Sale Proceeds to Benefit Those Living With HIV/AIDS

 The Project of the Quad Cities, partnered with 15 students from Illinois State University, will be selling donated goods and items from the cleaned out warehouse at a community Garage Sale April 14^th and 15^th, 2012. The Sale will be held at the Moline office located at 2316 5^th Avenue and will take place from 8 am to 4 pm on Saturday and 8 am to 2 pm on Sunday. There are 100's of items for sale including office furniture, building/construction supplies, craft materials, computer games, clothing for adults, toys, children's clothing, household décor, books, Holiday decorations, and more. There will also be face painting for children during the Sale hours. The sale will be held rain or shine. All proceeds from the event will support The Project of the Quad Cities.

 Established in 1986, The Project of the Quad Cities (TPQC) is a nonprofit, community-based organization that provides those infected with or affected by HIV/STI/AIDS in the Quad City area with case management and support services. Furthermore, TPQC provides prevention services, testing and education to the entire Quad City community.

 For more information, please call 309-762-5433.

Being able to read well is more important than ever for young adults to achieve economic success. But more than 60 percent of middle and high school students score below "proficient" in reading achievement, according to a December 2011 report by the Alliance for Excellent Education.

"Teen literacy is a huge problem in the United States - its 15-year-olds rank 14th among developed nations in reading - behind Poland, Estonia and Iceland," says Rhiannon Paille, 27, an advocate for teen literacy whose new fantasy novel, Flame of Surrender (www.yafantasyauthor.com) targets young adults. (South Korea, Finland and Canada rank 1st, 2nd and 3rd.)

"Kids need strong reading skills if they hope to graduate from high school AND they really need to plan for college - 59 percent of U.S. jobs today require some postsecondary education, compared to 28 percent in 1973."

The best thing parents can do to help boost their 12- to 18-year-olds' literacy is to get them reading - anything.

She offers these suggestions:

• Buy them comic books. Boys persistently lag behind girls in reading, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Paille says. If your son isn't a reader, try getting him hooked on comic books. "Stephen King started off reading comics, 'Tales from the Crypt.' Hey, if it was good enough for him ...!'' From comic books, they may move into graphic novels, a popular young adult genre. As long as they're reading, they're building comprehension skills and vocabulary, so it needn't be "War and Peace."

• Look for book-to-film novels. Chances are, if it was a great movie, they saw it, and that's often enough to get a non-reader curious. This is another especially good hook for boys, Paille says.

• Tune into what they're interested in. What kinds of video games do they play? Some popular games have spawned novels, including Halo, EverQuest, ElfQuest and Gears of War. Even gaming guides, which players read to unlock new clues to advancing in the game, can motivate a teen to crack a book.

• Read the same book your teen is reading. Book clubs are popular because people like talking to others who've read the same book. Your teen may not be ready for an evening of petit fours and grape juice while discussing the pacing of "Hunger Games," but it can make for some interesting conversation on the way to soccer practice. And you can always nudge them along with comments like, "Oh, you haven't gotten to that part yet? It's really good!"

"People tend to think their young adults aren't reading if they're not reading novels," Paille says. "But novels aren't for everyone, and whether it's a comic book or a gaming guide, all reading helps build comprehension skills and vocabulary."

Good magazines, with shorter articles suited for distractible adolescents, might include Sports Illustrated, People, Seventeen or Mad.

"When you're out shopping, think about what they're interested in and pick up something just for them. Sometimes, it's as simple as putting the right reading materials right into their hands."

About Rhiannon Paille

Rhiannon Paille is an active advocate for youth literacy and an avid reader of young adult novels. Her first book, the non-fiction Integrated Intuition: A Comprehensive Guide to Psychic Development, remains a popular seller on amazon.com. Paille is the founder of the Canadian Metaphysical Foundation. She's married and the mother of two children.

Grant Communications, owners of KGCW-TV/The Quad Cities' CW and KLJB-TV/Fox 18, are proud to announce a brand new TV station - Me-TV (Memorable Entertainment Television) Quad Cities! This new digital classic television network is available over-the-air on channel 26.3 and channel 18-3!

Me-TV Quad Cities features a wide range of classic television programming. Me-TV's library includes almost 100 series from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, CBS Television Distribution, NBCUniversal Television as well as independent series owners and producers. Me-TV's line-up include some of the most beloved television programs ever produced, including:  M*A*S*H, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Bob Newhart Show, the original Star Trek and Hawaii Five-O series.

John Bain, Director of Programming for Grant Communications, said, "Me-TV stands for Memorable Television.  This network truly is memorable and that made it an easy choice for us.  Me-TV's library of classics allows us to provide our viewers with some of the most popular and enjoyed shows ever on television.  These are favorites of many and will be new favorites to many more."

For schedule highlights, check your local listings or visit www.metvnetwork.com.

About Grant Communications

Grant Communications owns and operates KLJB-TV/Fox 18 (channel 18.1), KGCW-TV/The Quad Cities' CW (channels 26.1 & 18.2), Me-TV Quad Cities (channels 26.3 & 18.3) and This-TV Quad Cities (channel 26.2).

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580 students from 56 schools around Iowa traveled to Iowa State University on March 30th-31st for the Iowa State Science and Technology Fair.  Of those, 11 students from Rivermont Collegiate, an independent school in Bettendorf, Iowa, won an impressive 27 awards and scholarships.

For the third time in her high school career, top honors went to Rivermont senior, Pavane Gorrepati, winner of the prestigious Grand Championship award for her project on the impact different genes have on the nutritional characteristics of rice.  Pavane will represent the State of Iowa at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in May, 2012.  Pavane also won 1^st place in the Plant Sciences category, 3^rd place in the Senior Individual Biological Seminar, and was awarded over $7,200 in prizes and scholarships for her project.

Also high school students at Rivermont Collegiate, Maghana Pagadala (12^th grade) and Shravya Pothula (10^th grade) both had impressive projects that made them Semi-finalists for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.  Meghana won first place in the Cellular & Molecular Biology category and was awarded over $5,700 in prizes and scholarships for her project on the Mechanism By Which CD8+ FoxP3+ T-Cells Regulate Osteoclast Activity.  Shravya won second place in the Medicine and Health Science category for her project on how Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Reduces Mitral Valve Regurgitation.

But the high schoolers weren't the only winners at the competition!  Not to be outdone by her older sister, 7th grade Rivermont student Manasa Pagadala was the winner of the Grand Champion award in the Overall Junior High Biological division for her project titled How Do Spices Affect the Growth of Bacteria and Fungi? Manasa also won 1st place in the 7th Grade Biology division, a University of Iowa College of Engineering scholarship, and she will compete at the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) National Middle School Science Fair in Washington DC in the fall, 2012.  Sixth grade Rivermont students Collin Smith, Klaus Storl-Desmond, and Aviana Zahara will also compete at the Broadcom MASTERS.

Headmaster of Rivermont Collegiate, Rick St. Laurent, is extremely proud of this year's award winners and attributes much of the school's success to science teacher Linda Hampton who has been with the school for over 28 years.  "Rivermont has a long list of graduates who have gone on to do amazing things in science and technology.  Mrs. Hampton's passion for teaching science and inspiring students is one of the main reasons Rivermont does so well year after year at the State and National science competitions." says Mr. St. Laurent.  "We continue our commitment to outstanding science and technology classes as part of our students' education and look forward to seeing what our students come up with next year."

Rivermont Collegiate has approximately 200 students in PreSchool - 12th grade.  The science curriculum starts in Kindergarten.  With a dedicated science teacher in their Lower School, students as young as 5 go to the science classroom 3 times a week.  Mr. St. Laurent says, "Science is one of our younger students' favorite subjects.  They love doing hands-on experiments and learning how things work.  We tie science in with what they're doing in math, reading, and even social studies, so it provides a good, solid foundation for life-long learning."

Other Rivermont Collegiate winners at the Iowa State Science and Technology Fair include :

• Klaus Storl-Desmond (6th grade) - Do Moon Phases or Weather Factors Affect Different Coyote Calls? - 2nd place winner in 6th Grade Biological division and Broadcom MASTERS Junior High Finalist.
• Naina Ninan (6th grade) - How Does Temperature Affect Scindapsus Plants? - 10th place winner in 6th Grade Biological division.
• Lana Meier (6th grade) - Do Background Distractions Influence a Person's Hand-Eye Reaction Times? - 8th place winner in 6th Grade Biological division.
• Collin Smith (6th grade) - Do the Number of Magnets on a Guitar's Pick-Up Influence the Sound Frequency? - 4th place winner in 6th Grade Physical Science division, BroadcomMASTERS  Junior High Finalist, and Student Incentive Prize Winner.
• Aviana Zahara (6th grade) - Which kinds of Bacteria Do We Find in the Mouths of Cats, Dogs, Horses, and Humans - 3rd place winner in 6th Grade Biological division, Broadcom MASTERS Junior High Finalist, and Horizon Award winner.
• Sarah Bowman (8th grade) - How Does Road Run-Off Affect the Germination and Growth of Common Seeds?- 5th place winner in 8th Grade Biological division.
• Marta Storl-Desmond (8th grade) - Does Precipitation Influence the pH, D.O. or Nitrate Levels in a Local River? - 9th place winner in 8th Grade Biological division and winner of special award from the Association for Women Geoscientists.

When asked the secret to her success, teacher Linda Hampton humbly said, "I just love teaching science.  The kids come up with their own science fair ideas; I am just here to provide guidance and support.  Their enthusiasm and curiosity inspires me to keep learning myself.  I am always amazed by what the students here are capable of."

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