Bear Essential News June 2020, Tucson Edition by Bear Essential News

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’s r e m o Bo n u F r e m m u S ! e u s s I

July 2020 • Tucson Edition • www.bearessentialnews.com

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In This Picture: Find a bike helmet, a piece of popcorn, a reporter’s microphone, a skateboard, JULY 4, a milkshake, CAMPS, a closed umbrella, a baseball, and FUN.

FAMILIES

GAMES

FEATURE

NEWS

It's a S ummer B last!

NASA Honors Engineer Composting at School S ciTech Institute Ice Cream Fun

Bear’s fun & games feature pages 8 & 9

Spotlight on Bighorn Wildfire News Highlights page 3

NEWS & more news kids can use Scoops pages 5, 7, 11–14

Free STEM learning! page 14

cool games & recipes pages 15 & 16

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July 2020

Have a Fun & Safe Camping Trip! Many Families will be camping this summer. Read these important safety tips then find your way to the camping site. Plan ahead: Pick a destination early and make reservations if you need them. Have a real first aid kit: The Red Cross has a great list of what should be in your kit, and you can buy a prepackaged kit at any camping store. Don’t forget

your regular medications. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate: Being active in the heat means our bodies need more water. Make sure everyone drinks plenty before, during and after activity. Bring everyone a water bottle, make sure it’s full and

Which path leads to the campsite?

with them all the time. Even a short hike can dehydrate a little camper. Prepare for the weather: Check the weather report and always bring rain gear. Additionally, a blue tarp and rope will protect your campsite from rain and leave you dry and comfy. Always carry the 10 essentials for hiking: this includes stuff like map and matches, as well as rain gear and water. If you hike at all, learn to use a compass. You can do this in your neighborhood and it’s a fun activity for kids. Keep an eye on kids around water. Swimming in streams can be fun but these environments can be unpredictable. kids can be caught in a fast moving current in seconds, so they should never swim alone.

Have Fun Camping!

Be flexible: Try out fishing or bird watching. One of the greatest things about camping is that it gets us out of our routine, so allow yourself a little spontaneity.

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Three Top 10 Arizona Wildfires

NASA Honors Aerospace Engineer Mary Jackson

NASA

neer in 1958. She worked hard and wrote numerous research reports. After 20 years, she joined Langley’s Federal Women’s Program and worked to help hire and promote the next generation of female mathematicians, engineers and scientists. Jackson was one of the women featured in a popular book in 2016 that was made into the movie titled “Hidden Figures” the same year. The newly named headquarters “appropriately sits on ‘Hidden Figures Way,’ a reminder that Mary is one of many incredible and talented professionals in NASA’s history who contributed to this agency’s success. Hidden no more, we will continue to recognize the contributions of women, African Americans and people of all backgrounds who have made NASA’s successful history of exploration possible,” said Bridenstine.

photo credit:

The NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., has a new name: the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters. This is quite an honor for an amazing person. “Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Jackson grew up in Virginia, where she graduated from Hampton Institute with a dual degree in math and physical sciences in 1942. She worked as a math teacher, a bookkeeper, and an Army secretary before starting her aerospace career with the agency that preceded NASA. In 1951, Jackson was recruited to work in the segregated West Area Computing Unit of the Langley Research Center as a mathematician. These mathematicians were known as human computers! Two years later, Jackson switched departments to get experience conducting experiments. Her supervisor encouraged her to complete a training program so she could become an engineer. Jackson received special permission to join her peers in the then-segregated school and completed the courses. She became NASA’s first Black female engi-

Arizona School Openings Postponed

In total, Arizona more than 100,000 cases of the virus. People between the ages of 20–44 now make up about half of the cases in our state. Around the world, more than 11.5 million people have been infected and more than half a million deaths have been reported. According to the Arizona Dept. of Health Services, the virus is thought to spread mostly between people who are close to each other. The good news is the agency also says there are effective ways to practice physical distancing and reduce the risk to yourself and others. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If that is not an option, use hand sanitizer. You should also avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, stay home when you are sick, avoid being within 6 feet of people you do not live with, cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your sleeve, wear face coverings in public, and clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. For more information, visit azhealth. gov/coronavirus. shutterstock.com

Arizona teachers and students will have to wait a bit longer to return to their classrooms this year. Gov. Doug Ducey recently ordered the first day of school for in-person learning delayed until August 17. Schools are still allowed to conduct distance (online) learning before that date. School districts are scrambling to find the best solution. The governor previously announced a $270 million plan to help the state’s public schools safely open at the beginning of the school year. In addition to addressing schools’ reopening, Governor Ducey’s June 29 order also prohibits large gatherings and paused the operations of bars, gyms, indoor movie theaters, waterparks and tubing rentals until July 27. The decision came as Arizona is seeing record numbers of new cases of COVID-19. The numbers increased in June, with a record high 4,323 new cases reported on June 24.

While wildfires play an important role in maintaining a diverse and healthy ecosystem, three major blazes helped along by hot, dry and sometimes very windy conditions have left their mark on Arizona. The Bush fire 30 miles northeast of Phoenix is the largest of the blazes, burning 193,455 acres and was human caused. As of press time it is almost fully contained, meaning firefighters have made it so it can’t spread. The Bighorn fire in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson was lightning caused and has burned 119,000 acres and is 92 percent contained. And the Mangum fire near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon covers 71,450 acres and is 88 percent contained.

Retardant dumped by plane

USWS photo by Tim Peterson

News Highlights

BEAR 40 YEARS

How large are these fires? They are three of the 10 largest wildfires in Arizona history! But with monsoon season arriving, hopes are high these fires will finally come to an end and that firefighters get the upper hand on other smaller fires burning in the state. These fires are expensive and dangerous to fight. For the Bighorn fire at its peak, more than 1,000 firefighters battled the blaze. Huge jet airtankers, smaller tankers and special helicopters dropped fire retardant all over the mountain. So far, fighting this wildfire has cost $37 million! Seventeen years ago, lightning set off the Aspen fire, burning 84,750 acres of the Santa Catalinas. But that fire destroyed 340 homes and businesses. This time around, the firefighters, including hotshot crews that specialize in fighting wildfires, have saved all the buildings so far! Wildfires can burn for weeks and can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable. Seven years ago, the Granite Mountain Hotshots were battling the Yarnell Hill fire when almost all of their crew perished.

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July 2020

A Message from the Superintendent Dear Arizona Students and Families— I hope you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy. This summer has been very different than most. Instead of taking vacations, relaxing by the pool, or spending extra time with friends and family – many of us are staying inside to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Although this spring and summer have been challenging, I take heart seeing all the hard work you and your families have put in to make sure you can continue learning and are ready to start the new school year strong. Since the beginning of summer, I have been speaking to teachers across the state, and the number one thing they share with me is how much they miss seeing all of you – their students. I’ve been listening to your teachers and principals and the vision they have for the next school year. Although we may not gather in a classroom on the first day of school, your teachers are so excited to watch you learn and grow. Both teachers and students want to return to their classrooms as quickly and as safely as possible. We want to hug our friends, share stories about our summer adventures, and just be with each other. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has made it difficult to return safely to in-person learning and our classrooms. The absolute best way we can fight against COVID-19 is to protect ourselves and others by wearing a mask and staying at home when we can. We all have a big part to play in stopping this virus. I hope you’ll join me in this fight! Remember, the more we do to stop the spread, the quicker we can all gather again in classrooms. Finally, I want to recognize that many of us are feeling a bit lonely these days being away from friends and classmates – and that is perfectly okay. I encourage you to talk to a trusted adult so they can listen to your concerns and help you make sense of your feelings. It may be hard now, but if we all do our part to stay home and keep our communities healthy, we’ll be back to school before we know it. I am so grateful that we have each other to lean on to get through this together. I hope that I get to see you all in your classrooms soon!

Kathy Hoffman

Superintendent of Public Instruction For information on school openings and COVID-19 guidelines, visit www.azed.gov

Volume 41 • Issue 11

Editor & Publisher

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Stephen B Gin

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City Editor

YR Coordinator

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Art Director

Mike Loghry

Gary Shepard

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Get the Scoop!

Kids Learn to Compost for School Garden by Reporters Yanderline & Yaretzi Duarte Elvira Elementary

Composting. It’s important and useful for gardening. Compost is made up of different things we eat. But not just anything. To make compost you can use old fruit and vegetables, for instance beans, bread, apples, bananas, etc. You also need water to make compost. Once you have compost, some of you may ask, “Why do I need it?” Well, compost is used for plants. When you add all the right food scraps, water and more, over time it breaks down and becomes a rich soil. The soil is then used to help plants. It gives them the nutrients that then help them grow strong and healthy. In gardening club we also talked about what can’t be composted. Things like milk, cheese, meat, and ham. Those things can’t be composted because it attracts animals which leads to them to destroy the compost. We learned how to compost by going outside to dump all of our food. On our composting day, we learned what other things can be composted. We were able to teach others about composting so they could do it, too. It’s hard, but it can prove helpful to plants. (This program is coordinated by the Community Food Bank, working with Elvira Elementary staff and students to plant and maintain a future school garden. Starting in November 2019, students turned lunch leftovers into food for the school garden.)

How Is School Different Abroad? Here’s How by International Reporter, Kaya Bourns I am American but have lived overseas and never gone to school in America, so am curious about the differences. I bet going to school in England is different from going to school in Tucson, so I will tell you a little about my experience. In normal times, I would wake up at 7:30 a.m., eat breakfast, brush my teeth, then make the 10-minute walk to school from my home. Once I get there, we go into the classroom, call the register and put our coats and bags up. We start with maths. Yes, we call it ‘maths’ with an ‘s’ rather than math. You might guess the ‘s’ means we do a lot of it—it feels like it! But I think it is just a different way of shortening mathematics. After that we do guided reading, when we read as a class, then we go to recess. Next we go into Spanish followed by lunch and play with friends (a personal favourite). The afternoon is

my favourite time of the day—we have English and for the last class it varies from something called “Topic” which is where we study one topic at a time. Our last topic was on the history of the Benin Empire in West Africa. Then we have something called Personal, Social, Health and Economic studies where we study things like human rights and antidiscrimination. We also have a Handwriting class where you have to earn a “pen licence” to use a pen to write instead of a pencil. I wonder if you need a license for that in Tucson. (Editor’s note: favourite and licence are the prefered spelling for British English, while favorite and license are used in American English.) We also have, Art, Physical Education and sometimes coding in Scratch (do you use Scratch for coding?) before going home. MORE SCHOOL ABROAD, page 7 ➧

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News Stories Written by Kids— for Kids It’s a Lot of Fun Planting a Monsoon Garden by Reporter Ysrael Hernandez Arizona Virtual Academy Have you ever grown a garden? My mom did. She really liked it so I decided to grow one of my own. So we dug a big hole. Then we saw ants. And we didn’t want them there so we looked up homemade ant repellent. We found out that ants hate the smell of cinnamon. We put some cinnamon down the hole and that did the trick. Our research for monsoon seeds led us to Native Seeds S.E.A.R.C.H. New Mexico amaranth! My mom said we have never planted it. So I decided I would like to try to grow some. We decided to buy the whole Monsoon seed collection of seeds which included: beit alpha cucumber, Bisbee gray cowpea, Chimayo melon, Conservation Farm sunflower mix, Corrales azafran, New Mexico amaranth, Mrs. Burn’s famous lemon basil, and pinacate tepary bean. The collection came on June 25, and cost $35. Every other day I water my garden and my mother’s by playing in the sprinkler! In the cool of the afternoon I planted the seeds in my garden. I hope you get to grow a monsoon garden, too! MORE SCOOPS, page 11 ➧

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More School Abroad But that is in normal times. Since the COVID lock-down in the UK, maybe it’s a bit more like in Tucson. I do not exactly have a set time that I wake up. It ranges from 7 to 9 a.m. I still eat breakfast and brush my teeth, but I do not walk as far because I only walk down the stairs. My school uses a platform called Google Classroom for our work and the subjects are about the same as normal. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday I also have a video call with an English teacher that lasts about an hour and a half. If I work hard with my teacher then I have a short break, if not I probably have to do another lesson before my break. Around then it’s lunch time. I do not really have a set routine after that, but I usually go jump on my trampoline. Sometimes I like going to school better than home schooling and

Continued from page 5

sometimes it is the other way around. Let me give you the positives of each. The positives of going to school are:

• I get to see my friends • I am more active • I recently turned 10 and could be an “independent traveller,” which is a fancy way of saying I could walk to and from school on my own or with friends, but without an adult.

A few positives of homeschooling are: • Food is better • More freedom • I do not have to wear a uniform—I can get up and put on my regular clothes. I suppose I like both homeschooling and going to school, but I really miss my friends and hope that we can get back to normal soon.

MORE SCOOPS, page 11 ➧

BEAR 40 YEARS

Page 8

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July 2020

SummerBlast!

•

BEAR 40 YEARS

Page 9

It’s a Fun-Packed

Get Ready for Some Cool Activities with Your Pal Boomer Bear

Hi Friends! I’m ready to dive into some fun activities, and I hope you’ll join me. If you get stuck you can ask an adult for help.

TIP Use a separate piece of paper if you ﬁnd more words and run out of space.

AreYou a Word Sleuth? The word “sleuth” means detective: Help Boomer ﬁnd as many words as possible that begin with the letters S L or end with the letters T H. The word itself might go in either column!

sl______

______th

sl______

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sl______

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sl______

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sl______

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sl______

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sl______

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sl______

______th

sl______

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sl______

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sl______

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Carefully cut out the jumbled image squares, and put them back in order to see what Boomer is up to!

1. D R E S I F N

_______________

P E G N S E F O L S K

2. M W I S

_______________

3. C A N T V I O A

_______________

S U M N W R P O P O P

4. R O S S P T

_______________

5. G A I N D E R

_______________

I S A E M D R M P C P

6. S O L E C I P P

_______________

7. S V O I M E

_______________

L O N O I T A C A V E

8. C A B E H

_______________

9. P C M A

_______________

Haiku

S E I V O M B S R P S

Haiku is a Japanese poem written in three lines. It is written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. A haiku does not rhyme and subjects are often animals, nature, hobbies and activities. What fun haiku can you write?

FINISH

See if you can make it through this critter’s crazy beaded pattern.

for Boomer

START

Boomer loves to read Science and mystery books Just some favorites

W E L C I S P O P O H

T D O V S E I E A C M

(Cut along the dotted lines, and ask an adult if you need help)

GILA MONSTER MAZE!

Summertime Word Scramble & Search! Unscramble these summer words and then find ’em in Boomer’s Word Search.

Puzzle Time!

A crystal clear pool Boomer runs fast and dives Water splashes up Boomer loves pizza He loves reading and swimming A nice polar bear

Watch out for these lizards in the wild, and never try to touch or pick one up!

he Gila monster is America’s largest venomous lizard! These reptiles get their name from Arizona’s Gila River basin, where they were ﬁrst discovered. The largest ones can reach lengths of 2 feet and weigh up to 5 pounds! Easily recognizable for their stout black bodies with intricate patches of orange, peach or yellow, Gila monsters are covered in bumps called osteoderms. Venom is produced by glands in the lower jaw. These slow-moving lizards use this venom mostly for protection against predators. Gila monsters are a protected species, so look, but don’t touch! They are found in the Sonoran, Chihuahua and Mojave deserts.

Page 8

BEAR 40 YEARS •

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July 2020

SummerBlast!

•

BEAR 40 YEARS

Page 9

It’s a Fun-Packed

Get Ready for Some Cool Activities with Your Pal Boomer Bear

Hi Friends! I’m ready to dive into some fun activities, and I hope you’ll join me. If you get stuck you can ask an adult for help.

TIP Use a separate piece of paper if you ﬁnd more words and run out of space.

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

sl______

______th

Carefully cut out the jumbled image squares, and put them back in order to see what Boomer is up to!

1. D R E S I F N

_______________

P E G N S E F O L S K

2. M W I S

_______________

3. C A N T V I O A

_______________

S U M N W R P O P O P

4. R O S S P T

_______________

5. G A I N D E R

_______________

I S A E M D R M P C P

6. S O L E C I P P

_______________

7. S V O I M E

_______________

L O N O I T A C A V E

8. C A B E H

_______________

9. P C M A

_______________

Haiku

S E I V O M B S R P S

FINISH

See if you can make it through this critter’s crazy beaded pattern.

for Boomer

START

Boomer loves to read Science and mystery books Just some favorites

W E L C I S P O P O H

T D O V S E I E A C M

(Cut along the dotted lines, and ask an adult if you need help)

GILA MONSTER MAZE!

Summertime Word Scramble & Search! Unscramble these summer words and then find ’em in Boomer’s Word Search.

Puzzle Time!

A crystal clear pool Boomer runs fast and dives Water splashes up Boomer loves pizza He loves reading and swimming A nice polar bear

Watch out for these lizards in the wild, and never try to touch or pick one up!

BEAR 40 YEARS

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• July 2020

Boomer’s Boredom-Busting Activity Page

Backyard Scavenger Hunt! Do Boomer’s Summer Scavenger Hunt—you can break into small teams— and circle or cross out the items as you find them. Remember, safety first! A Pool item A Lizard A Dove or Quail A Picnic Table or lawn chair A Beetle A neighbor Walking a Dog

A Rabbit or Other Rodent A Bicyclist with a Helmet A Tall Cactus A Hawk or an Owl A Newspaper an airplane/jet

Color the picture & count the clouds!

Explore with a Friend! Spending time in the great outdoors is an excellent way to have fun with family and friends. Best of all, you get to use your “outside voice.” Keep an eye out for interesting wildlife, too!

Can you help Boomer find his camera?

START

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Get the Scoop!

BEAR 40 YEARS

Continued from page 7

Seed Library Opens in Marana by Reporter Madison Divijak, Dove Mountain CSTEM K–8 At the beginning of this year, I attended the opening of a seed library at Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library. Librarian Patti Long spoke to those in attendance about her excitement in bringing the seed library to this branch. The seeds are checked out in small baggies that are located in a card catalog. Once checked out with a library card, the seeds remain on the list of what is checked out, but then drop off of your card so you do not have to return the seeds. It is Long’s hope that if people successfully grow the items, they will harvest seeds and bring them back to the library. The two types of seeds that I picked out to grow are turnips and collard greens. Long said she is excited to bring the seed library to Marana for people to check out seeds. She hopes that people will bring the food they grow back to share with the library so they can see their successes. Long knows how many libraries have seeds and she wanted to bring this program to the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library. If you like to garden, you should check out the seeds at local seed libraries. (Note: Because of COVID-19 libraries have limited hours and services right now. Check www.library.pima.gov for updates.) MORE SCOOPS, page 12 ➧

SUMMERT IME!

and the skating is easy

www.skatecountry.com 7980 E. 22nd St.

298-4409

For $

Bring in this coupon and for $5, get admission for up to 5 skaters. Valid Mon–Thr., 3 pm to 6 pm. Fri., 3 pm to 5 pm. Skate rental $4.00 extra if needed. Not valid for birthday parties or with other offers. Please limit coupon use to 1 per person per week. Not valid for groups or day care providers. SKATE RENTAL EXTRA Expires 8/15/20

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July 2020

Get the Scoop!

Continued from page 7

What Does ‘Online’ School Really Mean? by Reporter Abigail Hernandez Arizona Virtual Academy I attend an online school. If you saw the virtual in Arizona Virtual Academy, you probably already guessed that. Many people I have met thought that an online school is just homeschool, but on the computer. It’s not. An online school has state-certified teachers, Blackboard sessions and other students. But online school isn’t just opening a computer and doing online classes—it’s so much more. A myth that I read on the internet said that kids will just sit on a computer all day. Students at my middle school go to meet the teacher events, field trips, science fairs, runs, competitions, team sports (hockey) and dances. A second myth was that students won’t interact with teachers and students. Actually, we Skype our teachers. Our teacher will make a PowerPoint ahead of time, make a Skype and invite students to join. Students also are allowed to call or text the teachers when needed. For assignments, our teacher will give us feedback and our grade. If students have questions, they can start a discussion thread. Students will see a little icon to respond. One more thing! Students will receive their textbooks over the summer, for the school year. Currently, we are reading Greek Mythology. If parents can’t stay at home with their kids, they can go to a blended learning center.

Book Is Filled with Loss & Love by Reporter Lizzy Barrett Old Vail Middle School “Strays Like Us,” written by Cecilia Galante, is about a 7th-grade girl named Winifred who got taken away because her mother stole some pills. It is about the sad life of a girl who keeps getting put into a foster home. This book talks about what life is like when someone gets taken from their family. However, what I dislike about this book is that it felt very long, even though it did not really talk about the mother all that much. I do not like how the main character kept getting angry at everyone; however I do admire her because she is always trying to help her mom get through her drug addiction. I like Winifred because she is a strong, helpful character. This book takes place in the present, and it takes place in the world as we know it. The setting is really clear, as if I can make a movie in my head. The author drew me into the setting a lot by giving a lot of description on what the main character’s surroundings looked like. This book is an easy middle-school read. This book made me emotional, and it made me think about the sadness of what the girl experienced. This book shows a family’s sad experience with drugs. Readers would enjoy reading this book because it discusses drugs and issues, where they could learn that it isn’t good to take pills. They could also learn that drugs can affect everyone around them. This book would be perfect for those who are going through different foster homes. Children should always ask for help if they are having problems with their family having drugs. It can help relate to others who are having troubles with their family. Personally, it is a sad book because the main character is going through a difficult time with her family because of addiction.

How to Use BEAR at Home! • When you read an article in Bear Essential, can you identify the 5 W’s & H—the Who, What, When, Where, why and how? Please share what the story’s about (summarize)!

• What parts of speech can you find in a headline? Is there always a noun? Underline the noun. How about a verb? Circle the verb. Can you find any adverbs or adjectives?

• Write a letter to a friend or relative that tells them the major points of the story, what you thought about what you learned, and whether you would like to learn more about the topic.

• Find a black-and-white photo or illustration in the newspaper, then color it with crayons, pencils or markers to give it some pizzaz!

• Stories on the News Highlights page often feature other parts of the country or the world. Can you find the places mentioned on a map, atlas or globe? If you do not have one at home, can you find a map online?

• When you are done reading Bear Essential, you can recyle it or repurpose it. Make a paper hat. Cut the paper into strips and weave it into a mat or basket. Roll the paper into tubes and use a little tape to secure the tubes. What can you construct with these cylinders?

Every month, Bear Essential News delivers fun, relevant, thought-provoking news and features for kids and families. Sign up for our electronic weekly Newsletter for parents and family oriented businesses. You also can sign up for our free classroom worksheets that augment the newspaper each month, designed by grade level and aligned with AZCCRS at BearEssentialNews.com. Students in grades 3 through 8 can become Young Reporters for this award-winning newspaper, too! Bear Essential is a free, fun and trusted news source, providing quality informational text that’s great for classroom (or at home) reading, writing and discussion. Bear Essential is a literacy award-winning publication.

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Making Family Time Fun! by Reporter Madison Hernandez, Arizona Virtual Academy Staying home with your siblings doesn’t have to be a nightmare. With a little creativity and compromise you can have a great week. Here’s how we schedule our week so everyone knows what to expect and how each of us can help. Sunday: Drive-up church and taking turns calling or texting family members. At night we watch a funny movie or AFV to get everyone laughing. Monday and Wednesday: Sprinkler play at home in the cool evening. We get to play in the water and mud and my mom gets her garden watered. Tuesday and Thursday: These nights we go to our neighborhood soccer field. The field has a walking track, too! Sometimes we roller skate, play Frisbee or football. One night we all learned to throw a boomerang. Friday: We all love this day. It means oven pizza and wings for dinner. We eat picnic style in the living room. (Just be careful your baby siblings don’t step in your plate!) We watch a movie. We love classics like The Swiss Family Robinson. Then we clean up and set up a camp right in the living room. Saturday: Early in the morning we grocery shop because it’s a chore now that nobody likes. But if we get it done early and work together we get to have a big fancy breakfast at home. Pancakes anyone?

WE ARE OPEN! Golf N Stuff is OPEN and ready for some summer fun! For everyone’s safety, we are following CDC social distancing and sanitation guidelines.

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July 2020

MENTAL HEALTH FOR ALL

JULY is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

In 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives designated July as *Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in honor of the leading African American novelist and journalist, who also was a voice for individuals and families affected by mental Illness. Mental health problems are very common. One in five American adults and youth are affected, so it is likely that someone you know and care about suffers from a mental illness, even if we don’t talk about it. Mental health conditions do not discriminate based on race, color, gender or identity. Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness regardless of their background. Our culture, beliefs, sexual identity, values, race and language all affect how we perceive and experience mental health conditions. Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition. A person’s beliefs, norms, values and language play a key role in how we perceive and experience mental health conditions. Cultural differences can influence whether or not we seek help, what type of help we seek, what coping styles and supports we have and what treatments might work for us. African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians are no different when it comes to prevalence of mental health conditions when compared to the rest of the population. However, your concerns or experiences and how you understand and cope with these conditions may be different. Overall, the Latino community does not talk about mental health issues

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and there is little information about this topic. We cannot know what nobody has taught us. Many Latinos do not seek treatment because they do not recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions or know where to find help. This is true for most minority populations. This lack of information also increases the stigma associated with mental health issues. Many do not seek treatment for fear of being labeled as having a mental health condition since this may cause shame. Don’t let the fear of what others may think prevent you or a loved one from getting better. Without mental health we cannot be healthy. Any part of the body—including the brain—can get sick. We all experience emotional ups-and-downs from time to time caused by events in our lives. Mental health conditions go beyond these emotional reactions to specific situations. They are medical conditions that cause changes in how we think and feel and in our mood. These changes can alter your life since they make it hard to relate to others and function the way you used to. Without treatment, mental health conditions can worsen and make it hard to live day-to-day life. If you feel you or a loved one might be experiencing a mental health condition, remember that these are biological brain disorders. Anyone can develop a mental health problem. It isn’t your fault or your family’s fault. Seeking treatment can help you live a fulfilled life and can strengthen you and your family for the future. NAMI Southern Arizona has a program called Ending the Silence which provides-no-cost presentations to schools giving students an opportunity to learn about mental illness through discussion and short videos. In addition, the NAMI Basics program is a no-cost six-class education program developed specifically for parents or caregivers of children and adolescents who have either been diagnosed with a serious mental illness/serious emotional disturbance or are experiencing symptoms but have not yet been diagnosed. For more information, contact NAMI Southern Arizona at 520-622-5582 or on the web at www.namisa.org for no-cost programs, services and support.

e-mail: boomer@bearessentialnews.com

July 2020 â&#x20AC;¢

BEAR 40 YEARS

BEAR 40 YEARS •

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July 2020

Today’s Forecast: un n y, W i t h a S f o e c n a h C Color the In 1984, July ! s e l Ice Cream k was declared n i r p S Cone! National Ice Cream Month

Fact:

The average American eats about 35 pints of ice cream each year

! s d i K

Make Your Own Ice Cream Pops

Ingredients: • 1 pint of ice cream, any ﬂavor • 18 4-inch lollipop sticks • Assorted toppings: sprinkles, nuts, crushed candy, mini chocolate chips

Fact:

Directions: 1. Place 2 parchment paper lined plates in the freezer for 15 minutes. 2. Sprinkle toppings of choice on a baking sheet. 3. Using a half-ounce ice cream scoop or small spoon, scoop 9 ice cream balls and place on the toppings. (return the pint of ice cream to the freezer so it doesn’t get too soft). 4. Roll the balls in the toppings, pressing in to make sure the toppings stick to the ice cream. 5. Insert sticks into the center of the pop. Place on the frozen plates and freeze until solid, about 30 minutes. 6. Repeat with remaining ice cream and toppings.

There are over 190,000 milk producing cows in Arizona

Fact:

It takes 3 gallons of milk to make 1 gallon of ice cream

Fact:

Have a Fun and Cool Summer!

A cow produces about 6 gallons of milk every day