South Plaquemines Elementary School Visits Delgado Community College

JA BizTown, run by Junior Achievement of Greater New Orleans, is a program for students in elementary and middle school. The educational program focuses on financial literacy and gives students the tools to equip them to one day be successful leaders, employers and executives. January 9, 2020, the fifth and sixth graders from South Plaquemines Elementary were given the opportunity to experience JA BizTown at Delgado Community College (DCC).

SPES students were allowed to help run the town for a day in mock businesses. Ian Ragas, a sixth-grader, was the town mayor and led a town hall meeting. Other businesses run by the students included City Hall, LA SPCA, New Orleans Advocate, Palmisano Contractors, The Blood Center, Fab Lab, Blue Cross of LA, Capital One Bank, Oschner Hospital, and United Way. Students ran the businesses as owners would run them in real life. Some of the tasks included ringing up customers, depositing and withdrawing money, balancing checkbooks, arranging adoptions for pets, building furniture, checking patients’ vital signs, providing massage therapy services, creating name tags, and conducting city hall business.

The fifth and sixth graders were able to use their classroom instructional concepts while working the various businesses. They were able to exbibit rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a community and show how the flow of goods impacts the economy.

Dr. Barrett, the principal of South Plaquemines Elementary School, describes the experience for her students as ” interactive, real-world, and fun.” She is very proud of the school’s students and is eager to send a new group from SPES next year.

This is a field trip this year’s SPES fifth and sixth graders will remember. Students were eager to discuss how their interests and skills helped run the business for a day.

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LA Crawfish Festival, Changed to April 24, 2020

Come see Karma live at the Louisiana Crawfish Festival in Chalmette.

Louisiana Crawfish Festival

New Orleans, LA

Changed to April 24, 2020

Music Line-Up:
Joey Thomas Band
Junior & Sumtin’ Sneaky
Rockin Dopsie Jr
Mojeaux

Free Event.

Click Here For More Information.

 

 

Louisiana Crawfish Festival, Changed to April 23, 2020

Come see Karma live at the Louisiana Crawfish Festival in Chalmette.

Louisiana Crawfish Festival

New Orleans, LA

Changed to April 23, 2020

Music Line-Up:
Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band
Faith Becnel & The Music Krewe
Voodoo Gumbo
No Idea

Free Event.

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The Audubon Aquarium Turns 30

As the aquarium itself puts it they are celebrating their 30th “Aquaversary” this year. The aquarium will make this a year-long celebration. To celebrate they are asking residents and visitors to New Orleans to come visit in 2020.

Along with the ticket giveaways, animal enrichment activities and scavenger hunts, they are also asking the public to find opportunities to help protect nature. Simple tasks such as using reusable coffee cups, reusable shopping bags, a reusable water bottle and refusing plastic straws when purchasing a drink are many ways to help preserve our natural world.

“The Aquarium has meant so much to the people and visitors of the city for the past 30 years, and now we are asking the public to look ahead to the next 30 years and see how they can take action to help make an impact in their everyday lives to make our natural world a better place,” says Vice President and Managing Director of Audubon Aquarium of the Americas Rich Toth.

has welcomed close to 30 million visitors since its opening on September 1, 1990. In fact, its inaugural day broke records for any U.S. aquarium’s opening day. It has expanded its exhibits and now includes a 4,200-square-foot Great Maya Reef and the Entergy Giant Screen Theater. The Spring of 2020 will welcome an additional habitat called Shark Discovery where patrons can touch sharks and rays.

The dream of opening the aquatic wildlife center began in 1984. The Audubon Nature Institute decided to build the aquarium where the old Bienville Street wharves were located. In 1987, The Bienville Group started demolition of the wharves and began the design of ” the Aquarium’s signature wave-like shape and glimmering partial glass facade.”

The aquarium is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums which focuses on saving endangered species and helping keep our natural environment flourishing. The goal of the Audubon Aquarium is to help with the conservation efforts for endangered species. The aquarium has rescued five California sea otters and two of these, Ruby and Clara, currently reside there. There have been 54 penguin chicks hatched at the aquarium and nine of the chick call it their permanent home. Fifteen penguins have been sent from the Audubon Aquarium to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium for their new penguin habitat.

The aquarium is just one of the flagships of the Audubon Nature Institute. The others include the Audubon Park, Audubon Zoo, Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center, Woldenberg Riverfront Park and Audubon Wilderness Park. Through these parks research facilities and museums, wildlife is preserved.

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Record $29.2 Trillion For U.S. Home Values

The Federal Reserve’s Flow of Funds report delivered good news for the beginning of 2020 for the housing industry. The value of all U.S. owner-occupied homes increased to a record $29.2 trillion in the third quarter.

The report also shows that the total of home values for all U.S. residential real estate was $32.9 trillion. The report’s findings are based on both unoccupied or occupied homes. The overall value of homes in the U.S. is 21% higher than the boom in 2006. Fannie Mae reported a 5.2% increase in home prices in 2019 from the previous year’s report.

Not only did home values rise but so did homeowner equity (the worth of a home compared to its mortgage). The report shows a 64% equity stake currently which is up from the 2017 Fed report showing a 62.5% equity stake.

The gain in home values is also supported by lower mortgage rates. Those looking to purchase a home can qualify for higher-balance mortgages and can have a better selection of homes to make offers on. These low mortgage rates stem from the worry from the fallout from trade wars.

Mortgage rates are holding at 3.72% for a 30-year fixed mortgage compared to 4.51% this time last year.

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