Are we ‘prepping’ our kids for too much stress?

A few thoughts on navigating today’s increased anxiety-filled world By Kim Chiomento, Staff Writer, The Times As a teen in the 1980’s, the terms “prep, prepper, and preppy” evoke strong memories of a serious fashion statement: Tretorn tennis shoes, gravity-defying, up-turned collars, going sockless and the syrupy scent of Ralph Lauren’s Lauren perfume.  The above was often tied together...

Letter: DA’s back pre-K to fight crime

To The Editor, The passage of the 2014-15 state budget included an important funding increase for future crime prevention – a $10 million increase for PA Pre-K Counts. What does Pre-K have to do with crime prevention? Considering that approximately 70 percent of our nation’s state prison population failed to receive a high school diploma, education is a pivotal factor between incarceration and...

Letter: candidate opposes Keystone graduation requirement

To The Editor: I oppose the effort to make the Keystone exams the deciding factor in a student’s graduation from High School.  One test cannot accurately evaluate an individual students abilities or efforts throughout their K-12 education. Students show their abilities and skills in many ways and a single exam path to graduation narrows an individual’s path toward success. The time spent instructing...

Letter: Looting horsemen no way to pay for schools

To The Editor, My background is that of an ‘Army Brat” who traveled the world — Turkey, France, Okinawa — with relatives in England, Australia, and New Zealand.  My grandfather in England used to call his bookie and enjoy making small bets from home and take me to the race courses in the 1950s. I love horses and always have from riding carriage horses in Turkey to now owning...

What were all those dentists doing in New Orleans?

Annual American Dental Association Meeting highlight tech, learning By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times Just last week more than 24.000  dental professionals gathered in New Orleans for the Annual meeting of the American Dental Association.  That’s a lot of dental people in one place.  What makes these meetings so important? As a private practice dentist, I believe it is important...

Common Core hysteria is testing the limits

While a debate is proper, muddying the waters with lies doesn’t help By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Tuesday night, there’s a big meeting planned at the Kennett Fire Company’s Red Clay Room, to talk about the issues with the proposed Common Core curriculum. And while there are issues with Common Core, ranging from questions about the nature of the curriculum to who should pay for it, the...