Ecological Footprint Calculator
Take the Ecological Footprint quiz to measure your impact, and explore solutions to leave a kinder, gentler impression on Mother Earth. Bonus: K-12 Climate Change Week activities
YES! Article archive
Winter 2015 National Student Writing Competition: Letting Go of Worry
Want a motivator to take your students’ writing to a higher level? Here’s an opportunity for them to write for a real audience, and the chance to get published by an award-winning magazine.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” Middle School Winner Leah Berkowitz
Leah Berkowitz is a student at West Valley City School in Spokane, Washington. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine online article "Life After Worry" by Akaya Windwood. Read Leah's essay about replacing worry with bravery.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” High School Winner Rechanne Waddell
Rechanne Waddell is a student at Cypress Springs High School in Cypress, Texas. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine online article "Life After Worry" by Akaya Windwood. Read Rechanne's essay about the impact that worry has on her and her family.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” University Winner Noah Schultz
Noah Schultz is studying for a double major in human development and sustainability through Oregon State University's online program. He read and responded to the YES! Magazine online article "Life After Worry" by Akaya Windwood. Read Noah's essay about the role that worry has in his relationship with his father.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” Powerful Voice Winner Carolina Mendez
Carolina Mendez is a student at Foundations Venture Academy in Stockton, California. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine online article "Life After Worry" by Akaya Windwood. Read Carolina's essay about how letting go of worry helped her deal with the effects of Vitiligo, an autoimmune disease affecting skin pigmentation.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” Powerful Voice Winner Melanie Fox
Melanie Fox is a student at Orchard View Charter School in Sebastopol, California. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine online article "Life After Worry" by Akaya Windwood. Read Melanie's essay about how a person's worries can define them, for better or for worse.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” Powerful Voice Winner Margaret O’Neil
Margaret O'Neil is a student at Casey Middle School in Boulder, Colorado. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine online article "Life After Worry" by Akaya Windwood. Read Margaret's essay about replacing her worry with gratitude.
Winter 2015: “Letting Go of Worry” Literary Gems
We received many powerful essays for the Winter 2015 Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we'd like to share some excerpts that caught our eye.
Winter 2015: Akaya Windwood’s Response to “Letting Go of Worry” Essay Winners
Akaya Windwood responds to the winners of the Winter 2015 "Letting Go of Worry" essay competition.
Visual Learning: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
This Visual Learning Lesson uses an intriguing photo to get your students thinking about the tensions between wilderness and industry, and the importance of being a conscious consumer.
The Knotted Line
Get your students ready for an imaginative ride through history. The Knotted Line uses interactive media and over 50 paintings—representing historic and future events from 1495 to 2025—to explore the relationship between freedom and incarceration in America.
Infographic: Transportation for the New Generation
Walk! Bike! Ride the bus! Check out this infographic to learn how young people are leading the way in replacing driving with alternative transportation. Don’t be fooled— it’s not just because they want to save the planet.
Practicing Awareness: A Living Memorial to Four Slain Kent State Students
In the spring of 2013, Kent State Professor Karen Cunningham used the YES! Magazine article "What Can Change When We Learn to See Each Other," to challenge students to practice empathy and compassion in their everyday lives, and then write about their experiences. The results, for both Professor Cunningham and her students, were life-changing. This is Karen’s story.
Fall 2014: “Digital Empathy” Middle School Winner Bowie Shreiber
Bowie Shreiber is a student at Readington Middle School in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. He read and responded to the YES! Magazine article, "How the Real Teens Behind 'The Fault in Our Stars' Are Bringing Empathy to the Internet," by Christopher Zumski Finke. Read Bowie's essay that tells how he was able to brave the excruciating world suck stress of baseball tryouts and find awesome.
Fall 2014: “Digital Empathy” High School Winner Ally S.
Ally S. is a student at a high school in northern Virginia. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine article, "How the Real Teens Behind 'The Fault in Our Stars' Are Bringing Empathy to the Internet," by Christopher Zumski Finke. Read Ally's essay that tells how she found the strength to cope with mental illness through the support of the same Nerdfighter online community.
Fall 2014: “Digital Empathy” Powerful Voice Winner Tori Gardner
Tori Gardner is a student at Shawnee Mission Horizons High School in Mission, Kansas. She read and responded to the YES! Magazine article, "The Real Teens Behind 'The Fault in Our Stars' Are Bringing Empathy to the Internet," by Christopher Zumski Finke. Read Tori's essay that reveals the unexamined misogyny of the Internet, and what we can do to fight against it.
Fall 2014: “Digital Empathy” Literary Gems
We received many powerful essays for the Fall 2014 Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we'd like to share some excerpts that caught our eye.
Fall 2014: Christopher Zumski Finke’s Response to “Digital Empathy” Essay Winners
Christopher Zumski Finke responds to the winners of the Fall 2014 "Fault in Our Stars" essay competition.
Reflections on Poverty with “Nikki-Rosa” Poem
Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “Nikki-Rosa” reflects on Giovanni’s living with poverty—what she had, more than what she lacked. The poem, with accompanying Def Jam video and ReadWriteThink lesson will help students develop their understanding of poverty, explore their childhood experiences, and write about these reflections in a poem.
Visual Learning: Heart and Sole
This Visual Learning lesson will get your students to think about prisoners—the uniforms prisoners wear and the most effective ways to prepare for their transition back into society.
Getting to Know You: Home Visits Help Teachers and Parents Become Super Partners
In Saint Paul, Minnesota, teacher and union leader Nick Faber helped establish a local home visit project because he believes that, when a teacher knows his student's family, together they are the best partners in that child's learning.
Spring 2014: “Restorative Justice” Middle School Winner Reagan Elliff
Reagan Elliff is a student at the Wildflower Open Classroom in Chico, California. She responded to the YES! Magazine article, "Where Dignity is Part of the School Day," by Fania Davis. Read Reagan's essay about how her karate skills helped her classmate get the support he needed.
Spring 2014: “Restorative Justice” High School Winner Simone Phillips
Simone Phillps is an incoming freshman at Fordham University in New York City, NY. She responded to the YES! Magazine article, "Where Dignity is Part of the School Day," by Fania Davis. Read Simone's essay that illustrates the unnecessary hardships caused by the injustice of the punitive system.
Spring 2014: “Restorative Justice” College Winner Matt Flagg
Matt Flagg is a student at Cascadia Community College at Bothell, Washington. He responded to the YES! Magazine article, "Where Dignity is Part of the School Day," by Fania Davis. Read Matt's essay about the injustices a childhood friend endured and why he felt students didn't stand up for him.
Help Fund Powerful Stories to Light the Way Forward
Donate to YES! today.