HEALTH MATTERS Join the Campaign for Children’s Health, and invite your students to participate in its national essay contest, “When an Apple a Day Isn’t Enough.” The AFT is a member of the campaign, designed to raise awareness about the 9 million children who do not have health insurance and the millions more who are underinsured. The campaign’s national essay contest asks students ages 9-18 to explain how the ability to go to the doctor or go to the hospital affects their lives and the lives of those around them. Winners in each state will be selected from two age groups—9-13 and 14-18. These state winners each will receive a $250 cash prize and will have their essays published. Grand prize winners, one from each age group, will be awarded $2,500 and flown (along with a parent-guardian and their teacher) to Washington, D.C., for a special awards ceremony in February 2007. The school or institution that submits the most entries will receive a $2,000 cash award for school supplies. The contest also offers a $250 honorarium to teachers selected to judge the contest. Visit www.childrenshealthcampaign.org/events/national-essay-con
test.html.

HIV/AIDS RESOURCES One of the most popular materials to debut at the 2006 AFT national convention was a handy pocket guide put out by the AFT AIDS in America Project. The small booklet offers a concise directory of resources to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States along with key facts about AIDS prevention and awareness. Limited copies of the booklet are available from the AFT human rights and community relations department. Send requests to mcross@aft.org.

MERRY ISTHMUS Time is running out to apply for the Toyota International Teacher Program, offering a 10-day study tour of Costa Rica. Up to 20 secondary school teachers from selected states will be chosen for an expenses-paid trip to explore the natural and cultural resources of the country. The program also offers $500 to the host school to help pay for a substitute teacher or to help purchase materials related to the Costa Rica study experience when teachers return home. The deadline to apply is Oct. 9; full details and applications are available at www.iie.org/toyota.

SMILES TO LAST October is National Dental Hygiene Month, and the focus for 2006 is early childhood dental hygiene. The campaign will highlight cavity prevention and a proper oral hygiene routine that begins at an early age. The event is sponsored by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, which is offering online fact sheets and other information about healthy young smiles. Visit http://www.adha.org.

JAPAN 2007 The Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program provides primary and secondary school teachers a chance to participate in three-week study visits to Japan. Up to 400 teachers and administrators will be selected to participate next year in the program, which features visits to primary and secondary schools, teacher training colleges, and meetings with Japanese teachers and students. Graduate level credits are available. The deadline for the 2007 JFMF program is Dec. 7. More information is available at www.fulbrightmemorialfund.jp, or call toll-free 888/527-2636.

THOUGHTS FOR YOUR PENNY The U.S. Mint’s education program known as “h.i.p.” (“history in your pocket”) enters the 2006-07 school year with new online resources for students and teachers alike. Visit www.usmint.gov/kids for printer-friendly lesson plans, classroom activities and helpful links on some of the mint’s most popular programs, including the 50-state quarter program’s newest arrivals.

FIELD WORK Budget shortfalls have taken their toll on a variety of vital school activities, including the opportunity for students to enhance their learning through field trips. Target Corp. is responding to this need by offering education professionals nationwide the opportunity to apply for one of 800 grants up to $1,000 through the new Target Field Trip Grants Program. More than $800,000 in field-trip funding will be made available through the program. Applications for the Target Field Trip Grants Program will be available online at www.Target.com/teachers through Nov. 1.

IDEAS INC. Airborne Inc. has established the Airborne Teacher Trust Fund, a nonprofit charitable corporation, to fund elementary and middle school art and music programs in jeopardy of being lost due to budgetary limitations. The fund is beginning with an investment of $250,000. Grants ranging from $200 to $10,000 will be awarded to teachers to implement programs during the 2006-07 school year. Grants initially will be offered to teachers in California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Missouri, with new states added every three months. Details are available at www.airbornetrust.com.

BULLYING RESOURCES Every day, an estimated 160,000 kids miss school because they’re scared of bullying. The National Crime Prevention Council is offering new tools to help parents take the problem seriously and help schools stop it. The NCPC Web site offers tips to parents on the warning signs of bullying. Other materials explain to kids how they can promote a school climate that curbs bullying between classes, at lunch or recess, and after school. For details visit www.ncpc.org.