Ogden Arts Festival Accepting Applications For Art Vendors
Deadline to apply is April 2, 2018
OGDEN, UT (March 4, 2018) –The Ogden Arts Festival is looking for local and regional artists to participate in the 2018 festival to be held on June 9th and 10th. The Ogden Arts Festival is an interactive experience at the outdoor Municipal Gardens and Amphitheater located in Ogden’s historic downtown district. Managed by Nurture the Creative Mind and held as a fundraiser for the organization, the event is complete with artist booths, music, theater, kid’s activities, skateboard competition, urban arts area, and artisan food vendors.
Fine Arts and extremely creative, unique and high quality products will be accepted. For those interested, a complete list of media categories including, painting, photography, wood working, sculpture and more, along with a direct link to our application can be found here: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=6492.
“The festival is a great way to kick-off the summer surrounded by friends and family” says Amir Jackson, founder of Nurture the Creative Mind, and Director of the Ogden Arts Festival. “We’re excited to grow and implement new ideas. 2018 will bring more community partnerships, a focus on theatrical performances, and 2 days of live graffiti painting.”
Over the years the festival has drawn in creative talent from across the state of Utah as well as Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and California. Since 2004 it’s been a natural addition to a community with active art galleries, monthly first Friday Gallery Strolls, and a thriving downtown.
For more information please see links below:
https://www.facebook.com/ogdenartsfestival/
https://nurturethecreativemind.org/
About Ogden Arts Festival: Established in 2004, the Ogden Arts Festival is produced as a quality event to cultivate community-wide engagement for appreciation of arts and cultural to residents and visitors of the Northern Utah area. Managed by Nurture the Creative Mind a 501c(3) nonprofit that empowers and establishes self-value in youth through creativity, while developing marketable skills.
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USDA Announces More Local Control for School Meal Operations
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2018 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Steve Censky today announced two new efforts to provide states and school districts with additional flexibility and support to operate more efficient school meal programs. Censky made the announcement during a speech at the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference in Washington, D.C.
In 2015, USDA established education and training requirements for nutrition professionals as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. While this strengthened many school meal programs, some small school districts faced challenges finding qualified applicants to direct their local food service operation. Today’s proposal would provide much-needed relief for school districts with less than 2,500 students, allowing them more flexibility in the hiring of new school nutrition program directors.
“Small and rural school districts will no longer have to overlook qualified food service professionals because of one-size-fits-all standards that don’t meet their needs," said Censky. “We trust our local partners to hire talented school nutrition program directors who will manage the meal service in a way that protects the health and well-being of students.”
USDA is providing a 60-day public comment period and will then develop a final rule that responds to the needs of partners and stakeholders.
To support states’ efforts to improve program integrity, USDA also rolled out a suite of customizable resources to help local school districts improve the accuracy of their school meal application processes. These resources include support for online applications, evidenced-based materials, and best practices to simplify the process for families and ensure that eligible children receive free and reduced-priced meals.
“USDA’s goal to do right and feed everyone starts with our children,” said Censky. “We are committed to giving states and school districts more tools and options to build a bright, self-sufficient future for America’s children through well-managed school meal programs.”
As part of this package, USDA is offering guidance to help schools utilize its award-winning, open-source online school meal application model. USDA developed the application with input from local food service professionals. The customer-friendly design of the model is intended to increase the integrity of the application process by reducing common mistakes families make when applying for free or reduced-priced school meals.
“These tools are the benchmark for future innovation and give schools 21st century resources and strategies to run efficient food service operations, now and into the future,” Censky said. “Schools can ensure the proper use of funds for feeding students in need, protecting the taxpayer dollar through high integrity programs.”
USDA invites software developers in private industry to join schools in delivering customer service by helping them tailor their own applications.
Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of recent USDA actions to expand flexibility and ease challenges for partners and stakeholders who help feed our nation’s children. Other actions include:
About 100,000 schools and institutions feed 30 million children through the National School Lunch Program and nearly 15 million children through the School Breakfast Program. Many of these children receive their meals at no cost or for a reduced price according to income-based eligibility.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which together comprise America's nutrition safety net.
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Study Finds the Average Utahn Incurs 31 hours of ‘Sleep Debt’ Each Month
Sleep is crucial for good health – it regulates our mood, affects productivity, concentration, weight, and it’s the key to a healthy lifestyle.
But according to a nationwide study on 2,500 adults by mattress review site Sleepopolis, the average Utahn is missing out on a significant 31.7 hours of sleep each month* - this compares to a national average of 30.6 hours.
The United States of Binge Sleepers
It’s clear that as a nation we are not getting enough sleep – but are we aware of it? Sleepopolis’ study implies we are, as it also revealed that 14.8% of sleep-deprived Americans repay their ‘sleep debt’ by binge sleeping on weekends.
According to The National Sleep Foundation, ‘sleep debt’ is described as ‘the difference between the amount of sleep that you need and the amount that you’re actually getting.’
But can you really repay long-term sleep debt? Logan Block from Sleepopolis comments:
“Our survey shows that we’re becoming a sleep-deprived nation, missing out on 30 + hours of sleep each month. Unfortunately, there’s no way to “repay” long-term sleep debt — experts simply recommend changing your habits to make sure you get sufficient rest to live the healthiest life possible. Stick to a regular sleep and wake schedule, avoid caffeine and alcohol (especially before bed), exercise daily, and switch off electronics at least an hour before you go to sleep, keeping all technology out of the bedroom.”
Sleepopolis has created an infographic to show the problem of sleep deprivation across the states: https://sleepopolis.com/blog/much-sleep-debt-owed/
As you can see, Alaskans are the biggest sufferers, missing out on a huge 42 hours of shut eye a month; Minnesotans come in around average, incurring a sleep debt of 30.9 hours a month; and Vermonters are the healthiest (said very loosely) when it comes to sleep, only short of 21.7 hours sleep per month.
So why aren’t we getting enough Z’s? Well, according to Sleepopolis’ survey results, a significant 44.3% of Americans say they often struggle to fall asleep at night.
And it’s hardly surprising that, as a nation, we find it hard to switch off, given that the survey also revealed that over a third of Americans (36.3%) admit to drinking caffeine (tea, coffee or energy drinks) just before going to bed, and 78.3% use their cell phones every night just before going to bed.
Worse still, Sleepopolis’ survey revealed that for some, falling asleep is only half the battle - it’s staying asleep that is also a challenge.
According to the survey results, 38.1% of those who wake up in the middle of the night do so because they need the bathroom, (a good reason to kick the caffeine before bed habit), 19.2% of Americans said their sleep is interrupted because of the room’s temperature, 18.8% put broken sleep down to work-related stress, 18% blamed an uncomfortable mattress, 3.8% blamed waking up on loud noise outside, and 2.1% said their partner was to blame!
For women, the most common reason for waking up in the middle of the night was to use the bathroom (53%), whereas men were more likely to wake up because of an uncomfortable bed (29.8%).
Sleep is a fundamental human behaviour – but it seems the recommended eight hours a night is a rare luxury for most of America.
*Based on the assumption the average adult needs a healthy 8 hours sleep per night.
