ARTICLE ARCHIVE

Year 2012

Clean Water Not a Guarantee to All, Exploris Youth Act

Exploris Middle School eighth graders and Carmen! Carmen! Prestige Salon at Belk will host an interactive global water symposium entitled “Kids Connecting Kids: Our Water, Our Health, Our Future.”  Please join us on Saturday, January 21^st from 10:00-3:00 at Crabtree Valley Mall for this family friendly stage event featuring student presentations and speakers on local and global water issues.  AVEDA stylists will be doing haircuts for donations, blue hair extensions, and hosting a silent auction with proceeds supporting clean drinking water systems for communities in Peru.  Two lucky Exploris teachers, selected by donations from EMS families, will get cutting edge cuts by Carmen himself onstage at noon.  Kids Connecting Kids will be a free and fun way to educate people of all ages on water conservation methods, global water issues, and local ways to make a change.

Learn how the people of Peru will benefit: http://www.conapac.org/clean_water.html

Year 2011
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Year 2011
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Exploris Students and Teachers Present at
40th Annual NAAEE International Conference

The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) held its 40th annual conference at the Raleigh Convention Center on October 12-15th. The conference drew approximately 1000 environmental education professionals from 12 countries. During the conference Exploris students and teachers presented films, posters, and other project work related to theme and service-learning.  Students also led tours of the school for NAAEE participants who were interested in how Exploris uses project-based learning and service-learning as fundamental pieces of our instructional model.

Exploris Students and Teachers to Present
at Upcoming NAAEE International Conference

The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) will hold it’s 40th annual conference at the Raleigh Convention Center on October 12-15th.  The conference is expected to draw 1000 environmental education professionals from over 20 countries.  Exploris students and teachers will present student work including films, posters, and service-learning projects. We are excited to be connected to this exciting conference!

NAAEE Visitors: School tours will take place from 8:00-9:15 a.m. on Thursday and Friday October 13-14.   Meeting place will be the NAAEE conference registration desk.  Call 919-715-3690 or email mmoffitt@explorismiddleschool.org to register.

Sixth Grade Teacher Travels to Germany with Goethe Institute

This summer Exploris 6^th grade teacher Leah Perry was awarded a two week trip to Germany by the Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP).  As the rest of us suffered in the Raleigh heat and humidity, Leah was touring Germany meeting teachers and students throughout the country.  The TOP program is focused on building bridges between German and American teachers and is part of the Goethe Institute.  As a past TOP Fellow, Leah initiated the GeFrees - Raleigh school exchange, which Exploris students have enjoyed through the years.  The partnership with the Jacob Elrod School in GeFrees is one more way that students and teachers continue to build global connections at Exploris Middle School.

Note:  Since 2001, TOP has sought to find the best and most qualified Social Studies educators and give them the opportunity to experience Modern Germany.  Learn more

Exploris Teacher serves as Team Leader for
National Board Certified Teacher Conference

Exploris Middle School teacher Jenne Mondry was selected by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) to serve as a State Team Leader for North Carolina's delegation of board certified teachers who participated in Capitol Hill Day, Tuesday, July 26, 2011.  North Carolina has more National Board certified teachers than any other state in the nation.   In reflecting on the trip, Jenne noted that “My accomplished teacher colleagues and I have important roles to play beyond what we do in the classroom in shaping the future of our schools… We want our legislators to know that we are grateful for their support on behalf of the students -- and future leaders -- of North Carolina.”

Jenne also attended the NBPTS conference while in DC.  She attended conference sessions focusing on Effective School Reform and working with the media. She looks forward to sharing professional development ideas with colleagues that will benefit student learning at EMS.

Exploris Community Members on Amazon Rainforest Workshop July 5-14

The Amazon Rainforest Workshop, developed by Dr. Meg Lowman who is the new director of the Nature Research Center at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, offers educators and community leaders the opportunity to explore the rainforest of northeast Peru and take part in on-going canopy research.  This summer Exploris Middle School has multiple participants in the workshop.  EMS board chair Liz Baird is helping to lead the workshop and participants include EMS teacher Frank McKay, EMS board member Matt Freidrick, and former EMS student Sam Settlage.

Follow the workshop blog with stories and photos at http://naturalscienceseducation.wordpress.com/

Exploris 7th Graders spend 24 hours at Heifer Global Village

As part of their April 2011 class trip to Philadelphia, Exploris seventh graders attended the Heifer Global Village in Sharpsburg, MD.  Here is a student account of the experience:

The 24 hours that followed stepping off the bus at the Heifer Global Village are sure to be remembered by students, chaperones, and teachers for the rest of their lives. During the one night stay in huts, yurts, cabins, and trailers, students were challenged to face a life without modern necessities.  As if this wasn’t hard enough, the class was charged with taking care of “elders” and “toddlers” (teachers and chaperones).  After trading for resources of food, firewood, and water, students cooked a meal to the best of their abilities and spent one of the coldest nights of their lives huddled in their shelters.  Slowly waking up the next day, a small batch of oatmeal was prepared, but communication was strained and not everyone got breakfast.  After a “deep cleaning” of the cabins, students reflected on the experience as a group.  The morning ended with a wonderful HOT lunch for which students had a whole new appreciation.

According to Heifer International, “In living the lives of others, you’ll find that something extraordinary happens. Your attitudes about individual action, community cooperation, and sustainable solutions for global hunger, poverty and the environment will be transformed. Your understanding of the world – and your place in it – will change forever.”  Ask an Exploris 7^th grader their opinion on this; you’ll probably find they agree.

Learn more at http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.4047677/

8th Grade Teacher Receives National Environmental Educator Award

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) recently recognized 8th grade teacher Frank McKay with a 2011 Bartlett Merit Award. The Bartlett Award and two merit awards are given annually to three outstanding teachers who successfully integrate environmental education into their curriculum and engage students in interdisciplinary solutions to environmental challenges. The award celebrates educators who serve as an inspiration and model for others.

In selecting Frank as a recipient, the award committee noted the innovative environmental service-learning work that Frank’s students have been doing in the Walnut Creek Wetlands for the past five years, his work weaving outdoor experiences into class themes, and his work in the wider environmental education community.

NEEF was chartered by Congress in 1990 as a complementary organization to the EPA to advance environmental knowledge and action. (www.NEEFusa.org)

Exploris 8th Graders Go Outward Bound!

Exploris 8th graders recently rose to the challenge of a five day learning expedition with North Carolina Outward Bound.  During the week of April 11-15, students backpacked the trails of the Pisgah National Forest near the Linville Gorge and climbed rock formations of the Appalachian Mountains that have been the focus of their fourth quarter Geology theme, “Beneath the Surface.”  In addition to the obvious connections to geology, Exploris partners with NC Outward Bound to give students an opportunity to reflect on strengths built in middle school while looking forward to embracing the challenges of high school. This is the fourth year that EMS 8th graders have completed an Outward Bound experience. Each year students return from the trip impressed at the beauty of the NC mountains and amazed at how much they accomplish during the week.

Exploris 6th Graders Give Shad a Boost in the Neuse

This spring, Exploris sixth graders raised Shad in their classroom as part of a Neuse River Shad restoration project with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. On April 28 the class released the Shad below Milburnie Dam with help from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This is the second year sixth graders have participated in this project. In the classroom, students monitor the incubation process as Shad eggs hatch into fry.  Once released, the Shad fry start their journey down the Neuse River and into the ocean. This is a great learning experience as students learn about the life cycle of the species and monitor water quality in the tank to minimize egg mortality. Students love the project and we think the fish do too!

You Say You Want a Revolution? 7th Graders

The third quarter seventh grade theme encompasses the ideas that led to the American Revolution, as well as the revolutions currently unfolding in the Middle East. To help students understand that it is relatively easy to join together against a common foe, but much more difficult to agree on a common plan after a successful revolt, seventh grade teachers handed over power to students for two days. They charged the class to come up with a plan for how seventh grade should be run.

Because social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have been essential elements of recent revolts, this post-revolution process was tweeted online for parents and the public.  Raleigh’s News and Observer published an article about the activity and the Associated Press sent the article out on its wire service. What began as a simple introductory theme activity has been published and broadcast as faraway as Seattle.

In the end, students had to agree on ideas for class schedule and content which were implemented for two days at the end of the week.  The point that post-revolution nation building is a difficult process was summed up well by one student: “Imagine if there were millions of us rather than just 64!”

The N&O article can be found at http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/01/1021093/when-in-the-course-of-7th-grade.html#storylink=misearch.  

The Twitter feed can be found at 7thgraderevolt on www.twitter.com.

Exploris Middle School Students Present
at the 2011 North Carolina GIS Conference

On February 18th, the Exploris Middle School sixth graders presented the “Waldo” project at the 2011 GIS Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center.  The class was invited to present work done by EMS tracking Eastern Box Turtles with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission over the past four years. In the presentation entitled “Young Citizen Scientists: Tracking Eastern Box Turtles in the Lake Raleigh Area,” students presented about how tools and technology are used to collect data on turtle movement, behavior, and habitat.  Students also discussed the use of UTM coordinates to create data maps in Google Earth and findings about the impact of relocation on turtles. 

Exploris Students and Families Visit Pocosin Lakes

North Carolina is a natural biological boundary between the Arctic Circle and the Equator, and there is no better place to witness this extraordinary ecology than Eastern North Carolina’s Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Twenty-five Exploris parents and students recently took a 24-hour January trip to this region and observed tens of thousands of tundra swans and snow geese.  Armed with hand-warmers the group discovered black bear and red wolf tracks, met with naturalists Kim Wheeler (Red Wolf Coalition) and Howard Phillips (Refuge Manger), and learned about Plymouth's unique Civil War history.  Although chilly, the group has excellent views of NC's wintering birds. Eighth grade teacher and trip organizer Shannon Hardy said, “we give special thanks to our guide, Plymouth Mayor Brian Roth, a local hero in his own right for protecting the region from a Naval Outlying Landing Field.”  This was Shannon’s third time leading trips to the wildlife refuge with students.  In April, the sixth grade class will visit the area as part of their study of ecosystems.

Exploris School Board Chair Honored as Top Educator

Liz Baird, Chairwoman of the Exploris Middle School Board, was recently recognized as the 2010 North Carolina Environmental Educator of the Year by the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC).  Baird is the Director of Education at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences just a few blocks from the school.  This award recognizes an educator who “stands out among environmental educators, exemplifies excellence and lends credibility to the field..., they are regarded as a “dynamo” that other environmental educators strive to emulate.”  Baird, who began her career as a secondary school science teacher, has impacted the lives and the careers of countless students and teachers.  During her three year tenure as Exploris School Board Chair Baird has helped Exploris establish a strong and thriving partnership with the museum. One of her most notable accomplishments has been founding the Take a Child Outside Week.  Since 2006, Take a Child Outside Week has grown to be celebrated both nationally and internationally.  Baird is the second Exploris community member to be honored with the EENC award.  Eighth grade teacher Frank McKay received the award in 2008 for his work developing student service learning projects at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center.

Learn more about Take a Child Outside Week: http://takeachildoutside.org/.

Learn more about Liz Baird and her work with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences:  http://naturalsciences.org/about-us/news/?select=1533.

Bonnie Farthing Honored at Family Frolic Event

Retired Exploris office administrator and algebra teacher, Bonnie Farthing, was recently honored at the annual EMS Family Frolic fundraiser for her service to the school.

Alumni, staff, and current seventh and eighth grade students all know that Bonnie has been a very important member of the Exploris Family since the school opened. Exploris was Bonnie’s second career.  After retiring from teaching at Carroll Middle School in 1997, Bonnie realized that she did not want to sit at home.  She came to Exploris during the second month of its existence.  Not only did she hold down the fort in the front office doing all of the many things that needed to be done there, she also coordinated our testing program and taught Algebra until the end of last year. She retired at the end of 2010 for the second time.

Bonnie worked at Exploris for thirteen years. We have seen teachers come and go, but Bonnie has been our solid rock.  Bonnie was recognized at the Family Frolic in February to show how much we love and miss her. 

Exploris Robotics Team Places 2nd in NC State Robot Rumble

EMS Robotics Team recently won 2nd place in the design category at the Wolfpack Robot Rumble.

The “Wolfpack Robot Rumble” offers the opportunity for local teams involved with the FIRST LEGO League program to compete in a series of robotic challenges. The program aims to boost interest in math, science and technology by engaging teams in scientific research and hands-on robotics design using LEGO parts and technologies.  Teams of 9-to-14-year-olds competed in friendly robotics events specially designed for their age groups.

NC State engineering students from the NC Robotics Club and the Engineering Ambassadors program helped with the events.  Members of the Underwater Robotics Club and Aerial Robotics Club set up displays of their activities that described the robotics activities that occur at the college level. 

The event was organized by the Engineering Place, the K-20 outreach program of the College of Engineering at NC State, which reaches more than 5,000 students and 500 teachers each year.

Year 2010
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Year 2010
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Success for First EMS QUIZ BOWL Team

Thousands of students throughout the country competed
Dec 8^th, 2010 in the 55^th Knowledge Master Open Academic competition. Middle and high school students faced 200 tough questions to vie for top scores based on accuracy and speed of their answers.  The Exploris team of 11 students scored 1210 of 2000 possible points by answering 167 correct answers. This placed our team of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in the top third of 643 teams overall and second place in North Carolina. Great work for our first time competing!

Students on the team included Lucas Meeks, Zach DeMartz, Ben Thompson, Livia Prestifilippo, Amelia Flick, Elena Ehrlich, Spencer DeMartz, Ebony Bogui, Jason Putnam, Folden Thompson, Lauren Prestifilippo. Thanks to Laurie Limbrick-Thompson for all her guidance and support throughout the year!

The QUIZ BOWL Team at Exploris is in its infancy with its first year of competition.
It was founded to stimulate enthusiasm for learning and recognition for academic accomplishment. We would like to recruit more 6^th and 7^th graders for future competitions. Please contact Helene helliston@explorismiddleschol.org  if you are interested. We meet on Tuesdays from 3 – 4pm.

Exploris 8th Graders Present UDHR at State Capitol Building

On Monday, December 13th, the Exploris eighth grade class presented a reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at the North Carolina State Capitol Building in celebration of International Human Rights Week.  The event was sponsored by the Human Rights Coalition of North Carolina and the United Nations Association of Wake County.  Juanita Bryant, former Executive Director of the North Carolina Council for Women, was featured as the keynote speaker.  December 10, 2010 marked the 62^nd anniversary of the signing of the UDHR and this was the 11^th year that Exploris students participated in the event. 

View student photography illustrating each article of the UDHR: EMS UDHR Slideshow

More information on the UDHR:  http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Exploris Middle School Wins First Place
in First Lego League Regional
Competition

Monday, December 6, 2010-- Exploris Middle School's (EMS) sixth and seventh grade Robotics Team won first place for their Creative Presentation Project in the North Carolina Regional First Lego League (FLL) Competition.  Judges looked for teams whose quality research, innovative solutions, efforts sharing with the community and creative presentation best reflected an in-depth understanding of the various scientific disciplines and issues involved with this year's bio-medical challenge. 

Exploris, along with 30 other schools from the Greater Raleigh area, competed for one of 14 spots to advance to the North Carolina state competition in January. Teams challenged one another academically both on and off the field by programming an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field (Robot Game) and by presenting a solution to a bio-medical problem they identified. The FLL Regional Competition was hosted at South East Raleigh's Magnet High School.

 
For pictures and videos of the event, please contact Heather Sasser at 919-671-3815 or sasser.heather@gmail.com

Connect A Million Minds Global OnlineTown Hall

On November 17, 2010, the students of Exploris Middle School attended an  international town hall meeting sponsored by Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. CAMM is an organization started by Time Warner Cable to get students more excited about STEM, or Science, Technology, Environment, and Math.   According to some statistics, the U.S. ranks 35th in math and 29th in science worldwide.

The global online town hall was hosted by former Vice President Al Gore and included comments from Sallie Ride, the first American woman in space, inventor Dean Kamen, the Myth Buster TV series hosts, and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Exploris was one of four schools in the United States chosen to participate in the global town hall discussion and the school was represented by eighth grader Rebecca Evans.  

Links to more coverage:

Time Warner Video of EMS-CAMM Global Town Hall Experience

WRAL Interview with Rebecca Evans

CAMM on Facebook

Peace Poster Winners!

Each year, Lions Clubs around the world proudly sponsor the Lions International Peace Poster Contest in local schools and youth groups.  This international contest allows students to share their unique image of peace with others so that we may all have greater tolerance and international understanding.  Lila Olson is this year’s peace poster  first place winner.  Seventh grade Exploris students participate every year in this contest sponsored by Lions Club International.  This year’s theme, "Vision of Peace," encouraged students to creatively express their personal vision of peace. 

Lila’s poster will move on to the next level of judging.  Congratulations and good luck to Lila!

Pictured are first place winner, Lila Olson, second place winner, Olivia Hair, and third place winner, Annie Bennett.

Connect a Million Minds- Global Online Town Hall

Exploris Middle School has been invited to participate in Time Warner
Cable’s Global Online Town Hall on November 17th at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The global online town hall will be hosted by former Vice President Al Gore and will include inventor Dean Kamen, Astronaut Sallie Ride, and students from around the world.  The interactive discussion will focus on student attitudes toward math and science, and EMS is one of only four schools in the United States chosen to have a student address the panel. All Exploris students will attend the event and eighth grader Rebecca Evans will represent the school in the discussion.  Watch a brief video highlighting the event at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvA798VwcEo

Learn more about CAMM: http://www.connectamillionminds.com/

Read Rebecca’s latest blog about the event: http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/biotech/blogpost/8624846/

Exploris Teacher Receives National Board
Renewal- Congratulations Shannon Hardy!

Shannon Hardy, first received National Board Certification in the fall of 2000.  Shannon submitted a Profile of Professional Growth last April, and just received word that her certification has been renewed for another ten years.  National Board Certification is an advanced teaching credential.  It complements, but does not replace, a state's teacher license.  It is valid for ten years, and renewal candidates must begin the renewal process during their eighth or ninth year as a National Board Certified Teacher.  Becoming a NBCT is a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize effective and accomplished teachers who meet high standards based on what teachers should know and be able to do.  Faculty members, Sonja McKay and Jenne Mondry, are also current National Board Certified Teachers.

Robinson Crusoe spotted on Cape Lookout

The Robinson Crusoe literature circle tested fate by setting up camp on Cape Lookout's Core Banks island over fall break.  The 3-day adventure included a wild skiff ride with a long-time Harkers Island Yokel Local Ferry captain, sightings of wild horses on Shackleford Banks, sea oats, sunrises, seminars, enviro-logs, the real value of fresh water, chord grass, sea birds, barrier island ecology, and a best effort in leaving No Trace.  Most importantly the students are certain that Daniel Defoe was never stranded on a deserted island because he made no mention of the mosquitos or no-see-ums.

Pansy Sales

Rock climbing, back packing, cooking our own meals, sleeping under the stars and team building: these are just a few of the adventures that the 8^th grade class of 2011 will have on our Outward Bound trip in April. Before we can make it all the way to our NC wilderness education experience, though, we need to do some major fundraising!  That’s why we are selling pansies.  We sell the pansies by flats. Each flat has 36 pansies and is $13.00.  We choose to sell Pansies because they thrive in to the colder months. This fundraiser is important for us because it is one of our main fundraisers for the trip. For every flat that a student sells approximately half the cost goes towards Outward Bound. We all really appreciate every sale, and we hope that you will help support the 8^th grade as we make our trek, find ourselves, and team build, all the way to Outward Bound!

   Please contact Jereavis08@explorismiddleschool.org to get your pansies!

Note:  Purchases must be made by October 15th and pansies must be picked up by October 17th.

EMS Whole School Literature Circles

Every year Exploris holds a school wide literature circle. A literature circle is a book club that all three grades participate in.  each teacher in the school presents a book and students decide what book they want to be in. We have a large varaity of books for each and every interest. This year we have books from the dusty copies of Robinson Crusoe to the very popular new title, The Hunger Games. Literature circles are a great way to meet students from other grades and become friends with them, but also you make friends with students from your grade that you may not have thought of as a friend till you find that you have a common interest in literature.

Exploris Teacher Attends Global Education Institute

Exploris teacher, Meredith Cheetham, spent nine days this summer at the International Studies Summer Institute for Educators at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington, Indiana. Meredith attended lectures by IU faculty and other internationally prominent speakers and participated in small group discussions, simulations, and live, interactive video links. The educators examined a wide range of global themes including migration, global food security, climate change, and international economics. Meredith shared information about the International Institute during staff development and she looks forward to applying new ideas in her teaching this year.

Geomatics Engineering Camp 2010

In June the NC Surveyors Association sponsored twenty-one EMS students in a two-day Geomatics engineering camp led by NC A&T State University professors.  Through hands-on activities students learned about the varied history and careers in Geomatics.  Their work included calculating elevations, creating a topographic map, collecting data with surveying equipment, and profile leveling Exploris’ sidewalks.  Participants also used GIS ArcMap to log longleaf pine trees and competed in a very “hot” orienteering competition in Nash Square.  Although the weather was brutal, our students will reluctantly admit that summer-time math camps really aren’t so bad!  

Seventh Grade Teacher Sonja McKay Completes Kenan Fellowship

Seventh grade teacher Sonja McKay completed her two year fellowship with the Kenan Fellows Program for Curriculum and Leadership Development this spring.  With the support of MeadWestvaco, an international packaging solutions provider, students worked on international teams to investigate global issues surrounding the science of packaging, consumerism, and environmental sustainability. During the two year collaboration, students from Exploris used blogs and videoconferencing to work with a partner school in India, to explore the life-cycle of products, analyze current packaging trends, and develop smart solutions.

Exploris Middle School Volunteers and Receives Fletcher Award!

The City of Raleigh has honored Exploris Middle School with the Fred Fletcher Award for Outstanding Volunteerism in the City of Raleigh Park System. Award recipients are selected based on their commitment and active involvement with Raleigh Parks and Recreation, and the intensity of their service. The work of the EMS 8th grade team involving students in projects at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center and at Chavis Park prompted the nomination. Under the leadership and guidance of 8th grade teachers Frank McKay (Walnut Creek) and Jenne Scherer (Chavis Park), students are making significant contributions to the parks through their service learning projects. The Walnut Creek Project was initiated in 2006 and the Chavis Park work began in 2008. To learn more about the Fletcher Award visit: City of Raleigh Fred Fletcher Award

Exploris Bridge Builders Team Places Third in NCDOT Competition

Congratulations to 6th grade teacher Juliana Thomas and her bridge team on their third place finish in last week’s statewide Model Bridge Building Competition! The team earned $250 from the NCDOT. See the NCDOT Bridge Building Competition web site for more.

Exploris Receives the Raleigh Environmental Award for Youth!

On April 22nd the City of Raleigh presented Exploris Middle School with the 2010 City of Raleigh Environmental Award for Youth. This award recognizing both the classroom activities and community involvement of our teachers and students is a significant accomplishment and honor. 

To learn more about the award please visit: City of Raleigh Environmental Awards Program. 

Sixth Graders Attend Design Revolution Roadshow at NCSU

What a great opportunity we had yesterday. After showing the students the clip from Colbert about this design group, we saw that they would be at NCSU talking to students and showing their work. It is incredible that it all fell together like that.

The students got to hear Emily Pilloton in person and hear her group’s motivations and dreams for the future. It was very powerful!

Project H is amazing.

See http://designrevolutionroadshow.com/.