Green Back to School Tips

 It is back to school time in Carslbad.  This involves buying clothes, getting school supplies, and organizing everything for your kids in the morning.  Here are some great tips for back to school that will also help your family be a little more green.



Making a list for the back-to-school shopping? Consider focusing on what's good for the environment.

Waste Management of San Diego offers four Mother Nature-friendly habits worth adopting this school year.

• Pack a lunch with reusable gear: Buy a reusable lunch box or recycle those brown paper bags. Doing this will also help families save money on food.
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• Purchase products made from recycled materials: Buy products that can be recycled like an ink-cartridge that can be refilled rather than buying a new one.
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• Utilize carpools or public transportation: Team up with another family and carpool your children to school. Or even better, use public transportation.
  
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• Turn off and unplug appliances when you are not using them: Turn off those desktop computers, lights and other appliances when you're not using them.
  For more information see the Carlsbad Patch.
  

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School Safety Tips for Drivers

 It is back to school time in Carlsbad, which means kids will be crossing the street and playing outside.  This means it is time for parents, drivers, and citizens to be extra careful when driving around town.   The Carlsbad Police are offering some important safety tips to keep ourselves and children safe during the school year.

 With kids throughout Carlsbad heading back to school, the City of Carlsbad Police Department offers these important safety tips:

• Serve as a role model with safe driving habits
  
  • Slow to 25 miles per hour and be especially alert while driving near a school
  • Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, medians and curbs
  • Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully
  • Watch for children on and near the road in the morning and after school hours
  • Yield to pedestrians
  • Reduce any distractions inside your car, so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings. Talking and texting on the phone while driving are illegal.
• Follow basic safety rules
  • Use seat belts, car seats or booster seats for children
  • Use the crosswalk to cross the street. Do not jaywalk
  • Pay attention to school buses. If the bus is stopped, there might be children exiting or entering
• Talk with children about the importance of traffic safety
  • Teach them how to cross the street at corners and in crosswalks. Watch a video about crosswalk safety.
  • Use a crossing guard to cross the street, when available
  • Teach children to follow safe biking rules, such as wearing a helmet and stopping at street corners and stop signs
  • Remind children not to run into streets or cross in between parked cars
  • Walk with children to school for the first few days to familiarize them with the route and to point out possible traffic hazards
  • Teach children what do if they need help, including how to dial 9-1-1
• Take an active role in helping teens learn to drive responsibly
  • Remind teens they are not allowed to have passengers for the first year that they are licensed to drive
  • Remind teens that texting and talking on the phone while driving are illegal
   

For more information please see Carlsbad, CA. 

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The Circus is Coming to Town!

The circus is coming to town August 23-26th. Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey present Dragons! This circus is a once in a lifetime event honoring the year of the dragon. Along with the circus there are great activities for all ages 90 minutes before showtime, so make sure to get there early

 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® presents DRAGONS is a once-in-a-millennium event that honors The Year of the Dragon!  Circus performers from the farthest reaches of the earth have assembled for Ringling Bros. presents DRAGONS to showcase their astounding acts of bravery and astonishing athleticism. Ringling Bros. Ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson presides over this fantastical celebratory tournament of circus champions that brings together mystic dragon lore with authentic circus feats. DRAGONS is a never-before-seen circus adventure of renowned legends and real-life spectacle that is coming to San Diego for eight action-packed shows from August 23-26 at the Valley View Casino Center (formerly San Diego Sports Arena).
 
 Be sure to arrive early to join in on several exciting interactive elements before the show starts!  Opening 90-minutes prior to each performance, all ticket holders are invited to tour the Animal Open House to get up-close with amazing animals.  Then, one hour before show time for the interactive All Access Pre-Show, FREE admission with your ticket! Families can join in on the fun on the arena floor and participate in hands-on experiences such as learning juggling and balancing skills, get performer autographs, and meet the Ringling Bros. Clowns.

We’ll see you at the Greatest Show on Earth^®!

For more information see the Carlsbad Patch.

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Boys and Club are Going to Make Many More Kids Happy

The Boys and Girls of Carlsbad will hopefully be letting the 150 children on the wait list into their building soon.  A surprise fundraiser was held to help complete the extension they are building in what they call “the barn”  The fundraiser raised 1 million dollars in an hour with some of the top companies in the area.

 Nearly 150 children wait patiently on a list to be able to go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad. "We hope to wipe out the waiting list of 148 children early in 2013," said Club CEO Brad Holland.

Currently, the Clubhouse is partially open and serves 100 children daily. While construction started more than four years ago, the building is still more than a million dollars away from being done. Five million has already been raised and spent on the project.  

 

"There’s about 10,000 square fee that we call the “barn.” Basically it is just a shell and the interior is unfinished. These include all of the programming rooms as well as administrative offices. Currently only the gym and Teen Center are completed and in use," explained Pat Maldi Director of Marketing and Special Events. She added in an email, "we use the Teen Center for all ages at this time because of the limited space."

On July 31, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad got a wonderful suprise. TaylorMade, a Carlsbad-based golf company, held an exclusive event for 45 of the area’s top business executives, rallying them to give to one of TaylorMade’s charities of choice – the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad. The event raised nearly $1 million in less than one hour, which will go directly to complete the Bressi Ranch Clubhouse. 

Maldi said they have met with their contractor and will begin the last phase of construction the first week of September. 

For more information go The Patch.

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Back to School Lunches

It is time for back to school, which means it is time for the argument between parents and child about what to bring for lunch.  Most kids want to buy school lunches, which are not always healthy and can be expensive for families.  However, there is a way to save your family money and also to keep your children happy.

Sending the kids back to school often means re-establishing structure in my life as well as the kids’ lives. We are going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, watching less TV and packing lunches. When the schedule gets out of hand, the packed school lunch is usually the first thing to go in our house.




But not this year!  Buying a lunch everyday at school for our two children would cost us about $875 for the year - not to mention that buying lunch at school is not usually the healthiest choice. So this year I have a School Lunch Money and Time-Saving Game Plan.

First, I laid the groundwork for the plan. Each child will pack his or her own lunch at least three days a week. I got the kids interested by letting them decide what goes in their lunch.  Each Sunday we sit down and look at the school menu and decide what two days each child will buy lunch.  Then, we discuss what the children want to pack for their lunch on the other days.  They each get to pick one protein, one, fruit, one grain and one veggie for their daily lunch. All items must have at least some nutritional value.

Then, I assemble the items in individual servings and they all go into one drawer of the refrigerator, even the shelfable items go in the drawer.  Then every evening before dinner, each child opens the drawer, picks the lunch items and packs his or her own lunch for the next day, and I save money and time.

For more information check out The Patch.

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