Yello!

“Believing we can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height.” Robert Schaeffer

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” Albert Einstein

Keeping in mind that I want to keep this blog focused on the positive, I feel compelled to comment on a program of our current administration called No Child Left Behind. However well-intentioned, this one-size-fits-all program has been responsible for many, many, many hours of instructional time wasted in our schools. It has created mountains of paperwork devoted to writing and categorizing standards, testing each standard and reporting test data that could potentially label an entire school system as “failing”. It’s hard to put a positive spin on a program that has arguably taken some of the joy out of learning and replaced it with the fear of failure. I have yet to read any success stories of children, parents or teachers who credit this required system of testing as being the determining factor in their quest for academic excellence. With all of this emphasis on assessments and testing, many important areas of the educational experience such as career and technical education, music and art have sometimes been minimized or completely cut from the school curriculum. Although these areas are not considered core subjects, they are critical, core components to a child’s potential success in the real world. Unfortunately, there are some who have been elected to positions that make them the … um…”deciders” who don’t always seem to share the same “real world” as the rest of us. I could go on and on, but I’d rather that you take a minute to click on the link that follows. It will lead you to a video by Tom Chapin that sums up my take on NCLB quite nicely. http://notonthetest.com/

“The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter.”
Eisenhower, Dwight D. 34th president of the United States (1890-1969)

The first ever Democratic caucus was held yesterday. As a result of an e-mail I sent a few weeks ago inquiring where our county caucus would be held, I found myself helping to organize and host it at our local library meeting room. Like most other caucus sites around the state, we were pleasantly surprised by an overflow crowd of citizens who turned out to discuss the issues facing our nation and make their presidential preference known. It was encouraging to hear the genuine concern and heartfelt passion of those who attended. And it was refreshing to see so many local Democrats turn out considering the Republican to Democratic ratio in our state.

My interest in becoming more involved in politics has to be due, in part, to my experiences as a child who often tagged along with mom to political events across the state and nation. My mom first became active on the state level when a high school classmate ran for and won a seat in the legislature. After that, she spent the next twenty years fundraising on the local level, serving on the State Republican Central Committee, attending dinners for candidates, and volunteering to work on various campaigns.  I accompanied her on nearly all of those adventures. Probably the two most memorable were the National Republican Women’s Convention in Washington, DC where I met presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and the Nebraska Republican Party Family Camp one summer at Fort Robinson.

As an adult, I came to realize my viewpoints were more in line with the party on the opposite side of the aisle from the one I had grown up with. But I’m sure the example my parents gave me in being involved in the political process has shaped my interest in politics and issues.

If any of you are still undecided about who you will support in the race to lead our country, there are a couple of good web sites that can give you an unbiased idea of which of the candidates from both parties are most closely aligned with your own view of the issues. You can answer a few questions at http://votechooser.com/ or http://cbs2.com/yourcandidate and receive a ranking of how your opinions match up with the candidates views.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, one thing is certain… Jan. 20, 2009 will be a turning point for the future of our country when a new person steps into the role of the all-important, top “decider” person in residence at the White House! 🙂

Youth is not entirely a time of life; it is a state of mind. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubts; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. ~ General Douglas McArthur

The Bucket List is a movie that you should see. Although the critics were not all kind in their reviews, I loved the movie. Perhaps it appeals more to an older crowd, but I think it touched on a topic that we’ve all thought about before. If you were told you only had a few months to live, how would you choose to spend your last days on this earth? When two strangers find themselves sharing a hospital room and sharing the same fate, they decide to make a list of things they want to experience before they “kick the bucket”. Soon they are off on a great adventure to explore the Great Wall of China, pyramids in Eqypt, African wildlife, and a breath-taking view from the top of a mountain. It’s a movie that makes you laugh out loud, touches your heart and gives you something to think about later. The soundtrack was great too. Follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX4jBL29aic to see clips of the movie on YouTube and hear “Say”, the song John Mayer recorded especially for this movie.

After seeing the movie, I realized that my dad made his own “bucket list” of sorts. A farmer, he never was one to travel much preferring to stay close to home and the farm. After undergoing treatments for prostate cancer in the mid-eighties he decided to take the trip of a lifetime to the Holy Land. I’m really glad that he took the opportunity to fulfill a dream while he still felt well enough to enjoy the trip.

What would be on your “bucket list”?

When I started this blog, one of my goals was to stay positive and try looking at the bright side. But I can’t help but share my experience with Wal-mart and their photo policy. Over the years we have enjoyed photography as a hobby and have been asked by friends to photograph weddings, family reunions, and graduating seniors in addition to doing more artistic photography and landscapes. From time to time, friends have been questioned when they have taken negatives or photos on CDs to have reprints made as to whether a professional might have a copyright on the photos. We’ve taken that as a compliment as to the perceived quality of our work. But in the past year or so we have been questioned ourselves whether the photos could really be ours or if we weren’t trying to rip off someone else’s photos. I was told last night at Wal-mart that I must have a photo release (on official looking paper with a letterhead) in order to have my own photos printed! Does that make any sense? Does everyone need to have a photo release on file at that store even to get bad pictures printed? Who decides what prints can be done and what prints would need to have a signed release?

Sooo… Here is my attempt to make a photo release that satisfies them:

We are not professional photographers, but are people who like to take good photos. We have been told by Wal-mart employees that we must sign a release in order that others, whom we have photographed and given CD’s with the photos, may print those photos for their own use. We have also been told that we must sign a release in order to print our own photos! This form officially and legally releases our photographs to ourselves for our own use and to ___ whom we have given our photographs to. This release is good for the duration of eternity or until Wal-Mart closes, which ever comes first. There is no expiration date. Signed and dated__.

Stay tuned to find out if my version of the release form satisfies them or if it needs revision. Does this make any sense to you?

It’s been quite a while since I posted on here and I guess my excuse is, well, I’ve been busy! This past week was filled with football mania at school since we hosted a semi-final game in the state playoffs. Unfortunately, our team lost the game after coming back from a regular season 3-5 record and then getting three wins in the state playoffs making it to the semifinal round. Hosting the game meant that I got to prepare for and run the concession stand that served approximately 1,000 people! It made for a long and tiring night! The other part of my week involved taking kids to the State Student Council Convention in McCook on Friday. The meeting was fun and we heard some great speakers. We had a somewhat sobering experience on the way home though, when we were one of the first vehicles to come upon a head-on crash between a car and a pick-up. I spent 14 minutes on the cell phone with the 911 operator until help arrived. The front ends of both vehicles were pretty much gone and there was debris all over the road. The investigating officer called me last night to get any more information that I could give him about what I saw. He told me that the man in the car was dead at the scene and the woman driving the pick-up was arrested for second-offense DWI and possible involuntary manslaughter. Wow – what a tragedy for the man who was just driving down the road, like I was, and suddenly his life was ended by a person who chose to drive drunk! His life is over. I arrived at the scene just a minute or so later and…my life goes on.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t get carried away with political issues on this blog, but Rush Limbaugh made such an insensitive and stupid comment today – that I could hardly let it pass without commenting. If you hadn’t heard, Michael J. Fox recently made a commercial supporting a Missouri senatorial candidate who supports stem-cell research. Fox is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and was visibly shaking due to the effects of his disease. Research done with increased accessibility to stem-cells could possibly improve the chances of treating horrible diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Rush Limbaugh, in his infinite lack of wisdom, made the statement that Michael J. Fox was exaggerating his symptoms and doing a good job of “acting”. What an idiot! I’m glad that Fox is joining Nancy Reagan and others who have spoken out against the current administration’s backward stance on limiting federally-funded research in this country to a handful of existing stem-cell lines. A few years ago Jesse was invited by our state legislator to testify in favor of stem-cell research at UNO’s Med Center. He did speak out at the legislative hearing and referred to Grandma Agnes’ decade-long decline due to Alzheimer’s disease. In my opinion, stem-cell research should be given a chance to help those who suffer from these devasting illnesses while, at the same time, giving some meaning, worth and honor to the existance of abandoned frozen embryos that would otherwise be destroyed. One thing stem-cell research cannot do though is to cure the big mouth and stupid comments of narrow-minded people like Mr. Limbuagh!

Sometimes some of life’s most important lessons come to us in unexpected ways. Yesterday I picked up a free booklet and TV schedule in the local pharmacy. Thumbing through it, I found an inspirational saying about forgiveness that seems worthy of repeating. Here it is: When you forgive, you in no way change the past, but you sure do change the future. I think that makes a lot of sense. To me, forgiveness in no way means that what happened in the past was right or OK. Forgiveness does not mean that you forget what happened, either. Forgiveness just means that you are willing to let go of it and move on. You can release the anger, hurt or hatred that you may have been harboring in your heart and continue on without lugging all of the garbage of life along with you. Holding a grudge against someone and refusing to forgive them only hurts you in the long run… the person you refuse to forgive may not know or even care whether you have forgiven them or not! Forgiveness is for your own good, not theirs.

Tragic events this past week in the Amish community in Lancaster County, PA have shown us an incredible example of forgiveness. In high school, I had the opportunity to visit an Amish farm in Lancaster Co., PA most likely not far from the site of the unimaginable horror this week at that little country school. Maybe that visit is why I so admire the strength and compassion demonstrated by the Amish. That the Amish families and friends of those innocent girls who were killed could actually forgive the person who committed that horrific crime is the most powerful demonstration of forgiveness that I could imagine. Their forgiveness cannot change what happened, but it can release them from the bondage of hurt and hatred and let them get on with living.

OK…now forgive me for being so serious and somber! To leave you on a lighter note, here’s a picture of one of the many kittens that patrol our farmyard.

Yesterday I went to a Tech Prep Coordinator’s meeting at the community college in Grand Island. Although it takes a lot of time to get plans ready for a substitute, it’s always fun to get away from school for a day and do something different. The meeting was interesting and I saw some teacher friends that I hadn’t seen for several years. While there I found a little book in the campus bookstore called A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen who also writes a column in Newsweek. It’s a great little book that does give you some things to ponder concerning what we do with the time we are given on this earth. To paraphrase from the book… “Every person has only one thing that no one else has. When you leave college, there are thousands of people out there with the same degree you have; when you get a job, there are thousands of people doing what you do for a living. But you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. Learn to love the journey, not the destination. Get a life, a real life. Get a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over a pond and a stand of pines. Get a life in which you pay attention to the baby as she scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and forefinger. Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. This life is not a dress rehersal; today is the only guarantee you get. Remember to look at the view.” Think about it … and check out the view of a sunset I saw near O’Neill nearly a year ago as I was driving up to South Dakota. I’m glad I stopped the car to capture that view in a photograph so I could share it with you!