Category: Quality Of Life

Free ride, finally

Manchester public high school students can now ride a school bus to school free of charge. According to a press release, last week the Manchester Board of School Committee voted to get rid of the $8.50-a-week fee that high school students had been charged to ride a school bus — New Hampshire state law does not require school districts to provide free transportation to high schoolers, though Manchester students have been able to ride city buses for free since 2019. “We saw a 15 percent increase in youth ridership on buses after allowing them to ride for free, and with this move, we’re ensuring cost is not a factor in a student’s ability to attend high school,” Mayor Joyce Craig said in the release.

Score: +1

Comment:The free rides could even save the district money. “By … no longer requiring drivers to punch bus tickets, we’re hoping to add additional stops to routes and reduce the total number of school buses on the roads,” Manchester Transit Authority Director Mike Whitten, who manages the district’s school buses, said in the release.

Learning to be leaders

Girls Inc. NH Young Women’s Leadership program recently wrapped up a summer of activities that helped teens develop leadership, problem solving and decision-making skills, according to a press release. The girls toured local businesses, like AutoFair, Cirtronics, Anheuser-Busch and more, and the camp culminated with a career fair and mock interviews. The girls also heard from speakers like John Broderick speaking about mental health, Chef Megan from Cactus Jack’s and Karen Borgstrom, who brought her therapy dog Kooper.

Score: +1

Comment: Meanwhile, QOL’s kids spent the summer watching TikTok videos. Kudos to this group of girls who made the most of their summer with this inspiring community-oriented program.

Free programs for teens

The Upper Room in Derry has two new programs for teens this fall who are looking to build self-awareness and a healthy mindset and lifestyle. According to a press release, Building Me is a four-week series that will offer four virtual lunchtime workshops to discuss simple steps to achieving a balanced lifestyle using self-care strategies. That’s happening Fridays, Sept. 3 through Sept. 24, from noon to 12:45 p.m. on Zoom. Building Your Recovery Capital is a three-week series that offers education and guidance on early recovery topics, like building resilience skills, happening on Zoom during the same timeframe, from Fridays, Oct. 8 through Oct. 22.

Score: +1

Comment: Both of these programs are free, so there’s no reason not to encourage the teens in your life to check them out at urteachers.org.

NH ranks high for student debt

Last week WalletHub released its report on 2021’s States with the Most and Least Student Debt, with New Hampshire coming in at No. 2 for the most student debt. According to a press release, data included average student debt to unemployment rate among the population aged 25 to 34 and share of students with past-due loan balances. New Hampshire ranked No. 1 for average student debt and for proportion of students with debt, and 27th for student debt as a percentage of income.

Score: -3, for being No. 1 and No. 2 in some expensive categories — like college debt, it adds up.

Comment: Meanwhile, AdvisorSmith released a similar study last week; using different metrics, it ranked New Hampshire 9th for the state with the most people who have student loans. Fourteen percent of the population has an outstanding federal student loan, according to a press release, and the average loan balance in New Hampshire is $34,353.

QOL score: 90
Net change: 0
QOL this week: 90

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Police beats Fire, CHaD kids win

First responders played a back-and-forth game of baseball on Aug. 20 during the 10th CHaD Battle of the Badges at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, but after pulling away in the eighth inning, Team Police beat Team Fire 11-5, making it their fourth straight victory in the series and bringing their all-time record to 7-3 over Fire, according to a press release. And along with all the fun, the event raised more than $111,000 to support patients and critical programs at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Score: +1

Comment: Team Police also edged out a fundraising victory, bringing in $2,200 more than Fire, according to the release.

Look out for lanternflies

New Hampshire might have a new invasive species to worry about. According to a report from NHPR, the invasive spotted lanternfly can devastate fruit crops, and while it so far has not spread in New Hampshire, state officials said it will likely return. The spotted lanternfly is currently causing problems in the mid-Atlantic, where in states like New York, officials are telling people to kill any lanternflies they see. They’re about an inch long with black-spotted grey wings and red underwings, the report said, and they weaken plants and trees by sucking out their sap and leaving behind feces that attract other insects and can cause black sooty mold. State entomologist Piera Siegert said the bugs’ favorite host plant is the tree of heaven and is also considered invasive in the U.S. — locally, it grows in Manchester, Nashua and other “disturbed habitat” areas, such as along highways and rail corridors.

Score: -1

Comment: Siegert said in the NHPR report that New Hampshire residents should look out for the bugs and their waxy egg masses and send any sightings or specimens to the state.

A cookie to look forward to

A new brownie-inspired cookie with caramel-flavored crème and a hint of sea salt is being added to the 2022 Girl Scout cookie lineup. According to a press release from the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, Adventurefuls will “take cookie lovers on a delicious taste adventure just like Girl Scouts go on their own amazing adventures through the program.” Such adventures include earning new Cookie Business badges for running their own cookie businesses and selling online via the Digital Cookie platform. The badges range from goal setting and effective sales-pitching to using market research, creating business plans and implementing digital marketing campaigns, the release said.

Score: +1

Comment: New Hampshire’s cookie season kicks off Dec. 29; sign up at girlscoutcookies.org to be notified when Adventurefuls, plus favorites like Thin Mints and Samoas, go on sale.

QOL score: 89
Net change: +1
QOL this week: 90

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Mental health matters

The Granite State was well represented during the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s virtual convention last month. According to a press release, New Hampshire’s Kid Governor Charlie Olsen presented the keynote address, sharing his experience with depression and reminding viewers they’re not alone. Meanwhile, NAMI New Hampshire Executive Director Ken Norton received the Richard and Betsy Greer Advocacy Award for his efforts to advance policy and advocacy that impacts people living with mental illness and their families. And Dr. Isabel Norian, who recently completed her term on NAMI New Hampshire’s Board of Directors, was named a NAMI 2021 Exemplary Psychiatrist, one of only six psychiatrists nationally to receive the honor, according to the release.

Score: +1

Comment: Kudos especially to Charlie Olsen for being brave enough to tell his story and help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

Earn while getting EMT certified

As part of an effort to address the national EMT shortage, American Medical Response has partnered with four New Hampshire EMS schools to offer its Earn While You Learn program. According to a press release, participants are hired as employees and compensated while attending AMR’s EMT-Basic certification course, the release said. Upon successful completion of the program and obtaining their state certification, participants are promoted to EMT-B, with a commensurate pay increase. New England EMS Institute in Manchester, NH CPR in Bedford, NH Fire Med in Nashua and Great Brook Academy in Concord will be offering the classes. The 10- to 12-week program starts in September and is for candidates 18 years of age or older who have a high school diploma or GED and all required immunizations, and pass background checks and a drug screening. Visit amr.net/careers.

Score: +1

Comment: This is the first Earn While You Learn program in New Hampshire, the release said.

Gambling for good

After 10 days of charitable gambling at Manchester’s Filotimo Casino, the Community Caregivers of Greater Derry received a check in the amount of $58,696.70 to help the nonprofit with its mission of serving the elderly and disabled. According to a press release, the funds will be used to increase staff and programming. “The funds from charitable gaming are critical for nonprofits in New Hampshire, especially with all of the uncertainty surrounding Covid,” Cindee Tanuma, Executive Director of the Community Caregivers of Greater Derry, said in the release. “We still don’t know when people will want to attend fundraising events again.”

Score: +1

Comment: Raising tens of thousands of dollars without having to organize a major fundraising event is a huge boost for local nonprofits.

QOL score: 86
Net change: +3
QOL this week: 89

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

New Hampshire’s gambit

Chess is a thing with kids now, thanks to The Queen’s Gambit, which is why The New Hampshire Department of Education is establishing a statewide initiative to bring chess to schools. “The game of chess has become incredibly popular with students as a result of the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit,” Frank Edelblut, commissioner of education, said in a press release. “The research is clear that when we engage students with their areas of interest, the learning is deeper and richer.” The department is partnering with Chess in Schools and is calling the program Granite Gambit. It’s being funded with federal Title funds and will support training for teacher-driven chess initiatives that connect chess with core academic content, the release said.

Score: +1

Comment:According to the release, a gambit is defined as a device or action used as a calculated risk to gain an advantage. “Granite Gambit will give both our educators and students an advantage,” Edelblut said.

Bike safety celebration

Families can bring their bikes to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday, Aug. 13, to ride a few laps around the Nascar track as part of the annual Dale Jr. Foundation Safe Kids 301. The entirely free event is all about bike safety, with helmet checks, bike safety inspections and free helmets for kids who don’t have one. There will also be a touch-a-truck ambulance and a teddy bear clinic, plus snacks and water. All adults and children can access the track on their bikes from 4 to 7:30 p.m.

Score: +1

Comment: A family-friendly outdoor activity, and it’s free? What’s not to like?

All-natural podcast

Take wildlife adventures throughout the state via the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s podcast, On the Nature Trail. Lindsay Webb, a wildlife educator from Fish and Game, is hiking, biking and kayaking to bring listeners on a series of five-minute journeys in search of wildlife. So far she’s seen garter snakes, water scorpions, a saw-whet owl, bald eagles, horseshoe crabs and a bullfrog.

Score: +1

Comment: On the Nature Trail episodes are available on iHeart Radio, Spotify, CastBox and Apple Podcasts, or at nhfishgame.com/podcast.

Happy, healthy babies

New Hampshire is the fourth best state to have a baby, according to a new study from personal-finance website WalletHub, which compared data for cost, health care accessibility and baby-friendliness. New Hampshire ranked 2nd in four areas, with low rates for Hospital Cesarean-Delivery Charges, Hospital Conventional-Delivery Charges, Infant Mortality Rate and Rate of Low Birth-Weight. It ranked 4th for Pediatricians & Family Medicine Physicians per Capita and, as of Aug. 9, 9th for Positive Covid-19 Testing Rate in the Past Week.

Score: +1

Comment: All six New England states made the Top 15, with Massachusetts ranking No. 1 and Vermont coming in right after New Hampshire at No. 5.

QOL score: 82
Net change: +4
QOL this week: 86

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Rain, rain, go away

July 2021 has set the record as the rainiest July documented in southern New Hampshire. According to the Union Leader, Concord had received 10.69 inches of rain as of July 23, surpassing the record set in 1915 with 10.29 inches. The rain has been particularly hard on Seacoast businesses that rely on good summer weather, Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce president John Nyhan said in the article, and on Seacoast vacationers and tourists who spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on their stay, only to be stuck inside.

Score: -1

Comment: Concord has been keeping an official rainfall record since 1868, making this year’s July rainfall the most the city has seen in at least 153 years.

Scootering around

Electric scooters are coming to Manchester and will be available through an app, where riders can pay to use the scooter by the minute. According to a press release, Manchester is partnering with L.A.-based Bird Rides to bring in the e-scooters at no cost to the city. “We heard from a lot of businesses who were looking for micromobility options for their employees to easily travel from the Millyard to downtown,” Mayor Joyce Craig said in the release. The scooters can be used on roads and in bike lanes and have a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour. Riders must be at least 18 and are required to obey standard rules of the road, and they are encouraged to wear a helmet.

Score: +1

Comment: “As a company with 70+ employees moving from Elm Street to the Millyard later this year, we know it’s important to keep professionals coming to work in this city and visiting our shops and cafes,” Mike Collins, CEO and founder of Alumni Adventures, said in the release. “We’ve already had a few employees buy a bike helmet this week to keep at the office for quick trips around town.”

Where’s my package?

New Hampshire residents rank among the highest in the country when it comes to searching online for mail delivery delays, according to a recent survey released by 4over, a California-based company specializing in direct mail and printing services. According to the company’s findings, 4over surveyed more than 2,000 consumers and more than 200 Google search terms related to the phrase “delivery delays” in every state. In New Hampshire, we placed 5th overall in the United States, behind two of our neighbors (Rhode Island at No. 3 and Vermont at No. 1). Elsewhere in New England, Maine came in at No. 8, Connecticut at No. 12 and Massachusetts at No. 15.

Score: -1

Comment:The survey also found that 73 percent of people feel a sense of anxiety when their package is delayed, yet 65 percent of them feel that delivery tracking can be addicting.

Tennis for the greater good

Three New Hampshire high school students are using their love of tennis to help underprivileged youth, according to WMUR. They’ve organized a new fundraiser, Rally for Tennis, to benefit Advantage Kids, an organization that serves at-risk youth and provides opportunities for them to get involved in healthy activities like tennis and yoga. The students had raised $8,932, according to the fundraising page as of Aug. 3, and are hoping to meet their goal of $10,000.

Score: +1

Comment: Rally for Tennis will be held on Sunday, Aug. 15, at Longfellow New Hampshire Tennis and Swim Club in Nashua. Visit rallyfortennis.com to register for the event and donate.

QOL score: 82
Net change: 0
QOL this week: 82

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Smoke in the air

Earlier this week — and for the second time in two weeks — the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services issued a statewide advisory due to high concentrations of fine particle air pollution. Officials called for an Air Quality Action Day on July 26 and July 27 and advised children and older adults, people with lung disease such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis, and people who are active outdoors to limit prolonged outdoor exertion. According to a press release, the air pollution is being caused by the wildfires in the western U.S. and central and western Canada. The air quality was expected to improve on Wednesday, with winds pushing smoke plumes out of the area, but as of Tuesday morning the wildfires were still burning, which could mean more Air Quality Action Days for New Hampshire.

Score: -1

Comment: Even healthy individuals are encouraged to limit outdoor activity, as particle pollution exposure may cause chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, the release said.

Mission accomplished

With much fewer Covid-19 cases than at the height of the pandemic, and with strong vaccination rates throughout the state, the Senior Support Team of New Hampshire has ended its operations supporting senior residential facilities. According to a press release, the fully remote, all-volunteer organization was formed in April 2020 to support assisted living facilities and other senior residential facilities in New Hampshire through the pandemic. Covid Response Liaisons were available every day to communicate with senior facilities, providing facility leaders with guidance, and a statewide team advocated for supplies or services to help make outbreaks in senior facilities less likely. About 55 senior residential facilities participated in the Covid Response Liaison program, the release said.

Score: +1

Comment: The rapid organization of this all-volunteer group, and its work throughout the pandemic, is impressive, but the real positive here is the fact that it’s no longer needed.

Beware of Child Tax Credit scams

Advance payments of the Child Tax Credit from the Internal Revenue Service are now being delivered to families, and along with them are new scams that criminals are using to steal money and personal information. According to a press release, any families that are eligible for the credit should be on the lookout for phone, email, text message and social media scams, specifically communication offering assistance to sign up for the Child Tax Credit or to speed up the monthly payments. When receiving unsolicited calls or messages, taxpayers should not provide personal information, click on links or open attachments, the release said.

Score: -1

Comment: If you are eligible for advance payments of the Child Tax Credit, the IRS will use information from your 2020 or 2019 tax return to automatically enroll you for advance payments, and there is nothing further that you need to do, the release said.

Thriving school systems

New Hampshire has the fifth best school system in the country, according to a recent study released by personal finance website WalletHub, which compiled data of 32 key measures of quality and safety. According to the study, New Hampshire ranks No. 1 in Median ACT Scores and in Existence of Digital Learning Plan. Other Top 10 ratings include No. 3 in Pupil-Teacher Ration, No. 4 in Reading Test Scores and No. 6 in Math Test Scores.

Score: +1

Comment: Overall, we ranked fourth for quality and 12th for safety. Massachusetts ranked first overall, snagging the top spot for both quality and safety.

QOL score: 82
Net change: 0
QOL this week: 82

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].