“a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”. This is the definition of the 2022 word of the year “Goblin Mode”.
This is news because it is a trend. The decision to give this word that award may upset some word fanatics or people who enjoy language. On the other hand though playing into trends like Oxford did this year will bring a larger audience to be interested in Oxford Languages.
Other dictionary companies went with more conventional choices such as Merriam-Webster’s “gaslighting” and Cambridge’s “homer” (which was the most popular word from wordle in 2022).
These companies getting on internet trends shows that they want to reach a larger audience.
Homer the 16 year old playful polar bear was found dead in his exhibit this morning.
Homer was a fan favorite at the Midland Zoo. The polar bear exhibit was unique as it allowed the bears to engage in natural behaviors such as digging in the snow and gravel and hunting fish in the chillied pool.
“Homer was a very curious and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly” said zookeeper Sara Getty.
As for the cause of death a necropsy will be performed and the results will be posted when they are available.
The Midland Zoo has had a sad month as two other animals have died. Three deaths this month including Homer as well as a giraffe and a bobcat. The deaths were all unrelated and bring despair to frequent visitors of the zoo.
The polar bears have been great ambassadors for their wild relatives, educating the visitors on the endangered species.
Angela Krebs is the owner of a small business in Boulder, Colorado called Teams of Tomorrow. The business is a children’s basketball and educational program combined into one.
A normal day in a class would be for the teacher to first set up the games and area to have the class and then round up the students from the classrooms who paid for the class. Once all the students are ready the class will start with basketball skills with fun music created by the company. After about 15 minutes of basketball the teacher brings the kids together for “Brain Train” where the students will learn something new academically. To wrap it all up usually a fun game is played and each kid gets a Teams of Tomorrow sticker before returning to their classrooms.
Teams of tomorrow is a company based out of Louisiana and has franchises all around the country. The business model of the company is to offer classes at daycares and schools in the area for children who are at school all day. It gives the kids a break from the day to day and is a fun, educational program set to music created by the company.
Before buying into Teams of Tomorrow, Angela was a fourth grade teacher for four years. She loved teaching but clocked countless hours each week grading and planning for her class. In 2016 she and her family moved to Boulder, Colorado from their home in North Carolina and this presented an opportunity.
She discovered Teams of Tomorrow from a friend who had bought in years before and had heard great things about the franchise from that friend. Upon moving to Colorado she decided to take the risk and buy in she said “It wasn’t in Colorado yet so I ran through the process with her and did some research on the market, I decided it was worth trying to start it”.
The first year was the hardest of course. Finding schools to let her in to offer classes with nothing to show yet was hard, but eventually a few schools would give the program a shot and that is all she needed to get the ball rolling. When asking about some of the hardships she answered with ” Keeping good communication with members and the book keeping were probably the hardest part for me”.
Angela now has close to 1000 students enrolled in classes and counting and hosts performances that those students can sign up for at the Denver Nuggets and Harlem Globetrotters games in the area. Her favorite part of the program though is “How rewarding it is to see the kids to catch on to the new skills that we learn”.
When asking for advice to people looking to start small businesses or buy into franchises like she did her response was “If you are passionate about it go for it! Starting Teams of Tomorrow was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
To celebrate national cookie day on December 4th, Subway announced the worlds first footlong cookie. This is news because it is the first time a cookie of this size has been offered by a fast food restaurant. The audience is cookie lovers and subway customers. The benefit to the reader is to know of what is going on and be informed so they can make the decision to visit Subway to check out the new product. The benefit to Subway is advertising people hearing about a footlong cookie will be sure to bring more customers into stores.
This is unlike stories I have done for this class because it is more of an advertisement for Subway than anything else. Informing people of what Subway is doing on a certain date to spark readers interest.
