World Teachers' Day 🍎
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The Ten News Season 3: Episode 4
In today's episode:
🗞️ Ten things that you need to know right now: an update on Ukraine to the latest on Hurricane Ian
🍎 Celebrate World Teachers' Day with shout-outs to our favorite educators!
📚 Ten News Staff Writer Tessa Flannery is here with a book ban breakdown.
📖 Visit a library with us and meet teacher & librarian Maria Paz Alegre.
🗺️ Tessa's Trivia: can you guess which state in the U.S. has a library that sits on the border between the U.S. and Canada?
Links
Smallest reproduction of a printed book | Guinness World Records
The U.S.-Canada Border Runs Through This Tiny Library - Atlas Obscura
Hurricane Ian barrels into South Carolina after slamming Florida (cnn.com)
Hurricane Ian - Maps and images showing destruction - BBC News
NASA again postpones launch of Artemis I moon mission as Hurricane Ian threatens - UPI.com
Typhoon Noru smashes into the Philippines, killing 5 and leaving villages in tatters | CNN
Is climate change making hurricanes worse? | The Economist
Ukraine war latest: Putin declares four areas of Ukraine as Russian - BBC News
Europe pointing at Russia, alleging sabotage for Nord Stream damage - The Washington Post
Update: Webb and Hubble Photos Show NASA’s DART Asteroid Crash - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
NASA’s DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test | NASA
Watch: Lizzo plays former President James Madison's crystal flute and twerks in DC (fox5dc.com)
Herd The News? Wild Boar Piglet Adopted By German Cows | HuffPost Weird News
Aaron Judge ties Roger Maris' AL record with 61st home run | FOX Sports
Follow Along with Us
📧 Do you have something to tell us? Email us at: hello@thetennews.com
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TRANSCRIPT:
Mr. Albertini 0:00
Hello.
Ryan Willard 0:04
Hi, Mr. Albertini. It's Ryan Willard, long time, no talk.
Mr. Albertini 0:08
Yeah, it's been a very, very long time.
Ryan Willard 0:12
Remember when I was in fourth grade and during class, you were helping me with my math and then someone farted? And I was like, oh my gosh, Mr. Albertini farted and everyone screamed and laughed at you. Yes, yes, I do. Well, I was the one that actually farted. And I wanted to apologize. I'm really sorry.
Mr. Albertini 0:36
Apology accepted. Wait, shouldn't you be at work right now at The Ten News?
Ryan Willard 0:42
Yes, I gotta go. But I appreciate you so, so much. Bye!
Pamela Kirkland 0:48
Alright, you can check off Mr. Albertini. How many more teachers are on your "Thank you, I'm sorry," list?
Ryan Willard 0:55
Seventeen more.
Pamela Kirkland 0:57
Okay, well, today we're celebrating World Teachers' Day. It's a day to appreciate and thank our teachers, and it's been held every year on October 5th since 1994. I'm Pamela Kirkland.
Ryan Willard 1:10
I'm Ryan Willard.
Pamela Kirkland 1:11
It's Wednesday, October 5th.
Ryan Willard 1:13
And this is The Ten News.
Sound Bit 1:17
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Ten'er 1:26
Hi, I'm Sadie and I'm from Poway, California. My teacher, Miss Sovereign is the best. We love listening to The Ten News. Thanks for keeping it real with us kids. Go Miss Sovereign's class!
Ten’er 1:39
Hi, I'm Harper. I'm Frankie, and I'm Avery. We want to give a special shout-out to our teacher CJ who left us last year. He was a great teacher. And we really miss him. Happy World Teachers' Appreciation Day!
Pamela Kirkland 1:56
In addition to World Teachers' Day, we have a whole bunch of news to share with you, Ten'ers.
Ryan Willard 2:01
Here are 10 things you need to know right now.
Pamela Kirkland 2:08
Some of the biggest news of the past week is that a category 4 hurricane struck Cuba, Florida, and South Carolina. Hurricane Ian brought wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, and more than 2 million people don't have power. NASA had to postpone its Artemis Moon launch again due to the hurricane and across the world, the Philippines is reeling after Typhoon Nauru made landfall, locals had little time to prepare because the storm grew very strong, very quickly. Scientists say climate change is making hurricanes more powerful, but not more frequent.
Ryan Willard 2:51
We have an update on the war in Ukraine. Russia held illegal referendums in four Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. What does that mean? Basically, Russia is trying to claim that those four areas are a part of Russia. But the UN and international community have said these referendums are illegal. Putin has now annexed these regions of Ukraine, which is similar to what happened to the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014 when Russian fighting in Ukraine first began. This is terrible. In other Russian news, the Nord Stream Pipeline delivers gas from Russia to the EU and late last week leaks were reported. The US and NATO Allies say Russia has sabotaged the pipeline, while Russia says the US caused the leaks. Many European nations rely on Russian gas for heating and with the colder months approaching governments are under pressure to find alternatives.
Pamela Kirkland 3:42
NASA crashed into an asteroid on purpose. What? The DART mission aka double asteroid redirection test was a huge success. DART hit the small asteroid Dimorphos and changed its path. NASA is practicing pushing asteroids around in case there's ever an asteroid, I don't know, headed for Earth.
Ryan Willard 4:08
We got two new stories from the entertainment world. First up, pop sensation Lizzo made headlines playing a 200-year-old crystal flute that once belonged to the former president and founding father James Madison. The flute was loaned to Lizzo by the Library of Congress and it was guarded to and from her Washington DC concert.
Pamela Kirkland 4:29
And there was a big movie released this weekend. Hocus Pocus 2 came out on Disney+ on Friday, September 30th. This sequel comes 29 years after the original Hocus Pocus premiered. Did your parents just groan about how old they are? I know I did. We at The Ten News know how they feel.
Ryan Willard 4:52
In animal news. A baby wild boar also called a piglet was adopted by a herd of cows in Germany. The farmer decided the piglet can stay so here's hoping it won't hog all the food.
Pamela Kirkland 5:05
Sports fans are psyched that Yankee right fielder Aaron Judge has tied the record for home runs in a single season. So far, he's hit a whopping 61 homers and with seven games left in the season, he could go on to break the record held by Roger Maris from way back in 1961.
Ryan Willard 5:27
And to my Ten'ers with little siblings, science has finally revealed the best way to get a baby to sleep.
Pamela Kirkland 5:33
Oh, I'm listening.
Ryan Willard 5:35
Oh, right, Pamela, you could use this with your little one. Using heart rate monitors, researchers from Italy tested babies as they were being put to bed. Turns out the best way to get a baby to sleep is to carry them around for five minutes, then sit with them for five minutes, then put them in their crib.
Pamela Kirkland 5:50
I'm writing this down.
Ryan Willard 5:52
Fingers crossed that baby Kirkland was listening too.
Pamela Kirkland 5:56
And that is the 10 things you need to know right now. Data transfer complete. Here at The Ten News, we love teachers and we know one of the challenges facing teachers today is book bans. Ten News Staff Writer, Tessa Flannery has more on how a book gets banned.
Tessa Flannery 6:25
September 18th through the 24th was banned books week. It's a week when libraries, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers remind the world how important books are by speaking out against book bands. But, how does a book get banned? First, someone has to have an objection to the content of a book. That means they disagree with the book, maybe they think it's not appropriate for kids or it goes against their beliefs. Not so fast. Then they challenge the book, explaining why they think it shouldn't be in a library, in a school, or on a bookstore shelf. If their challenge is successful, the book is removed, otherwise known as banned. This year alone, the American Library Association has recorded challenges to over 1,600 books, especially books about racism, racial injustice, and the LGBTQ+ community. Are you kidding me? Over the past few years, more books have been published about kids that are black, indigenous, Latinx, or Asian, which is great news because studies show representation is a key part of building self-esteem for kids or marginalized groups. And kid books with LGBTQ+ themes can help queer kids feel like they belong while teaching empathy to kids who are not members of the LGBTQ+ community. Excellent. So, why would anyone want to ban these books? What's the big idea? According to Penn America, a group that supports freedom of expression, most book challenges come from conservative parent groups and Republican lawmakers. These small groups say books about racial injustice and the LGBTQ+ community go against their values. But, the conservative groups don't represent the views of most Americans, despite having a big impact on what is allowed to be discussed in schools. That's why banned book week is important. By talking about the books we want to read, we can stand up for freedom of expression, and representation for all kids and families. Nice. Of course, we should note that some books are challenged or banned for other reasons. Like the book, Walter the Farting Dog, which was challenged for using the words fart and farting 24 times, I'm pretty sure Ryan is trying to beat that record in this episode of The Ten News.
Pamela Kirkland 8:45
And that's how book bans work and why they are a real problem. What do you think, Ryan? Ryan? Where are you?
Ryan Willard 9:02
I snuck into a library. We need to talk to a real-life librarian about these book bans.
Pamela Kirkland 9:08
That is a great idea, Ryan. Okay. Grab that interview and see you back at the office.
Maria Paz Alegre 9:14
Excuse me, sir. No phones, please. This is a library.
Ryan Willard 9:18
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm looking for the librarian.
Maria Paz Alegre 9:21
Oh, that's me. I'm Maria Paz Alegre.
Ryan Willard 9:24
Nice to meet you, Maria Paz. I haven't heard that last name before. What does it mean?
Maria Paz Alegre 9:28
In Spanish, Alegre means happy. So, my students either call me Miss Alegre or Miss Happy.
Ryan Willard 9:37
Well, hello, Miss Happy. I'm Ryan Willard
Maria Paz Alegre 9:40
From The Ten News?
Ryan Willard 9:41
You know who I am?
Maria Paz Alegre 9:42
Absolutely. Oh, you don't have to sneak around the library. You're welcome here.
Ryan Willard 9:47
Well, that's not what I expected you to say. But, cool, thank you. So, how do books end up in libraries in the first place?
Maria Paz Alegre 9:54
That is such a good question. A lot of times it's the librarian’s choice to request a book. We usually read a lot of journals and reviews that tell us about all the good books that are coming out. Sometimes kids tell us about it ahead of time and request, and sometimes there are librarians whose only job it is to buy books for the many libraries in their city.
Ryan Willard 10:15
Have you ever had to remove a book from the library because it was banned?
Maria Paz Alegre 10:19
I have never removed a banned book, I have moved some books to an older location. For example, if the book has some mature themes in it, that's not appropriate for say, kindergarten and first grade, and for some reason, it's in that section, I will move it up to second or third grade. So, that is the closest I've done.
Ryan Willard 10:40
Are you a teacher as well as a librarian?
Maria Paz Alegre 10:42
I am. I teach at the Allen Stevenson School and I teach every grade, kindergarten through fourth grade in the library.
Ryan Willard 10:51
You teach library, that's a subject?
Maria Paz Alegre 10:54
It is such an important subject, and honestly, it's some of my student’s favorite subjects. Every week we meet, we talk about books, we explore new literature, sometimes we'll discuss fiction versus nonfiction, things we liked, things that we didn't like, books that we'd like to see in the library, and just about everything about books. It's really fun.
Ryan Willard 11:16
Are there any secrets I should know about libraries?
Maria Paz Alegre 11:19
A secret that you should know about a library. That is a very good question. I have one. There is a famous award and it goes on the medal have lots of books, so you'll probably know about it. It's called the Caldecott Award. It's on, Where the Wild Things Are, it's on Make Way for Ducklings, it's on For Snowy Day. That award is a librarian award. So, librarians every year 16 librarians are chosen to decide on which book is The Best Book of the Year for children.
Ryan Willard 11:56
I did not know that. And, what does that word called again?
Maria Paz Alegre 11:59
It's called the Caldecott Award and can I tell you something very exciting?
Ryan Willard 12:03
Yes, please.
Maria Paz Alegre 12:04
I was chosen. So, actually, next year, I will be one of the 16 people in the world who will choose the best picture book of the year. I'm very excited.
Ryan Willard 12:17
Can you tell me if you have any favorite picture books that are up for nomination?
Maria Paz Alegre 12:20
It is a secret? The answer to your question will be revealed in a big ceremony when the Caldecott Award is announced.
Ryan Willard 12:28
Well, I respect your privacy and your need to keep this secret. So, I'm going to ask you another question. Is there any advice you might want to tell our Ten'ers, Miss Happy?
Maria Paz Alegre 12:36
Oh, yes. I know that a lot of kids like to stick to the same books. And sometimes they get a little intimidated by a big wall of books and they don't know what to do, so they usually choose the thing they're familiar with. And usually, it's something like Dog Man or Big Nate, which are really good series. However, in my library, we do not have a dozen books, we do not have 100 books, we have over 20,000 books, and we're just one school library. So, what I would do if I were you and I would like to try something new, is take any book off the shelf, open it and read the first two pages. And if it's something that grabs you, then that's wonderful. And if it's something that is not for you, you can always put it back and find something new. That's what I encourage you to do, explore the library by doing one book tasting at a time.
Ryan Willard 13:28
Miss Happy, thank you so much for answering my questions. And thank you for being such an awesome librarian and teacher.
Maria Paz Alegre 13:34
Sure thing, Ryan, keep up the good work at The Ten News. Wait, don't you have to get back to work?
Ryan Willard 13:40
Ah, you're right. I gotta get back to the studio. Actually. Why don't you come with me? You can even visit the trivia room and sit on the trivia throne.
Maria Paz Alegre 13:48
Count me in. Let's go.
Ryan Willard 13:57
Okay, Pamela, next up is my old teacher, Miss funk. This would be an easy one because she really liked me and thought I was really cool and really funny. I'm pretty sure I was her favorite.
Pamela Kirkland 14:06
Oh, then, she'll be happy to hear how much you appreciate her.
Miss Funk 14:11
Hello, Ryan Willard. Explain why you're calling me.
Ryan Willard 14:15
Oh hi, Miss funk. I called to tell you that the smallest book in the world is called Teeny Ted from Turnip Town.
Miss Funk 14:23
I know. It's narrower than the width of human hair. In fact, I taught you that. Now tell me why you're really calling me during my lunch break. I'm having my usual liver and onions.
Ryan Willard 14:35
Well, it's World Teachers' Day and I wanted to call and tell you that I just...
Miss Funk 14:40
That you're sorry for starting a water fight in the middle of my social studies class?
Pamela Kirkland 14:44
Ryan, you did what?
Ryan Willard 14:45
Oh, that? Well, technically, it wasn't a water fight since I was the only one with water balloons. I thought you thought that was really funny and cool.
Miss Funk 14:55
I did not think of either of those things. I sent you to the principal's office and you got in a lot of trouble. By the way, I'm still waiting for you to turn in your final Social Studies project.
Ryan Willard 15:06
Okay, Miss Funk. It was nice talking to you, just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you teaching me. I don't know if I like this game, Pamela.
Pamela Kirkland 15:12
Let's take a break from these awkward phone calls and get back to some important work, Ry. We need to give out some Ten New snaps to a few teachers. We're sending Ten New snaps to Mrs. Baysmore at Carolina Beach Elementary School. And big snaps to the teachers at the San Francisco School who've been big supporters of The Ten News since we started. Well, thank you very much.
Ryan Willard 15:42
Hey, teachers, do you listen to The Ten News in your classroom? Let us know and I'll give you a shout-out on the show. Call 877-TEN-NEWS and leave us a voicemail or send us an email at hello@thetennews.com!
Tessa Flannery 15:57
Welcome to the trivia room.
Maria Paz Alegre 16:00
Wow, this place is glorious. I can't wait to sit on the trivia throne, Tessa.
Tessa Flannery 16:05
Well, hop on up on the trivia throne, Miss Happy, and get ready for today's trivia question. Ryan got to visit you at your library and I for one love libraries. But, did you know there's a library that sits on the border between the US and Canada? It's true. But, can you guess which US state the library is in? Is it a) North Dakota, b) Washington State, or c) Vermont? Ten'ers, did you guess it? Miss Happy? What's your answer?
Maria Paz Alegre 16:52
My answer is a) North Dakota.
Tessa Flannery 16:56
The answer is C! The Haskell Library was built in 1901, right on the border between the US state of Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec. The idea and funding came from the Canadian wife of an American merchant. It's one of the only libraries in the world that operates in two countries. Citizens of Quebec and Vermont can check out books, picnic on the lawn, and even see plays. Funnily enough, the stage is in Canada and the audience is in the US. No way.
Maria Paz Alegre 17:32
That is super cool. I think I'll have to take a road trip to check it out. Thank you for having me, Tessa.
Tessa Flannery 17:41
Thank you for coming by, Miss Happy. Hey, Ten'ers, do you want to sit on the trivia throne and share your trivia knowledge? Visit thetennews.com/contact to get in touch and we might have you on the show.
Pamela Kirkland 17:55
Ryan, what are you doing with my phone?
Ryan Willard 17:58
I'm calling one of your teachers to see what kind of crazy stuff you did when you were a student.
Pamela Kirkland 18:02
Wait, what? You're calling Miss LeClaire?
Ryan Willard 18:05
Yeah! It's gonna be hilarious.
Miss LeClaire 18:08
Pamela Kirkland?
Pamela Kirkland 18:10
Hi, Miss LeClaire, how are you?
Miss LeClaire 18:12
I'm great, thanks. How is my favorite student? You're one of the best I've ever had. Straight A's, so kind, so responsible.
Pamela Kirkland 18:21
Are you kidding me? I'm well, thank you Miss LeClaire. I just wanted to call and tell you how much I appreciate you and all that you do. You made such a big impact on my life. And I'll never forget when you brought the whole class chocolate from Germany.
Miss LeClaire 18:36
I really appreciate that. You're the best, Pamela, thank you so much for calling. Have a great day.
Pamela Kirkland 18:43
Wow, that was so nice.
Ryan Willard 18:46
That was not at all what I planned, so I think we should probably wrap up the show.
Pamela Kirkland 18:51
But, before we do, here's a quick note for the grownups.
Ryan Willard 18:55
Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Our show is now weekly and drops every Wednesday. But, if you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten'ers Club on our website or on Apple podcasts, club members get special bonus content and more.
Pamela Kirkland 19:07
The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts.
Ryan Willard 19:13
The Ten News creative team is thanking teachers and includes Tracey Crooks, Adam Bernard, Pete Musto, who also played Mr. Albertini today, Tessa Flannery who played Miss funk, and a special thanks to Jamie Albright for playing Miss LeClaire.
Pamela Kirkland 19:25
Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.
Ryan Willard 19:33
I'm Ryan Willard.
Pamela Kirkland 19:33
And I'm Pamela Kirkland, the person that puts up with Ryan, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Now, go thank your teacher!
