Pathfinder Counseling LLC

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is longer than supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 🙃

And the 2025 Stuck at Prom® WINNERS ARE...🥁🥁🥁

🌟 Emmalynn H. - Dress Grand Prize Winner
🌟 Nicholas M. - Tux Grand Prize Winner
🌟 Lien T. - Most Runway Worthy
🌟 Calder W. - Trust E.'s Choice
🌟 Delano Y. - Most Inspiring

Each Grand Prize winner will take home $15,000 in scholarship money and each Judges' Choice winner will take home $1,000! 💰

Congratulations to all finalists and cheers to another incredible Stuck at Prom® contest! 🎉

At MIT, you can actually earn a certificate in “Pirate Arts” and no, this isn’t a joke. If you complete physical education classes in archery, sailing, fencing, and pistol shooting, you’ll officially become a certified pirate by MIT standards. It’s quirky, it’s real, and it might just be the coolest PE requirement ever.

While some colleges hand out gym credits for yoga or badminton, MIT says, “How about becoming a swashbuckling legend?” It’s the kind of unexpected tradition that makes even a prestigious tech school feel like an adventure novel. So if you ever dreamed of being a pirate with a diploma… now you know where to go.

Hey parents! Did you know your fourth-grade student is eligible for an annual pass to America’s public lands? With school almost out for the summer, this is the perfect time to get the pass.

The Every Kid Outdoors pass allows fourth graders and their families to receive free entrance to federal public lands and waters during their fourth-grade school year (September-August).

If you have a current fourth grader, log on to everykidoutdoors.gov with your student, complete an activity, then download and print your pass voucher. Redeem the printed voucher for the pass at thousands of federal public land sites throughout the country, including our public rooms at our offices. Call ahead for hours and more information.

Photo by Auriza Ugalino/National Park Service.

Lancaster native Jonathan Groff is starring in a new musical on Broadway and will be unable to attend F&M's May 10 Commencement to receive his honorary doctorate of fine arts. So, he asked Sue Fisher, a retired schoolteacher from Conestoga Valley and his first drama instructor, to be there for him.

Groff auditioned for Fisher's middle school play when he was a seventh grader. “As we always joked, he was remarkably unremarkable,” Fisher says, but a year later she noticed a presence and determination that set him apart. “I told him that I could see something unique in him, something special. He had a talent I had never seen before. He could be an actor for the rest of his life.”

With her encouragement, Groff began auditioning for and taking on roles in regional theater as he entered high school, and soon after graduation, he was cast in a Broadway tour of the Sound of Music. Now 40, the actor's prolific stage and screen career has garnered many accolades, including a Tony Award, Grammy Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy. Fisher “gasped and cried” when Groff thanked her during his 2024 Tony acceptance speech.

“When we become teachers, we never think about the accolades we will receive, but we dream about the accolades our students will,” says Fisher. “We want them to be successful and happy and loved, and we are grateful when we can be part of their journey. It has been thrilling for me to be part of Jonathan's journey, and I am so excited to see where he goes next.”

In March 2023, two talented teenagers from St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans accomplished what mathematicians had deemed impossible for over 2,000 years – they created 10 trigonometric proofs for the Pythagorean theorem.

Ne'Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson spent months of weekends working on these proofs, overcoming the circular reasoning problem that had stumped mathematicians for millennia. The challenge? Using trigonometry to prove the theorem without creating a circular argument, since trigonometry itself is built upon Pythagorean principles.

"We thought that the paper was a result of a very creative point of view," said mathematician Zeitz Uchenna, who helped review their work. "What's novel is that they took some existing approaches, but viewed them in ways that got around the circularity problem."

Their groundbreaking work was presented at the American Mathematical Society's regional conference, followed by publication in the prestigious American Mathematical Monthly after rigorous peer review.

For their remarkable achievement, Jackson and Johnson received keys to the city of New Orleans and garnered attention from major scientific publications. Their story serves as a powerful reminder that innovation can come from anywhere – even a high school classroom where two dedicated students refused to accept the "impossible." 🔢 📐 💡

Sources: American Mathematical Society, American Mathematical Monthly, Saint Mary's Academy

Aidan Dwyer, a 13-year-old innovator from Long Island, designed a solar panel inspired by tree branches that collects up to 50% more sunlight. His Fibonacci Sequence-based model, which improves efficiency on cloudy days, could revolutionize renewable energy. Aidan’s groundbreaking work highlights the power of nature-inspired innovation.

Hmm... 🤔