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Celebrity

Steve Carell calls into high school assembly and announces he's buying 800 students' prom tickets

Carrell did a great thing, but that didn't stop him from going full Michael Scott.

alicewillhelp/Instagram

Steve Carell announces free prom tickets for seniors affected by southern California wildfires.

Actor Steve Carell showed up in a big way for high school students affected by the recent wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. The Office actor, 62, partnered with charity Alice's Kids (@alicewillhelp), to pay for all seniors to attend prom at six different high schools in Altadena, California.

According to Alice's Kids founder and executive director Ronald "Ron" Fitzsimmons, Carell will be sending about 800 seniors to prom for free. Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Alice's Kids will donate about $175,000 in total.

The uplifting news was shared via Alice's Kids Instagram page, with a personal message from Carell that was played at each high school via video projection in auditoriums. "A special message from our friend Steve Carell. Right now, this is being viewed by every senior at the six high schools in Altadena, CA!! @stevecarellofficial," the video's caption reads.

“Attention. Attention all seniors. This is Steve Carell with a very special announcement. I work with a wonderful charity based out of Virginia called Alice’s Kids. And Alice’s Kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets,” he said in the video. “And if you have already paid for your prom tickets, they will reimburse you for your prom tickets. It’s a pretty good deal. Have fun. Enjoy the prom, and remember, this is Steve Carell.”

Fans of The Office will notice that the video is a subtle nod to the hit NBC show, where Carell played boss Michael Scott. During a 2009 episode from the sitcom titled "Scott's Tots," he promises to pay the college tuition for a group of third graders if they graduate. But when the time comes to cough up the cash, he doesn't have it. Thankfully, Carell's donation to Altadena students had a different outcome.

The video got an overwhelming response from viewers, many who caught on to The Office reference. "'Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gon’ do? Whatcha gon’ do? Make our dreams come true!' This is beautiful," one wrote. Another commented, "Love this! Scott’s Tots for the win!" And another added, "Scott’s tots is coming true!!"

Another wrote, "thank you so much for blessing our students at Pasadena HS with an unforgettable night of memories ✨️🌹🙏🏼." And another shared, "What a thoughtful way to celebrate kids who’ve lost so much!"

One viewer was also personally impacted: "THANK YOU FOR THIS!! MY SISTER IS ABLE TO GO TO PROM!!🫶🫶🫶," they wrote. still another added, "Thank you @alicewillhelp and @stevecarellofficial on behalf of my Muir Senior 💙💛🐴🙏🏽. You all are awesome!!!!! 👏🏽"

Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Carell and his wife, Nancy, have been involved with the organization for over seven years. The idea to donate tickets to prom came after making numerous calls to schools affected by the wildfires.

"That's when I thought, 'Well, let's do something later on. Later on, all the charities will be gone. The kids who are seniors will be going off somewhere,'" Fitzsimmons told the publication. "So that's when I thought, 'What can we do to lift them a little bit in a few months from now?' That's when the idea of prom tickets came up."

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Education & Information

Film shown to high schoolers in 1948 exposes the tactics of propaganda still relevant today

"What are 'glittering generalities?'"

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Propaganda exposed in 1948 film shown to highs schoolers

Propaganda is a word we often hear thrown around when someone says something we don't agree with. It doesn't matter if what's being said is factually true or not. The word has been so overused that people may not recognize actual propaganda when they see it. Americans aren't well versed in recognizing propaganda outside of the brief disclaimer that other countries used propaganda during wartime.

There's not much of a deep dive on the topic in schools but at one point in history, it was completely normal for high schoolers to be taught how to spot propaganda. In the 40s, juniors and seniors in high school were required to learn about how propaganda mixes language and images to persuade people to believe one thing over another even if it wasn't true. The goal for propaganda was to get people emotionally invested in whatever was being pushed so they'd be more likely to trust what they were hearing.

America was so invested in teaching about the pitfalls of propaganda that they put together a video explaining different ways to recognize it. This was designed to come in handy for the deluge of information coming out about WWII at the time and eventually the Cold War. People needed to be able to critically pick apart what they were reading, seeing and hearing so they could best decipher the truth.

Oak Ridge High School Library | Free Photo - rawpixelwww.rawpixel.com

While America is not currently at war, learning to decipher propaganda is still relevant today, especially given how quickly information moves nowadays. In the 1948 film sold to high schools across the country, an older man shares with a high school boy ways to identify propaganda by first listing some of the techniques.

The techniques of propaganda listed are glittering generalities, transfer, name-calling, card-stacking, testimonial, plain folks, and bandwagon. They then go through each technique to breakdown what they look like in practice. Many of the techniques listed may be easily identifiable in modern American politics and advertisements.

grayscale photography of children sitting inside room Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash

Examples given for glittering generalities are "good government" and "real American" used in different campaigns. But the faux politician asks the boy what is "good government" and is it the same as what the mayor considers to be "good government." This gets the young man's wheels turning. In his example for card-stacking he plays a recording where the mayoral candidate blames a water issue on the current mayor.

"That's what we call card-stacking. Cooper was mayor when the pumping station broke down but it was the man in office before him who allowed it to get into such a rundown condition and it finally gave way before he could get anything done," the man explains.

File:Oliver twist.gif - Wikimedia Commonscommons.wikimedia.org

The boy then clarifies the information he is hearing, "and card-stacking is choosing some facts and leaving out others and arranging them to suit your purpose."

Once the teen understands some of the basic propaganda techniques, he and the man take another look at a campaign film they've previously watched, allowing the boy a chance to identify the types of propaganda techniques used.

"You'll find that the purpose of most propaganda is to persuade people to believe something, to do something or to buy something," the man says before later adding, "whenever you're tracking down propaganda, get as many different points of view as you can."

Gathering as much factual information as you can from multiple different points of view and different sources is important for any sort of research, but it's especially important when the goal is to sell you something or win your vote. Showing a film like this one in high school may be helpful in ensuring people continue to be able to recognize the persuasive techniques used in political and marketing ads to encourage critical thinking and informed decision-making.

"I think I understand," the boy says. "To know whether propaganda is good or not, whether it's true or not, I should know the purpose, recognize the technique, get the facts and judge the purpose and technique by the facts."

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Friendship

Woman reconnects with her high school bully and finds out people aren't always who they once seemed

Almost everyone has been bullied. Not even gets to have a surprising reunion.

Photo by Obie Fernandez on Unsplash
girl in blue sleeveless dress

Bullies. So many of us had them. Whether it was the subtle "Mean Girls" digs or full-on being shoved into a locker, there was usually that ONE (or three) person in your younger years who made your stomach drop the moment you saw them. They seemed to live to make your life miserable, and all too often, they succeeded.


i know right mean girls GIFGiphy

A woman took to Reddit and asked, "Who got bullied in school/college? Where are your bullies now?"

Great question. As someone who Insta-stalks every single crush I've had since kindergarten, it never occurred to me to look up the people who hadn’t always been so pleasant.

After the OP posed the question, she told her own story. "There was a group of girls, particularly one girl who'd pick on me. Basically, her boyfriend had broken up with her because he had started to like me. So yeah, she'd bully me a lot, and I never had a good relationship with her in school."

But things took a surprising turn somewhat recently! She adds, "…until a year ago, our best friends from school basically cheated on us with each other. (I don't have a better way to explain this, but yeah, we both got abandoned by our best friends.) This left us dealing with a lot of mental issues. During this time, we both connected with each other online and became each other's emotional support."

It gets even better. "She apologized to me for everything she'd done, and I genuinely forgave her. We've become really, really close now, and it makes me happy to think that things turned out this way."

Many Reddit users chimed in to tell their own tales of bullying and updates on their whereabouts. Said bullies' lives reportedly ranged from fabulous and successful (one runs a Fortune 500 company) to not-so-great and possibly current cult members. One person adds a funny observation about hypocrisy: "A lot of them are now 'life coaches' and 'influencers' who talk about loving yourself and being kind. F-ing irony."

woman in pink tank top and blue denim jeans sitting on yellow chair Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Instead of befriending their bullies, many on the thread have learned to take their power back by simply ignoring them. One shares, "I get repeated follow requests on Instagram from one of them. He passively stalks me. Two years ago, he DM'd me, and I just saw it and screenshot it. Later, he would proceed to like my Instagram stories and photos, and as usual, I kept ignoring him. LMAO."

Looking Good Social Media GIF by TravisGiphy

She says it didn't even occur to her that this was some sort of victory: "I was so much into my own world that it took me a while to realize how some people can perceive this as a victorious/ 'revenge' moment."

And lastly, there's the perspective that comes with age. A Redditor shares that after attending her 25th high school reunion, she saw this group for what they really were:
"It was glaringly obvious. Once they ascertained my station in life, they grudgingly offered some polite greetings, but they couldn't hide their disdain on their faces. From time to time, they checked if they could get away with laughing at something about me. When they couldn't get any reaction, they looked disappointed."

romy and micheles high school reunion GIFGiphy

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Education

Teachers says she runs her classroom like a 'corporate office'—she even gives PTO

Do you agree with this approach?

@bored_teachers/TikTok, Photo credit: Canva

Some say it's a brilliant idea. Others call it corporate indoctrination.

Teachers provide students with the necessary skills and education to serve them in adulthood. For one teacher, that means introducing them to the office environment as early as possible.

While appearing on the Teachers Off Duty podcast, high school teacher Leslie Robinson broke down how she treats her Family and Consumer Sciences (previously known as “Home Ec”) classroom “like it’s an office building.”

“Each desk simulates a cubicle so each student is like, working in a corporate office — their desk, their office, their business. If they’re listening to music, if they’re on their phone, if they are eating their snacks — that’s your office. As long as your office is clean when you leave, that is your responsibility,” she explained.

However, if any choice affects a student's "productivity," Robinson will note that on her "job assessment,” and it will affect a student's “job score” and “paycheck,” aka their grade, which Robinson updates on a biweekly basis.


@bored_teachers Would you try this in your classroom??
♬ original sound - Bored Teachers

In addition, students “clock in” and “clock out,” and even accrue “PTO” on a points system—An A gets 15 PTO, a B gets 10, and so on—which also affects their grade every two weeks, and comes in handy if a student is in need of a break.

At this point, the podcast hosts wondered how Robinson could possibly keep track of all that. To which Robinson said, “I don’t…I write it on a slip of paper in cursive, because they can’t duplicate my handwriting, and then they have to keep it, just like they keep their dollar bills. If you go to a store., and you lost your dollars, I can’t pay you..”

Across TikTok and Instagram, where the clip was shared, opinions were mixed. On the one hand, some viewers were concerned that it more or less churned out more employees for the corporate workforce.

“This is just indoctrination to Corporate America. Gross.”

“Immediately no. This is fast tracking to an employee mindset and fueling the status quo. There’s creativity in the behavioral process, sure. However, the mindset here is limiting.”“I understand her perspective, but she’s essentially training these kids to be employees rather than employers and entrepreneurs.”

“This is smart but also kind of sad.”

Another person pointed out that this approach reflects a culture that is quickly being dismantled.

“Not gonna lie… I hate this. lol! I hate the idea of teaching kids 9 to 5 clock in clock out culture. Particularly because the world is rapidly changing. The jobs we see emerging now don’t follow that. A better analogy would be running a business to teach self motivation and entrepreneurial thinking because those are the skills kids will need.”

Still, others found the idea to be incredibly creative, fun, and incredibly relevant.

“You are showing life skills.”

“This teaches you to show up on time. How to complete tasks, how to follow rules and instructions, teaches you responsibility by not losing the ticket and much more but also freedom to use your time wisely [and] say if you are having a bad day. I think this is a system that should be used more.”

“The way I would’ve had straight As if my classes had been run this way. Music, snacks, and works at my own pace. The one time

“I totally love this concept!! Talk about a real world connection 👏👏👏”

Whether or not you jive with Robinson’s exact approach, it’s hard not to agree that students need more than just academic learning. They need to learn crucial adulting skills as well. And the opportunity of putting it in a classroom setting is that learning these skills can be far more enjoyable that learning them the hard way later in life. Thank goodness we have teachers lie Robsinon who even attempt unique strategies in order to get their students entering adulthood with as much savviness as humanly possible.

Catch the full Teacher Off Duty episode below:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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