The launch of the nonprofit Discovery Museum’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration, canceled because of Saturday’s snowstorm, has been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., the museum announced today.
Donna M. Curran, director of communications, said that along with free admission, the open house will feature a reception and announcements regarding 2012 special events.
Several local and state officials also are expected to attend, she added.
The museum, which now focuses on science and technology, was opened on Jan. 21, 1962, as the Museum of Art, Science and Industry.
The Discovery Museum and Planetarium is at 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport. For additional information, call 203-372-3521 or visit www.discoverymuseum.org
Adolescents report that being overweight is a primary reason that students are teased at school, according to a study from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Published online in the Journal of School Health, the study is the first to examine adolescents’ observations of weight-based teasing at school and suggests that students view weight-based teasing to be even more common than teasing because of sexual orientation.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,500 high school students about their perceptions of teasing and bullying at school. Students were asked their views on how common weight-based bullying is compared to other forms of teasing at school, what types of weight-based teasing are most common, and how they typically react to observed teasing incidents.
About 41 percent of students identified being overweight as the primary reason that students are bullied, followed by sexual orientation, intelligence and ability at school, race and ethnicity, physical disability, religion, and low socio-economic status.
At least 84 percent of the students surveyed observed overweight students being called names, getting teased in a mean way, and teased during physical activity, such as gym class. Two thirds of the students observed their overweight and obese peers as being ignored, avoided, excluded from social activities, having negative rumors spread about them, and being teased in the cafeteria. The majority of students also observed verbal threats and physical harassment toward overweight and obese peers.
While the majority of students reported willingness to help an overweight peer who has been teased, approximately half of the students surveyed remained passive bystanders in these situations, leaving overweight students to cope with these experiences on their own.
The authors assert that these findings are cause for concern, and underscore the need for effective school-based interventions to protect overweight students.
“While many schools have anti-bullying policies in place, there is clearly a need for more awareness and education about weight-based teasing in the school setting, and increased vigilance from educators and school staff to protect these students,” said lead author Rebecca Puhl, director of research at the Yale Rudd Center.
Bridgeport’s Holiday Inn today announced that the celebration honoring Maestro Gustav Meier’s 40th anniversary at the artistic helm of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony will include a Nov. 12 dinner prior to the orchestra’s “Gustav and Mozart” concert.
An Austrian-themed buffet will be offered in honor of Meier’s favorite composer: Mozart. Cost is $35 (reduced from $40), including tax, with a portion of each ticket benefiting the GBS.
Seatings will take place from 5 until 6:30 p.m. so that diners will be able to travel the short distance between the 1070 Main St. hotel and the 8 p.m. concert at the Klein Memorial Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Avenue.
The buffet, say hotel officials, will include such Austrian specialties as potato pancakes, spaetzle, Wiener schnitzel with lingonberries, beef goulash with paprika, bratwurst, broiled salmon and sauteed cabbage. Desserts will include apple strudel and Linzer cookies. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate will be included. For reservations, call 203.334.1234, extension 5181.
The 8 p.m. concert, “Gustav and Mozart,” will feature violinist Elena Urioste performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Turkish. Tickets for the concert, $20 to $50, may be purchased by calling 203.576.0263 or visiting www.GBS.org.
The concert will be repeated at a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Nov. 13, also at the Klein.
Urioste and GBS Executive Director Benjamin Loeb, a noted pianist, will be featured at the inaugural event in the Guest Artist Recital Series on Monday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at First Church Congregational, 148 Beach Road, in Fairfield. Tickets, available at the door, are $40.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch will present awards to the winners of the Fall 2011 Mayor’s Neighborhood Arts & Heritage Grant Program during a reception Thursday, Nov. 10, beginning at 4 p.m.
The public is invited to attend ceremonies at the offices of the Bridgeport Arts & Cultural Council in the historic Arcade Mall, 1001 Main Street.
The program is funded by the city of Bridgeport and administered by the BACC.
Marianne Brunson Frisch, BACC executive director, points out that the program supports creative arts and heritage projects of individual artists and organizations throughout the City of Bridgeport.
Mayor Bill Finch will present award letters and checks to the following individual artists:
Andrea Asprelli, Maralyn Adlin-Donovan, J. Eve Liptak and Jodiann Strimiska.
Organizations receiving awards are: Bridge Academy, Bridgeport Theatre Company, Greater Bridgeport Area Prevention Program (GBAPP), Slant of Light Theatre and WPKN RADIO.
According to the grant guidelines, individual artists, artisans, craft makers and musicians who reside or work in Bridgeport are invited to apply for grants up to $250. Bridgeport visual, performing or heritage groups and non-profit educational, faith-based or social service organizations offering cultural programming may apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000.
The city has provided $10,000 and the United Illuminating $1,000 for the program. Half the monies were distributed in the inaugural spring round and half now. Additional information may be obtained from Frisch at the council at 203-522-4154 or mbfrisch@BridgeportArts.org.
BACC visitor center at the Arcade, 1001-12 Main St., Bridgeport, is open regularly Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Fairfield Museum and History Center announced this morning that it will extend the run of its current exhibit in memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000.
The exhibition was to have closed on Sunday, Sept. 18, but museum officials said today that the show is “not coming down now until after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, because “is has been so well attended and received.”
Admission to the museum is free during the run of the exhibit. Featured in the show are several photographs taken at Ground Zero by the renowned Westport photographer Stephen Wilkes shortly after two commercial airliners were crashed by terrorists into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, destroying them both.
The museum presents exhibitions on the history of the Greater Bridgeport area, as well as topics of general interest to the region. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends noon to 4 p.m. For additional information: www.fairfieldhs.org; 203-259-1598.
Because of complications resulting from last weekend’s Tropical Storm Irene, the Fairfield Museum announced this afternoon that the opening of its 9/11 commemorative exhibition will be delayed by a few days.
In Thursday’s Go section, which was printed prior to the announcement, an article on Page 16 pointed out that events would run from Sept. 3-18 at the museum at 370 Beach Road. They now will run from Tuesday, Sept. 6, through Sept. 18.
Featured will be a small collection of photographs taken by Westporter Stephen Wilkes at Ground Zero, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The museum also clarified another point: The commemoration will include an ABRIDGED version of the Connecticut Historical Society’s traveling show that pays tribute to the 153 men, women and children from Connecticut who lost their lives, as well as the state residents who responded to the tragedy.
A Sunday, Sept. 11, interfaith service, at 3 p.m., in memory of those who perished, will proceed as planned.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends noon to 4 p.m. Admission will be free for all Sept. 6-18.
This press release was from the people at CT Challenge:
More than 1,000 cyclists from across Connecticut are expected to ride in the seventh annual CT Challenge bike ride, which funds a variety of cancer survivorship programs throughout the state.
Scheduled for Saturday, July 30, the ride will start and end at the Fairfield Hunt Club in Westport. Riders of all ages and skill levels can register for a 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100-mile ride and raise funds from personal sponsors to support their efforts.
“We hope that riders and volunteers from each and every town and city in Connecticut will join us on July 30th in Westport to ride in support of cancer survivors, making it a truly great statewide event and a great day for Connecticut,” said Bob Mazzone, executive director.
Since the CT Challenge’s inception in 2005, the organization has been funding cancer survivor programs throughout the state.
“There are now more Survivorship Programs in Connecticut than anywhere else in the U.S. today and we are proud to be providing support to many of them. The CT Challenge Bike Ride makes it all possible,” Mazzone said.
Registration is open for the 2011 Connecticut Challenge. Anyone interested in riding, putting a team of riders together or volunteering for the Connecticut Challenge is encouraged to visit the event website at http://bike.ctchallenge.org.
