neuropsychologist specializing in brain health. The company is putting it into place at its independent and assisted living communities across the country.
Through the new initiative, Brookdale’s residents will be offered a four-session course that explains key factors in brain health through classroom learning and hands-on activities. Each participant will be guided on creating an individual brain health plan to use on a daily basis. The course was developed with the assistance of Dr. Paul Nussbaum, who is Board Certified in clinical and geropsychology with a specialty in neuropsychology. An adjunct professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, he is the author of “Save Your Brain.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7722157-brookdale-brain-health/
Beneful® is demonstrating its passion for dog parks again this year by lending a paw to support more than a dozen communities in their effort to improve or build local dog parks. Through its Beneful Dream Dog Park Project, the Beneful team will provide a mix of financial support, hands-on volunteerism and a variety of new resources to share its dog park expertise available at DreamDogPark.com for fellow dog lovers looking to bring their dog park dreams to life. Beneful is also teaming up with crowdfunding site GoFundMe to encourage more dog lovers to seek and provide financial support for dog park improvement and building projects across the country.
“Beneful has been supporting dog parks since 2010, and in the past six years, we’ve learned a lot about the positive impact dog parks have on communities by experiencing it first-hand with our own four-legged friends,” said Brent Gleckler, Beneful brand director and owner of Louie the Bolognese. “That’s why we’re thrilled to provide continued financial support, grow visibility of dog parks with GoFundMe, and share our expertise through this year’s expanded Dream Dog Park Project.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7836151-beneful-dream-dog-park-project/
Tostitos tortilla chips and dips bring people together and are an essential part of most big football watch parties. These gatherings usually feature a spread of food and beverages and, many times, alcohol, leading to an increase in alcohol-related traffic crashes.
Recognizing this, Tostitos created the “Party Safe” bag – a bag of Tostitos chips featuring an alcohol sensor that acts as a reminder for people to not drink and drive after the party so everyone gets home safely. For those not lucky enough to get their hands on one of the limited-edition bags, Tostitos also partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to offer party-goers $10 off an Uber ride on Sunday, February 5 by using the barcode on the back of nearly every bag of Tostitos chips. This offer applies to both new and existing customers of Uber, but will be limited to the first 25,000 users who enter the code.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/8020151-tostitos-super-bowl-madd-party-safe-bag/
The Häagen-Dazs brand is helping to change the way ingredients are grown to better support bee populations by working hand-in-hand with its farmer suppliers. The internationally-recognized ice cream brand has installed one of the largest, privately funded pollinator habitats on the farmland of its almond supplier in California’s Central Valley. No stranger to helping the bees, the brand aims to impact additional ingredients used throughout its super-premium ice cream portfolio and positively influence sustainable agriculture practices.
The “Häagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees” program launched in 2008, and today is expanding from research and educational funding to hands-on initiatives that will rejuvenate pollinator habitats to allow native bees to flourish. Located in Chowchilla, California, the habitat consists of six and a half miles of hedgerow and 11,000 native drought-tolerant shrubs and flowering plants, impacting 840 acres of farmland. In order to supply what pollinators need, the Häagen-Dazs brand worked with expert agronomists and the Xerces Society to maximize the impact of the habitat by choosing regional plants that are attractive to pollinators. Looking forward, the team will work to create custom habitats for more of its ingredient suppliers who depend on bees to pollinate their crops.
To view the multimedia release go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8075051-haagen-dazs-sustainable-agriculture-bees-pollinator-habitats/
Bayer and National 4-H Council amplified their commitment to the future of our rapidly expanding global population by launching a new effort to grow the pipeline of tomorrow’s innovators, starting now. The two organizations announced today a nationwide collaboration, Science Matters, which will address the need for an enhanced STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforce by planting a love of scientific exploration in thousands of youth in urban and rural areas across the country.
Science Matters will leverage Bayer’s more than 150 years of scientific breakthroughs and 4-H’s century of hands-on learning to equip more than 25,000 youth with tools and support they need to deepen their understanding of science.
To view the multimedia release go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/77126512-bayer-4-h-launch-science-matters/
