Latest news with #SchoolisCool
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Kiwi musician Emma G - from 24 brain surgeries to mental health advocate through music
This open-minded determination and thirst for learning has helped her through some of the toughest times in her life, with music acting as one of the driving forces. From her humble Waikato beginnings and health struggles, to being a two-time TEDx keynote speaker, Ghaemmaghamy hopes her songwriting stories and coaching can help people navigate the worldwide post-Covid mental health crisis. Emma G teaches youth and adults about songwriting and music across the United States. Growing up with hydrocephalus, a condition where fluid builds up in the brain's ventricles causing them to enlarge and put pressure on tissue, wasn't easy, she says. Headaches, memory loss and multiple other side effects made living a 'normal' childhood a challenge, but it was something she'd learned to live with, and songwriting helped her cope. 'I think I grew up a lot faster than everybody else around me, which made things difficult to kind of relate to my peers in a lot of ways,' Ghaemmaghamy says. 'Music has always been the thing that helped me be normal and connect with people in a way that didn't feel ostracising.' She first put pen to paper on her 5th birthday with a song titled School is Cool and hasn't stopped since. A prominent member of Kiwi band Static Era, Ghaemmaghamy also placed sixth on the New Zealand version of hit show The X Factor. She won the New Zealander of the Year Local Heroes Award in 2014, which was about the time she decided she wanted to head overseas and start using her creative outlet differently. 'Chris Yong [of the band Tadpole and formerly Static Era] helped me realise that music didn't just have to be about staying stuck in my muck,' she says. 'It was also an opportunity for me to start writing a future and writing my way out of the chaos, the pain, the overwhelm, the depression, the whatever it was I was going through. That's when I started to really begin learning about how therapeutic music can be for self-expression, depression and anxiety.' In 2019, she was contracting to a multi-million-dollar company in the US, writing their theme songs and doing their performances, when another opportunity struck. 'The woman who ran the company, her son wanted to do what I do, so that's when I started doing Youth Empowerment through songwriting coaching. I started helping young people learn how to express themselves through songwriting and singing.' Ghaemmaghamy now has multiple clients, has toured the US, and has been a keynote speaker for TEDx on two occasions. 'I have always had this kind of idea that your growth happens outside your comfort zone, so I don't like to live in my comfort zone,' she says. Emma G's new book looks to bridge a gap when it comes to navigating mental health challenges. Taking all her knowledge, experience and connections, the time soon came for a natural next step: compile her thoughts into a book. Mental Health Sounds Like This, in Ghaemmaghamy's words, describes her process of what it looks like working with her clients and the exercises she uses, while also linking to her own musical journey and experiences. And while she's well behind the science of how the brain works and cites in the book studies on the positive impact music has, she's not interested in being a therapist or dishing out therapy. 'Therapy's job is to look at the past and how it plays into our present, a coach's job is to look at the future and help bridge the gap between where we are at the moment to where we want to be,' she says. 'My hope is that this book sort of bridges the gap and fills in some of those blanks when it comes to how we understand our brains now, as it pertains to healing and mental health.' Giving advice, Ghaemmaghamy says, can sometimes cause more harm than good because everybody is learning and evolving in different ways and with different personal circumstances. Music, she says, with its wide avenues and opportunities, creates a platform for expression. 'We're constantly finding unhealed parts of ourselves, which can then be healed. There's always another page or there's always another song, right?' Mental Health Sounds Like This releases tomorrow, July 27. Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald's entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke's Bay Today.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tyler Water Utilities will partly relocate for highway widening
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — The Tyler Water Utilities will relocate about 1,800 feet of water line and 3,200 feet of sewer line to aid in Old Henderson Highway widening. #SchoolisCool event in Tyler asks for donations The Tyler City Council approved a $607,200 engineering services agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc on Wednesday to design sewer utility relocations. The Tyler Water Utilities will have several thousand feet of water line moved to make room for the widening of Old Henderson Highway. The city is expecting an increase in vehicle and foot traffic from the addition of Chapel Hill Junior High School at the corner of Old Henderson Highway and Highway 64. The area will need a center turn lane, right turn lanes, wider shoulders, more sidewalks and share-use paths. LIST: High School graduation ceremonies in East Texas The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot) said 30 percent of the roadway design is complete and the rest should be designed by May 2026. Construction is expected to take about six months. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
#SchoolisCool event in Tyler asks for donations
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — The Tyler Area Business Education Council is asking local business and organizations to donate toward the 12th annual #SchoolisCool event being held on Aug 7. Texas bill allows food truck owners to simplify permits in each county The #SchoolisCool event helps provide 2,000 free backpacks filled with school supplies to children and their parents. This event will take place from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Rose Garden Center and W.T. Brookshire Conference Center. Every $50 in donations will pay for and supply one of the backpacks and sponsors can choose different donation levels. Named as a major sponsor on all marketing materials Signage near a backpack distribution location at the event Insert in each backpack (printed materials and payment must be received by (July 9) Company logo on website and printed items Company logo on back of volunteer t-shirts Named as sponsor on all marketing materials Signage near a backpack distribution location at the event Company logo on website and printed items Company logo on back of volunteer t-shirts Named as sponsor on all marketing materials Company logo on website and printed items Company logo on website and printed items Tyler ISD celebrates 2025 Project SEARCH graduates Donations can be made online through Eventbrite and with cash or check payable to the Tyler Area Business Education Council. Cash and checks may be dropped off or mailed to 315 N. Broadway Ave., Suite 307, Tyler, TX. Visit for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
