Bootham School to host workshop day as part of THRIVE initiative
Bootham School, in York, is set to run a day of workshops to help students "navigate gender pressures and develop a strong, authentic sense of self."
The full day of dedicated workshops for Year 9 students will take place on May 22 for Year 9 students as part of the school's new THRIVE initiative.
The programme, created by Beth Steer, head of well-being, and Andy Quarrell, head of Year 9, offers students "the opportunity to engage in open, thoughtful conversations about gender roles, masculinity, relationships, and the broader societal expectations that can shape teenage identity."
The workshops aim to "challenge harmful stereotypes and equip students with the tools to approach adolescence with resilience, self-awareness, and empathy."
Ms Steer said: "THRIVE is about creating space for young people to reflect critically and compassionately on the messages they receive about who they're 'supposed' to be.
"We want them to feel empowered to question limiting norms and move forward with a mindset that supports growth and emotional wellbeing."
More information about Bootham School is available at https://www.boothamschool.com/
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Bootham School to host workshop day as part of THRIVE initiative
Bootham School, in York, is set to run a day of workshops to help students "navigate gender pressures and develop a strong, authentic sense of self." The full day of dedicated workshops for Year 9 students will take place on May 22 for Year 9 students as part of the school's new THRIVE initiative. The programme, created by Beth Steer, head of well-being, and Andy Quarrell, head of Year 9, offers students "the opportunity to engage in open, thoughtful conversations about gender roles, masculinity, relationships, and the broader societal expectations that can shape teenage identity." The workshops aim to "challenge harmful stereotypes and equip students with the tools to approach adolescence with resilience, self-awareness, and empathy." Ms Steer said: "THRIVE is about creating space for young people to reflect critically and compassionately on the messages they receive about who they're 'supposed' to be. "We want them to feel empowered to question limiting norms and move forward with a mindset that supports growth and emotional wellbeing." More information about Bootham School is available at
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Opinion: Families and Providers Deserve More Notice When Child Care Programs Close
Imagine getting an email that your favorite restaurant has decided to close at the end of the month. That's sad, but not life-changing news. Now imagine getting an email that your kid's child care center is closing down in a few weeks — or worse, being met with a padlock at drop off. That's a five-alarm fire. One little-noted consequence of America's ongoing decision to treat child care as a market commodity like a restaurant is that customers (in this case, young children and their families) often get little to no notice before their world is turned upside down. That should change. Abrupt closures are the reality for far too many early care and education programs. 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Last year, Rockford Day Nursery, a 100-year-old center in Illinois had a similarly sudden closure, as did the program attached to Salem Baptist Church in the small South Carolina town of Aynor. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter A sudden child care closure can create immense stress for parents and staff. In 2024, Molly Dickens, a stress physiologist, co-authored an op-ed with reproductive psychiatrist Lucy Hutner in which the pair recounted the story of Julia Sachdev, a mother of two young children who got an email that her kids' preschool was closing in a month. They wrote: ''It was so stressful,' reflected Ms. Sachdev. 'There was this suffocating anxiety that ruled my day. I couldn't concentrate on other things. It kept me up at night.'' Dickens and Hutner noted the negative effects of chronic stress on parents and children, and also cited research that child care precarity — a state of insecure and unreliable child care — 'has been linked to negative mental health outcomes for mothers for at least six years afterward.' They underscored that 'Unpredictability itself is a source of stress. Even when parents manage to secure care for their children, it can be unreliable, and they never know when it might go away.' The reasons for rapid child care closures vary. In some cases, as with Guidepost, it may be financial problems leading to nonpayment of rent or other business failures. In other cases, as with Thrive Learning Academy, a lack of staffing means the program cannot legally operate. And in others, circumstances may be beyond a program's control, as when a landlord decides not to renew a lease. While it is instructive to compare the closure of child care programs to the closure of public schools, it's important to recognize that this is a case where the lack of a public system really rears its head. A public school closure typically involves a months- to years-long process that is often painful and requires a large amount of meetings and discussion. That's not the case for most child care programs. The government cannot force a private business or even a nonprofit to stay open indefinitely, and the overwhelming majority of child care programs in the U.S. fall into these categories. That doesn't mean, however, that there are no public policy tools. Related First, it's important to note that if a private business that serves a social function is closing, the government often requires reasonable notice. Banks are a good example: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation legally requires banks to give customers 90 days notice prior to closing a branch. Skilled nursing facilities, too, must provide at least 60 days notice and a plan for relocating residents, as mandated by the Department of Health and Human Services. Another challenge is that unlike other industries, there is no rescue mechanism for failing early care and education programs — but there could be. When systemically important companies are risking closure, the government often steps in. For example, when big financial institutions and car companies were flailing during the 2008 fiscal crisis, the federal government provided a bailout. When a public school district's financial situation is dire enough, it typically enters state receivership, meaning the state takes over governing authority in exchange for filling the funding gap, as has happened in districts such as Oakland Unified and Detroit Public Schools. In short, if the social impact of a given service failing is significant enough, the compelling public interest for government intervention is well-established. 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Mercury Retrograde Pre-Shadow Is Here—See How It's Affecting Your Sign
Whether you've been managing eyebrow-raising miscommunications with loved ones, navigating tech glitches or scrolling through old texts from an ex, it probably feels like Mercury is retrograde once more. And while it won't officially be until Friday, March 14 (PT)/Saturday, March 15 (ET), the effects of the frequent, information-skewing transit are already setting in, thanks to the Mercury retrograde pre-shadow. This phase, which offers a sneak peek of what you'll likely deal with during the retrograde itself, is the result of Mercury slowing down before its backspin. If you're less than pumped to find out that Mercury retrograde's sometimes frustrating effects last for longer than you thought, I can reassure you, as an astrologer and the author of Mercury Magic: How to Thrive During Retrogrades and Tap Into the Power of the Messenger Planet All Year Long, that it's possible to take advantage of a Mercury retrograde pre-shadow. Read on for all the details on the latest Mercury retrograde shadow period, which has been in full effect since March began. The Mercury pre-shadow occurs before every Mercury retrograde, serving as a preview of what you're going to be navigating during the retrograde phase itself. During the pre-shadow, you'll encounter situations, interactions and projects that, once Mercury is retrograde, will require revision or reimagining. The pre-shadow tends to function like the retrograde itself, spurring tech glitches, miscommunications and transportation slowdowns. On the upside, you could feel driven to dive into more self-work, reflection and meditation and to embrace a slower pace of life that ends up being truly restorative. You may already know that Mercury retrogrades — which occur when the messenger planet appears to move backward from our vantage point on Earth — happen three or four times a year and last about three weeks. 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Pro-tip: For some sense of what this Mercury retrograde could look like for you, think back to last April when Mercury last moved backward through Aries (albeit not Pisces, as well, so this is a different ballgame!).How the Mercury retrograde pre-shadow in March 2025 will impact your sign Here is how the Mercury retrograde pre-shadow in Aries and Pisces will affect you, based on your sign. (Be sure to read your rising sign, if you know it. If you don't, you can find it in your birth chart or by using this CafeAstrology calculator.) This Mercury pre-shadow affects your spirituality zone and self-image sector, encouraging you to reflect on how you're nurturing your psychological well-being, tuning into your dreams and moving toward a stronger sense of self and surge of confidence. You could be compelled to revisit a practice that once helped you feel more centered mentally and emotionally. You tend to prefer to be zipping through life at warp speed, so this period may feel a bit sleepier than you'd ideally like, but know that the work you're doing over the next month is ultimately setting the stage for fulfilling forward movement. Mercury initially slowed down in your networking zone, nudging you to question who you're surrounding yourself with. Are your communities, groups, teams and social circles truly aligned with your current aspirations and values, and if not, does something need to change? That's a theme you'll be exploring quite a bit over the next month. Mercury's pre-shadow also activates your spirituality sector, amplifying your desire to revisit mind-body practices that help you feel grounded. You're preparing for a hibernation-like phase during which you'll be extra picky about how you exert your time and energy, especially when it comes to social gatherings, but you'll also be more tuned into your intuition and dreams. Mercury's pre-shadow begins in your career sector, so you could be flirting with the idea of redefining success, revising a big-picture proposal for higher-ups or even finessing how you're approaching your professional aspirations so that you have a greater sense of balance between work and life. This can be an empowering moment, because messenger Mercury also happens to be your ruling planet, so retrogrades affect you (and Virgos) more than most signs. And with the shadow also affecting your friendships sector, you're currently laying the groundwork for reconnecting with a social circle, community or team that could support your ability to make long-term wishes a reality. This Mercury pre-shadow illuminates your adventure and higher learning zone, which could fuel your desire to get out of your comfort zone, and yet, actually making that happen could feel frustratingly tougher than usual. Thankfully, you have more energy now for addressing everyday details that might be holding you back from taking a much-needed leap of faith. Mercury's also causing mischief in your career zone, which could have you revisiting a proposal for a promotion, backtracking over large-scale projects that you've refined time and again or ensuring you're on the same page as higher-ups. As a cardinal sign, you like to keep your eye on the future, but sticking with existing business now might actually be the key to a long-term win. The Mercury pre-shadow begins in your intimacy and joint resources zone, so any head-butting or misunderstandings with a loved one or significant other that come up now is actually fertile ground for working through your differences and deepening mutual understanding. Sure, it might feel like you're attempting to run against the tide at times, but take heart that you excel at finding the positive side of even the roughest challenges. This period also activates your adventure sector, which means you'll be refining your connection to your gut impulses and reflecting on how you can tap into and satisfy wanderlust. With Mercury, your ruling planet, slowing down in your partnership zone, you'll feel compelled to begin assessing progress on goals you share with a significant other, dear friend, close colleague or loved one. You could also be driven to re-negotiate or mediate a situation that was previously put on the back-burner. The shadow also activates your intimacy and emotional bonds zone, making this a moment for thinking about your level of comfort and security within your closest relationships. It might be time to set different boundaries or work through deep-seated emotions that are standing in the way of your ability to fully connect and bond with your current partner or someone else near and dear. Mercury's pre-shadow begins in your routine sector, which could slow your efforts to nurture your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing on a daily basis but also give you the freedom to explore how you'd like to switch things up. You'll also be offered a sneak peek of the work you'll be doing to bolster mutual understanding with a significant other, dear friend, loved one or business partner, because it's also occurring in your partnership zone. If reciprocity has been an issue or a romantic connection isn't meeting your expectations, you can take the steps to either improve or move beyond the relationship. Reflecting on this now can help you feel more focused as the retrograde is in effect. This period kicks off with a surge of self-expressive energy that might entice you to dive into more artistically-fulfilling endeavors, thanks to Mercury's pre-shadow happening, for starters, in your romance zone. And once Mercury's pre-shadow activates your wellness and daily routine sector, you can get a better sense of how your daily hustle might be serving you — or how it may need to be adjusted. Think about whether it would benefit you to say 'no' to certain commitments in order to free up space for other commitments, especially ones that could support your health. Reflect on what feels right intuitively, and then, during the retrograde, you can experiment and perhaps revisit or improve upon solutions that worked in the past. As the pre-shadow begins, Mercury will be in your home zone, providing you with a glimpse of the projects and conversations you could be exploring alongside loved ones over the course of the retrograde. Whether you're entertaining making a big move, redecorating or just diving into heartfelt conversations to address ongoing emotional issues with your nearest and dearest, you're prepping to move through a healing period. Mercury's pre-shadow also affects your romance and self-expression zone, so don't be surprised if you're called to go back to the drawing board on a creative endeavor or musing about taking a walk down memory lane with someone special (think recreating a special date night or making sentimental playlists). If communication, technology and transportation already seem to be going haywire, and Mercury isn't even officially retrograde yet, that's because the pre-shadow period begins in your communication sector. You're moving into a month in which you might have to manage more delays, glitches and crossed wires, but it's for the greater purpose of refining how you're connecting, communicating, gathering and sharing information with others. You could also be musing about ways in which you can sharpen an existing skill set. And because the shadow also affects your home zone, you could be inspired to revisit a home-related project you had previously hit pause on or to dive into therapeutic work to heal old emotional wounds. Prepare for difficult but ultimately helpful conversations with loved ones throughout the retrograde. Mercury's pre-shadow kicks off in your money zone, which could have you zeroing in on ways you can step up your investments, savings and earning game plans. Although you might not see major forward movement in this realm for several weeks, you can research, trade notes with friends and colleagues and generally prep for yourself to hit the ground running later on. The pre-shadow also activates your communication sector, so heads up that this may very well be a retrograde that tests your patience. You might be dealing with more technology issues, delays in getting from point A to point B and more misunderstandings with your social circle, coworkers, neighbors and, if you have them, siblings. The silver lining is that in facing these challenges, you could come away feeling like an even stronger communicator with bolstered platonic bonds. You'll be reflecting on how you're presenting yourself out in the world and how that aligns — or not — with your self-image as Mercury's pre-shadow kicks off in your sign. It may be time to reimagine your approach to your business-related brand, personal goals or even your sense of style. This period also activates your money zone, so you'll feel like taking a microscope to your finances, perhaps reassessing how you've been bringing in cash, investing, saving and tackling related to-dos. Make sure you carve out space for connecting the dots between your values, self-worth and income, as you'll find that they're actually more inextricably linked than you may have realized. For more horoscope content, keep scrolling! How to Read Your Full Moon Horoscope for Boosting Love, Money and Happiness What Your Venus Sign Says About Money Luck and Success, According to an Astrologer How to Read Your Mercury Retrograde Horoscope to Boost Love, Success and Happiness
