Parents and Teachers

A Slice of Life

Posted on September 11, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Kim Harshberger I am not a cheery person. No one ever calls me sunshine. (Well, that’s not true. A salesman did. Once.) I don’t look on the bright side. I don’t give greeting cards with my presents. I don’t volunteer. I don’t have a community, or even many friends. I am terrible about asking […]

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May I Pet Your Dog, Please?

Posted on September 9, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Rachel Edmondson Recently, my girls have become obsessed with dogs. Any dog they see, they want to pet. We’ve been driving down the road and had them beg us to pull over because they want to pet a dog (we don’t pull over.) If we are at the park and a dog shows up, […]

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The Power of a Student ID

Posted on September 4, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Aileen Luppert When I was a college student, nearly 20 years ago, I was lucky to have enough financial aid to meet my needs and not leave me or my family teetering on bankruptcy upon graduation. Since that time, tuitions have skyrocketed—in some states by nearly 80% in the last ten years. Even a […]

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Library Hack: Get New Stuff Fast

Posted on September 2, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Cara Strickland I talk about libraries a lot. Those who know me can attest to the fact that I usually end a book or movie recommendation with the words: “I got it at the library.” Through these conversations, I’ve discovered a common misconception about the kinds of things you can check out through the […]

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First Love: A Personal History With the American Comic Book

Posted on August 27, 2014 at 6:00 am

By T. Andrew Wahl Guest Writer There is a question I am often asked: Why do you love comic books? My answer: Comics are a gateway. Not to other universes filled with super-humans locked in near-mythological battles. Or epic adventures in alien cultures and faraway lands. Or anthropomorphic worlds filled with funny—and not-so-funny—animals. Thou […]

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Food Education: Q&A with Stacy Whitman of School Bites

Posted on August 20, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Kim Harshberger I confess. I do not have the healthiest relationship with food. My family tends to classify people into two categories; those who eat to live, and those who live to eat. I fall into the latter category, which I don’t think, in itself, is necessarily a bad thing. However, I do have […]

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How (Not) to Go Camping With Kids

Posted on August 12, 2014 at 6:00 am

How (Not) to Go Camping | Spokane County Library District By Rachel Edmondson I’ve never been an avid camper. My husband and I did enjoy the occasional camping trip during the first few years of our marriage. We enjoyed the time in nature, the adventure of cooking outdoors, and the excitement of exploring a new place. But since we had kids, our tent has remained […]

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A Conversation with Jennifer Pharr Davis

Posted on August 7, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Gwendolyn Haley After reading Called Again, I was really eager to have a conversation with the author, Jennifer Pharr Davis. I caught up with Jennifer by phone as she, her husband Brew, and 20-month-old daughter, travel all 50 states on a book tour, and hike whenever they can. You set off on your first […]

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Home Sweet Home

Posted on July 31, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Kim Harshberger I would like to take a minute to talk to you about jam. My love affair with jam is long lived. Jam was one of the many things my grandmother canned. I remember her pulling a quilted jar from her basement stash, bringing it upstairs, and pulling off the layer of wax […]

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Mixtape: Your Summer Soundtrack

Posted on July 30, 2014 at 6:00 am

By Sheri Boggs I’ve made, and received, a lot of mixtapes over the years. The early ones were literally tapes; hand-labeled cassettes painstakingly recorded in front of the radio and full of an 11-year old’s dubious taste (Electric Light Orchestra, Donna Summer). As technology evolved, so did my mixes and I blew through stacks of […]

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