Zinta Aistars's Blog, page 12
January 16, 2015
Parent engagement builds trust and academic success
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Rapid Growth Media
January 15, 2015
Mel Atkins, GRPS administrator, and Deanna Wilson, parent (Photo by Adam Bird)
For Grand Rapids Public Schools (Grand Rapids, Michigan), one key to increased academic success for students has been connecting with their parents. Parent Essentials, a collaboration between GRPS, LINC, and Believe 2 Become, is doing just that. Writer Zinta Aistars finds out how a fresh approach to partnering with parents is benefiting everyone.
Wh...
Published in Rapid Growth Media
January 15, 2015
Mel Atkins, GRPS administrator, and Deanna Wilson, parent (Photo by Adam Bird) For Grand Rapids Public Schools (Grand Rapids, Michigan), one key to increased academic success for students has been connecting with their parents. Parent Essentials, a collaboration between GRPS, LINC, and Believe 2 Become, is doing just that. Writer Zinta Aistars finds out how a fresh approach to partnering with parents is benefiting everyone.
Wh...
January 15, 2015
Putting the focus on Kalamazoo volunteers
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 15, 2015
Tinashe Chaponda (Photo by Susan Andress)
Helping others should be fun, says Tinashe Chaponda. He started FOCUS Kalamazoo to prove it could be done.
Tinashe Chaponda was just a boy when his family moved to the United States from Zimbabwe in 2000. He’s 21 now, a sophomore majoring in human resources and minoring in marketing at Western Michigan University, and he has big plans and big dreams. One dream...
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 15, 2015
Tinashe Chaponda (Photo by Susan Andress)Helping others should be fun, says Tinashe Chaponda. He started FOCUS Kalamazoo to prove it could be done.
Tinashe Chaponda was just a boy when his family moved to the United States from Zimbabwe in 2000. He’s 21 now, a sophomore majoring in human resources and minoring in marketing at Western Michigan University, and he has big plans and big dreams. One dream...
January 12, 2015
Between the Lines: Testing Faith Over 6,000 Miles
New on WMUK 102.1 FM, Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate station: "Between the Lines," a weekly radio show about books and writers, hosted by Zinta Aistars.
On Tuesday, January 13, airing at 7:50 a.m., 11:55 a.m., and 4:20 p.m., hear my interview with mother and daughter writing team, Jane and Ellen Knuth. We talk about their new book, "Love Will Steer Me True: A Mother and Daughter's Conversations on Life, Love, and God," and surviving the tsunami of 2011 in Japan. Not in Southwest Mich...
January 8, 2015
What you liked about what we wrote in 2014
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 8, 2015
Story #4
Every year, Second Wave publishes a review of top stories over the past year. I'm happy to learn that six of my stories in 2014 rated in the top 10 for the magazine - hurrah!
Eating well and the people who help us do that proved to be the kind of story readers of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave read the most in 2014. Food or farm stories placed heavily in our Top 10 for the year.
What was the top read feature? Seco...
January 8, 2015
Story #4Every year, Second Wave publishes a review of top stories over the past year. I'm happy to learn that six of my stories in 2014 rated in the top 10 for the magazine - hurrah!
Eating well and the people who help us do that proved to be the kind of story readers of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave read the most in 2014. Food or farm stories placed heavily in our Top 10 for the year.
What was the top read feature? Seco...
January 5, 2015
Between the Lines: Defending Beef
by Zinta Aistars
Airing on WMUK 102.1 FM
January 6, 2015
New on WMUK - Zinta Aistars' "Between the Lines" will be airing every Tuesday: 7:50 a.m., 11:55 a.m., and 4:20 p.m. It's a show about books and writers. This Tuesday, January 6, is the launch with a conversation with Nicolette Hahn Niman about her newest book, Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat Production. Zinta Aistars is WMUK's resident book expert.
Nicolette Hahn Niman on BN Ranch (Photo courtesy of Hahn Niman)
Why would a vege...
Airing on WMUK 102.1 FM
January 6, 2015
New on WMUK - Zinta Aistars' "Between the Lines" will be airing every Tuesday: 7:50 a.m., 11:55 a.m., and 4:20 p.m. It's a show about books and writers. This Tuesday, January 6, is the launch with a conversation with Nicolette Hahn Niman about her newest book, Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat Production. Zinta Aistars is WMUK's resident book expert.
Nicolette Hahn Niman on BN Ranch (Photo courtesy of Hahn Niman)
Why would a vege...
January 2, 2015
Welcome Home: Dance Beyond the Stage
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Welcome Home magazine
Winter 2014 Issue
Winter 2014 Issue, page 12
It’s hard to say which topic infuses Cathy Huling with more passion: talking about the Ballet Arts Ensemble (BAE), where she has been co-owner since 1991 and artistic director since 2001, or talking about BAE’s community outreach in collaboration with many greater Kalamazoo (Michigan) organizations.
Ballet Arts Ensemble at 2018 Rambling Road in Kalamazoo is an all-volunteer, nonprofit youth ballet org...
Published in Welcome Home magazine
Winter 2014 Issue
Winter 2014 Issue, page 12It’s hard to say which topic infuses Cathy Huling with more passion: talking about the Ballet Arts Ensemble (BAE), where she has been co-owner since 1991 and artistic director since 2001, or talking about BAE’s community outreach in collaboration with many greater Kalamazoo (Michigan) organizations.
Ballet Arts Ensemble at 2018 Rambling Road in Kalamazoo is an all-volunteer, nonprofit youth ballet org...
December 18, 2014
Families who play together, stay together at Family Center of Arts
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
December 18, 2014
Petite, her dark hair in braids and tucked beneath a navy woolen hat, Rebecca Achenbach doesn’t look so very different from the children who scamper through the door of Family Center for the Arts at 6136 S. Westnedge at the back of Southland Mall in Portage. She’s the owner, and she bounds around the spacious center, walls painted sunshine yellow, with unstoppable energy.
Rebecca Achenbach at FCA
"You...
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
December 18, 2014
Petite, her dark hair in braids and tucked beneath a navy woolen hat, Rebecca Achenbach doesn’t look so very different from the children who scamper through the door of Family Center for the Arts at 6136 S. Westnedge at the back of Southland Mall in Portage. She’s the owner, and she bounds around the spacious center, walls painted sunshine yellow, with unstoppable energy.
Rebecca Achenbach at FCA"You...
December 16, 2014
Teach Your Kids About Money Now, Says Stanley Steppes
by Zinta Aistars
On air at WMUK 102.1 FM
Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate
Stanley Steppes and his son Christopher
When should you start teaching your kids good money practices? Kalamazoo’s Stanley Steppes says right now. He’s the founder and CEO of Financial Literacy Partners of America—a financial education and consulting firm for adults—and Money Smart Kids, a similar program for children. It all started two years ago, when Steppes wrote a children’s book called Christian and D...
On air at WMUK 102.1 FM
Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate
Stanley Steppes and his son ChristopherWhen should you start teaching your kids good money practices? Kalamazoo’s Stanley Steppes says right now. He’s the founder and CEO of Financial Literacy Partners of America—a financial education and consulting firm for adults—and Money Smart Kids, a similar program for children. It all started two years ago, when Steppes wrote a children’s book called Christian and D...
December 13, 2014
Dinner Table Drama In 'The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons'
by Zinta Aistars
from WMUK 102.1 FM Arts and More program
Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate
Aired December 11, 2014
Heather A. Slomski recently released her collection of short fiction The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons. Now living in Minnesota, Slomski got her MFA at Western Michigan University. Her work has appeared in TriQuarterly, The Normal School, and other publications. She also won the Iowa Award for Short Fiction.
Slomski says she didn't realize how many dining scenes she had in...
from WMUK 102.1 FM Arts and More program
Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate
Aired December 11, 2014
Heather A. Slomski recently released her collection of short fiction The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons. Now living in Minnesota, Slomski got her MFA at Western Michigan University. Her work has appeared in TriQuarterly, The Normal School, and other publications. She also won the Iowa Award for Short Fiction.
Slomski says she didn't realize how many dining scenes she had in...
December 11, 2014
Quenching the rural thirst at Millgrove Brewing Company
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
December 11, 2014
Chris, left, and Duane La Ponsie
Chris LaPonsie laughs when he remembers that first batch of homebrew. "It was the coldest day ever, and it was the worst beer ever."
Duane LaPonsie, his father, smiles and shrugs. He wasn’t fazed. "Let’s try making our own," he suggested, and the two never looked back. That was nearly six years ago.
Father and son are now co-owners of Millgrove Brewing Company at 633 Hoo...
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
December 11, 2014
Chris, left, and Duane La PonsieChris LaPonsie laughs when he remembers that first batch of homebrew. "It was the coldest day ever, and it was the worst beer ever."
Duane LaPonsie, his father, smiles and shrugs. He wasn’t fazed. "Let’s try making our own," he suggested, and the two never looked back. That was nearly six years ago.
Father and son are now co-owners of Millgrove Brewing Company at 633 Hoo...
