Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
In 1986, Rick Hansen went around the world in a wheelchair – through 34 countries – to raise money for spinal cord injuries.
Hansen’s “Man In Motion Tour” was a major achievement, covering more than 40,000 kilometres. Many people see Hansen as a Canadian hero.
It has been 25 years since Hansen’s historic tour and in that time his foundation has raised more than $200 million to help people with spinal cord injuries.
Sometimes weird can be good.
Weird can be funny too, as demonstrated on the popular YTV show That’s So Weird. The Canadian television show is a sketch comedy program about a group of teenagers working at a fictional television station called So Weird TV.
That’s So Weird has been running for two seasons. The episodes are made up of silly commercials and even sillier television shows. Skits include spoofs of real-life TV programs like Degrassi: The Next Generation, This Is Daniel Cook and the UFC. They have even poked fun at the Twilight movies and Glee.
There will be a federal election in Canada on May 2.
Every Canadian who is 18 years or older and is registered to vote – even people in prison or who are out of the country – may vote.
Although there are many people who are up for election, there are five main ones—one of whom will win.
Each person who is up for election is a member of a different “political party.”
A “political party” is a group of people who all think the same way about things. They think the same way about how a country should be run, how it should spend its money and what is most important.
They will no longer be serving Whoppers at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, after the fast-food restaurant closed down in the food court there recently.
Canada’s largest hospital for children made the choice to close down the Burger King because of its unhealthy options such cheeseburgers and French fries, which are high in fat and salt.
The hospital is meant to offer healthy food choices for the visitors and staff. A doctor at Sick Kids named Vishal Avinashi started a Facebook group called, “Burger King should NOT be allowed to operate at Sick Kids Hospital.” There are 269 members in the group, and more are joining each day.
Avinashi tried to raise awareness of the messages that the hospital is sending by offering unhealthy options. He says the hospital is, “setting the wrong example” by allowing fast-food restaurants to sell unhealthy food there.
In the National Hockey League (NHL), many players have gotten concussions this year.
A concussion happens when you accidentally hit your head really hard, like when you’re playing sports or running around.
The rate of head injuries has gone up this season. The NHL’s general managers met with Gary Bettman, the commissioner, recently to talk about how they could make hockey safer for the players. Bettman says he believes that as many as a quarter of all hits in hockey are “illegal hits” – in other words, not allowed in hockey.
Bilaal Rajan is an “Underage Overachiever,” just as the title of his book suggests. The 14-year-old teenager from Toronto has devoted much of his life to helping people. He gave a speech at Ryerson University last Thursday to spread his message of “giving” to students. He hopes that by talking about what he’s done, he can inspire other kids to make a difference in their community.
Bilaal started his life of giving when he was only four years old. After feeling personally affected by earthquake victims in India, he started selling Clementine oranges door-to-door in his neighbourhood.
Alvin Wong is the happiest person in the United States. Literally.
Every day for the last three years, a polling company called Gallup has been doing a survey of a thousand Americans, asking them about their lives. They wanted to know what qualities make up the best lifestyle. They put all of the information together into something they call the “Well-Being Index.”
From the information, Gallup was able to figure out what makes Americans happy.
This is an historic time in Canadian politics.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the government’s budget. A “budget” is a list of how the government will spend the country’s money. It’s an important document because it outlines all of the things the government will do for the people in the country.
All of the political parties voted on whether or not they accepted the budget. The Conservatives (Stephen Harper’s party), the Liberals, the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) all voted.
The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto recently added a pair of Justin Bieber’s shoes to its collection. The shoes, which he wore in a concert, are on exhibit in a glass case. Dozens of Bieber fans visited the museum last week to look at the famous singer’s shoes.
Bieber’s shoes are in good company. Other shoes in the museum belong to John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, Queen Victoria and Terry Fox.
Bieber had donated the shoes to a California children’s charity, which put them up for auction to raise money. The Bata Shoe Museum had the winning bid.
It isn’t the first time Bieber’s shoes have been in the news. He recently donated a signed shoe to his old high school, Northwestern Secondary in Stratford, Ont. They sold the bright purple Nike running shoe to raise money for a new broadcast studio.
Last Saturday night you may have seen something in the sky that only happens every 18 years. It was a super moon.
A super moon looks a lot bigger and about 30 times brighter than the moon normally is. That’s because it’s closer to the Earth than normal. Its official name is a super “perigee moon,” but people just call it “super moon.”
The moon moves around the Earth in an oval shape, not a perfect circle, so there are times when the moon is closer to the Earth or farther away from it. On Saturday, the moon was really close to the Earth.
People all over the world could see the super moon on Saturday, including Australia, Russia, Canada and the United States. According to NASA, the last time a super moon like this was visible was 1993.
