Published on 07/09/09

2009 edition of annual UGA Back to School Packet

Welcome to the 2009 Back to School Packet. In this edition, experts from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offer tips to help get students, and parents, ready for school. Feature articles address school safety, healthy eating, kids and technology, teen relationships, tax-free shopping, after-school care and 4-H programming.

These featured articles are provided to help you give your readers the timely, valuable information they want and need. Your UGA Cooperative Extension county agent (call 1-800-ASK-UGA1) can help you localize these features.

News Articles 2009
1. Plan healthy after-school snacks – April Sorrow

2. 4-H helps students improve writing test scores – Sharon Dowdy

3. Home alone: When is your child ready? –Faith Peppers

4. Keep lunch safe– April Sorrow

5. Teach children to eat for health – Brad Haire

6. Cooperative Extension helps grow green kids – Stephanie Schupska

7. Relationships healthy, normal for teens – April Sorrow

8. Take time to play – Stephanie Schupska

9. Kids and technology – April Sorrow

10. Shop during the tax-free holiday – Sharon Dowdy

A printable newsletter is also available with additional articles and resources.

(April Sorrow was principle editor of the 2009 Back to School Packet and is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)

April R. Sorrow is a science writer with the University of Georgia Public Affairs Office.

Experts/Sources:

The holiday season can be a time of anticipation and joy, but balancing multiple commitments and personalities across families and friends can be a source of stress for hosts and visitors alike.

Like preparing parts of the meal ahead of time to spend more of the holiday with guests, taking time ahead of the day to set expectations can go a long way to ensuring enjoyable gatherings, said Ted Futris, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist and professor of human development and family science in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

CAES News

Manage holiday stress with kindness, boundaries 11/21/24 Maria M. Lameiras

The holiday season can be a time of anticipation and joy, but balancing multiple commitments and personalities across families and friends can be a source of stress for hosts and visitors alike. Much like preparing parts of the meal ahead of time allows you to spend more of the holiday with guests, setting expectations ahead of the celebration can go a long way to ensuring enjoyable gatherings, said Ted Futris, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist and professor of human development and family science.

CAES News

CAES welcomes 2024 cohort of Rural Scholars 11/20/24 Maria M. Lameiras

The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences welcomed its fourth cohort of students chosen for the CAES Rural Scholars Program this fall just weeks after celebrating the program's first graduation. Georgia Orman, one of four inaugural Rural Scholars in CAES, graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education. The new scholars for 2024, all from Georgia, are Ela Ash of Ocilla, Lauren E. Coley of Cochran, Amelia Housley of Canon, and London O’Steen of Ambrose.

Women play a vital role in rural American farming, but much of that work is "invisible," like raising children or household chores, according to a new UGA study. (Getty Images)

CAES News

The women and stress behind rural farming in America 11/19/24 Leigh Hataway

Recent research from the University of Georgia suggests the unique stresses from farm life may be taking a toll on one of the pillars of the families that make your dinners possible: the women who keep farming families running. “If we don’t control our food sources, we don’t control our health and safety,” said Anna Scheyett, lead author of the study and a professor in UGA’s School of Social Work. “It’s a matter of national security that farmers survive in the United States. And one of the big factors in helping farms survive is women.”

CAES News

That's the spirit! 11/18/24 Maria M. Lameiras, Claire Sanders Kinnard

Wheat breeders spend years meticulously crossing varieties to coax the best traits out of each species, carefully propagating plant varieties that are healthier, heartier and better suited for the environments where they are grown. Professional brewmasters are equally painstaking when choosing the components that will give their beers a specific flavor profile.

Contest-winning concept becomes viable business for alumnus who developed solar-powered, self-propelled chicken coop as a student.

CAES News

Poultry in motion 11/14/24 Sean Montgomery

Chris Ayers emerged from his orange and black rough-terrain vehicle with an ear-to-ear grin. “This is Chiktopia,” he said, sweeping his arm wide to indicate the back half of a 3,600-square-foot warehouse on his family’s farm in Ball Ground, Georgia. “This is where I manufacture and assemble the chicken coops. Everything is done entirely from over here.”

CAES News

UGA Grand Farm wins stage two of 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund competition 11/13/24 Jordan Powers

Startups in the agricultural technology sector face significant barriers on the path to establishment, including access to training and capital. These barriers are heightened for underrepresented entrepreneurs seeking to start new companies. The University of Georgia Grand Farm, part of a historic partnership between the University of Georgia and Fargo, North Dakota-based Grand Farm, aims to change that.