OPEN STUDIO NIGHT
This Friday, February 7th, 6-10pm
More at The Monarch...
Join us for a Weekend Celebration of Love for Valentine's Day!
Moonlight at The Monarch: Valentine's Day Soirée
February 14th, 5 - 11PM
Multiple ticket options available for a romantic prix fixe dinner at WB’s Eatery, couples candle making at Art Box and live music and dancing with Changing Lanes!
Buy your ticket for the full evening or purchase dancing only entry at just $15 per person.
Premier Wedding Showcase Event
February 15th, 11AM - 3PM
Experience a luxury event for Brides, Grooms, and Wedding Purveyors featuring champagne greetings, VIP brunch, luxury raffles, tasteful fashion shows. Meet and consult with 30+ unique wedding purveyors. Plan and book your unforgettable wedding at The Monarch!
Community Yoga
Feb 8 | March 7 | April 4
830am
Join us for free community yoga classes at The Monarch, sponsored by Crystal Guillen of RE/MAX Community-Valley
Artist Workshops
Ongoing!
There are ongoing art workshops and classes occurring in The Monarch Studios and at Art Box. Full calendar listing coming soon...but for now you can find these events on Facebook.
Indie Ogden Awards
We're honored to have been nominated for the following categories:
How to Marry Spending Styles as a Couple
National nonprofit credit counseling agency Take Charge America highlights ways to find financial common ground within committed relationships
PHOENIX – (Feb. 5, 2020) – In love as in life, money can be a source of stress and strife. But while financial fights may seem inevitable, they’re usually just a sign of differing views and styles among couples.
“Everybody approaches spending and money differently, but if you’re serious about each other it’s time to get serious about your money,” said Michael Sullivan, a personal financial consultant with Take Charge America, a national nonprofit credit counseling and debt management agency. “Couples who recognize and understand each other’s money differences while working together toward common goals can find financial bliss.”
Sullivan shares five ways for couples to get on the same page with money:
About Take Charge America, Inc.
Founded in 1987, Take Charge America, Inc. is a nonprofit agency offering financial education and counseling services including credit counseling, debt management, student loan counseling, housing counseling and bankruptcy counseling. It has helped nearly 2 million consumers nationwide manage their personal finances and debts. To learn more, visit www.takechargeamerica.org or call (888) 822-9193.
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Layton High School Digital Media awarded $3,500 for winning first and second in BBB video contest
(2/5/2020) Salt Lake City, UT — Last Monday, the Layton High School digital media program was presented with a $3,500 award on behalf of seven students who won first and second place in the Better Business Bureau’s 2019 Student Video Contest.
Their teacher, Mr. Eric Scholer, accepted the award in the presence of the winning students and some of their peers, as well as representatives from the Davis School District superintendent's office and other school administrators. Some parents were also in attendance. Jane Rupp, president and CEO of BBB Serving Northern Nevada and Utah, handed out certificates and trophies to the winners.
“One of my favorite parts of the contest, besides seeing the fresh ideas the students come up with, is being able to visit the winning school and meet the kids who worked so hard with their teachers,” said Rupp.
Beginning in the fall of 2019 for the contest’s second year, BBB invited high schools across the state to create a video one minute or less explaining the BBB’s Scam Tracker service. BBB Scam Tracker is a program where consumers can report scams they have come across or find scams in their area. Five volunteer judges were chosen from the community and voted in mid-December. One of the judges, "Cowboy" Ted Hallisey of the Arts-Kids Foundation and The Cowboy Ted TV Show, said he was honored to watch what the students came up with.
“I am always impressed with the talent and creativity of young people,” Hallisey said. “Some underestimate the skills of our youth and this contest is proof of the very capable young people that will lead us into the future.”
The Layton students, who won first and second, submitted funny videos about “winning” free cruises and rental scams.
“I don’t have a credit card,” one first place student says in the video, after a scammer tells him that’s all he needs to collect his free cruise. He pauses for a moment, then remembers “my mom has a credit card! I’ll get that and be right back!”
But it’s not just the humor that made the video a winner. Levi Lindsay, a contest judge representing VidArmy, said the students did a great job on the technical side as well.
“The screenplay and editing were done very well. The cutting was creative, as were the effects. They made a clear call to action and made one of the best videos of the contest,” said Lindsay. Other judges included Michelle Poe of KUTV, Sheilia Erickson of Broadway Talent Agency, and Brandon Storrs from AutoNetTV.
Videos were made by schools from Millard County to Davis County, with 20 submissions in total. A student from Copper Hills High School in West Jordan won third place, winning $750 for her school. Mr. Scott Silver, her teacher, was grateful to give his students real-world experience in marketing and video production, with feedback from actual industry professionals.
“In our classroom, I try to accurately describe how real world film jobs are handled, and how the marketing team will treat a video from conception through to final distribution,” said Mr. Silver. “Unfortunately, it is difficult to perfectly capture a client/project relationship in an assignment when the students know there is no real-world pressure besides just achieving a grade.
“This opportunity showed them that things are different in the real world. Deadlines can be harsh, time limits must be exact, and every small decision will affect the outcome not only for you, but for your project and entire team.”
Winning students were also awarded a prize for themselves, in addition to the money that was given to the schools. The student teams split $500 and $250 for first and second, respectively.
BBB representatives say the Student Video Contest will continue for its third year in the fall of 2020.
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ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. In 2018, people turned to BBB more than 173 million times for BBB Business Profiles on nearly 5.4 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. Today, BBB serving Northern Nevada and Utah is supported by just over 4,300 Accredited Businesses that have voluntarily committed to adhere to BBB’s Standards of Trust.
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At ExcelinEd, we focus a lot on what it takes to develop high-quality state career and technical education (CTE) programs.
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At ExcelinEd, we focus a lot on what it takes to develop high-quality state career and technical education (CTE) programs. Whether we are supporting governors and state lawmakers or working with state and local education and workforce agencies, our focus is on the development of state CTE programs that are robust, relevant and fully aligned with the economic and workforce needs of states. While others talk it, we walk it with state policymakers.
As we join others across the nation in kicking off a month-long celebration of CTE, we plan to not only share with you promising practices taking place across states, but to also call your attention to issues that state policymakers must address if they are to build meaningful, high-quality state CTE programs.
Look for blog posts from the ExcelinEd team on:
Now that I’ve teed you up for what I believe will be some amazing, thought-provoking reads, it begs an initial question—what, exactly, is career and technical education and why does it matter for the students in your state?
According to Perkins V, CTE is organized educational activities that offer a sequence of courses, which:
(i) provides individuals with rigorous academic content and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further education and careers in current or emerging professions, which may include high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations, which shall be, at the secondary level, aligned with challenging State academic standards …; [and]
(ii) provides technical skill proficiency or a recognized postsecondary credential which may include an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or an associate degree.
Perhaps a simpler way to envision it is this: CTE is the intentional offering of a learning pathway that purposefully braids rigorous academic, technical, and employability learning and skills where that pathway is also aligned with the economic and workforce priorities of the state and/or region.
No matter how you interpret CTE, the larger question is how is your state using the definition of CTE to reimagine education and opportunities for students? I hope that you will enjoy our monthlong series on CTE, and that we are able to challenge you in your thinking and approach as you define what a high-quality state CTE program means in your state.
RESOURCES TO HELP EXPAND HIGH-QUALITY CTE
During our month-long celebration, we would be remiss not to also direct state and local policymakers to some of the well-established tools we’ve developed for those who want to reimagine CTE in their state and communities. This includes not only our five part CTE playbook series and Perkins V policy toolkit, but also various model policies gleaned from states.
As we continue our work with Burning Glass Technologies on Credentials Matter 2.0, I encourage you to “deep dive” into our groundbreaking work from Credentials Matter. This first-of-its-kind analysis, in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies, examines how well the credentials students earn align with real-world employer demand and the surprises that come when those offerings actually don’t align.
The Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) is a national leader in education reform. ExcelinEd is a hands-on, how-to policy and advocacy organization that designs and promotes model legislation and supports states with technical expertise, policy development and implementation strategies and public outreach.
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Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship Marks Centennial
of Oxfordian Revolution in Shakespeare Studies March 4, 2020
NATION - The Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship will present a symposium 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in the First Amendment Lounge of the National Press Club (NPC), 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C., exactly 100 years after the original publication of the landmark book by British scholar John Thomas Looney, which identified Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford as the true author behind the pseudonym, William Shakespeare. Admission is free and open to the public with complimentary refreshments and ample opportunities for Q&A. Doors open at 12:30 p.m.
First published March 4, 1920, Looney's book, “'Shakespeare' Identified in Edward de Vere the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford," assembled and analyzed a mass of evidence pointing to De Vere as the true author of the works published under the Shakespeare name. Over the past century, that book has persuaded some of the greatest minds of our time, from Sigmund Freud to U.S. Supreme Court justices across the ideological spectrum, along with many respected scholars, judges, attorneys, historians, professors, Shakespearean actors, and thousands of thoughtful people around the world of the true identity of the Shakespeare author.
A group of leading scholars will reintroduce Looney and his thesis to the world. They will discuss the importance of his book and how it continues to be corroborated by newly discovered and analyzed evidence.
Retired U.S. Foreign Service officer James A. Warren, editor and author of a series of books on Looney and his work, will explore how his insights have changed our understanding of the author Shakespeare and his works, as well as the Elizabethan era and theatre, and the nature of genius and literary creativity.
Attorney Tom Regnier will explain why the evidence supporting de Vere has persuaded judges with a lifetime of experience analyzing facts and logical arguments that the Earl of Oxford is the true author. He will point out key factual weaknesses in the traditional authorship claim made for businessman and actor William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Author Bonner Miller Cutting will explore Looney’s evidence-based methodology and how it led him to the deduction that the author was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
Filmmaker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan will discuss her recently-released documentary, "Nothing Is Truer Than Truth," and its exploration of how De Vere's travels as a young man in continental Europe, especially Italy, influenced the Shakespearean plays and poems.
Professor Roger Stritmatter will survey the numerous connections between the works of Shakespeare and Edward de Vere’s life, private letters, early surviving poetry, and markings in his personal copy of the Geneva Bible. Much of this evidence was not even known to Looney in 1920, but it has provided powerful corroboration for his thesis over the past 100 years.
This symposium is an opportunity for anyone who loves the Shakespeare plays and poems to explore with fresh eyes the history and the evidence of the greatest literary mystery of all time.
The Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship (SOF) is a nonprofit educational association founded in 1957 with members across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries around the world. Among other activities, the SOF holds annual scholarly conferences and publishes an annual peer-reviewed scholarly journal, "The Oxfordian." Its all-volunteer board of trustees includes two theatre professors, a law professor, a medical doctor, and leaders in government, business, the arts, and the nonprofit sector. For additional information, visit: ShakespeareOxfordFellowship.org.
