Tag: education
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The Principal’s weirdest day
New construction and bad decisions brought an early end to the shop and special ed teachers’ school year. With a week to go, both already knew their contracts would not be renewed according to their now retired principal. “The shop teacher had a good first year. The students liked him. They related well, but the…
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And then they were gone
As I write this the Pennsylvania grandchildren are packing their suitcases, preparing for the long trip home. We will cross paths with their mother somewhere in Tennessee. It has been an intense month. These old folks enjoy every minute of having time with family, but having four additional people in the house for a month…
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Traveling is such a drag
The drag factor determines how much we pack for a trip. The older we get, the less drag we want. Take our trip to England last year, for example. The roller on one of the suitcases failed to roll just as we began dragging it from Heathrow airport to the train, up the stairs, to…
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more school
In the presidential election of 1960, my school friends assured me that if John F. Kennedy won we would have more school days, fewer vacations and school on Saturdays. In the gubernatorial election in the mid 1980’s, my children came home from school terrified that if Clinton lead the state government, they would have school…
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man without words
As a young deaf boy in Mexico, Ildefonso, watched other children go to school and gestured to his parents that he wanted to join them. They responded in mime that because he could not hear, he was too stupid to learn. Ildefonso grew up without language – let alone the ability to read, do math…
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Monopoly
We spent thousands of dollars playing with my Dad – entertainment binges that lasted days as we went round and round the Monopoly board gathering up properties, collecting rent and bankrupting each other. While playing, we learned to do quick mental arithmetic, a bit about business and taxes and how to develop a strategy. Mom…