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Taskmaster Education partners with Place2Be for Children's Mental Health Week 6-12th February 2023

Well done, gang! You solved the clues and completed the Taskmaster Education and Place2Be Treasure Hunt for Children’s Mental Health Week 2023! Thanks for playing along, and we hope you didn’t find it * too * tricky. Below are those who answered the 3 questions correctly and have made it onto our Wall of Fame. Congratulations!

Wall of Fame

Although submissions are closed, if you would like to catch up on missed days you can below...

Today's task & clue.

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Need advice planning your sessions or want some help with the answers? Check out our FAQs .

Monday's summary

Hello and welcome to day 1 of Taskmaster Education’s Treasure Hunt for Children’s Mental Health Week. Every day this week we will be setting you tasks to complete with your friends or family at home or at school. Also, we will reveal a clue here each day. Solve the clues and enter the answers into the grid and at the end of the week you could end up on our Wall of Fame. So, what’s today’s task? Well, thanks for asking. Your task for today is to… make the best rainbow. Best rainbow wins. Good luck - your time starts now.

Don't have the answer grid yet? Click on Monday to download it and complete each day in order. Need advice planning your sessions or want some help with the answers? Check out our FAQs

Tuesday's summary

Welcome to day 2 of Taskmaster Education’s Treasure Hunt for Children’s Mental Health Week. We hope you had a colourful time creating rainbows yesterday and managed to solve the first clue. There is another clue waiting for you today, so good luck with that.

Don’t forget that this Friday is Place2Be’s Dress to Express day, when you can come to school dressed how you wish…to express…yourself.

But what about today’s task we hear you say? Well here it is: as a class or family or group design a new outdoor game using a maximum of 1 piece of equipment and 3 instructions for play. The team which has the most fun, wins. Your time starts now.

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Wednesday's summary

Hello. It’s day 3 of Taskmaster Education’s Treasure Hunt for Children’s Mental Health Week. We hope you had the most fun devising and playing games yesterday and that whoever won didn’t show off too much about it. Make sure you have a go at solving today’s clue for the treasure hunt and make a note of the answer as you’ll need it on Friday.

For today’s task you are going to need to connect with nature and your surroundings a bit, because, today’s task is…make the best self-portrait using things you find outside. You have as long as the adult who is showing you this clip decides and that time will begin when that adult says, ‘flamingo’. Good luck.

Thursday's summary

Welcome to day 4 of children’s mental health week with Place2Be and Taskmaster Education. Good luck with today’s treasure hunt clue. We trust you’re not finding them too fiendish – just exactly the right amount of fiendish.

Hopefully you were all suitably arty yesterday and were proud of what you achieved. For today’s task you will need to connect with your teammates and connect to the music, for today, you must: choreograph the best dance.

So get funky, get down, get back up and get on with it because your time starts now. Good luck.

Friday's summary

It’s finally here, Dress to Express Day!

We hope you’ve all got on well with the treasure hunt this week and you’re now able to enter your answers onto the grid, downloadable with Monday’s task, and fill in the missing numbers to complete that grid.

Once done you will be able to use your grid to answer the 3 questions below and be in with a chance of appearing on our Wall of Fame!

For now though, you have one final task and it is this… during today, make a hat out of recycling to add to your Dress to Express outfit. Most inspiring hat wins. Good luck. Your time starts now.

About Place2Be and Children's Mental Health Week

Taskmaster Education are proud to partner with Place2Be for Children’s Mental Health Week 2023 (6-12 February). Place2Be launched the first ever Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. Now in its ninth year, we hope to encourage more people than ever to get involved, spread the word, and raise vital funds for children’s mental health. Place2Be is a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 1040756) and Scotland (No. SC038649)

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Taskmaster VR

Wishlist now.

Submit to the judgement of The Taskmaster in glorious virtual reality! Your favourite TV show comes to VR and you are the contestant. Step into the world of Taskmaster, endeavour to complete a menagerie of challenging and extraordinary tasks and get creative in how you solve them.

Taskmaster Education

Taskmaster club registrations now open.

Taskmaster Education takes elements of your favourite TV show and uses them to inspire, engage and teach children and young people. Tasks can be adapted to meet any desired aims that the teacher might have, whether they be curriculum-based or more to aid the child’s social and emotional development. Whether you’re a teacher, parent or youth leader, Taskmaster Education wants to help you utilise the wonder of Taskmaster for the benefit of your children.

Could you be The Taskmaster? Or could you do better than the hapless comedians you've watched on TV? Then play Taskmaster The Card Game. Featuring favourite tasks from the TV show, this travel-sized card game brings the essence of Taskmaster to your very own home. Judge and be judged. Your time starts now...

Board Games

New game for 2022.

Sure, the book is a handy way to carry out tasks and compete with and against others, but it isn’t a boardgame is it? No! Check out Taskmaster The Board Game and Taskmaster The Secret Series Game. What are you waiting for...

SuperMax+ SVOD

Subscription based streaming platform.

Don’t have access to full episodes of Taskmaster where you live? We are excited to announce the launch of Taskmaster SuperMax+, our very own subscription based streaming platform. Watch every episode of Taskmaster now, ad-free, from almost anywhere in the world.

Taskmaster The App

Brand new for ios & android.

We made a Taskmaster App! It's a jam packed Taskmaster extravaganza! There’s a Show Companion so you can watch and score along at home. There’s also a Taskmaster Academy with quizzes, Group Tasking, Solo Tasking, and a Jukebox with all the music from the show. So what are you waiting for? Download the App…NOW!

Bring Me The Head Of The Taskmaster

New book out now.

We are very excited to announce the release of a new Taskmaster book,  Bring Me The Head Of The Taskmaster . Check your clues here!

Virtual Corporate Events

We’re very excited to offer exclusive and official live Taskmaster packages for your next virtual event. Whether you’re planning a staff social for 200 people or even a special birthday for 5, we have the perfect package to guarantee a unique and unforgettable experience.

#HomeTasking

#stayathome.

What else could have made self-isolating and social distancing more bearable than the Taskmaster(s assistant), little Alex Horne delivering weekly tasks and hilarity in #HomeTasking?

220 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People

I wrote the Taskmaster Book partly because so many people were getting in touch asking for tasks that they could do. So if you’d like some tasks to do, why not buy the book!

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The 25 Best Taskmaster Tasks

Over the past few years, the British comedy game series Taskmaster has risen from very specific Anglophile favorite to what’s arguably the internet’s favorite casual watch, a weekly dose of delightfully bonkers mayhem that has all the warmth of The Great British Bake-Off mixed with the savage wit of Would I Lie to You? . It’s a show that’s proven so infectious among its fans that we’re often dying to get other people into it, sharing clips around and doing our best to turn as many people as possible on to its zaniness.

If you’re a newbie, here’s how it works: Comedian Greg Davies is the Taskmaster, a sort of host and overlord of the entire show who must be pleased at all costs. Alex Horne, the show’s creator, serves as the “Taskmaster’s assistant” and guides five contestants (usually comedians, but often also actors, musicians, and occasionally even pro athletes) through a series of “Tasks,” each concealed in an envelope at the beginning of the segment. These tasks range from the simple (eat as much watermelon as fast as you can) to the ludicrously complex (complete a series of tasks while constantly riding a bicycle as slowly as possible), the goal being to showcase contestants doing things that are equally wacky and strangely impressive. At the end of each task, Davies awards points based on performance and his own whims, and the winner at the end of each series gets a trophy shaped like Davies’s head.

Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds, and yes, it’s basically joy bottled and shared around as a tonic against the unfairness of an inhospitable world. But where do you begin with a show like that? How do you know if you’ll like it? Fortunately for everyone, Taskmaster ’s format means that you can basically just leap right in and watch any individual task you want, thereby getting a taste for the show and an idea of what to expect from full-length episodes. So, in honor of the show’s upcoming 17th season, here are the 25 best tasks in Taskmaster history, all of which will make a wonderful introduction for newcomers.

25. Hide three aubergines from Alex (series 9)

If you’re looking for one of the most beautifully simple introductions to Taskmaster imaginable, this task from series nine is both a great starting point and one of the best small-scale moments from the series. It’s very simple: Contestants are given three aubergines (eggplants, Americans), and they have to hide them around the room in ten minutes, then see how long it takes Alex to find them. What happens next is pure wholesome madness. Jo Brand squashes one of hers, David Baddiel tries to eat his, while Rose Matafeo and Ed Gamble rip theirs to shreds and Katy Wix overestimates the naturalism of holding a hard hat under one arm for an extended period of time. It’s simple, it’s fun, and as a bonus, it’s one of those Taskmaster gems that you could replicate at home.

24. Tie yourself up as securely as possible (series 7)

Earlier in series seven, contestants were told that at some point they’d hear a siren. When they heard it, they’d have to immediately run to the entryway of the Taskmaster House, put on coveralls and then lie down on the ground. So what better time for that siren to reappear than smack in the middle of a task in which everyone had to tie themselves up? One of the most diabolical moments ever devised by Horne and the Taskmaster writers, this one’s got it all, from James Acaster absolutely losing his mind to Rhod Gilbert taking it all out on Horne through a simple reinterpretation of the task instructions.

23. Prize Task: The thing that makes you look the toughest (series 11)

Every episode of Taskmaster opens with what’s called a “Prize Task,” in which contestants are asked to bring in an object that best matches a theme they were given in advance, anything from “The Best Burstable Thing” to “The Creepiest Thing.” These are, by design, a mixed bag, allowing Davies to marvel at contestants that brought in something genuinely cool or funny and mock contestants who brought something lackluster. They’re always fun, but they never got more memorable than the series-11 finale, when contestants were asked to present something that made them look tough. Answers ranged from a leather cap to a bat with a nail driven through it, but you might be wondering early on … Why does soft-spoken, suit-wearing Mike Wozniak have that big puffy hat on? Just wait for it and be rewarded.

22. Sabotage your team (series 14)

Sometimes, for extra fun, the Taskmaster writers room gives a little side task to just one contestant. Usually the joke’s on that contestant, but this time it was on his teammates. The actual proper task involves teams of contestants joining their bodies together via hands on hips, then trying to get as much sand as possible into a shopping cart. Munya Chawawa and Sarah Millican get on fine as a team of two, but the team of three is thrown into chaos when John Kearnes is given secret instructions to sabotage his teammates, Fern Brady and Dara O’Briain. What follows is a treasure trove of insults (“Dafty in the middle”), confusion, and hat-shaped sand castles.

21. Read the Taskmaster’s mind (series 9)

Taskmaster is often at its best when it’s so willfully silly that you can’t help but get swept up in the absurdity when someone turns out to be good at an absolutely ridiculous premise. Such was the case when the always wonderful Jo Brand stepped up and proved herself a telepath. This show-ending live task asked contestants to guess whether Greg Davies was presently looking at a picture of a horse or a picture of a laminator. They had a 50-50 shot with every guess, but even with those odds in mind, Brand seemed completely dialed in to the point of almost supernatural ability. Could she see a reflection? Was she just lucky? Is she really a psychic with the world’s driest sense of humor? Watch and decide for yourself.

20. Repurpose the cement mixer (series 13)

Speaking of willfully silly, there’s this bit from series 13, in which contestants were given an empty cement mixer and asked to dream up other uses for it. Judi Love decided it was a cocktail mixer, while Ardal O’Hanlon made it the centerpiece of a new salon and Sophie Duker used it like a lottery numbers roller to generate “ice breaker” prompts to better her relationship with Horne. Bridget Christie, one of the most eccentric players in the history of the game, used her cement-mixer moment to make a strange art film about climate change, but the real showstopper here is what Chris Ramsey did. It involves sausage and … look, I’m just gonna level with y’all. This moment produced one of the top-three hardest laughs I’ve ever heard out of my wife, and it was glorious, so just watch it. It’ll make you laugh, too.

19. Film something that will look impressive in reverse (series 1)

Throughout Taskmaster , contestants have been given time, a camera, and a prompt and asked to simply go off and create something, often with tremendous results. This series-one task is the first great result from that subset of the show, as the first-ever lineup of five contestants were asked to do something that would look cool in reverse. Josh Widdicombe was arguably the cleverest, making it look like he was pulling a car by rolling across the driveway lying on a skateboard, but he’s not the task-stealer. That honor goes to Romesh Ranganathan, who “created” balloons by popping them in reverse and then added a song called “Tree Wizard,” which will stick in your head for hours, if not days.

18. Generate a water-cooler moment (series 5)

The contestants get an actual water cooler and are asked to create a “water-cooler moment” that people will talk about while using it as a prop. Bob Mortimer (a candidate for Best Taskmaster Player ever, truly) rolls out his classic party trick of ripping an apple in half, Nish Kumar revels in his own place as one of the show’s more gleefully inept players by trying a drop kick, and Sally Phillips … Well, Sally decided she would go the TV-soap route and filmed one of the best examples of commitment to the bit in Taskmaster history. It was so convincing that it got Greg to be horny on main, so you know you want to watch that.

17. Create a music video for a nursery rhyme (series 2)

Another early task that simply asks contestants to film something creatively, “Create a music video for a nursery rhyme” delivers a cornucopia of pure weirdness. You’ve got Richard Osman wrecking shop during a “Bittersweet Symphony” homage, Katherine Ryan devising her own nursery rhyme about tooth decay, and Joe Wilkinson delivering the most low-energy version of “Old MacDonald” you’ve ever heard. Competing for the title of standout moment: Jon Richardson’s delightfully haunting version of “Three Blind Mice” and Doc Brown rapping about fish while punching a salmon in the face. You be the judge.

16. Build the tallest tower out of cans (series 16)

We’re almost a decade and more than 15 seasons into Taskmaster now, which means every contestant knows they’re in for something wild and oddly frustrating when they sign up. Still, that doesn’t stop Horne and his writers from coming up with surprises. Take this deceptively simple task from early in series 16, in which contestants were simply asked to build the highest tower of cans in the blank room of the Taskmaster House generally referred to as “the lab.” The catch? They’d be blindfolded the entire time. The other catch? The blindfold meant none of them could see the colossal tower of cans already in the room, just a foot tap away from crumbling to the ground. Bad news for the contestants, but good news for us, because we get to hear Bake Off alum Sue Perkins use the phrase “absolute shower of shit.”

15. Find the shoe Alex is thinking of (series 13)

Series-13 contestants were each ushered into a room full of shoes of all kinds and told to find the shoe Horne was thinking of. As Judi Love says, it’s basically Guess Who? with shoes (“Shoe Who?”) with the most points going to the person who can find the right answer with the least questions. For extra fun, each contestant is also given a special phrase or sound they have to make after each question. If you want to watch five people spiral into five completely different types of madness, from Sophie Duker looking like she wants to murder Horne to Horne briefly looking like he wants to murder Bridget Christie, look no further than this clip. Even Davies is impressed by the sheer levels of exasperation on display.

14. Camouflage yourself (series 4)

Another task that’s all about the contestants using a blank canvas to craft an image, this one’s simple: Hide yourself in a photo so that the Taskmaster can’t see you. Mel Giedroyc unfortunately misunderstands the instructions, leading to one of the show’s greatest task fails, but everyone else brings their A-game for this one, coming up with brilliant disguises all culminating in Noel Fielding perfectly utilizing the bright-yellow jumpsuit he chose to be his Taskmaster costume. It’s called practical fashion, look it up.

13. Deliver all the plates to Alex (series 11)

Another one of those wonderful tasks that exemplifies the joys of Taskmaster , this early series-11 gem gives us not just a great task idea but a wonderful summation of how everyone in this particularly good series looks at the world. Each of the contestants has the straightforward task of delivering plates to Alex while using either a bicycle, a scooter, or a hoverboard, and each of them reacts in a different way. Charlotte Ritchie’s just happy to be out riding around, Lee Mack analyzes the rules to his advantage, and Mike Wozniak assumes a competition style that we can only describe as meticulously awkward. The best moment, though, might be Sarah Kendall’s completely nonchalant delivery of the phrase “I mean, life’s for living, right?”

12. Surprise little Alex Horne when he emerges from the shed (series 3)

An in-person creativity task rather than something the contestants got to film and show later, this series-three classic starts very simply: Horne goes into the shed on the Taskmaster House grounds and chills for an hour. When he comes out, each contestant has to present him with something surprising. What happens next ranges from creepy (Sara Pascoe and Paul Chowdhry) to cheeky (Al Murray and Dave Gorman) to downright deranged (Rob Beckett). If nothing else sticks with you from the entirety of this series, Rob Beckett laughing maniacally while wielding a power sprayer will.

11. Eat the most watermelon (series 10)

One of the foundational moments of Taskmaster arrived at the very beginning of series one , when contestants were asked to eat as much watermelon as possible in one minute. While that’s undeniably a classic task, in series ten the show topped it by breaking contestants into teams, giving them four minutes instead of one, and adding an important caveat: You may not feed yourself. What happens next is both hilarious and undeniably someone’s kink. Daisy May Cooper’s gluttonous commitment alone puts this one in the Taskmaster Hall of Fame.

10. Get the potato in the golf hole (series 2)

There’s a proud editing tradition on Taskmaster that fans of the show know all too well, and one of its first major rollouts comes at the tail end of this classic task. It’s another really simple one: There’s a golf hole in the middle of a red putting green, and contestants have to knock a potato into that hole without stepping on the red carpet that represents the green. There are, of course, a number of ways to do this, one of which is to simply step right up and toss the potato into the hole. Joe Wilkinson, one of the show’s most iconic players, opts for that plan and pays for it in the studio later.

9. Get all the rubber rings on your barge pole (series 15)

There’s a small barge in a canal with a pole mounted on the front. There are also five flotation devices painted like watermelons strung up along the same canal. The task, therefore, is quite straightforward: Drive the barge forward and impale all five floatie rings on the pole. The fun of it, of course, is that these are comedians and actors who’d otherwise never get to drive a barge through a canal, and the glee with which they undertake this task is absolutely infectious, from Mae Martin’s relentless focus to Jenny Eclair’s boundless enthusiasm. Plus you get Kiell Smith-Bynoe offering up one of the most infectious improvised tunes in the Taskmaster catalogue. You’ll be singing “For Me” to yourself for days.

8. Silently make the tastiest and prettiest cocktail with the coolest name (series 10)

There’s a bar cart loaded with cocktail ingredients in the lab. All five of series ten’s wonderful contestants have a simple job: Make Alex a cocktail, but do it without ever making a noise louder than 60 decibels. Do that, and you have to shout a key phrase, dump your cocktail out, and start over. Taskmaster is great for watching otherwise sane, lovely people collapse into beings who’ve lost all reason and sense of purpose, and that’s exactly what happens to several contestants this time, particularly Daisy May Cooper, who has to shout the phrase “I love this!” with the increasing top-blowing cartoonishness of George Costanza.

7. Make an exotic sandwich (series 4)

An enduring subgenre of Taskmaster task involves the contestants making some sort of food, then presenting it to Alex Horne, who must eat or drink it without complaint and then report his findings to Greg Davies. It’s with this format in mind that the series-four contestants set out to make the “most exotic” sandwich possible, only to learn at the end of their sandwich-making adventure that they have to eat whatever they’ve just made. Mel Giedroyc, cheerful player that she is, dives headlong into her sandwich, which is basically a cartoonish tower of chocolate candy, creating one of the best food moments in Taskmaster history. Then there’s Noel Fielding, who does … well, a typically Noel Fielding thing that you’ll have to see for yourself.

6. Physically re-create a classic video game (series 7)

“I don’t want to mess this up, because it’s a dream come true,” Jessica Knappett says at the start of this task, echoing the feelings of quite a lot of Taskmaster viewers when this joyful thing came around. There are a few select moments in the show when everyone, no matter how they’re faring in the game otherwise, just gets to have fun, and when tasked with re-creating a video game with help from the show’s crew, all five of series seven’s contestants rose to the occasion. From Knappett’s gleeful Mario Kart riff to James Acaster’s note-perfect Grand Theft Auto character movements, it’s just plain fun from start to finish.

5. Get as close as you can to Alex without him noticing you (series 8)

Taskmaster rarely gets more ambitious in terms of sheer scope than this favorite from series eight, in which an entire rail yard becomes the show’s playground. The specifics of the task are simple: Alex Horne is on a bridge overlooking the rail yard, while the contestants are stationed a good distance away when the task begins. When time starts, Alex will duck down and pop back up again in ten-second increments, trying to spot each contestant as they creep toward him. Last one to get noticed wins. The result is five runs packed with humor (Lou Sanders offers a Taskmaster all-timer with the line “Will he notice me if I’m a bin?”) and genuine suspense, as some contestants get closer than you probably thought possible at the start of the task.

4. Declare your love for the Taskmaster (series 6)

This whole list is subjective, of course, but there are certain Taskmaster moments that just about any fan of the show will instantly recall when asked about the most memorable things that have ever happened on the show, and one of them comes at the very end of this task. Each contestant is simply told to come up with the best possible declaration of love for Davies. They can interpret that however they wish, and they come up with some truly wild stuff, including Tim Vine dressing up as Davies’s mother and Russell Howard deciding that his kindness will simply be to avoid sleeping with Davies’s mother. Then, at last, the action moves to the diabolical Liza Tarbuck, who does something involving Horne, a chair, and a cake. Strap in.

3. Buy the best present for the Taskmaster (series 1)

The first Taskmaster series is a fascinating artifact for longtime fans, particularly given how popular and viral the show has gotten in the nine years since it aired. It’s clear that Horne and Davies aren’t quite sure if their silly little show is going to work, the contestants are all still figuring things out, and the show is in need of a few standout moments to keep the energy up. Fortunately for everyone, one such moment arrives midway through the series, when contestants are simply told to spend 20 pounds on the “best gift” for Davies. They get a few weeks to pull this one off, then have to show off their gift in the studio. That’s when Josh Widdicombe takes off his shoe and his sock and reveals a tattoo, cementing himself as one of the most committed players in the history of the game and giving Taskmaster fans an all-time great moment of sheer delight from Davies.

2. Make a noise without the Taskmaster identifying you (series 12)

Final tasks on each episode are always live, which can deliver mixed results when the action fizzles too quickly or the contestants don’t quite take to the task. Then, you get moments like this, in which all five contestants attempt to make indecipherable noises while Davies listens with his back turned. Everyone is completely invested in finding the best ways to deceive him, and by the end, everyone’s laughing to the point of tears. It’s another task you can play at home, the best live task the show has ever devised, and an instant mood-brightener all in one.

1. Write a song for a stranger (series 5)

Every Taskmaster superfan has their favorite contestants, their favorite tasks, their favorite individual moments within the show’s ever-growing history. Look at the wider internet, though, and one moment reigns above all others as the most notorious and hilarious in the show’s history. It involves a woman named Rosalind, two teams of contestants, and a task that asks those teams to write a song about a woman they’ve never met with only a brief interview to use as inspiration. Nish Kumar and Mark Watson deliver a surprisingly catchy little ditty, but the real crowning moment comes when Bob Mortimer, Aisling Bea, and Sally Phillips take the stage. The moment they whisper-sing “Rosalind’s a nightmare,” you know you’re in for an all-time great bit, and to this day that bit remains the peak of Taskmaster ’s silly, tear-jerking, unforgettable powers.

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Education | Colorado paraprofessional arrested after police…

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Education | Colorado paraprofessional arrested after police say video shows her beating autistic child on school bus

Parents worry about additional victims after ex-littleton public schools employee kiarra jones was arrested last week.

(Embedded video provided by Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC Attorneys at Law)

Police arrested a former Littleton Public Schools paraprofessional last week after they said video footage revealed she beat a severely autistic, non-verbal child on a school bus for special needs students.

Parents of the children who rode that bus, which takes kids to the Joshua School in Englewood,  say they believe the alleged abuse had been happening for months and that there are additional victims.

Englewood police arrested Kiarra Jones, 29, on Friday on a felony charge of knowing/reckless assault of an at-risk person and crimes against an at-risk person resulting in injury, according to court documents.

Littleton Public Schools fired Jones on March 19 after the district and law enforcement officials reviewed video footage of the previous day’s bus ride, district officials confirmed. The mother of the victim had complained about bruises on her son.

Jones is out of police custody after posting $5,000 bail, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. She could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

“This kind of behavior cannot be and is not tolerated,” Littleton Public Schools Superintendent Todd Lambert wrote in an email to families who rode on the impacted bus. “As parents, you trust us with the well-being of your children and you should never have to worry about them being harmed when they are in our care.”

Video of the March 18 incident provided by attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai — who plans to represent the impacted families in an upcoming lawsuit — shows a woman Mohamedbhai identified as Jones sitting next to a 10-year-old boy on the school bus.

In the video, the child — who The Denver Post is not identifying — is sitting calmly when Jones, unprovoked, is seen elbowing the boy in the stomach, punching him in the head and slamming his head into the bus window.

At times, Jones’ actions in the video are obstructed by a bus seat, but Jessica Vestal, the boy’s mother, said Jones also stomped on her son’s feet and hit his legs.

In an interview with reporters, Vestal said she could only stomach watching two minutes and 25 seconds of her son being beaten before asking police detectives to turn the video off.

Englewood police have surveillance footage of three dates this year that show Jones allegedly abusing the disabled boy, according to an arrest affidavit.

In court documents, police who watched the videos described Jones punching the child so hard that his head flung back to hit the seat. Investigators wrote that the boy began crying and pushing Jones away, but she continued her alleged assault. Police said it appears in the three videos that Jones also assaulted another child.

“I don’t want this to be something that’s hushed up,” Vestal said in the interview. “I’m sure a lot of people would be like, ‘Why would you put this video of your kid out there?’ If you don’t look at it, the words don’t encompass it. If he had to live through it, the least everybody else could do is pay attention to it so that it doesn’t happen again.”

“I was just in disbelief”

On March 18, Vestal noticed bruising on her son’s foot and thigh. When Vestal contacted his school, the autism-focused Joshua School, officials there said her son did not have bruising when they put his shoes and socks on for dismissal.

The boy’s mother texted Jones asking whether anything happened on the bus. Vestal said Jones told her nothing happened, but that sometimes the boy sits on his foot.

Vestal said she was skeptical.

The mother contacted the Littleton Public Schools transportation department — which is contracted to bus students to and from the private school — and shared photos of the bruising, asking for an explanation.

The next day, Vestal said she was contacted by the school district and law enforcement saying they had enough video footage to charge Jones with abuse.

“I was just in disbelief,” Vestal said.

Vestal said she and Jones were friendly. The mother bought Jones Christmas presents. Vestal made Jones tea when she wasn’t feeling well. The two texted on occasion.

The bus paraprofessional had texted Vestal earlier in the year saying her son had a visibly poor reaction to one of the staff members, who he pushed and ran away from, the boy’s mother said.

Then Vestal said her son came home from school covered in bruises.

“When he did come home and we saw those bruises, the seed had already been planted,” Vestal said.

She assumed the other staff member Jones named had caused them and had a meeting with the school, saying her son should not be around this staff member again.

Vestal noted it can be difficult to determine whether a severely autistic child is hurting themselves throughout the day, so she and other parents on Jones’s bus chalked up other injuries — bruises, black eyes, scratches — to accidental injuries.

Vestal has a record of 15 dates when her son came home from school injured. Police, she said, confirmed three of those dates coincide with video footage of Jones’s alleged abuse.

An investigation is ongoing.

Months earlier, Vestal had contacted the Joshua School, inquiring about bruises on her son’s arm, neck and thigh. Emails provided to The Denver Post show Littleton Public Schools employees talking about reviewing video footage from the bus to determine whether something happened there.

“We reviewed the video and there is nothing out of the ordinary that occurs during the ride home,” Michelle Molina, the Littleton district’s transportation operations supervisor, wrote in an email.

Now, Vestal and other parents question whether the school district was truthful.

“The abuses of special needs children continue to occur because school districts treat this community as a burden rather than a blessing,” attorney Mohamedbhai said in a statement. “School districts routinely fail to train and support those who work with special needs student populations. Choices of where funding goes reveal value choices and school districts lack expertise and compassion to protect our most vulnerable student population.”

Other instances of Colorado school bus attendants accused of abusing children with autism have been reported in recent years.

St. Vrain Valley School District bus assistant Monica Burke  pleaded guilty in 2017 to kicking and spraying disinfectant in the face of a student with disabilities . Last year, Poudre School District paraprofessional Tyler Zanella was arrested after video showed him striking at least two students on the bus, according to 9News .

When contacted by The Post for comment on Monday, Littleton Public Schools spokeswoman Diane Leiker shared Lambert’s email to families. The email said Jones was hired in August after “satisfactory reference checks and after passing a thorough background check.”

“She had very limited access to students during her employment with LPS,” the email said. “She has had no contact with students since March 19, the day her employment was terminated.”

The email confirmed police believe there may be another victim.

“We’re going to question everyone forever”

Brittany Yarbrough — mother to an 11-year-old severely autistic, non-verbal boy on Jones’s bus — is left to wonder whether injuries her son suffered since Jones’s hiring were of his own making or at the hands of an adult she trusted.

In September, Yarbrough took her son to the hospital after noticing an injury on his foot. His toe was broken, she said.

Yarbrough contacted the school, and nobody knew what happened, she said.

“He can’t tell us where it hurts and explain what he’s feeling,” Yarbrough said. “We thought, ‘Maybe he somehow hurt himself,’ and left it at that, which is so frustrating.”

Yarbrough is combing through other injuries her son endured throughout the year, wondering what really happened. She said police contacted her, saying they think her son may be a victim of Jones’s abuse.

She hasn’t seen video evidence yet as police continue to investigate.

“I feel betrayed,” Yarbrough said. “We fight so much with districts and schools and teachers to make sure the kids have everything with their IEP (individualized education program) they need and that it’s being followed and that they have the right programming. I never considered the bus for a second because it seems so basic… We have this assumption they’re keeping our kids safe because that’s their duty. Now I feel like we’re going to question everyone forever.”

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Video educates and connects men to prostate cancer screening options

by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

As part of a comprehensive effort to improve cancer screenings among diverse communities, Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) Community Outreach and Engagement team developed a culturally sensitive educational video to address prostate cancer screening disparities.

In findings shared today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 , the team showed that the video increased knowledge about prostate cancer and screening, and reduced uncertainty about obtaining prostate cancer screening in a diverse group of more than 600 men over age 40 who viewed the video during 14 different community health events in the Philadelphia region.

Based on post-video surveys, 93% of men said they intended to undergo a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening blood test for prostate cancer, which the research team offered at the same time as part of the community events.

"We know that cancer screenings save lives, and part of our work is to dispel the myths and misconceptions around screening to help ensure that individuals from all backgrounds understand their screening options," said senior author Carmen Guerra, MD, professor and vice chair of Diversity and Inclusion in the division of Internal Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and associate director of Diversity and Outreach at the ACC.

"The idea of a physical prostate exam is off-putting to many men, so we want them to know that a simple, non-invasive blood test to check PSA levels is also an option to screen for prostate cancer."

Prostate cancer disproportionately affects Black men, who are more likely to be diagnosed with and to die from the disease, and less likely to undergo prostate cancer screening, compared to white men. Even so, research has shown that even when presented with the same educational material, Black men are less likely to receive prostate cancer screening than white man.

Myths, medical mistrust, and financial barriers may all contribute to this disparity, so the research team designed the brief educational video to specifically address the Black community in Philadelphia.

The video was shared at health events hosted by trusted local organizations, including community, faith-based, and occupational groups; men could also receive a free PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer during the events.

The video featured a conversation between a urologist and a local pastor, who is a Black prostate cancer survivor. It covered prostate cancer facts, provided information about screening options, and addressed common myths and misconceptions about how symptoms, age, and family history factor into the disease and screening for it.

"By helping more men, especially those in at-risk populations, understand the benefits of prostate cancer screening , we hope to find cancer earlier, when it can be more easily treated," said lead author Mallorie C. Jones, MA, a project manager in Internal Medicine and member of the ACC Community Outreach and Engagement team. "The overwhelming positive survey feedback to the video tells us that we're on the right track to developing a useful resource that resonates with audience it's meant to reach."

The team will continue to evaluate the video during community outreach events in the greater Philadelphia area in 2024, with plans to fine-tune the content based on participant feedback, including evaluating ways to make the information more accessible and relevant to Spanish-speakers. They hope to make the final video available to share with other organizations as an educational resource.

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Home » Campus Life » Career Education » Get Experience » Undergraduate Research » Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase » 2024 Presentations

2024 Showcase Presentations

At the 2024 Showcase, more than 350 students from more than 25 disciplines will present nearly 275 research projects, including more than 200 posters, 28 live podium presentations and 44 video presentations.

Students who choose this format present their research project in an original five-minute video. Links to 2024 video presentations will be posted in the next few days.

• Chemical and Cellular Frontiers (#A-01 to #A-03)
• Experiential Learning (#B-01 to #B-04)
• Green Cincinnati (#C-01 to #C-18)
• Music and Culture (#D-01 to #D-04)
• Substance Use, Mental and Behavioral Heath, and Sociology (#E-01 to #E-10)
• The Social Safety Net (#F-01 to #F-05)

As individuals or small teams, students create posters that convey the purpose, process, and outcome of their project with aesthetic appeal. Each student delivers a five-minute overview of their project to reviewers in person on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

• View or download the Morning Poster Guide
• View or download the Afternoon Poster Guide

Podium Presentations

Students individually develop and deliver an eight-minute presentation live in person on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. View podium presentation details

The 5 stages of the 2024 total solar eclipse explained for April 8

On Monday, April 8, the 2024 total solar eclipse will sweep through the sky over North America. 

While all of North America and Central America will experience at least a partial  solar eclipse , those within a path with a width of approximately 115 miles (185 kilometers) passing over 15 U.S. States. Mexico, and Canada will also witness a totality as the moon entirely covers the disk of the sun.

You can  watch the total solar eclipse live on Space.com . You can also keep up with all the eclipse-related action with our  total solar eclipse 2024 live updates  blog.

Don't be in the dark about the 2024 total eclipse

There are three major types of solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse like that on April 8 occurs when the moon is relatively close to Earth and blocks the entire disk of the sun. 

Because the moon's orbit around our planet is an ellipse, sometimes it is further away and thus appears smaller. An eclipse at these times sees the moon only an obscure part of the solar disk, with the sun appearing as a glowing ring of fire. These events are called annular solar eclipses , and the last one seen over the U.S. occurred on Oct. 14, 2023.

Finally, a partial solar eclipse is an event that happens when the Earth, moon, and sun are not perfectly aligned, resulting in the lunar disk only covering part of our star, making the sun appear as if a bite has been taken out of it. Partial eclipses also happen at the beginning and ending stages of total and annular eclipses.

On April 8, 2024, the moon will be in its new moon phase , and it will look relatively large, meaning it is capable of covering 100% of the sun's disk as viewed from the narrow path of totality. The fraction of the diameter of the sun covered by the moon is known as the magnitude of a solar eclipse . On April 8, 2024, this value will be 1.0566,  according to EclipseWise.com , slightly more than total coverage. 

NASA has released an interactive map of the total eclipse, which space enthusiasts can use to track the totality as it drifts across the globe. However, location won't be the only factor affecting the appearance of the total solar eclipse on Monday. The eclipse will pass through 5 distinct stages, with each of these phases occurring at different times across different locations.

What are the stages of the annular solar eclipse? 

Stage 1: first contact.

In the initial stage of the eclipse, the moon will begin to pass in front of the sun, kick-starting a partial solar eclipse. During this phase, the darkened lunar disk of the moon will make the sun appear as if a bite has been taken out of its illuminated face. This "bite" will get bigger and bigger as the totality approaches.

During the first stage of the total solar eclipse, some onlookers will be able to see rapidly moving, long, dark bands called " shadow bands " on the sides of buildings or the ground. Bailey's beads , caused by light streaming through the valleys on the horizon of the moon, may also be visible at the moon's edges during this initial stage. These phenomena repeat during the second partial eclipse that occurs after totality.

On April 8, this stage of the partial eclipse will first be seen near Pu‘uali‘i, Hawaii, at  6:27 a.m. local time (12:27 p.m. EDT, 1627 GMT).

Stage 2: Second contact

First contact will last for between 70 and 80 minutes, and its conclusion will be marked by a single bright spot, or " diamond ring ," appearing at the edge of the moon. This marks the second contact stage and heralds the oncoming totality. 

On April 8, the total solar eclipse will make landfall at Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, at 9:51 a.m. local time (12:51 p.m. EDT, 16:51 GMT).

Stage 3: Totality

Stage 3 and the mid-point of the total solar eclipse is the totality.  At this point, the moon completely covers the solar disk. During the totality of the outer atmosphere of the sun, the corona may become visible as white streamers at the edge of the moon. This region is usually washed out by bright light from the solar surface, the photosphere. The inner atmosphere of the sun, the chromosphere , may be visible as a wispy aura around the edge of the moon.

The totality may also make stars and planets visible in the darkened sky that are usually not visible from America during daylight hours. 

On April 8, the first location to experience totality will be Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico at  11:07 a.m. local time  (2:07 p.m. EDT, 1807 GMT). The first location to experience totality in the U.S. will be Near Florentino Ramos Colonia, Texas, at 1:27 p.m. local time (2:27 p.m. EDT, 1827 GMT).

The duration of the totality depends on the path from which the eclipse is viewed. In Mexico, totality will last for 40 minutes and 43 seconds. Skywatchers in the U.S. will collectively experience totality for 67 minutes and 58 seconds. Onlookers in Canada will experience the totality of the solar eclipse for 34 minutes and 4 seconds.

Stage 4: Third contact

The fourth stage of the total solar eclipse, third contact, will see the moon start to move away from the disk of the sun, thus ending the totality and starting the second partial eclipse period. Brightening appears on the opposite side of the moon as it did during the second contact period.

At this time, skywatchers will get another chance to spot Baily's Beads along the edge of the moon and shadow bands on the buildings and ground around them, with this stage mirroring the second contact stage. 

The total solar eclipse ends on the Atlantic coast at 5:16 p.m. local time (3:46 p.m. EDT, 1946 GMT). 

Stage 5: Fourth contact

The fifth and final stage of the total solar eclipse. The moon moves away from the disk of the sun, meaning that at fourth contact, the moon is no longer even partially eclipsing the sun. At this point, 2024's total solar eclipse will be over.

On April 8, on the Atlantic coast of  Newfoundland and Labrador, the partial eclipse phase ends at 6:18 p.m. local time (4:48 p.m. EDT, 2048 GMT).

If you intend to view any of these stages, the most important thing to consider is how to safely view it. Looking at the sun without adequate protection at any time is harmful to the eyes, so eclipse watchers should take precautions on Monday. 

Sunglasses, regardless of how dark they are, can't protect the eyes from the effect of the sun, so specialized eclipse glasses made from safe solar filter materials will be needed. If skywatchers intend to watch the event with a telescope, special filters will be needed to make this a safe viewing experience.

Our how to observe the sun safely guide tells you everything you need to know about safe solar observations.

Following the 2024 total solar eclipse, skywatchers in the U.S. will next get the opportunity to see a total solar eclipse on March 30, 2033 . The totality of this eclipse, which will last 2 minutes 37 seconds, will be visible in Alaska. Following this, on Aug. 23, 2044 , a total solar eclipse will be visible from the U.S. states of Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota, as well as from much of Canada.

Under a year later, on Aug.12, 2045 , another total solar eclipse will sweep over the U.S., visible from California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, as well as from the Caribbean, and South America.  

Submit your photos! If you capture a photo of the April 8 total solar eclipse and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send photos, videos, comments, and your name, location and content usage permission release to [email protected] .

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Tennessee lawmakers pass bill to require anti-abortion group video, or comparable, in public schools

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.

The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, with the five Democrats in attendance and one Republican voting to oppose.

The Senate voted down various Democratic amendments: to let parents opt their children out of watching the video; to let school districts decide whether to show it; to show a disclaimer that it’s scientifically inaccurate political propaganda; and to let schools teach comprehensive sex education.

“This cutesy, shiny, pink video is offensively childish and it diminishes the complexity of reproductive health,” said Democratic Sen. Heidi Campbell. “It’s insulting to women and it’s insulting to the medical profession.”

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Janice Bowling, argued the video is accurate.

“It does show conception and it’s an AI-type of film, but it’s medically correct,” Bowling said. “And it shows the moment when the sperm unites with the egg, and that is the beginning of life.”

The bill mirrors similar proposals that have popped up this year in Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia , have all been backed by Live Action, an anti-abortion organization. North Dakota was the first state to adopt the idea last year.

Live Action has been approaching states pushing them to use their three-minute animation in classrooms that they say helps visualize a fetus developing in the womb. The fetus in the video is referred to as Baby Olivia.

The clip depicts an egg being fertilized and implanted then progressing through embryonic and fetal developments occurring throughout a pregnancy. A voiceover also introduces viewers to Olivia as an illustration of a fully developed baby in utero appears on screen. Olivia’s mouth and eyes open and close, and her hands move.

“Though she has yet to greet the outside world, she has already completed an amazing journey,” the narrator says.

However, the video has been criticized by some educators and physicians, who argue the video is deceptive and problematic for a young audience. Furthermore, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a professional organization with over 60,000 members, has said that the video is anti-abortion misinformation “designed to manipulate the emotions of viewers.”

Live Action says the video was made in consultation with doctors.

Under the Tennessee version, public schools would have the option to show a different video, but the legislation contains strict requirements that it must be at least three minutes long and contain “a high-quality, computer-generated animation or high-definition ultrasound” that shows “the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.” It’s unclear how many other organizations offer something similar.

The bill says the video must be shown as part of a school’s family life curriculum.

Democrats said requiring the video goes against Republicans’ claims that they prioritize parental choice in education.

“I’ve heard many members in this body talk about school choice, parent choice as the lay of the land and how it should be,” said Democratic Sen. Charlane Oliver. “But it seems to be only convenient when it fits a certain political ideology.”

During the same floor session, the Senate also voted to send the governor a bill that would require annual firearm safety instruction in public schools, including safe storage, avoiding injury if a student finds a gun and informing adults if one is discovered. No live guns, ammo or firing could be involved.

While Lee hasn’t publicly weighed in on the video legislation, it’s likely to win the Republican’s signature. The governor has never vetoed a bill since taking office in 2019 and he has repeatedly stressed his opposition to abortion. Under his administration, Lee enacted a sweeping abortion ban that went into effect shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and approved sending more tax dollars to anti-abortion organizations often known as crisis pregnancy centers.

The Baby Olivia legislation has not made as much progress in other states as in Tennessee. West Virginia’s Senate signed off on the measure in February that specifically applied to eighth and twelfth graders, but the Legislature adjourned before it could clear the House of Delegates.

In Iowa, lawmakers are debating whether to remove specific references to the Baby Olivia video and instead require any video depicting the “humanity of the unborn child.” Meanwhile, the bill has not advanced in Kentucky and Missouri.