A reminder to teachers everywhere

Jeanne Santomauro Schnupp is a muralist in Holtsville, NY. She painted this motto on the wall of an elementary school classroom. It's a beautiful, artistic reminder.

They call him Forest Man

Jadav Payeng is a man from India who lives on Jajuli, the world's largest river island. As a boy, he noticed animals dying from drought amid dwindling greenery on the island. So when he was 16, he planted one tree. He's planted one tree every day since then, for almost 40 years. His trees have grown into a 1,360 acre forest larger than New York's Central Park, which is now inhabited by hundreds of elephants, tigers, rhinos, boars, deer, reptiles and birds.

"It was not as if I did it alone," he said. "You plant one or two trees and they have to seed. Once they seed, the wind knows how to plant them, the birds know how to sow them, the cows know, the elephants know, even the river knows. I see God in nature. Nature is God. It gives me inspiration. It gives me power. As long as it survives, I survive."

Donald and Daffy Duck can go to college free. Mickey too!

The Walt Disney Corporation now offers free tuition for all hourly employees in the United States. It will be available to about 80,000 employees nationwide starting this fall. It will help staffers (Disney calls them "cast members") earn high school diplomas, college degrees and trade certifications, all for free.

Disney will cover 100% of tuition and reimburse application fees and required books and materials. they expect to spend $50 million initially. The courses will be offered through Guild Education, which also provides education for employees at Walmart, Lowe's and Taco Bell. Guild Education guides workers to online courses offered by trustworthy, accredited schools, instead of dubious for-profits.

Remember your favorite teacher?

Most of us remember a favorite teacher, but does that teacher still remember us? Here's a reminder that they probably do. LaShonda Carter is a teacher in Chicago. A few weeks ago she couldn't sleep and started scrolling through Facebook. She ended up messaging a former student from a few years back named Larresha Plummer.

Larresha is now 18, and recently had a baby. She mentioned that she wanted to go to a job fair the next day but did not have a baby-sitter or a car. So she'd need to take her newborn with her on a bus. Hearing this, her former teacher rearranged her whole day and drove Larresha to the job fair the next morning. Then she sat in the car and watched the baby while Larresha went inside to look for job leads. Bottom line?  Larresha found a job, and she's going to college this fall.

Remember your 6th grade science fair project?

Mya Chau and Eve Helman will never forget theirs. They were sixth graders in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, when they began researching disposable coffee cups for a science fair project. They discovered that billions of Starbucks single-use coffee cups are destroying forests around the world. "There's a plastic and wax lining inside that's really stuck to the paper, and we wanted them to make a recyclable cup," said Eve.

Even though they were only 12-years-old, the girls launched a #BetterCup campaign. Their petition gathered 300,000 signatures and the attention of Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson. He invited them to attend a shareholders' meeting in Seattle, Washington, where the company announced it would invest $10 million to develop a fully recyclable and compostable NEXTGEN cup. And best of all, (we assume) they got an A for their science fair project.

Three brief videos worth watching

Inspirational videos like these may be worth sharing with those you love. 

1) As a lad, comedian Red Skelton was a student at Harrison Elementary School in the small town of Vincennes, Indiana.  Hear him describe how a very wise teacher at that school explained the Pledge of Allegiance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBTyTWOZCM

2) During WWII, thousands of young men, many still teenagers, rode troop trains across America to the west coast, where they were shipped into combat to fight the Japanese. Most had never been away from home, and were scared. Late at night, the conductor would announce "Next stop, North Platte. You have ten minutes." Little did they know angels were waiting for them there. Learn more at www.youtube.com/watch?v=07DGeLvDw8I

3)   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is remembered for "Song of Hiawatha" and "Paul Revere's Ride," but he also composed the most touching tribute to ones own children that we have in our literature. Father of five, he writes of his three surviving daughters. He describes the broad hall stair that can still be descended at the Longfellow National Historic Site. His verse originates our phrase "the patter of little feet."     www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsqu_2jJgjs

Bride and groom had no Plan B

Mr. and Mrs. Vansiedright walked down the aisle recently to take their wedding vows. About 150 friends witnessed the ceremony, and afterward formal pictures were taken. Now it was time for a wedding meal, but where was the caterer? He had marked the wrong date on his calendar, and never showed up. The newlyweds had no Plan B. In desperation, they went to a nearby by restaurant to ask for help. It happened to be the Sonder Farm to Table Restaurant in Hudsonville, Michigan, where they got more help than they ever expected.

When Sonder owner Nick Ruesticus heard about their problem, he said there was no way he could turn them down. He and his staff agreed to close the restaurant all day. Then, in just 90 minutes, they put together a cocktail hour and wedding feast for 150 people. They even made sure there were vegetarian and vegan options and a choice between beef and chicken. The newlyweds were in awe of the restaurant's kindness. They received a refund from their absent caterer, but say they don't know what they would have done if Sonder's compassionate staff had not stepped in to help.