The pope announced this woman as 'World's Best Teacher.'

Her 'No to Violence' program is making an incredible difference in Palestine.

 Natalie San Luis
03.29.16

It sucks when kids don't get to be kids.

There's probably a more eloquent way to say that, but it's hard to be articulate when you're talking about kids growing up in war zones. The first 10 years of life should be about getting to know the world through play and learning and fun. Being a kid should revolve around making friends, playing in dirt, and being carefree.

But lots of kids are deprived those opportunities, and it can be detrimental. Studies have shown that exposure to violence can affect children's health, cognitive development, and sense of morality.

However, good teachers can make a huge difference for struggling kids.

There are incredible teachers making big differences all over the world, but this month, the Varkey Foundation honored one woman in particular: an incredible Palestinian teacher named Hanan Al Hroub.

Hanan at the Varkey Foundation awards ceremony. Photo via the Varkey Foundation, used with permission.

Hanan won the 2016 Global Teacher Prize, an award that recognizes one outstanding teacher each year. This award is a huge deal: Pope Francis himself made the announcement about her win, specifically thanking her for "the importance she gave to the role of play in a child's education."

After accepting the award, Hanan told the audience, "We need to help children with questioning, dialogue, thinking, and feeling to help them express themselves. We as teachers can build the values and morals of young minds to ensure a fair world, a more beautiful world, and a more free world."

In Palestine, where Hanan teaches, violence is an everyday occurrence.

Hanan witnessed violence firsthand as a child in a Palestinian refugee camp, and it forced her to grow up very quickly. Years later, her own children had to confront bloodshed too, when they were walking with Hanan's husband and someone started shooting at them. Their father was injured in the attack.

"It transformed my children's behaviors, personalities, and academics," Hanan said.

All her life, she had seen children's lives derailed by conflict and destruction. So she decided to get a degree in elementary education and use education as a tool to address — and even prevent — violence.

In her classroom, Hanan focuses on what happens when students are exposed to violence.

Often, she says, their behavior reflects their trauma. They can become hyperactive and defiant, which in turn overwhelms and frustrates their teachers.

"I have had a number of special needs children in my class since I have been a teacher, and I am still shocked to see how poorly prepared we are to tackle their needs. They are isolated in public schools," Hanan told Upworthy.

Her experience as both a teacher and a mother of children exposed to violence prompted her to create her a teaching model that put peace and compassion at the forefront, which is how she ended up in front of the pope this year.

Hanan's classrooms are shaped by a simple and profound motto: "No to Violence."

Hanan uses stories, games, and activities as conduits for complex conversations on ethical behavior and morality.

One of the first things Hanan's students learn is her mantra: No to violence. GIF from Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize/YouTube.

The core of her strategy is individualized care, encouraging healthy relationships, and respect. "I gave students personalized time, and I catered lessons to each student’s needs, treating them in a way they were not used to being treated. I also have open discussions with all my students once a month about their attitude towards each other," Hanan said over email.

"Mrs. Hanan speaks to the students' souls. Mrs. Hanan works on these children's morals," Haneyek Nazzal, one of Hanan's supervisors, said.

No to Violence encourages students to be good citizens who engage positively with the world around them.

Hanan's students help their neighbors with their olive harvests, raise flags with the Palestinian president, plant olive trees on Arbor Day, write and act in plays about World Health Day and World Environment Day, and even make visits to their village council so they can better understand how government decisions are made. This involvement in the community helps Hanan break the chains of violence — not just for the children in her classroom, but also for their families.

Hanan has also started training other teachers in her school to use No to Violence, and she wrote a book, "We Play and Learn," on her approach to learning. The best part: It works. The schools where Hanan has implemented the No to Violence program have seen a reduction in violent behavior.

I'll let Hanan explain the impact that a good teacher can have:

"Every day, our role in life as teachers gets more and more important," she says. "If the world asks what the future of our children will look like, we should ask ourselves what type of educated children we will be raising."

Kids cheering for Hanan while the ceremony was broadcasted. Photo via the Varkey Foundation, used with permission.

inspiration kids war and conflict humanity relationships palestine peace citizenship & democracy places the world global teacher prize
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Florida city forecloses on man's home after fining him $30,000 for not mowing his lawn.

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Should a man lose his home because the grass in his yard grew higher than 10 inches? The city of Dunedin, Florida seems to think so.

According to the Institute of Justice, which is representing Jim Ficken, he had a very good reason for not mowing his lawn – and tried to rectify the situation as best he could.

In 2014, Jim's mom became ill and he visited her often in South Carolina to help her out. When he was away, his grass grew too long and he was cited by a code office; he cut the grass and wasn't fined.

France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

But several years later, this one infraction would come back to haunt him after he left to take care of him's mom's affairs after she died. The arrangements he made to have his grass cut fell through (his friend who he asked to help him out passed away unexpectedly) and that set off a chain reaction that may result in him losing his home.

The 69-year-old retiree now faces a $29,833.50 fine plus interest. Watch the video to find out just what Jim is having to deal with.

Mow Your Lawn or Lose Your House! www.youtube.com

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Michelle Obama named 'most admired woman in the world,' because of course she is.

The world can't get enough Michelle.

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

The world officially loves Michelle Obama.

The former first lady has overtaken the number one spot in a poll of the world's most admired women. Conducted by online research firm YouGov, the study uses international polling tools to survey people in countries around the world about who they most admire.

In the men's category, Bill Gates took the top spot, followed by Barack Obama and Jackie Chan.

In the women's category, Michelle Obama came first, followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie. Obama pushed Jolie out of the number one spot she claimed last year.

Unsurprising, really, because what's not to love about Michelle Obama? She is smart, kind, funny, accomplished, a great dancer, a devoted wife and mother, and an all-around, genuinely good person.

She has remained dignified and strong in the face of rabid masses of so-called Americans who spent eight years and beyond insisting that she's a man disguised as a woman. She's endured non-stop racist memes and terrifying threats to her family. She has received far more than her fair share of cruelty, and always takes the high road. She's the one who coined, "When they go low, we go high," after all.

She came from humble beginnings and remains down to earth despite becoming a familiar face around the world. She's not much older than me, but I still want to be like Michelle Obama when I grow up.

Her memoir, Becoming, may end up being the best-selling memoir of all time, having already sold 10 million copies—a clear sign that people can't get enough Michelle, because there's no such thing as too much Michelle.

Don't like Michelle Obama? Don't care. Those of us who love her will fly our MO flags high and without apology, paying no mind to folks with cold, dead hearts who don't know a gem of a human being when they see one. There is nothing any hater can say or do to make us admire this undeniably admirable woman any less.

When it seems like the world has lost its mind—which is how it feels most days these days—I'm just going to keep coming back to this study as evidence that hope for humanity is not lost.

Here. Enjoy some real-life Michelle on Jimmy Kimmel. (GAH. WHY IS SHE SO CUTE AND AWESOME. I can't even handle it.)

Michelle & Barack Obama are Boring Now www.youtube.com

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France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

via EarthFix / Flickr

What will future generations never believe that we tolerated in 2019?

Dolphin and orca captivity, for sure. They'll probably shake their heads at how people died because they couldn't afford healthcare. And, they'll be completely mystified at the amount of food some people waste while others go starving.

According to Biological Diversity, "An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted every year, costing households, businesses and farms about $218 billion annually."

There are so many things wrong with this.

First of all it's a waste of money for the households who throw out good food. Second, it's a waste of all of the resources that went into growing the food, including the animals who gave their lives for the meal. Third, there's something very wrong with throwing out food when one in eight Americans struggle with hunger.

Supermarkets are just as guilty of this unnecessary waste as consumers. About 10% of all food waste are supermarket products thrown out before they've reached their expiration date.

Three years ago, France took big steps to combat food waste by making a law that bans grocery stores from throwing away edible food.According to the new ordinance, stores can be fined for up to $4,500 for each infraction.

Previously, the French threw out 7.1 million tons of food. Sixty-seven percent of which was tossed by consumers, 15% by restaurants, and 11% by grocery stores.

This has created a network of over 5,000 charities that accept the food from supermarkets and donate them to charity. The law also struck down agreements between supermarkets and manufacturers that prohibited the stores from donating food to charities.

"There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away," Jacques Bailet, head of the French network of food banks known as Banques Alimentaires, told NPR.

It's expected that similar laws may spread through Europe, but people are a lot less confident at it happening in the United States. The USDA believes that the biggest barrier to such a program would be cost to the charities and or supermarkets.

"The logistics of getting safe, wholesome, edible food from anywhere to people that can use it is really difficult," the organization said according to Gizmodo. "If you're having to set up a really expensive system to recover marginal amounts of food, that's not good for anybody."

Plus, the idea may seem a little too "socialist" for the average American's appetite.

"The French version is quite socialist, but I would say in a great way because you're providing a way where they [supermarkets] have to do the beneficial things not only for the environment, but from an ethical standpoint of getting healthy food to those who need it and minimizing some of the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come when food ends up in a landfill," Jonathan Bloom, the author of American Wasteland, told NPR.

However, just because something may be socialist doesn't mean it's wrong. The greater wrong is the insane waste of money, damage to the environment, and devastation caused by hunger that can easily be avoided.

Planet

Single dad asks his daughters for fashion advice before a date and strangers on social media responded with some helpful suggestions.

The world is dark and full of terrors, but every once in a while it graces us with something to warm our icy-cold hearts. And that is what we have today, with a single dad who went viral on Twitter after his daughter posted the photos he sent her when trying to pick out and outfit for his date. You love to see it.




After seeing these heartwarming pics, people on Twitter started suggesting this adorable man date their moms. It was essentially a mom and date matchmaking frenzy.

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