#52 Stories--Story #3

What extracurricular activities did you get involved in?

While I was a kid in elementary school I participated in 4H at our local neighborhood club called Sunset 4H. A lot of neighbor kids were in the club too. I tried gardening (Mr. Scariot was our local gardening leader), photography (Huck Hagenbuch was our leader), Foods (I don't remember the leader but my one foods competition at the country fair I did Lemon Squares, I remember that much.) I tried cake decorating, floral design, and sewing.  None of those really stuck.  I did participate with Dairy Goats tough and I LOVED that. 

I got my first goats when I was about 10: Klara (an black and white Alpine) and Surprise (a LaMancha--they have minimal external ears--she looked like camel.)  MaryLou Rawitser was our goats leader.  We learned how to care fro them and to shop them from the time there were just little things and still ate from a bottle until they were at least a year old and were sent back to the dairy to get a little bigger and be bred.  It was a great situation for us as we fostered the goaties as babies which helped the dairy, then returned them to the dairy when they were old enough to get about being milkers.  The baby goats have personalities like puppies--only smarter.  They are AWESOME!  We'd show them all summer long and then live at the country fair in San Jose for about a week with the goats.  So. Much. Fun!

In junior high I also tried Girls Basketball and then Track & Field.  I was left handed but that was the only advantage I had in basketball.  I was pretty uncoordinated and really never like running.  For Track, I really enjoyed high jumping and the discus and shot put.  Probably becuase at hte junior leevl there isn't much running at all. 

In junior high I was part of the student government.  My role wasn't an elected one though--it was the faculty selection that partnered with the student elected leaders.  I was the Student Senate president--or some such title. I suppose I was pretty responsible and dependable.  I had had some leadership experience in 4H and then throughout Young Women at church. I just recall I got to call and book the DJs for the school dances each month or so.  Who lets a 13 year old do that?!

A little in junior high and then again in high school, at least my senior year, I was on the yearbook staff.  I had photography experience and could write fairly well. That was a fun time too!

I started a love affair with live theater in high school as a 4 year member of the Mime Troupe.  A group of kids across all four years that learned pantomime sketches and did some improv too!  I love the improv stuff.  We performed for the school, at elementary schools, local city celebrations and county fairs and once a year at the Shriners' Children's hospital in San Francisco.  That was always a good time.  I made great friends and learned a LOT!  I learned about auditions and along with the drama classes I took from Mr. Maya, the drama teacher, I learned to love performing and making people laugh. Again, I had opportunities for leadership here too as I eventually served as Mime Troupe president.

Eventually I did stage management for other plays and eventually acted in some and as a senior, had a leading role in the Senior Play and then directed the student directed Spring show that year with my friend, Darin Carter.

Because I had room in my schedule my senior year I also tried out for the brand spanking new Chamber Choir--which I made mostly due to the flexibility of my schedule than for my talent.  I learned so much from Mr. Robb, the director, and made terrific memories and friends.

#52 Stories--Story # 2

What subjects did you excel at in school? Which were hardest for you?

I was pretty lucky as most subjects in school came fairly easily to me.  I was a good student and I liked doing well in school.  I kept out of trouble with teachers and had friends in every grade.  My favorite subjects were history and English--most of the time.

As a junior in American Lit, we had to read Billy Budd by Herman Melville.  I hated that book.  I don't even recall the storyline now.  But that was the first class I remember NOT liking English.  But even with that class, I did like some of the other books we were assigned.  The older I got the more I enjoyed the literature and writing that was required.

I ended up finishing a bachelor's degree in History and I did love most of all the classes I got to take within the major. I loved American history the most, with a special fascination with 19th century American History. Even now, when I read for fun, I seem to always ended up back with British literature that is either written in or set in the 19th century--think, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.  And I still love the civil war period of time in the US.  I read quite a few biographies and even those end up being about people from that time period--post Revolutionary War to the 20th century.

The classes and subjects that I had a harder time with in school tended to be classes that were more subjective--art, especially.  I loved drama, however, as it is closely related to English and literature.  But I never was very artistic and struggled to draw, paint, sculpt or anything else that I had to create for myself.  I enjoyed photography, though and saw that as a creative outlet.  And as a senior in high school I sang in two periods of choir--but more because I can follow a leader and had room in my schedule than for my prodigious talent.

I did fairly well in math until my junior year of HS when I had trigonometry.  Mr. Duke was my teacher then and I remember one assignment asked us to use the angles and whatever to figure out the height of the light poles that held the lights that illuminated the football field.  I saw no reason to "do the math" but instead questions Mr. Duke why someone hadn't thought to measure the poles before they were installed on the football field.  He was NOT amused. When he couldn't given me a reasonable answer, I quit thinking math was that important.

In college my major required either a single semester of statistics OR 4 semesters of a foreign language.  I signed up for the stats class and made it through the first day when I immediately went and dropped the stats class and enrolled in the first of several Spanish classes I would eventually.

#52 Stories--Intro and Story #1: School Lunch Memories

I recently recognized a suggestion to help use my time on Sundays more wisely--write down my own life's stories.  I used to be a prolific journal keeper.  I received a journal when I turned 8 as a birthday gift and I have an apple box full of little fabric-covered, lined-paper, hand-written journals from my growing up years.  As I got older, my journal keeping sort of ebbed and flowed.  It usually had to do with how well I was living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how obedient I was directly related to how faithful a journal writer I was being at any given time.

In 2006 I began writing this blog, as a way to keep my family in touch with what was going on here, as several loved ones live far away and we don't get to see each other or speak as often as I'd like.  But once the kids left for college, I've felt I had little to write about and I lost some of that interest in writing.

However, this prompting to journal about my own life's stories made sense to me.  I love the biography that my mom has written about my dad's life--even though it is still under construction.  I already love knowing those stories he has entertained me with over all these years are recorded and written down and that I will be able to share them with my own grandchildren someday down the road.  What if my own children want to know things about me that I never thought to tell them?  What will the do with the gaps in my journaling? To answer those kinds of questions, I have decided to adopt a Sunday afternoon activity of writing on one short topic based on these kinds of questions:

Goals & Achievements

What goals do you hope to achieve this year?
What is something you taught yourself to do without help from anyone else?
What goals are you actively working toward right now?
What would you want your friends and family to learn about making and achieving goals from your example?
What will be the greatest achievement of your life?

Love & Friendship

Do you know the story of how your grandparents met and fell in love?
What have been the most important and valued friendships in your life?
Who was your first best friend? Are you still in contact with each other?
What qualities in friends do you most admire?

Goals & Achievements

What were your favorite hobbies and pastimes in your childhood?
Do you like to dabble in lots of different hobbies? If so, what are they?
What hobbies, interests, and talents do you have in common with your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors?
Who taught you how to work? What would you want your children and grandchildren to learn from your example?
What are some of your greatest career achievements so far?

Home & Hearth

What was your childhood home like?
What kinds of things did you collect and display in your childhood bedroom?
How many different homes or apartments have you lived in throughout your life?
What do you love most about where you live now?
What are the barest essentials you would need to make any place a home?

Mothers & Motherhood

How has your mother or being a mother enriched your life?
What lessons have you learned from your grandmothers’ life experiences?
What are some of the stories you loved hearing from your mother’s youth? From your grandmothers’ younger days?
What is the best thing about your relationship with your mother or grandmother?
Who are some important mother figures besides your own mother who have been influential in your life?

Fathers & Fatherhood

What did you enjoy doing with your father when you were a child?
What life lessons have you learned from your father?
What are some of the stories you loved hearing from your father’s youth? From your grandfathers’ younger days?
What are some of the signature phrases, quotes, or sayings that remind you of your dad? Of your grandfathers?
Who are some important father figures besides your own father who have been influential in your life?

Events & Milestones

What do you know about the day you were born?
What were the biggest momentous events in your life and how have they changed you as a person?
What decisions have you made that have had a long-lasting positive effect on your life?
How does your family celebrate significant milestones?
What events and milestones are you still anticipating and looking forward to?

Travels & Vacations

What were your most common childhood vacations like—road trips, visits to grandma’s house, camping trips, weekends at the lake or the beach?
Do you have one special vacation spot that you return to again and again?  What do you love about it?
What are all the different modes of transport you’ve used?
What are the most memorable meals or exotic foods you’ve tried on any of your travels?
What destinations are on your vacation wish list?

Education & School

Who was your most beloved teacher? Why?
What are your memories of school lunch?
What subjects did you excel at in school? Which were hardest for you?
What extracurricular activities did you get involved in?
What valuable lessons have you learned from school that have helped you in your life?

Values & Beliefs

If you had to pinpoint three main values that your parents lived by and tried to instill in you, what would they be?
What personal values do you hold most dear?
What values do you feel are most important to pass down to posterity?
What were the faith and religious traditions of your ancestors?

Causes & Convictions

What motto or creed do you live by?
In what ways do you sacrifice your time to volunteer in your community?
How has your life been enriched by your commitment to causes?
Is there someone in your life who has inspired you to care more about community and global issues?
How has your commitment to make the world a better place evolved throughout your life?

Holidays & Traditions

What were some of your favorite holiday traditions in childhood?
Which were your top three favorite holidays when you were a child? Why?
Which of your childhood holiday traditions have you continued into adulthood?
What are the most memorable and treasured gifts you have received in your life?
What different occasions do you celebrate each year?

So beginning with the random question of  the week, I'll try to share things that I may not have included in my personal journals over the years.

What are my memories of school lunch?
I attended elementary school at El Roble Elementary in Gilroy, California, from 1st through 4th grade. I think I remember generally bringing a lunch with me from home most of the time.  I do recall a few special occasions when the school served a McDonald's hamburger or cheeseburger and those were the days I really wanted to buy lunch.  I only remember the little McD's cheeseburger--not a happy meal or having fries with it.  Just the little burger, wrapped in the the same old yellow paper they still come in, and a carton of chocolate milk. I'm sure it was less than a dollar for that at the time.  I only remember ever having coins to pay for it.  But it was a special treat when I got to do that.

We'd eat our little lunches on benches that were along the outside of the classroom buildings. I recall playing jacks with friends after eating right there near our benches on the blacktop. Jessica Santana was my best friend in those years.  She was always very tall and willowy while I was pretty stumpy and rounder.  I remember people calling us "Green Giant and Little Sprout" after the advertisement characters for the frozen vegetable company.

In 5th and 6th grade I moved schools to Brownell Fundamental Elementary in town. It was a lot like charter schools are now.  It was supposed to focus on educational basics, but as a kid I didn't see much change from what I knew at El Roble. Just the kids thought the school was better than the other "regular" elementary schools. That attitude rubbed me wrong even then. 

I remember learning to play handball  during lunch there and slowly realizing that the boys who played handball weren't going to just "let the girls play" with them. I don't recall the lunch room or what I brought for lunch there beyond having to eat inside if there was rain. the lunch room had tall ceilings and was really loud with that many kids inside wishing they could play outdoors.

For junior high I moved schools again--even though Brownell had 7th & 8th grades.  the friends I had at Brownell told me that if I switched to South Valley Jr High I was going to get beat up every day and that the Mexican kids would hate me because I was white. But I missed my El Roble friends and was not as fond of the elitist feeling among the Brownell kids.  So I moved schools in Junior High.

South Valley was a little tougher looking, but I loved it.  Sure there were some tough "chicano" kids in the school, but if I didn't bother them, I learned that they really didn't go out of their way to bother me. In fact, once I go to know a few in my classes, I made friends with them just like I could with the student council kids, or the jocks, or the music kids.  They just had different interests and that was fine by me.

At SVJH we ate lunch outside, pretty much wherever we wanted. We didn't really have assigned spaces, but we ate with friends outside--again, unless it rained.  In the rain we ate in the "cafegymetorium"--part lunchroom, part gym, part auditorium. It was REALLY loud then, because we were all pubescent, hormonal, growing pre-teens.  I remember my favorite place to sit and eat outside was in the sunshine, just beyond the bus turn around toward the classrooms. A bunch of cute boys (some in our LDS ward) ate closer to the gym, but we could watch the boys from our spot in the sunshine. I'm quite sure the boys were clueless that we watched them everyday. But it was all part of the junior high fun.

In 9th grade we all moved to the high school. When I was in school, Gilroy High School had an open campus so if you had a car--or knew someone who did--you could go off campus to get lunch someplace.  By this time, I think my mom gave up on us taking lunch so she'd give us lunch money to get lunch all week long.  I had to ration it correctly or by Friday I wouldn't have money to eat. There were "junk trucks" that parked along the street side of campus and sold everything from hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill to soda and candy bars.  I very regularly had a Snickers bar and a Diet 7Up for lunch and called it good.  Once in a while I remember walking to my friend Steve Howlett's house, just a few blocks away from GHS, and having lunch with friends there. I loved his mom, Diane, and I especially loved it when she was there and I could chat her up about whatever was on my mind.  

Usually the LDS kids and other friends hung out in Mr. Merrill's room.  He was an old world history & geography teacher that didn't seem to mind the "crazy Mormon" kids invading his space. As I got older in high school, I'd sometimes have lunch in the theater--we had Mime Troupe meetings then.  Or out on the quad with the "popular" and "cool" kids if there was a lunchtime activity. Once I could drive, I would sometimes take friends to Wendy's down 10th Street closer to the freeway.  I remember thinking then that we never had enough time to get there, get our food, get back and eat all in the lunch period.  

Once memorable lunch time as a Senior, I road in the bed of Brenda Scariot's truck with several other girls, who were much cooler and popular than I was, and we drive all the way to 1st Street's Senior Froggy's.  David Manson had a truck full of senior boys and did the same thing. We grabbed our lunch as fast as we could and then high tailed it back to campus.  Somewhere along the way, a chocolate shake got throw from David's truck over the cab of Brenda's--she was driving right behind Dave--and the spray of chocolate shake went all over many of us. At the time it was just funny.  No one was angry or upset. Just another fun, crazy high school memory made.

 

I'm Done

It is the last week of school for the year, and I have only one more year of public school to worry about with my own children.  I've spent a lot of years--a decade and a half, in fact--worrying about my own kids as well as any others that went to the local public school with mine.  I spent a few years worrying and working for all the children that went to school anywhere in our town and another couple working and worrying for all children in our district.

But I'm done.

Last night at Costco I ran across a book by Glenn Beck that feeds the conspiracy theorists' rhetoric against the Common Core.  I'm done fighting that fight. 

In a purely selfish move, I'm going to say that I'm thrilled that my younger child, The Boy, is the final grade level that has nothing to do with the CC "roll out" in our district.  He avoided it by being a year ahead in math and his English grade level stuff, while some elements have been integrated in but none of the required pieces are demanded until the year after his.  And I'm not sorry about that at all.

I have volunteered in my kids' school for 15 years now.  I have sat on committees of concerned parents every time I've been asked.  I have worked with wonderful teachers--who aren't paid NEARLY what they deserve to do what is asked of them by society at large, much less the district they work for--and still they see the positive in the most recent changes that have taken the conservative right to grab their pitchfork and torches and demand change.  I've seen administrators try to jump through the needs legal and district mandated hoops to help their teachers do what they do best--TEACH.

You see, the change happens every 4-8 years.  Very similar to certain presidential administration changes.  That is not a coincidence.  Every national leader KNOWS the system is broken, but not a single one will put the money where his/her mouth is to make things right enough for the best to happen for our kids.  But that is another topic completely.  Educational theories come and go.  Good teachers are coming less often, and the bad ones hang on for too long.  But changes to the system/curriculum/methodology change on a regular basis.  and good teachers take what works, fit it to their subject matter, try to breathe life into their topic with more energy and enthusiasm than a three ring circus ringmaster for the attention deficit, virtual world believing, entitlement driven students of today.

Today, I'm ranting about the anti-Common Core fanatics.  I was sorry to see Glenn Beck is now their poster boy.  I don't listen to his show but I admired him for not backing down on his religious beliefs in light of national attention and criticism--especially during the Prop 8 debacle in California some years ago.  But now, the Tea Partiers must keep buying his books so he has found a new sublect to appease they and take their money.

For me, I'm just done.  I'm done trying to explain what I have seen and heard and done in my local schools.  I'm done trying to help others understand the reasoning for the changes.  And I'm definitely done making head-banging-against-the-bricks attempts to persuade the conspiracy theorists to see the situation as I do.  That opposition is too strong.  And I'm just one person.  And I'm tired of fighting.

Like Chief Joseph, Nez Pierce leader in the late 1800s, said "on this spot I'll fight no more forever".  It is just too exhausting.

Blessings Of Denial

I think some country singer once had a song about the blessing of unanswered prayers.  Maybe it was Garth Brooks, come to think of it.  Yesterday I had that same feeling--that I had prayed for something that in my mind's eye seemed like the perfect fit, but with added knowledge that I just received, I was grateful that I didn't get what I asked for.

I applied for two jobs at our local high school.  To me, I seemed like a PERFECT fit for either of them.  I loved being with the HS students, I had worked all year for their success, and I enjoyed the faculty and staff.  I wanted to continue working for these great kids and figured this was an easy decision.

Yesterday I found out that BOTH positions I had tried to get were about to be cut to 20 hours a week--in order to avoid having to get paid benefits, which the district can't afford to pay.  Thanks to Obamacare, workers who are at or close to the typical full time hours (40/week) will be eligible for medical benefits where employers have more than a certain number of employees.  Well, the district is HUGE and therefore, fits the template for these benefit requirements.  But the district is stretched so thin with the monies they currently have with just the students and faculties they currently service, there is no way they can afford to pay additional benefits for the secretaries and student advocates.  Their solution?  Cut those jobs in to 2 parts and make them 20 hours a piece, times two.

This is not a good thing for the kids who really come to rely on "their" advocate.  And it isn't do great for the offices who rely on their secretaries either!  Even our assistant front office secretary, who has been there for years and years, will be cut back to 20 hours a week.  Per new district policy.  No new contracted (read: benefit receiving) positions for classified (read: non-teaching) jobs.

With my new job, there is more than a chance that my hours will only increase, as I would like them to, once my PTA job(s) are finished with this school year.  And with that increase, there is also a chance that once my probationary period of "full-time" hours is over I could qualify for benefits.  [Note to self: I'm still not sure I WANT to work full time, but if I do, I will want to qualify for the benefits for our family.]

So, this delightful friend, who told me about this new change with the district and was really hoping I'd want to come interview again for the same job(s) I interviewed for previously, will be disappointed.  As I have started work elsewhere (she didn't know that) I have come to appreciate that my initial prayers weren't answered.  And that the Lord, in His all-knowing goodness, certainly saw this down the line and put me in a place that was a better fit for the circumstances I didn't even know about yet.

That is a real blessing!

Never Gonna Change Some People's Minds

Last night I was part of a forum held my our local school district.  They had invited about 100 people from all over the district to consider the areas of focus that drive the district's educational efforts and apply two questions in their regards:  What evidences have I seen of these areas of focus?  And, What evidences would I like to see?

Basically, they were asking what we had each observed in our local schools and throughout the district in terms of teacher quality, comprehensive curriculum, leadership, school and district culture, community relations, resources, and student achievement.  And then, what we'd LIKE to see in each of these areas.

If I had carried a weapon, I might have gone postal before the evening was over.  I'm not sure whop got tagged to come voice their opinions, but aside form the 8 or so PTA colleagues I saw and a few I know sit on the school- or district community councils, the majority seemed to be the pot-stirrers in the county that want to cause trouble with the district at every turn.  Their responses were narrow and politically led with their ultra conservative views.

What I mean is these are the kind of folks that don't want the schools to include sex-ed, drug education, or even mental health information in a health class or biology class.  They won't join PTA because they (wrongly) believe the national component of the organization lobbies the Feds for GLTB rights. They don't want any Common Core or to take any money from the Federal government because everything is a conspiracy to have President Obama run our local schools into the ground.  And, apparently, after listening to three of these types at my table last night, the only kids that matter are the high achieving, Gifted & Talented, highly motivated kids.

Well, I hope they NEVER get any child who doesn't fit that profile.  If they do, that child may well enough end up another uni-bomber or postal clerk that lets loose.

I came home grateful to represent a little more of the mainstream (and wider minded) folks in the area.  I am grateful to know the organization wherein I serve speaks for ALL children, and not just the specially anointed ones.  I am grateful for a school district who, at least on the surface, seek out the views of their patrons--no matter who crazy they are. and I am grateful that I have seen our educational system from both the inside and the outside and can speak realistically to what is actually happening there.

And although we are the lowest per pupil spending district in the lowest per pupil spending state, our kids do amazingly well.  I know that can't last, but my kids are getting a really great education--and taking advantage of that.  And if mine are, then others might be too.

The Day Got Better

I felt much better this morning, after my ear/nose/throat issue the day before.  But late Thursday night, we got word that another student--this time at the local junior high--had committed suicide.  It was exactly one month form the high school student who took her life.  So this morning I woke up wondering what was wrong with the world that these kids are taking permanent ends to their temporary problems.  That, and, WHAT is going on here?!?

Sadly, there is no explanation, and luckily I don't have to be responsible for figuring out the "why" of these two deaths.  But as I went about my day--including two trips to the school for volunteer work--I recognized that amount of care that the kids try to offer others.  Not just my kids--but all the kids I come into contact with each day.

Sometimes it is the friends who stop by to see their buddy during lunch who just got home from having his wisdom teeth removed.  Yes, these boys showed up to tease and make fun of hteir friendwhile he was still under the affects of the anesthesia, but they do it because they love him.

Other times it is the ballroom team who come to the front office as a whole group to bring their trophies from their state competition to show the principals an the office staffers.  They were congratulated by the staff and then congratulated each other for their individual work.

Once in a while it is the kid who offers to buy his friend a sucker or slushy just because it is Friday.

Today included a gaggle of Student Council kids who came to the store to help their Japanese exchange students--there were about a dozen here on a cultural exchange for the day that "shadowed" the student council to all their classes--exchange the size of their American T-shirts to fit their tiny Japanese student bodies.  Good thing we sell Youth Larges

There is much to see that makes me hopeful in my observations of public school kids.  I'm glad to notice, otherwise I'd be so depressed I wouldn't bother getting out of bed each day.

The Hill Is In Session & This Is My First Gripe

Our state legislature is in session at the moment.  So far, it is too early to get a real sense of what stupidity will distract the legislators from their chore there.  But I did read one article about a proposed "Sex Ed Bill for Parents".

Utah's public schools have a fine line to toe when it comes to sex education or any kind.  As it is now, the instant a student is in a junior health class or high school human biology or even anatomy class a note is sent home that demands the parent(s) sign for permission to include the student in the discussion where body parts, organs or biological systems are discussed.  This is the "opt-in" system of parental permission.

That means that if no note comes back, the student is not allowed to sit in on the class, its discussion or any information that will be covered in the class during this portion.  Crazy, I know.  But the hyper-active parents who still believe that their little precious ones will only learn what they are taught in Family Home Evening about human sexuality really believe that their kids don't talk to the friend, search the internet or read the bathroom walls of the junior high.  The "opt-in" system is a compromise for them.

With that kind of parental responsibility then for the parents to be the primary teachers of this sort of knowledge, the legislature in their wisdom has proposed a bill that will require parents to take an online course about how to teach human sexuality to their students.  The problem I see with this is two fold.  One, how many of these parents who are terrified their children might learn about human sexuality in class will actually want to search online resources for the information--proven, scientific and correct--to use at home?  I am guessing not many.  These are the same kind of families that are worried that they could accidentally use the internet for  homework research and pull up pornography.  In their homes!  Overworried and undereducated parents have this issue, at least in my mind.

Two, the resources that will be provided online are already available to parents locally at their neighborhood school--junior highs and high schools make the same resources available to parents any time they want to check them out for more information to help them supplement or teach directly rather than let them in the class that will be doing the same thing.  How many of them have ever been checked out by parents with the system we have in place now?  None.  Zero.  Nada.  To my understanding, and the 13 years I have volunteered in the public schools, I have yet to hear of any parents coming to use the resources already available in their neighborhood.

What makes the Legislature think that this new "rule" will help these poor kids ever understand anything they might have to learn from their friends, the bathroom walls or--heaven forbid--on their own the hard way?  These law makers need to do a little work in the public schools to see what is already happening and let go of the very small, but very vocal, minority of parents that want to keep their heads in the sand.  Those who believe that if they shelter their little darlings they will be safer than if we give them knowledge. Ralph Waldo Emerson said " Knowledge is the antidote to fear."  Maybe we ought to start subscribing that kind of thinking with our children.  Give them correct knowledge and then infuse it with the principles and values we have as a family.  That is the best hope our kids have to navigate this disturbed and wicked world.

And that kind of balanced thinking will never come from the legislature.  Not that this is a surprise.

Repercussions

After last Friday's tragic elementary school shooting, I just didn't have the heart to write.  It made the weekend dark and dreary, and today's morning Admin meeting at our local high school was also still reeling.

Why does this sort of thing happen?  Why does it keep happening?  What is wrong with people?  And how soon can the Second Coming actually happen?  I can't take this kind of news anymore.

I recall hearing the news about the Columbine shooting, andlater that day seeing the news footage showing the kids running out of the school and away with their hands on their heads.  I cried then. 

I remember sitting on our couch--on my day off--VERY pregnant, watching the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, just weeping about this awful world I was bringing this precious baby into.  How could I' dare that?

I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach at the news of the Aurora Colorado movie theater shooting this summer.  What began as an anticipated night of friends and fun, turned deadly and tragic.

How many more of these do we need to have?  What will it take for people to stop wanting to hurt others?  How bad does the earth have to get before the Lord just pulls the plug?

My heart breaks for the little families in that town--whether or not they lost their own children that day.  The town's children were taken.  One man's senseless act will be felt for generations and throughout our country.  Justice, surely, will come in the next life, but understanding here and now is harder to grasp.

Prayers, in the mean time, are all I can  offer.  And with them, I hope for peace and comfort for any with reasons to mourn.  And that really means all of us.

THAT is What I'm Talking About...

This was welcomed news after a week of not so great news for our delightful Space Center.  This notice came from the Superintendent's secretary...as close as I can get "straight from the horse's mouth".

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alpine School District will Continue the Space Center Program

There is misinformation circulating about the closure of the Christa McAuliffe Space Center. It is important that employees and community members have correct, factual information about the decision. Please read the following:

The following news release was sent on Wednesday, October 24, 2012.

News Release

The Christa McAuliffe Space Center, which has been housed in Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, has been closed due to safety reasons. The Fire Marshal closed the Space Center in early October because of electrical problems. Alpine School District Officials notified Central Elementary School as well as the Program Director that the Space Center would not be re-opened in its current location. Superintendent Vern Henshaw has directed a committee to explore options for a Space Center, which will then be presented to the ASD Board of Education.

When the state fire marshal closed the center, district officials hired an architectural firm to assess and provide an estimate of the cost of repairs. The desire was to bring the center up to code if at all possible. Sadly, the cost to correct electrical problems and address the myriad of student safety problems was nearly $700,000. Board members and district administrators felt it was not wise to use taxpayer money to repair an aging facility when a new facility is in future plans.

The plan is to expand on the remarkable legacy of the Space Center as we learn from the past and look to the future.

Victor Williamson has been the director of the Space Center since it opened in 1990. He is serving on a committee that will explore and present options about the future of the Space Center Program. The options will be presented to the Superintendent and the Board of Education, who will ultimately make the decision.

The committee will be discussing all possibilities about both the location of the center, as well as the curriculum. There are no plans to discontinue the use of the simulators as part of the Space Center Program. The committee will have discussions about ways to add to the current curriculum.

Safety of the students is a top priority in Alpine School District. The Space Center has been a great program in our district for the past 22 years. Board Members and district administrators are excited to continue having an excellent space program in a safe environment for students and faculty members.

District officials and board members have been aware of the needs of the Space Center. The project was on the original 2011 Bond Project proposal. Due to prioritization through public input, the final proposal did not include the re-build of the Space Center. However, it remains a focus of the Board of Education. Several years ago, property was purchased by ASD adjacent to Central Elementary School as an option for a future site of the Space Center. ASD continues to value the Space Center and the impact it has had for several years. It is for this reason Dr. Henshaw has directed the formation of the committee.

The following statement was released by Alpine School District on Thursday, October 25:

“Alpine School District has every intention of preserving the Space Center Program. There is mis-information circulating about the program’s demise. The only change is the closing of the facility in the current location. This decision was made because of safety reasons. District Board Members and administrators are excited to have the 22 year program continue. This is a great opportunity for the committee to look at the program and make it even better.”

The committee will be meeting on November 2. Please visit the ASD website for updated information.

When WIll It END?!?

This is WRONG! And it makes me mad!

http://www.qrps.org/index.php?page=enrollment-program-details

 

All Quail Run cares about is getting funding ... note that students have to be enrolled through October 5, 2012 to redeem their rewards.  If you weren't aware, schools receieve their funding for the year based on children enrolled on October 1st.  Public Schools have to take children regardless of when they enroll, so any parent not happy with Quail Run on October 5th will be able to come back to their neighborhood public school and be educated all year for free.  They money will stay at Quail Run!  This is totally unethical to be advertising they need to stay through October 5th and shows the need to pass legislation regarding funding.  I'm not saying charter schools are bad, but I'm saying if you start the year there, you should have to commit and stay there the whole school year or let the money follow the student back to their neighborhood school.

 

Quail Run is a local Charter School.  Now a charter school, for those who may not be familiar, is a school which is funded almost identically to our neighborhood public school by our state legislature. 

According to our school district leadership "The WPU (weighted pupil unit--the amount of money per student allotted to each public school to educate that student) is the same statewide for any student who has membership for 180 days of school. Where it gets a little tricky is that charter schools have worked it out so that for charter elementary students the WPU is .90, for grades 7-8 the WPU is .99, and for high school the WPU is 1.2. Obviously they did this because of the added cost it is to run a high school with the different programs, etc.

"Membership reports are taken on October 1 - funding goes wherever the student is on October 1. If a student transfers to a public school from a charter school after October 1 - all of the money stays at the charter school. Obviously - if a student moves to a charter school from a public school after October 1, all of the money stays at the public school."

 

 

The fact that this school is advertising a bunch of "swag" for any student who enrolls long enough to be counted as theirs by the legislature for funding purposes is WRONG.  It is unethical and is not the way these charter schools were meant to be part of our "school choice".

I would love to scream about this.  But I don't have the energy anymore.  It feels like we have been beating our heads against the wall since they came into being.

 

Secret Combinations?

In the Book of Mormon, the prophets of old repeated warnings to the people to avoid "secret combinations"-- which means avoid those schemes and their people who work together in secret to undermine the good of the people, usually in a spiritual sense.  I'm starting to wonder if the political parties are well on their way to filling this definition.

This week were our local caucus meetings--both the democratic and republican.  And after watching the first one in person, and the second one via friends who were texting me their updates, I'm starting to wonder.

I've been a registered Independent from my first voter registration filing.  I was initially taught that as a voter I should look at the individual and his/her stand on issues--regardless of party affiliation.  I learned that there were good people in both parties and it was best to vote my conscience and align my vote with those whom most closely feel like I do on any particular subject.  I have bought into that ideal from the beginning.

In any other state, I would certainly have stronger conservative leanings, but where I live now is SO very conservative it nears reactionary at times.  So my Independent affiliation, at times must seem radically liberal to others.  But I feel most comfortable there and have no plans to change my thinking on this.  (This certainly must disappoint my dad, but there you have it.  Sorry, Dad.)


I completely understand that as I am affiliated elsewhere, I didn't expect to be able to participate in the democratic caucuses.  But at least they welcomed me as an observer.  I tried, on the state GOP's website, to verify the location of my precinct's meeting and it wouldn't even let me see the information without registering as a republican.  Now, even with the recent redistricting, I already knew my precinct and where we were supposed to meet.  But I knew immediately I wasn't even welcome as an observer in the GOP's meetings.


The other interesting thing I noticed--from both sides of the political spectrum--were the hatred and vitriol that was spewed at the opposition.  That kind of partisanship is what is bogging down our progress in the Senate and the House back in Washington.  The same things seems to happen--partisanship wise--here in our state.  The difference here is that the extreme conservatives have hijacked the legislature and run away without truly representing the middle-of-the-road constituents. That part is most frustrating to me.  If we can't cooperate and respect each other, how will we ever get anything done?


The last thing I noticed more curiously with the extreme republicans was the higher likelihood they seem to have to be conspiracy theorists.  This week we held our junior high parent's meeting about the new Common Core standards in math and language arts beginning in the fall.  And leading up to this meeting, and throughout the meeting itself, certain parents--who've made their political bent and tendencies clearly evident--repeated made comments that this shift is being pushed, paid for, and required by the federal government.  Our principals, teachers, districts leaders, and even the State Office of Education have tried to make the facts clear.  This change--along with 46 or 47 other states--is happening from the states themselves.  And the states are allowing the local districts and event he schools themselves select the textbooks, coordinate the teaching within the schools' departments, and have all asked for parental input in that selection.  But still, these folks who are convinced it is a scheme from President Obama to brainwash our kids amaze me.  Do they really think he is that smart?!  Or that he cares that much?!

This whole week of wading into political realms had made me exhausted--I'm tired of defending my kids' schools and their teachers and principals to them.  I'm tired of the rhetoric of hate.  I'm tired of the arguing and fighting and attacking.  (Even within their own parties--those fighting to see who is MOST conservative!)

I need a nap.

Really?!

Our state legislature wrapped up their annual session last night.  And I have had a couple of  heartburn inducing bills that I have tried to keep on my radar while they worked.  Now the legislature's part if over and the Governor is holding the bag at this point with bills waiting to be signed into law.

I just want to share my complete disappointment about one bill.  Overwhelmingly, legislators in both houses passed a bill shifting our public education's handling of Sex Ed in health or biology to an "abstinence only" curriculum.  This bill is now sitting on the governor's desk waiting for a signature or a veto.

The thing is, while abstinence is the option I personally would prefer for our kids for their sexual behavior, this bill disallows any parental choice to "opt in" or the choice to give permission for our kids to learn from an educated and caring teacher (as it is now).  A student requires a permission slip to sit in a class period to hear any of this information--which is currently even more limited than I would prefer--at this point.  This new bill removes that opt in or permission slip choice.  The proposed change would not let teachers answer ANY question from a student that went outside the abstinence-only language.

Where will kids go for information then?  You know they won't just stop looking for what they feel they need to know. The Internet?  Their friends? Yeah, sure. I worry about that. A lot.

I believe strongly that, as a parent, it is my duty and privilege to teach my kids the values and morals I believe as right.  I feel bound to teach them how to stay safe, physically and emotionally, when it comes to human sexuality along with everything else I do to try to keep them safe.  Having a teacher back up my efforts to instruct my kids with just the facts, is a great way to tie the medical information to the morality I want to instill in them on this topic.  Now the government thinks they know better what to do for my kids.  That is wrong.  In every way.

Here is a LINK in a local newspaper from one of the opposing representative, who presents a thoughtful and caring opinion.  I agree with her.  How I wish other elected officials thought more about the "we the people" they represent than their own re-electability or the extremists who puff them up throughout the session as lobbyists. 

My faith in the system significantly dims between this kind of  extremist agenda-driven legislation and the vicious, attacking, slanderous primary election propaganda going on in our country.  And that is disturbing to me.  America was designed for better than this.

Soapbox + Plug

Last night I got tickets to opening night of Seussical, the Musical, as performed by our high school productions class.  It was delightful.  The set was bright and cheerful, the kids were energetic and the message was uplifting and so pleasant.

May I suggest, we could all do a little better in support the arts locally--at our high schools, junior highs and elementaries.  Arts programs are becoming more and more rare in public education, sadly, and when a product opens, we really ought to support it. 

That said, I get the chance to also help out at the junior high band concert on Thursday.  Last week was the orchestra, and in a couple more week we will have our choir concerts.  Here is another way to support public school art programs.

It is easy if your own kids are involved in the show.  But what if your neighbor kids or church kids are in it?  Have you gone just to watch the local kids performing?

The $7 or so it might cost for the ticket--about what a movie ticket costs--goes a lot farther for public school arts & musical productions, in my opinion.  You'll get a nice evening, maybe seeing a show you've never seen before (as last night was me) and the performers gain additional experience with a medium they are seeing less and less of.

Grab your kids, grab your neighbors, grab your friends and go see a show.  Might I recommend Seussical?  They'll close this weekend.  Get your tickets while the gettings good.

Dang, They're Good!

This morning I had the chance ot sit on a panel for the Utah Association of Secondary School Principals  to select Utah's Secondary Assisant Principal of the Year.  I was the parent representative.  We interviewed three nominees--who were all fabulous, by the way.  These administrators care about the kids in their schools.  They care about their emotional, adacemic, familial, and general well being.  They crusade against bullying.  They investigate technology that will aid the teachers in the classrooms and then seek grants to fund it. They collaberate with others schools' administrators to find best practices to impletment or improve.  They support wonderful, dedicated, occassionally frazzled teachers.  And parents.  And students.

They were astonishingly good at what they do.  And what they do--all three were junior high level assisant prinicpals--is not ever easy.  But they each mentioned that they love what they do.  They love the kids they serve.  And they wouldn't do anything else.

I'm so lucky to work with and know so many of those kind of people right here in my little world.

Quality Education?

This is the last week of school for my kids.  Since this is the first last week I have experienced as a mom of a high schooler, I realized that there is much for me to learn.  First of all, that the final week of high school each year is plainly a joke--educationally speaking.

Not that I can blame the teachers or the administrators on this one.  They have to get grades done to certify the seniors' graduation status.  Book must be collected to assure all fees are paid before diplomas are handed out.  And I do remember that once yearbooks are distributed, the crowd becomes more and more unruly.

But The Girl tried all weekend to convince me that she needn't even go to school, as there would be no roll taken, and really no class held.  Today was yearbook day.  Tomorrow is Senior Day at a local amusement park, and Thursday is Graduation--which is held in the middle of the afternoon, and where the faculty is required to attend.  Friday is not even a real day, either, but a final lunchtime meeting for the faculty and staff.

As a die-hard public school supporter--and the meanest mom in the world--I disregarded her comments and pleadings and sent her to school anyway today.  After all it was a "school-day".  So off she went.

By about 11:30, while I was getting ready to help at the Junior High, The Girl shows up and tells met hat she is done with school and was there to visit with her favorite old teachers from last year.

What?!  Isn't this the same school district where I have to show my picture ID to pick up The Boy for a dental appointment during his lunch break?  But The Girl released herself to wander the city's streets alone?

It is crazy, I tell you.

I guess she was telling me the truth.  And while the faculty and staff at the high school can't "officially" tell the kids not to come to school, the kids all seem to get it (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).  They are already out for summer vacation.

After spending some time at the Junior high today, I can see where the Junior High Administration might wish they has the same final week deal as the HS.  The Junior High kids were crawling up the wall, and the discipline issues there today were magnified ten-fold.  But I guess most parents don't want their Junior High Schoolers home this early either.  They'd be just as happy to leave them in the capable hand of the school until mid-July.

I don't see that actually happening, but I can see the reasoning behind it.

Letter to My State Representatives

I am one of your constituents. I have keen interest in our public schools and funding for the schools that service the majority of our local families.
I understand that for some families the charter schools are a better fit. But that is a very small majority. I implore you to do all you can to please fund the public schools appropriately and consequently hold the charter schools to the same standards as our public schools, especially as they are receiving public funds as well.

Public schools, where all students are accepted and by law are the defaults for local school age children to attend, are held to state and federal accountability. Charters, meanwhile, can pick and choose their student body (they are not required to accept Special Ed or English Language Learners, for example, nor do they have to make the same accommodations for them if they are enrolled) and then aren't even held to the same standards of outcome.

The discrepancy in funding is to the detriment of the majority, allowing the public system to suffer (too large of class sizes, not enough funds for supplies) while the minority systems (charter schools) sit back and smile.

I oversee and train PTA leaders at ten local public schools. In the past year or so I have seen the discrepancies in funding and outcome accountability between the public schools and the charters grow. It does little to foster community spirit and even less to encourage local academic support.

This past year, I know many students were initially enrolled at the public school (in this case, C. Elementary) for one week or so and then were pulled to attend a brand new charter school that opened on a later date. Teachers, hired when enrollment numbers were peaking, had to be let go when the numbers of students dropped. Then, a month of so later, several of those same families, unsatisfied with the charter schools unfulfilled promises, came back to enroll their students back at C. By that time teachers were let go and classes were filled. Designated WPU funds were already assigned to the charter school for those particular students and isn't follow the student to the public school. The students who had stayed were clearly disadvantaged by this shift with more crowded classrooms and teachers already spread too thin, as were the returned pupils who now had to remake new friends and fit into a social system that had started without them, much less their academic routine that was now on a different page for them.

Similarly, this year G. Elementary had 30 students leave to go to a charter school, 26 of whom returned within 3 months.

We need to re-think the charter school systems and make them accountable for their methods. They should be tested on the same level as the public schools if they are teaching the UTAH STATE CORE. If they want EQUAL treatment, then they should be held to EQUAL standards.

I urge you to please hold the charter schools to the same standards our public schools are and fund our public schools are generously as possible.

Sincerely,
A VERY concerned Mom, PTA volunteer, friend and neighbor

Educational Taj Mahal

Did you hear about the new Los Angeles high school that recently opened?  Named for Robert F. Kennedy, the price tag for this gargantuan K-12 school was $578 million dollars.  It is supposed to house up to 4200 students.  In that context, it isn't that gargantuan at all.

When I graduated from my four year (9-12) high school in California, there were 2200 students attending.  And our school cost no where near $578M.

What does a school have that could cost THAT much money to build?   Is it also some kind of high security nerve center?  Or a tactical command center for currently deployed communication satellites?    Or is it a subsidized Church of Scientology celebrity center?

If it is just a school, what do they have going on there?  And isn't California's budget deep into the red?  How can they afford that?

For all the reports that regularly put Utah schools in the very bottom of the per pupil spending list, our public schools do a dang good job cranking out high flying students at the end of each year.  And none that I have ever heard of cost that much to build.

Back to School Time

The following essay was written by fourth grade teacher in Florida, Jamee Miller. She wrote it because "I was just getting so enraged because there was such ignorance from the people attacking teachers,” says Miller. “Especially these misconceptions about what it is we can actually control as educators.”

As a PTA volunteer, I see into teachers' classrooms, principal's offices, and district adminitrator's board rooms. As a member of a school community council I see a panel of dedicated teachers who work along side their principals to achieve the best possible outcome for students in that school. As a parent I see many other parents who have completely abdicated their role as an advocate for their child. And yet others who believe their child is always the exception--above the rules, untouched by his own choices, and entitled to more than she has earned herself.

Ms. Miller is one of the thousands of unsung heroes in our educational system. That system is broke but not becuase the vast majority of teachers have given up on any child, or becaseu they chose teaching as their professional knowing they could make a positive difference in the lives of their students.

Her words are apropo for this time of year as we begin to think of sending kids back to class, or teachers husling to prepare not only their physical classroom space but the state core cirriculum they teach and must certainly comply with throughout the year.

Nothing gets my ire up like negative talk and teacher bashing. Just don't go there with me. And unless you are willing to put your money where your mouth is by volunteering time, donating supllies, or voting consistently for educational iomprovements, I will not listen to your whining and pouting.



I am a teacher in Florida.

I rise before dawn each day and find myself nestled in my classroom hours before the morning commute is in full swing in downtown Orlando. I scour the web along with countless other resources to create meaningful learning experiences for my 24 students each day. I reflect on the successes of lessons taught and re-work ideas until I feel confident that they will meet the needs of my diverse learners. I have finished my third cup of coffee in my classroom before the business world has stirred. My contracted hours begin at 7:30 and end at 3:00. As the sun sets around me and people are beginning to enjoy their dinner, I lock my classroom door, having worked 4 hours unpaid.

I am a teacher in Florida.

I greet the smiling faces of my students and am reminded anew of their challenges, struggles, successes, failures, quirks, and needs. I review their 504s, their IEPs, their PMPs, their histories trying to reach them from every angle possible. They come in hungry—I feed them. They come in angry—I counsel them. They come in defeated—I encourage them. And this is all before the bell rings.

I am a teacher in Florida.

I am told that every student in my realm must score on or above grade level on the FCAT each year. Never mind their learning discrepancies, their unstable home lives, their prior learning experiences. In the spring, they are all assessed with one measure and if they don’t fit, I have failed. Students walk through my doors reading at a second grade level and by year’s end can independently read and comprehend early 4th grade texts, but this is no matter. One of my students has already missed 30 school days this year, but that is overlooked. If they don’t perform well on this ONE test in early March, their learning gains are irrelevant. They didn’t learn enough. They didn’t grow enough. I failed them. In the three months that remain in the school year after this test, I am expected to begin teaching 5th grade curriculum to my 4th grade students so that they are prepared for next year’s test.

I am a teacher in Florida.

I am expected to create a culture of students who will go on to become the leaders of our world. When they exit my classroom, they should be fully equipped to compete academically on a global scale. They must be exposed to different worldviews and diverse perspectives, and yet, most of my students have never left Sanford, Florida. Field trips are now frivolous. I must provide new learning opportunities for them without leaving the four walls of our classroom. So I plan. I generate new ways to expose them to life beyond their neighborhoods through online exploration and digital field trips. I stay up past The Tonight Show to put together a unit that will allow them to experience St. Augustine without getting on a bus. I spend weekends taking pictures and creating a virtual world for them to experience, since the State has determined it is no longer worthwhile for them to explore reality. Yes. My students must be prepared to work within diverse communities, and yet they are not afforded the right to ever experience life beyond their own town.

I am a teacher in Florida.

I accepted a lower salary with the promise of a small increase for every year taught. I watched my friends with less education than me sign on for six figure jobs while I embraced my $28k starting salary. I was assured as I signed my contract that although it was meager to start, my salary would consistently grow each year. That promise has been broken. I’m still working with a meager salary, and the steps that were contracted to me when I accepted a lower salary are now deemed “unnecessary.”

I am a teacher in Florida.

I spent $2500 in my first year alone to outfit an empty room so that it would promote creative thinking and a desire to learn and explore. I now average between $1000-2000 that I pay personally to supplement the learning experiences that take place in my classroom. I print at home on my personal printer and have burned through 12 ink cartridges this school year alone. I purchase the school supplies my students do not have. I buy authentic literature so my students can be exposed to authors and worlds beyond their textbooks. I am required to teach Social Studies and Writing without any curriculum/materials provided, so I purchase them myself. I am required to conduct Science lab without Science materials, so I buy those, too. The budgeting process has determined that copies of classroom materials are too costly, so I resort to paying for my copies at Staples, refusing to compromise my students’ education because high-ranking officials are making inappropriate cuts. It is February, and my entire class is out of glue sticks. Since I have already spent the $74 allotted to me for warehouse supplies, if I don’t buy more, we will not have glue for the remainder of the year. The projects I dream up are limited by the incomprehensible lack of financial support. I am expected to inspire my students to become lifelong learners, and yet we don’t have the resources needed to nurture their natural sense of wonder if I don’t purchase them myself. My meager earning is now pathetic after the expenses that come with teaching effectively.

I am a teacher in Florida.

The government has scolded me for failing to prepare my students to compete in this
technologically driven world. Students in Japan are much more equipped to think progressively with regards to technology. Each day, I turn on the two computers afforded me and pray for a miracle. I apply for grants to gain new access to technology and compete with thousands of other teachers who are hoping for the same opportunity. I battle for the right to use the computer lab and feel fortunate if my students get to see it once a week. Why don’t they know how to use technology? The system’s budget refuses to include adequate technology in classrooms; instead, we are continually told that dry erase boards and overhead projectors are more than enough.

I am a teacher in Florida.

I am expected to differentiate my instruction to meet the needs of my 24 learners. Their IQs span 65 points, and I must account for every shade of gray. I must challenge those above grade level, and I must remediate those below. I am but one person within the classroom, but I must meet the needs of every learner. I generate alternate assessments to accommodate for these differences. My higher math students receive challenge work, and my lower math students receive one-on-one instruction. I create most of these resources myself, after-hours and on weekends. I print these resources so that every child in my room has access to the same knowledge, delivered at their specific level. Yesterday, the school printer that I share with another teacher ran out of ink. Now I must either purchase a new ink cartridge for $120, or I cannot print anything from my computer for the remainder of the year. What choice am I left with?

I am a teacher in Florida.

I went to school at one of the best universities in the country and completed undergraduate and graduate programs in Education. I am a master of my craft. I know what effective teaching entails, and I know how to manage the curriculum and needs of the diverse learners in my full inclusion classroom. I graduated at the top of my class and entered my first year of teaching confident and equipped to teach effectively. Sadly, I am now being micro-managed, with my instruction dictated to me. I am expected to mold “out-of-the-box” thinkers while I am forced to stay within the lines of the instructional plans mandated by policy-makers. I am told what I am to teach and when, regardless of the makeup of my students, by decision-makers far away from my classroom or even my school. The message comes in loud and clear that a group of people in business suits can more effectively determine how to provide exemplary instruction than I can. My expertise is waved away, disregarded, and overlooked. I am treated like a day-laborer, required to follow the steps mapped out for me, rather than blaze a trail that I deem more appropriate and effective for my students—students these decision-makers have never met.

I am a teacher in Florida.

I am overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated by most. I spend my weekends, my vacations, and my summers preparing for school, and I constantly work to improve my teaching to meet the needs of my students. I am being required to do more and more, and I’m being compensated less and less.

I am a teacher in Florida, not for the pay or the hardships, the disregard or the disrespect; I am a teacher in Florida because I am given the chance to change lives for the good, to educate and elevate the minds and hearts of my students, and to show them that success comes in all shapes and sizes, both in the classroom and in the community.

I am a teacher in Florida today, but as I watch many of my incredible, devoted coworkers being forced out of the profession as a matter of survival, I wonder: How long will I be able to remain a teacher in Florida?

Oh, The Pressure

The Girl is less than two weeks away from beginning her first college concurrent enrollment class. I got a call this morning that she was lacking one more form to be completely ready to begin.

I feel so much pressure about getting her class schedule right. She will have opportunities to take college credit classes in high school as well as Advanced Placement classes that will count for college credit. I never had those chances as my high school didn't offer such things.

The Girl has her own plan in her head for what she wants to do in high school as well as what she would like to do--at least, as of right now--in college too. Her plan is unlike the other girls in our neighborhood and at church. As these girls get together for any reason I have heard derisive comments that The Girl "isn't doing it right" or is "making dumb mistakes" and making "lame choices".

I worry that this kind of peer pressure is too much for her to withstand. I am concerned that her wishes and desires regarding her class choices and collegiate ambitions and goals will crumble under the pressure of alternatives taken by her peers.

Here is where I am really hoping her stubbornness makes a stand. I know she has it in her.

As her mom, I am concerned that I get her signed up for the correct classes and lined up for the right programs that she will benefit from all she does from here on out. I feel like I know so little about what she needs that I am not much real help. I am learning as quickly as I can, but she is passing me by. Soon she will having things in her own hands and she'll be great.

I just hope I can keep up and not embarrass her.