Author: Christy Perry Tuohey
The summer months are peak times for tick bites, but as early as March, when the weather was still quite cold, a tick landed on Gloria Wright. She had taken her dog Molly out for a walk along a wooded path. Along the way, Molly found something pungent to roll around in and needed a bath as soon as they got home. “I ran some water, picked her up and plopped her into the bathtub to give her a bath,” she recalled. “I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s when the tick jumped from her to me.” Gloria…
In 1969, a group of Syracuse parents banded together to find an education alternative for their children whose social and emotional needs they felt were not being met in public schools. Fifty years later, that grassroot idea has grown into a 100 teacher, 11 classroom preschool, the Jowonio School. If you’ve driven by the East Genesee Street school and seen the green Jowonio sign, you may have wondered what the name means. It is taken from an Onondaga Nation word that translates as “to set free.” Freedom has everything to do with the school’s mission: “To provide model inclusive programs…
A radio repair shop that opened in 1923, a grist mill built before the Civil War and a factory that produced china at the turn of the 20th Century. United Radio, New Hope Mills and China Towne Furniture have been family owned and are still operating, in one form or another, in 2019 The second, third and fourth generations of the Rubenstein, Weed and Yennock families have worked side-by-side with grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins or siblings for most of their employed lives. And each says it takes a special family dynamic to make it all work. “You need…
Third-grader Abby Grzesik knows exactly how many days she was absent from school in 2018-19 (only missed one week), just how much her subtraction skills improved in Quarter Four (from a score of 63 to a high of 100), and how many days this school year she has read on her own (seven days a week each month, except for one week in December 2018, when she only read five days). Abby and her fellow students at Oswego County’s Palermo Elementary School keep track of their attendance and progress in reading and math in what are called their Leadership Notebooks.…
Pregnant women in the United States have a nearly 1 in 3 chance of having their baby by cesarean section. Given that no one can be in complete control of her birthing experience, you can take steps in the prenatal months toward having a non-surgical labor and delivery. If the unexpected happens—or expected, if you plan your cesarean ahead of time—there are ways to ensure that you and baby bond beautifully, even in the operating room. Syracuse mother Leila Dean had hoped to have a natural childbirth experience. She and her husband attended childbirth classes before her due date and…
Summer vacation is here. You may have road trip plans, airline reservations or a booked berth on a cruise ship. For some travelers, this may also mean motion sickness season. The good news: There are remedies, both medicines and non-drug treatments, that will help prevent and treat queasy stomachs. Who gets motion sickness? Children under age 3 typically are not affected by motion sickness, but older children may be, according to Syracuse family physician Jennifer McCaul. “Age 9 sees the maximum incidence of motion sickness, but then it tends to get slowly better over time,” she said, “except for people…
There wasn’t much hope the kitten would survive. A distraught motorist brought a 2-month-old orange tabby through a rainstorm to Wanderers’ Rest animal shelter, just as staffers were about to turn out the lights and lock the door for the night. “He was just like, ‘I don’t know what to do, I just found this kitten. I think I hit him when I was on the Thruway,’” recalled Mason Groesbeck, who is on staff at the shelter. The driver knew about Canastota’s Wanderers’ Rest. And although the animal shelter is only staffed during the day and has no full-time veterinarians,…
Parents constantly give messages to kids about what bodies are supposed to look like, whether they are conscious of it or not. Sometimes parents’ words or actions convey that certain bodies are not good enough. These negative messages can contribute to diminished self-esteem, eating disorders and other problems. “Diet culture”—the ubiquitous images and words that persuade people to engage in deliberate weight loss—adds to the challenges. But you, the parent, can help your kids feel comfortable with their bodies, eat healthily and choose physical activity for the fun of it. Adult influences “I remember my aunts dieting when I was…
It was a brief moment of freedom, one Hannah Kinne hopes to taste again soon. One day, her father needed to pick up her mother at the airport. Hannah needed to have access to their house because she’d be arriving while he was gone. For the first time, the 13-year-old was allowed to have a house key to let herself in the front door. “I felt trusted and stuff,” Hannah admitted. “I wish I had one full time.” Although neither Hannah nor her 11-year-old brother, Alec, regularly carry keys to the house, they are allowed, at their ages, to stay…
Fourteen-year-old Walter Polak is an honor student who passed two high school Regents exams while he was still in middle school. The Syracuse high school freshman is already making college plans, hoping to study foreign languages. He has taught himself Spanish and is now studying Mandarin. To get to this point, Walter needed special education. He was diagnosed with autism at 28 months and began receiving education support services before he turned 3. “We started the process at 18 months,” his mother Jennifer Polak said. “We were concerned because he gained language and then lost it a number of times.”…