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Gary Lipton Media Relations Manager Phone: 1-(800)-222-5551 Fax: 1-(800)-990-4329 Web site: www. napsnet .com e-mail: printmedia@napsnet.com #2588 North American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 350 Fifth Avenue, 65th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10118-0110 Chance To Win A $20,000 Scholarship Family Meals May Help Children Succeed In School (NAPSA)—Here’s food for thought: Helping your child succeed in school may be as easy as sitting down for a family meal. Studies suggest that family meals play a key role in raising highachieving, healthy and welladjusted children. When families eat together and talk with children, they set a pattern for healthy habits with benefits that last a lifetime. Academic Success Frequent family meals are linked with being successful in school. A University of Illinois study found that children ages 7 to 11 who did well in school and on achievement tests generally spent large amounts of time eating meals with their families. Research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) also found that teens who ate with their families most often were more likely to get As and Bs in their classes. Optimal Nutrition Research also supports a link between family meals and nutrition. A Harvard University study published in the Archives of Family Medicine found that families who ate together almost every day generally consumed more important nutrients such as calcium, fiber, iron and vitamins B6, B12, C and E, and less overall fat, than families who rarely ate together. During adolescence, family meals also contribute to higher daily intakes of fruit, vegetables and calcium, and lower intakes of soft drinks. Social Skills Mealtime conversation promotes positive self-esteem in children and brings the family together. Recent research shows that children whose Homemade meals can help parents serve up a lifetime of success for their children. parents shared ideas and talked to them often were about 40 percent less likely to bully others. Family meals also provide an opportunity for parents to engage children in the planning, preparation and enjoyment of food, which creates a lasting and positive relationship with food. To help your child succeed in school and life with healthy family meals, consider these tips: • Include foods from all the food groups and try new foods together. • Serve milk with dinner to make sure everyone gets enough calcium and vitamin D. • Try to avoid mobile phones and music devices and turn off the television during mealtime. • Use conversation starters and ask open-ended questions to get children talking. Learn More For more ideas on healthy family meals, parents can visit www.MealsMatter.org, a free family nutrition and meal-planning website sponsored by the Dairy Council of California. There, families can explore timesaving tools such as a meal planner, shopping-list generator and a new, online 30-Minute Family Meals cookbook. (NAPSA)—An increasing number of parents are pleased to put their young scholars in school uniforms for a variety of reasons. Wearing approved school clothes: • Builds confidence and selfesteem • Creates feelings of awareness and belonging • Raises student and teacher expectations • Boosts school attendance • Increases school safety • Saves time in the morning • Reduces peer pressure • Saves money. Until recently, uniforms were seen only in private schools. Now, dress codes are prevalent in most major school districts. School uniforms from Dockers, which can be found at Sears stores and DOCKERSKids.com, may even help a family win money. The grand-prize winner of The Approved Schoolwear $20,000 Scholarship Contest gets a U.S. Savings Bond valued at $20,000 at maturity. You can visit Sears stores for more information, enter online at www.DOCKERSKids.com until August 31, 2010, or mail an entry with a parent name, home address, e-mail address and phone number, as well as the child’s name, age, grade and school, to Scholarship, 7111 W. Indian School Road, Dept. 125, Phoenix, AZ 85033. Geothermal Cooling Systems: Quiet And Cost Efficient (NAPSA)—Here’s hot news: Geothermal heating and cooling systems not only save you money, they allow for more peace and quiet at home. Unlike ordinary air conditioners or heat pumps, there’s no noisy outdoor unit to disturb your environment or your neighbors. Geothermal systems are designed and constructed for “whisper quiet” operation, similar to your refrigerator. In addition, they provide precise distribution of comfortable air all year long, eliminating hot and cold spots. Using a series of underground pipes called a “loop”, a geothermal system removes heat energy from the earth to heat your home. In hot weather, the system delivers cool, dehumidified air by pulling heat out of the building and depositing it back into the cooler earth. The ground maintains a steady temperature because it absorbs 47 percent of the sun’s energy as it hits the Earth’s surface. Geothermal systems are designed to use that free energy just under the surface. Geothermal systems are easy to install, especially when replacing a forced-air system. They’re also good in areas unsuitable for fossil fuel furnaces because there’s no combustion, and therefore no need to vent exhaust gases. Most systems don’t need much maintenance beyond a periodic check and filter changes. According to the experts at WaterFurnace, a leading manufacturer of geothermal cooling and heating equipment, homeowners with geothermal systems can anticipate an average system life span of more than 24 years, along with less maintenance and Many families are happy to discover that keeping a home comfortable doesn’t have to cost a bundle. lower life cycle costs than a traditional system. Geothermal systems can also supplement your hot water by capturing the unwanted heat from your home and using it to preheat water in a storage tank. A geothermal system may mean higher resale values when it’s time to sell. Many real estate agents now list homes as “ecocertified,” which can mean 12 percent more than noncertified homes, according to a report by the nonprofit Earth Advantage Institute at www.earthadvantage.com. Many homeowners can even get a tax credit for installing a geothermal system. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides a one-time tax credit of 30 percent of the total investment for homeowners who install residential ground loop or groundwater geothermal heat pumps. To qualify, the systems must meet or exceed Energy Star requirements. Units installed through 2016 can take full advantage of the credit. To learn more, visit www.water furnace.com or call (800) GEOSAVE.