1 . The planet has a new world record for running the Zurich Marato Barcelona while pushing a wheelchair!

Eric Domingo Roldan of Barcelona, Spain, first tried to run a 26.2-mile race while _______ his mother Silvia back in 2020. When they _______ the mark by just 1 minute and 21 seconds, Eric vowed (发誓) to _______ in 2021 to win the title.

True to his _______ , Eric and Silvia have done just that! On November 7, 2021, Eric and Silvia crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 53 minutes and 28 seconds. The _______ record was 2: 58: 40, so they pulled off their _______ with time to spare!

Eric has a very special _______ for setting such a goal. Many people don’t know multiple sclerosis (多发性硬化) (MS). Eric runs to draw _______ to MS, which his mother has dealt with for more than 17 years. He also runs to raise money for MS. He _______ to collect more than €3, 000 before the marathon. All of the money was used to ________ MS research.

The son said achieving the world record means even more to them, because it encourages them to go on after they went through the hardest time of their life. ________ her MS, his mother is still recovering from a battle with COVID-19 back in August.

While she was ________ about the race, Silvia was all smiles in her wheelchair as Eric ran. She loved the feeling of the wind in her hair as her son pushed them both toward the finish line.

“It was a dream come true,” Eric added. “I was often looking at my watch to check if we were ________ , and the last 195m were the ________ seconds of my life. To cross that line meant that we finally did what we ________.”

4 . Youth Speech Competition

UNICEF is working towards a world where every child has what they need to survive and develop. But we can’t do it without big ideas from young people — young people who are brave enough to share their brilliant ideas with the world. UNICEF USA and TED-Ed invite young people to create their own talks on the rights of children and the problems young people face around the world.

One winner will be invited to UNICEF USA’s Annual Student Summit to make his/her speech on stage!

Youths aged 10-18 (if you are under 13, you must have a parent or teacher to help you register (报名)).

Must register online.

Your video must be under 2 minutes.

Winners will be announced on February 4, 2023.

One winner will be invited to make his/her speech on stage on UNICEF USA’s Annual Student Summit in Washington, D. C. on March 16-17, 2023!

UNICEF USA will pay for all travel expenses (flights and hotels). The student will be responsible for personal meals and personal expenses. If you are under the age of 18, you will need to travel with a responsible adult chaperone (监护人). UNICEF USA will pay for the chaperone’s travel expenses as well.

Create an account (账户) using this link: ed.ted.com/unicefusa.

Once your account has been created, return to the TED-Ed Student Talks page and register!

Once you’ve handed in your registration, allow 2-3 days for processing.

Once you’ve recorded your talk, upload it using the “Upload” tab in your Resource Library on the TED-Ed website.

5 . Last year, I raced the Acura Ten Miler in Toronto. With 1-2 miles left, I noticed a female runner ahead of me who was weaving (穿行) in and out of a group of people, looking pale. Realizing something was wrong, I found a police officer and told him about it, and waited until she was close enough that I could point her out. He immediately called for an ambulance. I ran off and wondered how many people passed me, but I knew I did the right thing.

This Saturday, I raced the Canada Day 5K in Burlington. I’ve raced the course many times. My friend Monica and I went together with a goal to run competitively. I wanted to finish faster than I did in June, when my 5K time was 21:57. I felt it realistic to beat that time.

When the starting gun sounded, I went out fast and happened to run shoulder to shoulder with Monica’s daughter, but I soon pulled ahead. Shortly after, though, I heard “Please help me” from behind. Monica’s daughter is athletic, but she’s learning to run faster with her asthma (哮喘). Knowing that she had trouble, I stopped.

We finished the last 2K together. It troubled me when some runners passed me, and I had to stop to walk with her for a bit. But I thought making sure she was okay was more important, so I talked to her through the rest of the race. We finished together and cheered for her mom as she crossed the finishing line.

At last, my time was a bit longer than I wanted, but I was okay with that. If I had based my time on my age group’s winning time, I would have met my goal time. But I thought I made the right decision to help this girl get to the finishing line safely. For me, that was what mattered on Sunday morning. There will always be another race.

7 . Global Essay Competition

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to develop the characteristics that turn good students into great writers. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the limits of the school curriculum (课程).

All of our essay prizes are judged by senior academics from the University of Oxford. The judges will choose their favourite essay from each subject category and an overall “best essay” across six subjects: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology and Law.

Entry Requirements

Entry is open to students from any country. Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on the date of the submission deadline, 30 June. Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on the date of the submission deadline. Each essay should address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed (超过) 2, 000 words.

Key Dates

30 June: Submission deadline

14 July: Short-listed candidates informed

26 August: Awards Dinner for the Junior Prize

2. September: Awards Dinner for the Economics Prize and other prizes

Prizes

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US $2,000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute’s website. The prize-giving ceremony will take place in Oxford.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior, Fellowship, which comes with a US $10, 000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools.

8 . Natural disasters can cause environmental changes. How will cities use technology to maintain (维持) power during natural disasters in the future? Some smart middle school students are already thinking about this question.

Teams of students from around the world explained their ideas on this topic at the Future City competition, which recently took place in Washington, DC. Students from Justice Page Middle School in Minneapolis, US, were on one of the teams.

Instead of using popular technologies like flying cars and AI, the students from Justice Page Middle School took a more simple approach to the topic. They spent weeks developing their ideas and building a model to show them. They chose the city of Maui in Hawaii as the setting for their project. They chose this city because several different kinds of natural disasters had happened there in the past.

In their project, they covered roofs in the city with solar panels (太阳能电池板), which can produce and store power. When a power failure happens, the stored power can be sent to different neighborhoods.

The students brought their model to life with 3D printing technology. They printed the parts they needed. To make the model more real, they made a base out of wood and grass. The model has lights and even a small train that travels back and forth.

The team did not win the competition, but the experience was valuable. One competitor of the team, Ryan Rowell, 13, said he thought it was cool to think about things that he hadn’t considered before. He also saw how other teams advertise their models and interesting ideas. He said he wanted to keep learning about engineering.

Gary McKee ran 365 marathons in as many days to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

Gary McKee, 53, from Cleator Moor in Cumbria raised his arms in victory and was cheered by a crowd of supporters as he completed his 365th marathon of the year on New Year’s Eve. As of 4 pm on Saturday, he had raised more than £ 890,000 for the charities Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria, just shy of (缺少) his £1 million fundraising target. The father of three has gone through 22 pairs of sports shoes and has run 9,563 miles in rain, snow and sunshine to raise money for the charities.

“The support has been amazing and it always is and the West Cumbrians get behind us, but cancer affects everybody so it isn’t just a West Cumbrian thing, it’s a national thing,” said Gary. “I just hope that people do get behind us and we do raise those million pounds.” Gary has not only raised money for two fantastic charities, but he has also sprinkled magic on the local community and brought people together to support him with the challenge.

Chris Young, 29, ran 90 marathons with Mr. McKee. “Gary set a good example to me this year when I began running frequently with him and has given me both physical and mental resilience (适应力) that I don’t know if I would have ever discovered in myself in a million years. I know I don’t just speak for myself on that front as he has inspired not just me or the few, but the entire local community and beyond,” said Chris, “This challenge has raised a great amount of money for two fantastic charities, but the impact Gary has provided to the community and people around him is immeasurable. A lot of people’s lives will be much better off thanks to Gary’s efforts, mine included.”