Stephanie Pellegrino doesn't have a typical school day.

When the Franklin Regional senior goes to her creative writing or communication class on most days, she doesn't have to worry about what she's wearing or showing up on time.

Instead, Pellegrino can listen to teacher Kristin Giron's lessons from the comfort of her Delmont home and work on "in-class" writing assignments when her creative juices are flowing not at 8 a.m. in the morning.

"You become more independent, and it's on you to get your work done," said Pellegrino, 17. "It definitely gives me a different level of responsibility."

More than 250 students have enrolled in one of Franklin Regional's four for-credit hybrid or online courses since the district began offering the classes in 2009-10. Officials hope that number increases drastically when four more classes are added to the schedule this fall. Honors speech and communications and honors physics will be offered as hybrid courses, while international business and 12th-grade English will be offered as online-only classes in addition to being held in a traditional setting.

"The kids enjoy it and find it challenging," said Roger Crider, the high school's technology coach and a business teacher.

"The content isn't any different (from a face-to-face class), it's just the deliver method."

Crider's online Microsoft Office course is the newest addition to the online offerings, which began with an online wellness course that officials say has been very popular. The courses enable students to add additional classes and different types of learning to their schedule.

For instance, Crider said students who take his Microsoft Office course learn how to communicate differently than in a typical classroom setting.

"It's difficult for a lot of people to communicate online," he said. "It's easy enough to send an email or post something to Twitter, but sometimes it takes two or three emails to be able to get the right question or answer across."

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FR dips into future of education with online, hybrid course offerings

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhNOeAm3O9Y

27-03-2012 20:39 1st simple step on Twiitcreep. Doc

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Twittcreep Excercise One Doc - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNiPplUjmuQ

27-03-2012 21:00 If you watched my tutorial and are having issues with part 3's both hands section, hopefully this little exercise will be more help. Here, I play it really slow so you can hopefully see how the timing goes. For me personally, when learning any song it's crucial for repetition. That way it gets drilled into your head. Thus, the repetition in this video should help you get the point. To benefit from this, try following along on your piano/keyboard while watching. Then once you get it, slowly practice your way until you can play at normal speed. Hope it helps Back to tutorial: youtu.be My original frantic factory piano vid: youtu.be

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monkeygluver... Frantic Factory Tutorial's Part 3 Both Hands Excercise - Video

Yoga: the secret of the slender and serene or just a lot of hippies moaning and bending into funny positions? Katie Gormley, of women's sports magazine Sportsister, tried her hand, and various other body parts, at the newest yoga trend, Glow Yoga...

There are many versions of this discipline and Ive tried quite a few, so am fairly well versed when it comes to yogic lingo and manoeuvres, which is probably why Sportsister HQ suggested I visit the new glow yoga class to see just what its all about.

There are so many different types of yoga, its hard to keep track from the hardcore Ashtanga and Bikram, to the more mellow Hatha, as well as all sorts of spin-offs and interpretations in between. The benefits of mindfulness, flexibility, strength and wellbeing are typical of all yoga studios so what makes glow yoga stand out?

The key differentiating factor is the environment. Infra red panels create a warm and nurturing environment. The studios website lists the benefits of this light to include reducing muscle stiffness and increasing weight loss. The infrared lighting is also documented to help relieve SAD, giving you all the benefits of a sunny day, which on a rainy and grey Sunday in March is very appealing.

If I was going to put forward a really concise description Id just say this is vinyasa yoga, in a dark, warm room.

In terms of movement the class is much like any other of this genre and postures are taken from a combination of hatha yoga and pilates. The sequence of movements is designed to encourage you to focus on the present state and breath as you flow from one to the other. The sequence is designed to encourage harmony in the body and mind as well as strength, tone and flexibility.

I do a fair bit of yoga but still managed to be rather unflowing at various stages of the class. Its always the breathing that stumps me more than the moves. However, nobody seemed to be laughing in my face, which is always a bonus. In fact, everyone was just quietly engrossed in their own practice; a good sign of a serious yoga studio.

I attended the bliss yoga class, the focus of which is relaxation and harmony between body and mind. None of these states come naturally to me. I struggle with keeping still and can only really relax in a savasana (aka. lying down still or corpse) if Ive really worked the posture beforehand.

However in terms of zen environments this is about as calming as you can get. Looking around the class its clear that the effect of the diptique candles, the teachers calm and melodious voice, and the infra-red glow has created a relaxed state of calm sedation.

After the class my fellow classmates shared their feelings of total calm and a completely balancing experience setting them up for the week ahead (this class was on a Sunday afternoon).

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An introduction to Glow Yoga

At his best, when a crowd of hundreds of students extended their limbs before him or drew deep breaths with their eyes closed, John Friend could captivate minds and shape bodies. Students spoke of melting beneath his touch. In a gentle voice, he urged them to reach for something beyond the physical, something that extended past the poses they perfected on their yoga mats and embedded into their everyday lives.

Its all yoga, he would say.

He became a superstar, a jet-setting international celebrity of boundless ambition who had invented Anusara, a yoga style that combines rigorous physical poses with a philosophical framework, strict ethical standards and an emphasis on building a worldwide yoga community. He touched down in European and Asian capitals or headlined American yoga festivals trailed by an entourage and a traveling retail outlet. When class ended, the parties often began, happenings where his adoring fans drank beer and cocktails and listened to Friend read poetry as costumed performers roamed the room.

Kind of a lovefest. Kind of a party, April Ritchey, a California-based Anusara instructor, called it. People really got addicted to being a part of this.

Friend achieved kind of a new thing: yoga rock-stardom, said Joe Miller, the owner of Willow Street Yoga in Takoma Park and Silver Spring, until recently the worlds largest Anusara-affiliated studio.

Friends empire an international network that claims more than 1,500 teachers, including 25 in the Washington metro area, and 600,000 students is in crisis now, teetering under the strain of a sex scandal that has split its most loyal practitioners and prompted an astounding venting of emotions, from rage and recriminations to compassion and sadness. In conference calls, e-mails and hushed conversations, Friend has admitted to sexual relations with students and employees and married women. He has confessed to cheating on one girlfriend and smoking marijuana, according to senior Anusara instructors who have participated in conference calls with him. And he has acknowledged leading an otherwise all-female Wiccan coven whose members sometimes took off all their clothes for gatherings, according to senior Anusara instructors who detailed his admissions in a written summary provided to The Washington Post. The covens name was the Blazing Solar Flames, and Friend had Anusaras graphics team design a logo for it, according to three former employees.

There had been rumors about a wild side to Friends lifestyle for years, but few comprehended the magnitude until Feb. 3 when an anonymous Web site jfexposed.com appeared containing graphic, close-up sexual images and racy chat transcripts attributed to Friend and a student. The Web site, which was up for just a day and a half, gained a wide audience when it was featured on the popular site yogadork.com. It included allegations of financial misdeeds the freezing of promised pension funds that Friend later said were the result of a clerical error that was corrected after an employee complained to government regulators.

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Scandal contorts future of John Friend, Anusara yoga

Hines Ward carved out a stellar career as a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, before announcing his retirement last week.

But Ward may be considering another chapter of football in his life - perhaps coaching. Ward told an Atlanta TV station earlier this year that coaching at Georgia would be "my ultimate dream job."

Ward, according to the Athens, Ga., Banner-Herald, was at spring practice for his alma mater, the University of Georgia, on Tuesday and observing the goings-on with a possible eye to see whether or not coaching on the college level might be appealing in some capacity.

"Hes just trying to see if thats something he wants to go into, Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. Hes going to spend some time over here, a couple of days to see what all we do. Not just out there in practice, but to see, hey, what do you do out there in recruiting, kind of see if thats something he wants to do, kind of like when coaches come and visit.

Follow me on Twitter @TitanInsider247 and @terrymc13

Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com

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Ward ponders idea of coaching at Georgia

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27-03-2012 00:49 WellnessFX founders, CrossFit Owners, and health practitioners review the benefits of the WellnessFX platform. Informational video for any CrossFitter, Box Owner or individual interested in achieving their optimal wellness. About WellnessFX: WellnessFX is a better way to manage your health. Meeting the demand for a straightforward, accessible way to manage and understand one's own health, WellnessFX creates personalized wellness roadmaps based on leading health diagnostic test results, along with customized insight from health and wellness experts. With rich, personalized visualizations, the platform leverages behavioral game mechanics and consumer web UX design to bring healthcare into the 21st century. WellnessFX aggregates the underlying biomarkers of the primary detractors of wellness, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity, while layering in data feeds from self-tracking health and fitness devises emerging within the Quantified Self ecosystem

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WellnessFX - A Better Way to Manage Your Health - Video

Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM):

Life Time The Healthy Way of Life Company (NYSE: LTM) will host a special grand reopening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony at its newly remodeled health and fitness center in Charlotte on April 6. Formerly a Lifestyle Family Fitness club, Life Time Fitness University has undergone a remodeling effort designed to bring the facility to Life Time standards of quality and member experience. In addition, the center now makes it easier for members to reach their goals by offering distinct, innovative programs that help connect them to their passions.

Grand opening to feature tours and demonstrations that highlight Life Times state-of-the-art amenitiesincluding complimentary towel service, new, state-of-the-art equipment, programming and services:

In celebration of the grand opening, consumers may establish a new membership with special offers April 6-9, 2012.

To learn more about Life Time Fitness University, visit http://www.lifetimefitness.com.

Note to editors, news directors and photo departments: Media seeking access to the club prior to the event or with special requests should contact KJ Leinberger at 952-229-7162 or kleinberger@lifetimefitness.com.

About Life Time Fitness, Inc. As The Healthy Way of Life Company, Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM) helps organizations, communities and individuals achieve their total health objectives, athletic aspirations and fitness goals by engaging in their areas of interest or discovering new passions both inside and outside of Life Times distinctive and large sports, professional fitness, family recreation and spa destinations, most of which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Companys healthy way of life approach enables customers to achieve this by providing the best programs, people and places of exceptional quality and value. As of March 26, 2012, the Company operated 96 centers under the LIFE TIME FITNESS and LIFE TIME ATHLETIC(SM) brands in the United States and Canada. Life Time also operated seven additional acquired facilities, which are in transition to become Life Time centers. More information about Life Time centers, programs and services is available at lifetimefitness.com.

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Grand Reopening Set for Newly Remodeled Life Time Fitness University Center April 6

WINNIPEG , March 28, 2012 /CNW/ - The Great-West Life Assurance Company commends the Quebec government for its proposed voluntary retirement savings plan (VRSP), the province's version of the federal pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) initiative, now in its third reading in Parliament.

"The VRSP offers a strategic framework for other Canadian provinces as they develop their own PRPP legislation," says Bill Kyle , Executive Vice-President, Wealth Management at Great-West Life. "We encourage all provincial governments in their efforts to help Canadians achieve retirement income adequacy by incorporating universal access, auto enrolment, auto escalation and locking in of contributions."

"The Quebec government's commitment to provide universal pension access to Quebec workers is critically important to the VRSP's success in Quebec ," Kyle says. "This same commitment to universal access will be key to making the PRPP a success in other provinces across Canada ."

VRSPs are expected to benefit Quebec workers by providing a plan structure to pool smaller employers' assets to allow these plans to benefit from economies of scale.

According to the proposal, which must still be passed into law, VRSPs will offer mechanisms to address issues identified as central to the retirement reform debate in Canada without disturbing existing employer-sponsored retirement plans. These mechanisms include:

As a leading provider of group retirement services for Canadians, Great West Life currently provides services to nearly 6,000 companies with five to 99 members. Great-West Life's experience will provide employers with a program that is easy to implement and administer - freeing them to focus on their day-to-day businesses.

About Great-West Life Great-West Life administers over 17,000 group retirement plans and over 1.2 million member accounts, representing nearly 30 per cent of capital accumulation plans (CAPs) in Canada . In the United States , Great-West is the fourth-largest group retirement plan recordkeeper based on total participants and Putnam Investments adds to the organization's North American presence in this market.

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Quebec's proposed voluntary retirement savings plan offers a strategic framework for other provincial plans

People who have money left over after they fund their lifestyle and save the necessary amount for retirement every month often wonder what they should do next. Many people who ask me for advice about what to do with their extra income are trying to seek approval for their desire to inflate their lifestyle. Instead, I give them this checklist of things to consider before they start spending more:

Keep saving. Unless you came into a huge windfall, you probably don't have enough assets to say that you are saving too much. There are way too many unknowns to accurately say that you are saving too much for your future. There could be changes in your marital status, a growing family, a need to support your family financially, a dive in investment performance, and decades of inflation, just to name a few of the things that could disrupt your savings plan. During the first two decades of your working life, the best thing you can do for your financial life is to save as much as you can live with.

Reconsider your assumptions. Seriously think about whether you are really comfortable with what you've already accumulated for retirement. You can't assume that your income will grow consistently all the way until you are 65. You should stress test your retirement plan to see if your assumptions are really solid. What if you are laid off and don't have income for a year? What if your parents need financial support? Make sure you include the possibility of financial shocks in your retirement plan.

Consider lowering your risks. If you have an extra savings cushion, you might want to reduce the risks that you are taking with your investments. By owning more bonds instead of stocks, you are limiting your maximum upside, but you can also drastically lower the chances that an unpredictable economic event can ruin your financial cushion.

Buy an annuity. Another possibility is to buy a few annuities that guarantee payments for the rest of your life. Although some annuities have high costs, knowing that a check will always arrive like clockwork can help relieve financial stress, which is ultimately what comfortable living is all about.

Spend less time working. Instead of buying more stuff, you could spend less time working and gain more time to do what you actually enjoy. Many people in our society work long hours just to pay for their stuff, which is such a stressful way to live. If you've already saved enough for retirement, it's time to develop interests outside of your finances.

Spending more sounds great on the surface, but it's not always the best choice. Having more money than you know what exactly to do with is a great problem to have, but you shouldn't waste the opportunity to ultimately make your life better.

David Ning runs MoneyNing, a personal finance site that shares money moves you can make to significantly increase your chances of having a comfortable retirement. He likes to share simple changes that anyone can make, such as picking the best online savings account and figuring out whether a 0 percent balance transfer credit card makes sense.

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What to Do Once You Are on Track for Retirement