Can’t Hide Me Director Focuses on Women in India who Step Out and Onward to Make Their Dreams a Reality
Jul01

Can’t Hide Me Director Focuses on Women in India who Step Out and Onward to Make Their Dreams a Reality

By Will Hite In India, millions of women living under its patriarchal society are told to stay inside as much as possible and tend to familial duties such as cooking, cleaning, and finding a husband. Otherwise, they are subject to men outside their family and have a chance of ruining their family’s honor.  While many women continue to face significant challenges  when it comes to their personal freedom,  what happens to...

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Esther Roestan’s Performance of Moon River Innovates a Timeless Classic
Jul01

Esther Roestan’s Performance of Moon River Innovates a Timeless Classic

By Will Hite First performed by Audrey Hepburn on an acoustic guitar in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Henry Mancini’s ‘Moon River’ helped the film become a timeless classic about love.  While many singers would cover the song, as its themes of being “…after the same rainbow’s end”  still ring true, the musical score Mancini composed evokes equally as much colorfully romantic imagery.  Esther Roestan, a student...

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Malawi Student Worries About Her Future in a World That’s All About Connections
Jul01

Malawi Student Worries About Her Future in a World That’s All About Connections

by Lexi Portner “I’m scared because there might not be a future,”  says high school student Tamika, “because in reality in Malawi and other developing countries and worldwide… you need to know someone in order for you to get by.”   In Nepotism: My Worst Fear (now screening on the Planet Classroom Network YouTube Channel), Tamika, a high school student from the Mzuzu International Academy in Malawi, delivers a...

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Youth Filmmaker Focuses on Both the Pros and Cons of Plastic Consumption
Jul01

Youth Filmmaker Focuses on Both the Pros and Cons of Plastic Consumption

By Lexi Portner Is plastic always bad? For example, what about its benefits in medicine and public health during the Coronavirus pandemic?  How does society misuse cost-effective plastic?  What are the biodegradable options for plastic packaging? The short stop motion short film, Plastic: Villain or Hero (now screening on the Planet Classroom Network YouTube Channel), focuses on why plastic is not a black and white...

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Youth Activists Ask Us to Skip the Disposable Straw
Jul01

Youth Activists Ask Us to Skip the Disposable Straw

By Lexi Portner In the US alone we use about 500 million straws a day.  “That’s enough to fill 46,000 big school buses a year,” according to Milo Cress. Milo has made the reduction of single-use plastic straws a personal mission. The Last Straw is one of eight stories that cover youth activism focusing on sustainability and the environment created by Young Voices for the Planet (YVFP) Founder, Author and Illustrator Lynne...

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