Search for Australia’s Best Young Newshound

The search is on for the next generation of news breakers with the Kids News Junior Journalist competition. The free competition is open to children in Years 3-9, with four categories for both primary and secondary students:

News story–print

News story–video

Sports story–print

Sports story–video

The grand prize winner will score a guest appearance on Channel 10’s Studio 10 program, hosted by Narelda Jacobs. Jacobs, a television journalist for more than 20 years, said it was important for kids to take an interest in news. “Knowledge is power,” she said. “Events and issues being reported on impact children either now or into the future. Knowing what’s going on in the world around them can enable kids to form their own opinions and ideas.”

Aditya Paul, 11, is a keen writer and considering a career in the media. He’s already sharpening his interview skills, featuring in the Kids News Junior Journalist video series, which contains tips for capable reporters.

As well as the Studio 10 grand prize, there are four $750 gift cards for primary students and four $ 1000 gift cards for secondary students up for grabs. Kids can submit written and video entries to the Junior Journalist competition from February 6 to April 6.

HOW TO ENTER

Write a story or create a video story about something that has happened or is about to happen in your school or local community. Your story should be factual. Check out the Junior Journalist videos for tips.

Download the entry form below and get your teacher to fill it in.

Email your written or video story, along with the completed entry forms, to junior journalist@ news.com. au before 5pm on April 6. Video entries should be submitted as a MP4 file.

I loved being a teacher, but for years I was a librarian. However, the timing was never right for me to go back to school. Finally, the time came and I received my media specialist degree. But my biggest challenge was yet to come. I wanted to find a job—a media specialist in a nearby elementary school, and those positions were hard to get.

The new school year started, and I was teaching fourth grade again. As the months passed from August to December without any job prospects, my optimism and faith began to decline. To stay positive, I listened repeatedly to several uplifting songs in the car to my son’s school and my job.

In the beginning of January, I saw a job posted online for a media specialist position. I knew I had to have faith, so I applied for the job, but I didn’t hear anything for weeks. I started to doubt myself. I played my uplifting music so much that my little son who knew the words would sing along. Admiring the dynamic state of my son, suddenly I came to realize that I just had to have faith and remain true to my dream.

Within days, I received a phone call from the school to which I had applied, requesting an interview. I went on the interview with confidence and faith. The result was unforgettable. I am proud to say I’m now a media specialist.

From my experience, what I want to share is that ambitious career aspiration is a strong drive for one’s development. Set your goal of life and follow it with all you can.

Who would have thought a teenager’s mobile phone could help them manage their mental health by supporting a good night’s sleep? A new app aimed at 12-to 16-year-olds is showing strong early results, improving both the hours of sleep and reducing depression and anxiety.

Sleep Ninja, a free app created by mental health research organization the Black Dog Institute, has shown significant early results in improving teenagers’ sleep patterns, so critical not just for school readiness but for overall good mental health, co-creator Aliza Werner-Seidler said.

“Adolescents struggle to get the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep each night,” Dr Werner-Seidler, a clinical psychologist, said. “As a result, approximately 40 per cent of all young people will experience a significant sleep problem by early high school which heightens their risk of mental ill-health, which is a risk factor for a range of disorders including depression and anxiety.”

Those using the app nominate a time to be up in the morning to make it to school or other activities. From there, it work backwards, determining when they should be in bed. The app gives an alert to start a pre-bed routine, which launches at least an hour before bed time. Part of that routine is to put the phone and other devices away, and engage in behaviors more suitable to sleep. Some of this is simply to have a shower, clean teeth, read a book. But the app also offers a form of practical tips to help them establish sleep routines, things like how to set up their bedroom, what to do during the day to improve their chances of sleep and how to reduce those negative repetitive thoughts that come in at night.

Dr Werner-Seidler said Sleep Ninja was the only such app designed specifically for adolescents, and the results so far had been very encouraging. She added that we also saw rates of depression drop from 77 percent at the start of the study to 44 percent after using the app.

On average, 41% of global energy consumption (消耗) can be due to buildings and structures, notes the Energy & Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA). With EEBA also highlighting the fact that buildings produce dangerous emissions that pollute the air and that the construction industry produces more than 170 tons of debris (残骸) annually, there’s no question that the way that buildings are created needs to change.

By putting the environment first in architectural design, there are a variety of ways that the carbon footprint associated with buildings can be reduced, from the value in popular design trends like biophilia to how architects can work various eco-friendly materials into the job. The implementation (安装) of solar power is just one common design trend in eco-first buildings.

When looking for ways to meet eco-friendly design, biophilia—defined as “a love of life or living things,” has been used in architectural design to combine nature with the environment. In regard to the subject, ArchDaily notes “The guiding principle is quite simple: connect people with nature to improve their well-being and quality of life.” With common elements of biophilic design in buildings including indoor trees and plants, skylights, and living walls occupants can enjoy the various benefits associated with the presence of nature indoors. For example, indoor plants may work to lower stress and reduce anxiety, and may even provide motivational boost. The plants can also help absorb sound, provide privacy, and can even serve as a source of food (depending on the plants used, of course).

One green building design can be found in Milan, Italy, in which a residential development that consists of two towers can be found. Known as the ‘Bosco Verticale’, the towers stand 80 and 112 meters high, and their outer parts are covered in plants and trees. In addition to attracting wildlife, Boeri’s practice, Stefano Boeri Architetti, notes that the “green curtain” works to generate oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.