Education & Career

Wheeling, W.Va. – October 02, 2026 -- Hospitals, clinics, and community health centers across northern West Virginia are ramping up hiring for registered nurses, medical assistants, and radiologic technologists, according to a new HelloNation article featuring insights from Chelsea Gianni of West Virginia Junior College.

The piece identifies these three roles as the region's fastest-growing healthcare careers, each supported by training that blends online coursework with hands-on clinical experience.

Registered nurses handle direct patient care and medication administration

Registered nurse positions remain among the most sought-after roles in the region. RNs provide direct patient care, administer medications, and support treatment plans across multiple medical settings. Training typically follows a hybrid model combining online coursework, supervised clinical training, and preparation for licensing exams.

San José, Costa Rica – October 02, 2026 -- Costa Rica has launched a free digital platform called "Discover Costa Rica," an interactive map letting students, teachers, researchers, and tourists explore the country's geography, oceans, and culture online.

The platform maps national parks, volcanoes, and ocean territory

Developed by the Country Brand essential COSTA RICA with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, the University of Costa Rica's Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology (CIMAR-UCR), and the UCR School of Geography, the tool covers national parks, islands, waterfalls, and volcanoes alongside ecosystems, protected areas, and biodiversity data. It is available in both Spanish and English.

Midland, Texas – October 02, 2026 -- A new HelloNation feature breaks down exactly what it takes to land steady, well-paying work as a mechanic, CDL driver, or oil and gas support technician, outlining the training, certifications, and hands-on experience employers expect.

Hollywood, Fla. – October 02, 2026 -- Five babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at Memorial Hospital Miramar dressed up as a lion, a zebra, a monkey and twin giraffes for this year's Babies with Books Read-A-Thon, marking the hospital's seventh year participating in the national event.

Parents read aloud to babies during the jungle-themed celebration

Families, siblings and caregivers gathered bedside to read to the costumed infants as part of the 2026 Read-A-Thon, which ran September 14-24 during National Literacy Month. The event encourages reading aloud to NICU babies to support early language and brain development and to give families a bonding moment during what can be a stressful hospital stay.

Katherine Zaensi, whose daughter was dressed in zebra stripes, said seeing her baby dressed up "brings light" to the difficulty of having a child in the NICU.

Seoul – October 01, 2026 -- Eye Level has opened registration for the 2026 Eye Level Math Olympiad (ELMO 2026), inviting elementary and middle school students worldwide to compete in the annual global math contest.

Ecuador joins the competition for the first time, marking ELMO's expansion into South America.

ELMO 2026 will run across Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Ecuador. Schedules vary by country and region.

Glendora, Calif. – October 01, 2026 -- Los Angeles Pacific University (LAPU) has officially changed its name to Azusa Pacific University Global (APU Global), aligning its fully online degree programs with the Azusa Pacific University (APU) brand.

APU Global continues to offer 100% online, asynchronous associate's, bachelor's, and master's degree programs built for working adults. APU, the traditional campus-based institution, keeps its focus on on-campus and hybrid education.

Current students see no disruption to coursework or support

For students already enrolled under the former LAPU name, the switch to APU Global changes only the branding. Course schedules, faculty support, and degree progress continue as planned.

Singapore – October 01, 2026 -- Gauth, the all-in-one study platform, has launched Unlimited Digital Canvas, a new whiteboard feature inside Gauth AI Course that lets students and an AI Tutor work through lessons on one continuous digital board instead of slides or chat windows. The feature is now live across Gauth's history and math libraries and marks the biggest update to AI Course since the product launched in July.

Students and the AI Tutor now share one continuous board

Rather than flipping between isolated slides, chapters expand side-by-side in real time as narration plays, letting students trace how an early step connects to a later one across a single map. Smooth pan-and-zoom controls let learners move between a big-picture view and a single detail, and sessions resume exactly where a student left off, including the exact zoom level.

Shelton, Conn. – September 30, 2026 -- Timex has launched Timex Tales, an AI-powered storybook app built to teach children ages 5 to 10 how to read a traditional analog clock, using Google Gemini technology.

A Timex survey found 2 in 5 kids struggle with analog clocks

The company commissioned a survey showing that two in five children ages 6 to 9 struggle to confidently read an analog clock, a gap Timex says its new tool is designed to close.

Stories personalize learning through a cast of animal characters

Using Google's Nano Banana image generation, Timex Tales creates personalized adventures where children follow characters including a tiger, dolphin, penguin, dog, and axolotl through settings like castles, cities, and outer space. The stories teach kids to distinguish hour and minute hands, tell AM from PM, and link time to daily routines like morning and evening.

New York – September 30, 2026 -- Understood.org, a nonprofit supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families, has launched a new brand campaign called "Less Noise, More Understood," timed to ADHD and Learning Disabilities Awareness Month in October.

The campaign targets misinformation overload facing parents

Research cited by the organization found that 52% of TikTok videos about ADHD and 41% of videos about autism contain inaccurate or misleading information. One in four caregivers say they've regretted a health decision for their child because of conflicting information they encountered.

"Social media mentions of 'neurodivergence' more than quadrupled between 2021 and 2025, and they're still climbing," said Nathan Friedman, co-president and chief marketing officer at Understood. "As the conversation grows, this community deserves credible information that's easy to find, trust and act on."

Portland, Maine – September 30, 2026 -- The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) has opened applications for three fellowship programs aimed at first-generation and Pell-eligible college students seeking to study or intern abroad in 2027. CIEE awards more than $13 million annually in grants and scholarships for international study and internships.

Thirteen students head to Dublin for an eight-week paid internship

The Douglass-O'Connell Global Internship Program, established in 2015 and sponsored by Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs, the African American Irish Diaspora Network, and The John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, sends 13 Pell-eligible students to Dublin each year. The program covers full funding, airfare, and a living stipend, and includes lectures and excursions tied to the historical friendship between Frederick Douglass and Daniel O'Connell. Applications close January 8, 2027.