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Sam Evans-Brown

Sam Evans-Brown studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and has been working as a news correspondent for NHPR since 2010. 

When not working on his journalistic chops, Sam has been variously employed as a Spanish teacher, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.

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Around the Nation
1:27 pm
Tue October 9, 2012

Instead Of Surgery, Man Pedals Off The Pounds

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Credit Courtesy of Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon weighed 570 pounds before he decided to lose weight by taking up cyclocross racing. Forgoing surgery, Gagnon lost more than 200 pounds and recently competed in his first cyclocross race.
Credit Sam Evans-Brown / New Hampshire Public Radio
Ernest Gagnon competes in his first cyclocross race, the Midnight Ride of Cyclocross, on Sept. 26, in Lancaster, Mass.
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Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 8:02 pm

A lot of Americans are struggling to lose a whole lot of weight, and they try all kinds of crazy things.

Ernest Gagnon — a man from Billerica, Mass. — decided to shed pounds by getting into the often intense, high-adrenaline sport of cyclocross: racing road bikes on obstacle courses.

Two years ago, Gagnon tipped the scales at 570 pounds. He was depressed and embarrassed to leave the house.

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All Tech Considered
2:31 pm
Wed October 3, 2012

Some Schools Actually Want Students To Play With Their Smartphones In Class

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Credit Sam Evans-Brown / New Hampshire Public Radio
In Durham, N.H., Oyster River Middle School seventh-graders Patrick Beary and Morgan Bernier play with StoryKit, a free app that helps middle-schoolers put together simple presentations, and elementary students make storybooks.
Credit Sam Evans-Brown / New Hampshire Public Radio
Oyster River Middle School has invested in a wide range of mobile technology in the classroom. Even so, Oyster River's bring-your-own-device policy is seen as a way to ensure that kids are using technology every day, as teachers assume they'll do after they graduate high school.
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Originally published on Wed October 3, 2012 3:40 pm

If there is one thing that the mobile-computing era has made clear, it's that kids love touch screens. Because those touch screens — smartphones, iPads, Kindles and the like — are an inevitable added distraction to the classroom, schools across the country are struggling to deal with the growing prevalence of the technology.

But a growing number of schools are embracing these hand-held, Internet-ready devices by creating policies that put them to use in the classroom.

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