Dreamer ENT – Dream. Dare. Soar.

You are browsing the archives of 2010 May.

Here’s a cool link from one of our partners NFTE, telling the story of a South Florida teen and young entrepreneur who got the opportunity to fly high with Virgin America airlines, even getting to meet the founder:

Sir Richard Branson, [founder of Virgin America and its other related brands] recently visited South Florida to launch his signature airline’s new terminal at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. During his visit, he met with students from NFTE South Florida’s E-Club, to share his secrets for success… then took them on a personal tour of an airplane!

During that tour, Richard Branson discovered that one student Darnell had never been on a plane before. [Darnell is a NFTE alumnus who had created his own business plan for “LD Designs” developing websites.] On the spot, he offered Darnell a free round-trip ticket to their headquarters in San Francisco.

His week in San Francisco was documented on the website below, with videos, tweets and a blog. Check it out to see Darnell’s trip in action: http://virginandnfteproject.weebly.com

Also check out the video below showcasing his experience – it looked pretty fun:

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Today, May 7, closes Girls’ Rights Week, founded by the organization Girls Inc. The week was created to empower girls to advocate for their rights and create positive change in the world.

This year the theme is “Healthy Girls, Healthy Communities” focusing on empowerment through focus on physical activity, nutrition, body image, and managing stress. Girls around the country took the time to determine the resources available in their communities to encourage physical activity and came up with findings as to why some girls might not have access to these resources. Girls Inc. National Scholars also met with First Lady Michelle Obama’s staff to present their findings.

Even though Girl’s Rights Week is closing why not think of ways you can continue to create a healthy body and community in the upcoming weeks. Maybe you can make a decision to start picking healthier snacks like fruits, taking time to exercise regularly, or getting together with friends to volunteer in the community, possibly cleaning up a park or planting a garden. Also check out the Girls’ Bill of Rights below and this video from the Girl Power Studio where girls and girl power motivator Kelsie Morales give an inspiring message:

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Mother’s Day is around the corner – on May 9th. Why not personalize your gift to your Mom by making creative stationery and a handmade card? You can decorate it with ribbon, dimensional stickers, or painted flower stamps as shown below.

Check out this video from Teen.com TV’s Craft Club with step-by-step instructions on how to make a special stationery set. Get creative and show your Mom how much she means to you!

Similar Home-Made Gift Ideas:

– Print up a special poem or “World’s Best Mom Award” on pretty paper and stamp the edges of the paper with flower designs like in the video. Frame the poem when it’s dry and give it to your mom as a special gift she can hang in her room or office.

– Instead of stamping paper, why not buy fabric paints and stamp colorful flowers onto an apron, canvas bag or t-shirt? You can use a fine bristle brush or fabric marker to write your mother’s name to make a personalized piece of art she can wear.

– Get a large poster board and cover it with colorful flower stamps as shown in the video above. Print out pictures of you and your siblings and glue them onto the board to create a collage of photos. You can also buy an affordable frame from somewhere like Wal-mart to make your masterpiece even more special.

(Note: All of the art supplies mentioned above can be found at your local Michaels, or other art supply stores.)

For all of you graduating this year, check out this inspiring and fun rap song dedicated to the Class of 2010. The song was produced by Josh Shipp, a hilarious youth motivational speaker (called “the next Dear Abby” by MTV) who really connects with young people what’s going on with the world today.

Also check out his online show “Hey Josh” where he always gives down-to-earth, honest and funny advice for teens about life’s issues, and shares how he overcome hard situations when he was a teen. For his advice column and videos visit his site at www.HeyJosh.com.

Some of the Lyrics from Class of 2010 Graduation RAP Song:

Proceed to keep it moving got to shake off the stress
I heard it takes ten years to be a overnight success
Five years of grinding five more of perfect timing
But zero years feeling guilty or even whining
About past circumstances
You gotta take some chances
Life is full of opportunities make advances…

Above: Five Virginia teens joined chef Jamie Oliver in the kitchen to cook up dinner for their senator and raise funds for healthier school meals.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution produced by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest made a wave this season and is a great inspiration to start eating healthier. Jamie Oliver, chef and TV personality, is cooking up a food revolution in America – battling obesity and challenging schools to serve fresher meals. He did a similar show in his home country Britain and was able to change the way schools there serve lunch – with less processed foods and more natural foods.

Five teens from Virginia (pictured above), Brittany, Marisa, Robert, Brian, and Emily, also joined in on the revolution. In some of the episodes they helped to cook meals for their classmates and even for their senator and local community leaders to help raise funding that would bring change to the cafeteria. Along the way they talked their life experiences and how eating healthier means living longer and better.

Though the season for the show recently ended, you can still watch past episodes online. Click here to visit the Food Revolution website if you want to catch all of the episodes. You can join in on the revolution too. Click here to sign Jamie Olivers healthy food in schools petition to help change the way lunch is served at your school.

Check out the clips from the show below where five teens join Jamie in the kitchen, and where college students set up a cool cooking flash mob dance:

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