This post is sponsored by VolunteerSpot.

Over the last few years, my school district has seen a lot of budget cuts. This year alone the district must fully implement the Common Core Curriculum for K-12; upgrade the computer network/hardware to prepare for online assessments in 2014-15 and pay costs related to the Teacher/Principal Annual Professional Performance Reviews.  And a lot more is needed: additional teachers to balance middle school teams and eliminate the Super Team model; the piloting of a dual-language (Spanish-English) kindergarten; the addition of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) course electives in high school and providing incoming students and teachers with iPads.

Quote a mouthful, right? But with school budgets getting tighter than ever, how much of it will really happen?

Wouldn’t it be nice to help your school out with additional money?  I’m about to tell you about a simple way to help your school out.

This back-to-school season, VolunteerSpot is giving away THREE (3) grants of $1,500 each to school-parent groups (like the PTA, PTO, etc.) around the country. The winners will be chosen at random so the more entries your school gets, the more chances you have to win. Here’s what you need to know:

Here’s all you need to do (You can do one of these, or all.)

1. Use VolunteerSpot during August to Take the Pledge to volunteer for your school. Don’t worry if you don’t have a specific activity to sign up for yet; just make the commitment to help out with one thing this school year.

Just be sure to include your school’s name when prompted during the easy registration process. Boom! You’ve got 1 entry already.

2. Use VolunteerSpot’s FREE online sign up sheets during August* to organize the parent volunteers for any school activity: back-to-school events, classroom helpers, carnivals, book fairs, hospitality teams & potlucks, concessions – any activity that involves multiple volunteers will be easier to manage with online sign ups and scheduling.

3. If you are a TEACHER, there is a special contest just for you. Volunteer Spot wants to help you get ready for back-to-school, and they’re giving away TWO iPad minis just to get you to try it!

How to Get More Chances for Your School to Win:

Invite (okay, bug) your neighborhood friends and fellow parents to use VolunteeerSpot this August too. Every new Pledge and new activity organized in VolunteerSpot.com counts as an entry for your school, so the more people you can get to sign up, the more entries to win $1,500 your school will get.

Post it on Facebook, or even better, email your whole class and ask them to take the pledge too. You might even remind people to take the pledge when you see them on the first day of school. Isn’t it worth it for the chance to win $1,500 bucks for your school?

One Last Brilliant Idea

Maybe you’re not the person who gets super involved in organizing activities for your school, but you probably know who is. Send the link to this page to the person you know who is most involved with your school’s parent/school organization. That way, even if you don’t need to organize an activity with VolunteerSpot right now, you can still help someone else out AND help your school win.

The Rules

If you have really bad insomnia, you can read the official rules here. Zzzzzz.

- Three schools will be chosen at random to win. Each will receive a $1,500 grant from VolunteerSpot for their designated school’s parent-teacher organization.
- You must be at least 18 years old to enter for your school.
- You must reside in the United States.
- The following uses of VolunteerSpot count as entries: registering and school organizer or teacher/educator VolunteerSpot account (it’s free!), setting up an activity, signing up for an activity someone else has set up, and pledging to volunteer.
- The sweeps will run from Aug 1- Aug 30, so enter now! Winners will be drawn at random and notified in September

If you still have questions, please click HELP at the top of VolunteerSpot.com and contact them directly.

I must stress that what happens in the film is the result of hard work, determination and not taking no for an answer. It is certainly not about LUCK. Quite the contrary. The characters are in a very unlucky situation and will do anything to create a change for their children in order to provide them with a better life.

Brief plot synopsis: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis play two determined mothers, one a teacher, who will stop at nothing to transform their children’s failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.

During our half hour conversation with the filmmaker Daniel Barnz, along with cast members Viola Davis, Rosie Perez, Oscar Isaac and Maggie Gyllenhaal, we discussed how moms are naturally advocates for their children.

Watching Won’t Back Down now as a mom with a son who just entered a city preschool made it a very different experience than if I had seen it perhaps four or more years ago before having my child. I was curious how much Maggie Gyllenhaal thought about her own daughter Ramona who is a first grade student as she was portraying Jamie and here’s her reply:

“I think what happens when you become a mom or a parent is, without even meaning to, the whole spectrum of emotions that you have, investments, feelings about the world just widen so much. And now I have a second child, and it happened again even more, even greater. All of those feelings are just in me. So, yes, all those kind of feelings informed how I played Jamie and who she was. Those are things that you don’t know before you’re a mom. For example, you could reach into your pocket in a business meeting, and find a bag of Cheerios, you know? All of the things that just happen that you can’t really explain to someone. Look, I played mom before I was a mom. I think I did okay. But, it’s different now.”

Like me, Gyllenhaal doesn’t know if she would have been sobbing hysterical during the lottery scene while re-watching Waiting for Superman if she wasn’t a mom.

There were other things besides being a mom which drew Gyllenhaal into the movie. “When I read it, I thought, I have to do this movie, we can’t live in a democracy and not have an educated electorate. What tools are we going use to choose our leaders if we don’t educate the people in this country?”

Gyllenhaal is shocked over the controversy wrapped around Won’t Back Down. “I’ve made so many movies where I’ve braced for the controversy; I was ready, for it — movies about vibrators, S&M, the World Trade Center and all sorts of things.”

Gyllenhaal didn’t do much research regarding our country’s educational system until after wrapping the film. Her cast mate Rosie Perez works in public education through her charity, Urban Arts Partnership, and explained, “It’s difficult and disheartening when you walk into these schools and the first thing that the child sees is a metal detector along with a correctional officer with a gun. And a night stick. You wonder if the kids are feeling criminalized,” explained Perez.

She went on to make a very important statement. “One thing that people do not understand is that you may be born into poverty, but that doesn’t mean you’re born into a certain level of capacity. All these kids need is an opportunity. When you present them with the opportunity, they will rise to the occasion each and every time.”

As a society, we’re lucky for these celebrities who embrace a cause and help shed light on it to the larger population. As Jaime and Maile know, a little bit of “lady lucky” never hurts either.

Photo from L-R: Sarah from OneSavvyMom.net; Michelle from MomTrends.com; Monica from MacaroniKid.com; Rosie Perez; Viola Davis; Maggie Gyllenhaal; Lainie from TheCultureMom.com; Oscar Isaac; Eileen from LatinaOnAMission.com; Daniel Barnz

Do yourself a favor and go see Won’t Back Down which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, September 28, 2012 and has a running time of 121 minutes.

Link Up!
‘Like’ Won’t Back Down on Facebook
Follow @WBDMovie on Twitter #WontBackDown

Lainie Gutterman is the Editor and Founder of My, Myself and Baby and a NYC writer.  She is a also a contributor at BabyGizmo.com.  Her Twitter handle is @meandbabyi and she can be found on Facebook. 

Are your kids in full summer mode?  Mine are.  They’re going to summer camp and loving it.  Everyday brings new adventures including tie dying shirts, swim lessons, trips to the beach, playing tag in the park, catching fireflies at night, roasting marshmallows on our deck.  We’re right smack in the middle of summer and we’re not really thinking about school.  But it is mid July and before you know it, we’ll be back in the classroom.  I’ve got the workbooks out preparing my son for second grade and they have reading time daily to keep up their literacy skills.

So, I’m pretty excited about the show we’re heading to see tomorrow in NYC: EVERYTHING ABOUT SCHOOl almost, playing at the TADA! YOUTH THEATER. In the show, they follow 8 kids from elementary school through high school graduation in a comic look at how friendships are built and memories are made. Includes popular TADA! hits like “I Hate Gym,” “Can’t keep still,” and “On the Menu Today.”  EVERYTHING ABOUT SCHOOL (ALMOST) cast is comprised of members of TADA!’s Resident Youth Ensemble; talented kids between the ages of 8 and 18 from the NY-metro area who participate in this FREE year-round youth development.

EVERYTHING ABOUT SCHOOL (ALMOST) concludes TADA!’s season celebrating 20 years of working with composer Eric Rockwell who conceived this show in 2002 as the second installment of TADA!’s popular “Everything About” series of musical revues focusing of a familiar topic like camp or family.

EVERYTHING ABOUT SCHOOL (ALMOST) plays the following schedule July 12 through Sunday, August 4:

Tuesdays-Fridays at 12pm and 2pm
Saturdays at 2pm and 4pm
Additional Opening Night performance: Friday July 12 at 7pm.

Tickets are only $15 for adults and $8 for children; Premium tickets (also available for every performance) are $25 for adults and $15 for children and feature priority seating and support TADA!’s programming. Tickets are now available online at www.tadatheater.com/currentseason.asp. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at 212-252-1619 ext 5 or in-person one hour prior to performance.

To celebrate going back to school, I am giving away FOUR tickets!

All you have to do is comment below.

You can get additional entries by doing one of or more of the following:

- Follow The Culture Mom on Facebook.

- Follow The Culture Mom on Twitter.

- Follow The Culture Mom on Pinterest.

This giveaway will end on Friday, June 27th. Winner will be posted here as well and will have 24 hours to accept the prize or will go to the runner-up.

Disclosure: I have partnered with the TADA THEATER to present this opportunity to my readers.  I was not compensated to write this post.

Best Movies:

I loved that my son enjoyed the dazzling film directed by Martin Scorcese, Hugo, just as much as I did. A long time fan of Woody Allen, I adored Midnight in Paris and found it just as compelling and genuine as some of his early films.  I saw it in a Brooklyn film house with other longtime Woody Allen fans and it was one of my most memorable cinematic experiences of the year.  I laughed out loud with all the ladies of the hit movie Bridesmaids and am thrilled that women took over the screen once again. Another great film for and about women was The Help, a well-written version of a book that rocked the hearts of millions of readers.  It was brought to life through the eyes of great actresses.  Viola Davis must surely be up for the Academy Award when time rolls around.

Best Plays:

I managed to catch Brief Encounter just before it left NYC, and I am so grateful that I did.  It reminded me of how much I love New York City, theater and film.  It was a great way to kick off 2011.  Another Noel Coward play happened to come to town this year featuring one of my favorite actors, Alan Rickman: Seminar.  The combination of Rickman and Theresa Rebeck was electrifying and it was one of my favorite nights on Broadway this year.  Another drama that I enjoyed was Other Desert Cities, a play I caught early in its off-Broadway run at Lincoln Center starring Stockard Channing and Linda Lavin.  Written by Jon Robin Baitz, who I am so glad has returned to the stage, it had such fresh dialogue and humor, and as the secrets unraveled throughout the show, I was almost falling off my seat.  And The Normal Heart on Broadway was one of the most richest, fulfilling stories I have seen on stage in a long time, as well as powerful performances such as Ellen Barkin, who won a Tony for her performance.  Other musicals that I enjoyed this year included Queen of the Mist by the Transport Group, The People in the Picture at the Roundabout Theater, and I finally got around to seeing the camp musical, Mamma Mia.

Best Books:

On the non-fiction front, I just finished Then Again by Diane Keaton and it’s fresh in my mind, but the book had me laughing and relating all the way through to the end.  I also appreciated The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and have since tried to incorporate several of the lessons I learned in the book to be happier.  In her book, I learned that we can all be happy by making small changes in our life.  We are all unique and can do whatever works for us. And I’m certainly planning to start going to bed earlier in 2012!  Like everyone else on this planet, I also laughed and cried along with Tina Fey reading Bossypants. Her strokes of brilliance resonated with me and shall remain etched in my mind.  On the fiction side, Those Who Saved Us by Jenna Blum and A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova stand out in my memory.

My Favorite TV Shows:

While I am anxiously awaiting the return of Mad Men, I have been enjoying Parenthood on NBC.  Lauren Graham and Peter Krause together in one hour of programming delights me to no end, and I love the way the show carefully explores issues that I care about as a parent: special needs, aging parents, infertility issues, marital relationships and more.  I also spent the year enjoying True Blood and Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO, Glee on Fox and Modern Family.  I nearly broke down when Oprah went off the air, and I’ve been trying to get into her programming on OWN, but it hasn’t worked for me yet.

What were your favorite films, TV shows, plays or books of 2012?

This year, Passports with Purpose, a travel blogger’s fundraiser that I am participating in, is supporting Room to Read.  If you read this blog regularly, you know that giving back and travel are two of my passions so I’m thrilled to be involved.  You might also be interested to know that I am very involved in the local chapter of this terrific organization and that we just raised 20K for them.  Here is a photograph of CEO and co-founder Erin Ganju at our recent event in Westchester.

Room to Read believes that World Change Starts with Educated Children. They envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.  Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, they develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

For Passports with Purpose, this translates into specific, concrete efforts — they plan to raise enough money to fund the establishment of two libraries, their exact locations TBD, in under-served communities in Zambia. The program will put books in the hands of kids that don’t have them. There are corresponding goals — bring in good teachers and librarians, engage the libraries in supporting regional education programs, increase literacy and, by doing so, change lives for the better. There’s lots of information on the Room to Read site about their programs, please go read up if you want more detail.

This is where The Culture Mom comes in.

Lending a hand is simple. We’re joining over 100 other bloggers who have all secured fantastic prizes. Blog readers like you have the opportunity to check out the assortment of prizes. Then, for each $10 donation, you get entered into a drawing for the prize(s) of your choice.

This is where our prize sponsor comes in.

Earlier this year, my family and I stayed at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek® while in Disney World and it was the perfect place to stay for afamily our size.  It’s comfortable, convenient, and quite luxurious.  Even to this day, my kids keep asking when we are going back.  The resort has so much to offer: location, activities, accessibility, spacious rooms, amenities, free shuttle service to all the Disney parks, five fabulous pools scattered around the resort, miniature golf, club rooms, an extremely kind staff and more. It’s the perfect kind of trip for a family that wants something for everyone.

In support of PwP, Wyndham Bonnet Creek® is offering a complimenary three-night stay in a 2-bedroom deluxe unit: Located in Lake Buena Vista, Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort is mere minutes from the gates of Walt Disney World®. You’ll not only enjoy free scheduled transportation to and from the Disney Theme Parks, but a very rewarding stay on site. From the full activities calendar to special touches like the tranquil Lazy River, beautiful pool and private lake, this is no ordinary stay.  Valued at $713.52.   Certificate must be presented at check-in. This offer expires12/23/2012. Based on availability. No cash value.

This is where you come in.

Do you have $10 to spare?  Want the warm feeling that comes with giving back? Follow these steps:

1. Head on over to the prize catalog / donation page.
2. Select Wyndham’s prize (and/or whichever strikes your fancy) and make your tax deductible donation via PayPal for a chance to win.
3. Wait patiently.  Prize winners will be announced on December 23rd.

Check out the PwP website for full details or let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below and finally, watch this video about the program:

Disclosure: This prize was provided to me free of charge as a entree in this fabulous campaign to help people in other countries.  All opinions expressed are my own.

For me, it marks a milestone in my own life.  The pre-school years are over.  No more 9am drop-offs and 12pm pick-ups. No more having to fill the day with constant activity.  No more school days filled with just playtime.  This year both my kids will have more intense academics, they’ll both have homework.  They’ll have 6 hours everyday where they’ll be learning literacy skills, mathematics, Spanish, art and so much more.  I won’t have to worry about booking constant activities everyday.  Some days they’ll be busy, some days they won’t. And it’s okay.  I can deal with that.

Most importantly, they’ll have that 3pm pick-up time.  My son is voicing apprehension about being in school for such long days. I will have to mitigate his fear in the upcoming weeks and make sure that he is ready to cope for longer days.   For me, I no longer have to worry about paying a babysitter for 9-10 hour days.  I will have a sitter who will pick them up from school and take care of them for just a few hours.  But that requires organization and a careful selection process.

With all this in mind, we have a lot to do.  I have two weeks to get myself and the kids together.  I have school supplies to buy, clothing for my growing daughter to purchase and plans to make as I will be away from home more often with my job.  It’s back to school time for all of us and I’ll be looking at sites like Tiny Prints to do some of my shopping.   I love their stationary and custom day planners to keep us all organized, my biggest challenge these days with all of our upcoming changes.

[Disclosure:  A gift card was provided by Tiny Prints via Global Influence.  All opinions are my own.)

This morning I had the privilege to be invited to a special event about Wonderoplis, a new web site created by the National Center for Family Literacy. When I got the invitation, I was intrigued by an organization’s goals that seemed to speak to me.  Words jumped off the invitation: discovery, imagination, creativity, literacy. With Jenna Bush Hager as the spokesperson. I knew that this was an event worth waking up for and heading into the city to.

After an introduction and video, I learned that Wonderolopolis was Created by National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and is sponsored by Verizon Thinkfinity.  With a mission of making learning an everyday, fun family activity, Wonderopolis launched in October 2010.  It’s a fresh take on literacy and education, one that both parents can use at home and educators can use in the classroom.

The folks at Wonderopolis performed months of research determined parents were eager for resources that reflected learning in the context of daily life and real-world knowledge. With this information, a core content strategy evolved revolving around a Wonder of the Day®, a curious question derived to make learning fun and practical, and a web site was born. They created a “Wonder of the Day”, something that bottles the learning that happens all around us into the Wonder of the Day. Each day, the site focuses on a clever topic, designed to immediately be put it to use by parent and child with the suggested activities, vocabulary words and enjoyable videos. Families can learn where banana bruises come from, how Jell-O keeps its jiggle and why a trip through the imagination can be better than a trip around the world.

The event was held at Fishtail, a lovely eatery located in a historic seasfood house. Our tables were set with lovely place settings that were jars of wonders.  Here’s what one looked like:

Jenna Bush Hager is clearly passionate about teaching.  She talked about her inspiration coming from her mother and grandmother, and their love of reading.  She’s a teacher and truly believes in this initiative.  Here she is talking to one teacher about her use of Wonderopolis in the classroom and there are some of her sound bites in the video below.

Deep cuts to school budgets, demands to increase parental engagement and pressures to meet higher standards on test scores are just some of the challenges facing today’s educators. While originally intended for families, Wonderopolis has quickly found it’s way into the classroom as a way to attract and engage parents. It helps teachers find creative new ways to infuse fun into learning and encourages parents to be partners in their children’s education.

Created to combat summer learning loss, a troubling trend of children forgetting much of what they learned during the school year, NCFL’s Camp What A Wonder is a free virtual camp to engage families in wonder-filled learning while school’s not in session. The first camp of it’s kind, Camp What a Wonder will provide exploration, adventure and discovery, without having to leave home or pay thousands of dollars in camp registration. Virtual sessions will “convene” each Thursday from June 23rd through August 11th, when the Wonderopolis.org background will change and reveal a new weekly theme.

The National Center for Family Literacy is the worldwide leader in family literacy. More than 1 million families have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL’s work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers. For more information, visit www.famlit.org.

Disclosure: I was not compensated to write this article.  I did get a jar of wonders as a gift.

(The picture to the left is of Jenna and myself)

Hosted to honor the Arts Olympiad winners from each U.S. state and territory and from nearly 100 participating countries, the festival attracts at least 10,000 attendees. The upcoming festival in June 2011 is a timely and important celebration for organizations, companies and leaders to demonstrate their support for children and a better future for all.

More than 300 educational, cultural and business leaders as well as artists, scientists, technologists and Olympians will host free workshops and activities, interact with the children, listen to their concerns, play and paint with them, inspire them and be inspired. But the children are our celebrities. They stage the festival and serve as event MCs. Young artists, musicians, dancers, and performers from across the globe showcase their talents, learn from each other, and create a nexus for the future.

The festival’s educational programming integrates the arts with science, sport and technology for the promotion of creative, peaceful and healthy cultures. Drawing upon ICAF’s Peace through Art approach, featured in the December 2006 issue of U.K.’s leading medical journal The Lancet, the instruction on festival’s first day [Health + Environment Day] is informational, spotlighting common concerns shared by children; the educational framework on the second day [Creativity + Imagination Day] is participatory, kindling children’s inherent talents and potential; and the training on the third day [Peace + Leadership Day] is inspirational, encouraging children to embrace lifelong creativity and empathy and dedicate themselves to building peaceful, prosperous and healthy communities.

Disclosure: This post was posted directly by the the World Children’s Festival, however I did approve its submission before posting to my site.

Research shows that children’s educational development slumps during the inactive summer vacation months — a phenomenon known as “Summer Learning Loss.” In fact, students score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer than they do at the beginning of summer.

One such pre-arranged “Brain Boosting” package is Patriots of America, which takes families through Pennsylvania and Washington DC . They’ll get a close-up look at the first government seat of the United States during a time when electric lights and motorcars were a thing of the future. They’ll visit Amish country and the battlefields of Gettysburg ; the U.S. Marine Corps, Colonial Williamsburg , Mount Vernon and all the great monuments of Washington , DC . The package typically includes 14 meals, a $200 discount for children under 12, and all gratuities. Additionally, American Express Cardmembers also receive a $250 discount per child under 18.

• Free full breakfast (up to 2 adults and 4 kids)
• 15% savings on Hyatt Pure Spa services
• 15% savings on dining
• 1/2 day kids program at Camp Hyatt for 1 child per stay
• Locally inspired in-room kids’ snack amenity
• One complimentary in-room movie per stay
• Guaranteed late checkout (2 PM)

>