Jackie Evancho comes to Central Pa.

Super star classical-pop vocalist (and Pennsylvania native) Jackie Evancho brings her “Home for the Holidays” show to Millersville University’s Clair Performance Hall, Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center Friday night.

Ms. Evancho joins us on Wednesday’s Smart Talk to discuss her career that includes multi-million album sales, starring on TV shows and in movies and being a runner-up on the TV program America’s Got Talent at the age of 10 and headlining three PBS TV specials.

Jackie’s bio:

Pittsburgh native Jackie Evancho’s meteoric rise as a 10-year-old YouTube video star and America’s Got Talent contestant brought the multi-talented singer and actor into her own. Her rendition of “O Holy Night” – the recording that garnered 200 + million sales, making Evancho the youngest performer ever to go platinum in the U.S. A worldwide sensation when she was only ten years old, Jackie Evancho has moved past the exuberant promise of a child prodigy vocalist, becoming a mature young adult with a clear direction as to where she, as a creative artist, is taking her career as a singer. In less than a decade, Jackie has made seven chart-topping albums and DVDs, headlined three PBS television specials, appeared in the film The Company We Keep at the request of her co-star Robert Redford, and tirelessly toured the world, singing for Presidents, other world leaders and her fans everywhere. In addition to her solo success, Jackie has recorded duets with such notable artists as Tony Bennett, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Chris Botti, and Joshua Bell.

Can oceans be geoengineered to offset climate change?

There are many strategies for mitigating the affects of climate change. Most of them involve finding ways to reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels.

But what if that’s not enough or can’t be achieved?

Can science geoengineer the planet to reduce carbon?

A new study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says geoengineering should at least be investigated.

Scott Doney, Ph.D., inaugural Joe D. and Helen J. Kington Professor in Environmental Change, University of Virginia led the study and is on Tuesday’s <em><strong>Smart Talk</strong></em>.

Shorter days mean more people are SAD

About 10 million Americans suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. They often become depressed, experience mood changes or don’t have a lot of energy when the days get shorter in the late fall and winter.

Less exposure to light is what causes SAD.

Light therapy is one of the ways SAD is treated.

Tuesday’s Smart Talk shines a light on SAD with Dr. Melissa Brown,  PsyD., Clinical Psychologist, UPMC PinnacleHealth Psychological Associates.

Pa. State-of-Child Welfare report on Smart Talk

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on everyone, but especially on vulnerable children.

The Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children annual State of Child Welfare Report showed declines in the number of child abuse or neglect reports and children in the foster care system. However, the numbers are from 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic when there were stay-at-home orders and many kids weren’t seeing teachers or medical professionals as often.

With that in mind, what to take away from the report is a bit of a challenge but PPC has some recommendations.

We’ll discuss them and the report on Monday’s Smart Talk with Kari King, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

 

Holiday drink ideas to usher in the season

There’s nothing like a frosty beverage to get a party started. Cocktail and “mocktail” flavor combinations can reflect the season and elevate any gathering.

Steve Wood is the beverage and hospitality manager for Willow Valley Communities and a nationally-recognized and award-wining beverage director who has been opening and operating beverage programs at prominent Lancaster County restaurants for the past 15 years. He appears on Smart Talk Friday to share drink ideas for your next party or event.

Pa. school funding case update

Seven years ago, a group of school districts, parents and advocates sued Pennsylvania over how it funds public schools. The case centers on wide spending gaps among the state’s poorest and wealthiest school districts.

The plaintiffs — six school districts, four parents, and two statewide organizations — argue state funding for schools is inadequate, inequitable, and illegal.

They say Pennsylvania is violating the state constitution’s education clause, which requires lawmakers to “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education,” as well as its equal protection clause.

Lawyers defending the state counter that Pennsylvania ranks near the top, nationally, in the amount of money it spends per student, and that the state is now spending about $2 billion more on public education per year than it did when the lawsuit was first filed.

Friday’s Smart Talk studies the status of the court case with our guests Mallory Falk, WHYY Philadelphia education reporter, Brenda Marrero, Executive Director, Public Interest Law Center and Deborah Gordon-Klehr, Executive Director, Education Law Center – Pennsylvania.

What’s behind supply chain disruption and what lessons have been learned for the future?

For many consumers, the words “supply chain” were probably not top of mind, until the pandemic hit in March 2020 – starting with toilet paper shortages, and spiraling to everything from computer chips, to used cars.

The issues have continued for nearly two years, as we head into another holiday season. However, the holiday shopping season does have many consumers thinking about the supply chain. The disruptions become a reality and not just something seen on the news, when looking for a specific product that is in short supply and may be in a large container on a ship waiting off the coast of California. Or if the item ordered online won’t arrive until after the new year.

Thursday’s Smart Talk examines how has the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing weaknesses within global supply chains, and what can be done to make these systems more resilient to future disruptions?

Appearing on the program are Brent Moritz, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, Penn State University and Ian Langella, Professor of Supply Chain Management, Chair, Finance & Supply Chain Management Department, Shippensburg University.

 

Is there a racial disparity between the children that are receiving special education services?

Are African-American children or kids who aren’t proficient at speaking English over-represented ina special education programs?

Penn State Professor of Education & Demography and Director of Center for Educational Disparities Research Paul Morgan doesn’t think so. His research concludes “that white children are more likely to be identified as having disabilities and to receive special education services than black children. These disparities are evident even when black children were displaying the same disability-related symptoms as well as being otherwise similar on other background characteristics.”

Prof. Morgan joins us on Thursday’s Smart Talk to discuss his findings.

U.S. Route 15 is focus of human trafficking

Victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality and because the problem is so prevalent it can often occur in plain sight.

The central Pennsylvania area is especially vulnerable to human trafficking because of the interstate highway system crossing through the state.

Understanding the signs of trafficking and knowing what to look for might help to address the problem and aid survivors.

Rhonda Hendrickson, the Vice President of Programs at the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg is also a coordinator with the Pennsylvania Alliance Against Trafficking in Humans: Route 15 Project. She appears on Smart Talk Monday, along with Karen Galbraith, a Training Projects Coordinator with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and Tanya M. Gould, Survivor Leader Expert & Consultant and Vice-Chair of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking to discuss human trafficking.

To report human trafficking, call the National Human trafficking Hotline 888-373-7888.

Teaching Against Trafficking website mentioned during Smart Talk here.