Merry Christmas

As I do the holiday thing each year I get a kick out of giving my kids a Christmas that I never had and being with friends and family. Charity and good will towards men is what its all about.

I do pause each year to think of others as we all should do. My brother proudly served in the Marine Corps and I always think of our troops this time of year. A fews years ago he sent me a poem that I have shared with others during the holidays.

Please visit this link to read it and have a Merry Christmas.

The Olen Ramsey Attitude

Eleven years ago this week my wife lost her grandfather, Olen Ramsey. I barely knew him but I have always regarded him as one of the people I have most admired. He was a World War II veteran, a coal miner, and family man. He was one of many that made up our greatest generation in American history.

As I reflect on his passing I see the values of that generation deteriorating. Men were not only hard working, responsible, honorable but they knew how to provide for their families and hold them together as a unit. I am certainly not downplaying the role of the wife in the household but I am simply pointing out that the American man is changing and I'm not sure it's for the better.

To point out a cause for this would be a larger undertaking that I can commit to but its the simple things that I see that make me concerned. So many of our young men are under-achieving and self-centered and furthermore I get to see the guys coming up after them and the outlook isn't much better. The only solution I have to offer is that us men need to be strong role models for our kids, sons and daughters alike. We need to resurrect the Olen Ramsey attitude of putting family first and showing a sense of duty to our communities. That's how we can save our kids. Its not going to happen overnight but I'm willing to devote my whole life to this venture. If I could say anything to Olen it would be "Thanks for being a role model for me."

Unguarded Moments

As a principal I get the opportunity to work with parents and students in a way I could not as a classroom teacher. This comes in a variety of forms but generally these exchanges come when their child is in trouble and some problem solving must be done. The downside to this for me is that I usually reflect on my own parenting once the day has ended. I question what I think about my own kids and how my wife and I should be raising them.

I have a student who is great. She is trustworthy and hard working and is it very evident her parents did a wonderful job raising her. She recently got into some minor trouble (from the school's standpoint) that turned into big trouble when her parents found out she had been keeping a secret from them. This was no doubt uncomfortable for me to sit in the middle of but the whole time I could only think about my own daughter if she were in this situation.

With all the encounters I have had with parents I have learned one thing, it is impossible to cover it all. We can instill in them all the best values and spend time and money getting them involved in countless activities that will keep them out of trouble but in the end, we can't cover it all. Our precious little ones will have a multitude of unguarded moments in their day and who knows how many in there school years. We can't be there for all of them to give them good advice we can only hope the core values we have taught them will kick in.

I am always amused about the parents that ask me to monitor all their child's social interactions because they are having a hard time at school. I appreciate their efforts to get the school involved but I, just as them, cannot be there for every unguarded moment. I often wonder if they really want my help or they want me to cope with their child's problems for them. Maybe this is what they have done for their children but it is unfair to ask the school to do this.

I think what I'm getting at is that I want to be a reasonable parent and my job has allowed me to see case studies in parenting. I learn lessons everyday that show me what to do and what not to do. I still have a very high opinion of the student mentioned above. She was just coping with her situation in the best way she knew how and I will be sure to apply what I have learned to my own children.

It's the economy stupid!

I work in a profession that allows me to address the American flag everyday for the pledge of allegiance and hear our national anthem at every ball game. I see this as a very serious happening. When I face the flag I look at the same place every time. I have a star on the bottom right of the field of blue. It is basically the middle of the flag but it means something more to me. My star is close to each of the other fields on the flag. I'm in the blue but I'm not too far from the red and white stripes. I picked this location because it best reflects my political ideology. I am a loyal democrat but I have always been willing see all sides of an issue and think for myself.

Now that I have identified myself as a Democrat that must mean I have a set beliefs that aligns me to other Democrats but I am actually conservative on a number of issues. Like I said, my star reflects my views. These days it seems that both parties wish we would choose one side of the flag or other. This is especially true of the current situation in Illinois that involves the moving of Gitmo detainees to a largely unused Illinois prison.

Republicans are truly using this issue as a way to oppose Barack Obama's closing of Gitmo and they have tried to oppose every issue that the Obama administration has addressed. Here is the bottom line, we have housed dangerous people in prisons since the beginning of prisons. So far we have done at least a fair job of keeping them in there. The idea that it is dangerous to house suspected terrorists there is foolish. Aren't prisons designed for dangerous people and their policies are designed to keep their dangerous friends and families from posing a threat to the community? Is our unemployment rate high or is it just me? We need those jobs folks! I would like to recognize at least one Republican who actually has it right. Marion's mayor, Bob Butler, actually invited these detainees to the federal penitentiary in his town. By the way if you didn't see that interview on national television, he really made us Wildcats very proud.

I think all that I'm getting at is that sometimes you have to set aside political loyalty to focus on our greatest needs. Right now we need jobs. It seems like the last Democrat elected to the Whitehouse was charged with fixing the economy and the famous slogan was, "It's the economy stupid!"

Copy Days

Once a week Mark Wickline came in the office during fifth period to make his copies for the week. This was usually about the time I got away to eat my lunch. Lunch didn't matter much though when Mark was in the office. Regardless of how good my lunch may have been I would always run out to talk to Mark. We would share stories about life and family and even politics. He was a kind man that loved his profession and the kids he served. I was truly saddened with his passing and I still find myself looking out my door sometimes during fifth hour.

Mark was diagnosed with cancer at the end of last school year and missed the rest of the year going through his treatments. I was very happy to see him this summer as he was set to make his return to teaching. He suffered a setback, however, and he found himself in ICU. Mark passed away peacefully on August 26th.

I will never forget the last time I saw him. he was bald and had a odd disposition. Maybe he was unsure of how people would receive his new image and what coming back would be like. What I saw was the spark in his eyes and a man that was desperate to return to his world. I said to him, "Mark, you look good buddy" and went about my business. Obviously if I would have known that was the last time I would have seen him I would have had much more to say. What I would have said to him is that I was very proud to know him even if for such a short time.

Teachers know that teaching is not a job, it is a lifestyle that they cannot escape. This fact is the very fiber that holds us together as professionals. Knowing that we share a common struggle and bond with each other because of it is very powerful. When we lose one, the loss is felt deeply. Rest in peace Mark, we will continue the struggle for you.

Equal Justice?

Recently Plaxico Burress, seen on the left, plead guilty to weapons charges after carrying a gun into a New York City night club and then shooting himself in the leg with it. he was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime. Donte Stallworth, seen above, drove drunk in Miami, hit a pedestrian and killed him. He plead guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

I am no lawyer. I'm just a regular guy that for a few years has been trying to teach high school kids right from wrong and how to be accountable for their actions in the real world. I even taught a civics class and one of the wonderful things we read about in this country was equal justice. After seeing these two stories unfold I am doubting the existence of this concept.

For starters we can eliminate race and fame from the discussion. Both men are African-American and both are professional football players with lots of money. We can only look at the disparity in the sentencing. Both acts are terribly irresponsible and reckless and could have resulted in injury or death to the general public. So why the differing sentences? In this country we share many values that make us Americans so why in two different states that belong to the same union could we come these legal conclusions? If we indeed value public safety, the sentences would have been at least the same.

Can we look at the result of the actions of the individual? If we do I think we can all agree that Plaxico Burress got screwed. He was his only victim and received a much stiffer penalty. I have read some reporters that say Donte Stallworth will bear the burden of killing a man for the rest of his life and that is punishment enough. Bunch of savages in this town! Sure he will suffer after he serves an NFL suspension, plays, makes a begillion more dollars and lives comfortably for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, the family of his victim will always feel the loss.

I'm stumped on this one! Maybe we should take equal justice out of the textbooks until society figures this thing out and makes the adjustment.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4270311
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Applying-the-Donte-Stallworth-precedent-to-Plaxi?urn=nfl,173358
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-21-haugh-bears-chicago-aug21,0,6489499.column?track=rss

Too Much Me and Not Enough We

The title to my blog is actually a line from one of my favorite movies, "Clerks". Another line that sticks with me and I often use is, "a bunch of savages in this town". I usually use that line in disgust of some poor behavior I have witnessed or when someone tells me a story about the poor behavior of others that I just can't believe. Recently I found myself saying this a lot in the last couple of days. My wife and I went to Chicago for a couple of days to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing this post to bash Chicago. My point is that I had a lot of time to observe people and formulate my answer on a much asked topic in casual conversation, What is wrong with this world today?

My answer is this, there is too much me and not enough we. It seems like now days people actually think they are the only people on Earth, often not even showing due attention to others or common goals. This may simply be human nature but I fear that at some point it will consume us and only cause harm at the highest levels.

Let me give an example. We decide to go into Chili's for a drink before heading back to our hotel. There is a small wait and we slide right up to the hostess station and prepare ourselves to join the waiting list. As we wait for the hostess to turn around and notice us, two young men, I would say mid 20's, rocket to the hostess and interrupt her before she sees us. They demand to get on the waiting list. I felt compelled to tell them that we were next and slowly they decided to do the right thing and let us go ahead of them. they eventually just sat at the bar. This is what I'm talking about, a pure disregarding of other people.

On the train ride home a couple of young men sat in the seat behind us. They immediately hit their cell phones and held their conversations loud enough for the whole train car to participate in. Many were trying to sleep, including my wife, and the topic of conversation was not pleasant. One guy was arguing with and cussing out his girlfriend, or what was maybe one of many of them, and the other was talking about his near arrest for having weed in his car the night before. Yep, a bunch of savages in this town. The behavior of these classless punks to me was a message that said: My life is more important than anything, I don't care what you are doing or where you are going.

It seems to me that people have lost sight of the concept of the common good. I taught about it in my civics classes as I'm sure many teachers do. The young people coming up these days are too self centered. With all the blogging, tweeting and social networking they do its as if they are asking the world to look at them and recognize their individual importance even if they haven't earned that recognition. It's time to start thinking about us, its time to think we not me. How horrible would it be if we took this approach to the health care debate or the budget crisis. If our elected leaders thought more about us and less about getting re-elected. many decisions made at the higher political levels and the corporate world are made to benefit very small groups or even individuals. I hope our young people are not looking to these guys as the example or we are all screwed.

In closing, this is the kind of rant you get when let a very busy high school principal have a couple of days to thing about something else besides work!

No Lincolns in the Land of Lincoln

We face tough time in Illinois. Our budget crisis has revealed to me that too many of our elected politicians are too worried about their jobs. The right thing to do in this state is a combination of two things: cut spending and raise revenue. You have to do both if you want save our state. Our representatives do not want to be on record to raise taxes and when we read about cuts that are proposed it is usually in the social service area. Maybe we should try cutting some pet projects legislators use to help pick up votes come election time. My point is that our leaders need to take a page from Abraham Lincoln's book.

Lincoln is not only the greatest Illinoisan in our history but also one of the greatest presidents in our nation's history. He spent his entire presidency in crisis. Now I am certainly not comparing our budget crisis to the Civil War. The idea is that if our leaders would step up to the plate as Lincoln did we would find ourselves on the road to recovery. Think of the unpopular things Lincoln had to do. He emancipated slaves in the midst of the turbulent times of a war that had it's causes rooted in slavery. He suspended the civil liberties of many of his own citizens. Bottom line is that Lincoln had guts. The guts that it takes to put a county back on course and in turn make it stronger.

We should challenge our legislators and our governor to be as brave as Lincoln and do somethings that might be unpopular but will help save our state and the people in it.

Worst Job Ever

We have all at some point complained to somebody about our jobs and said that someday we would get out of that place and find something better. The reasons are endless. You may hate your boss, the pay is not good enough, too far to drive or your co-workers just suck. Despite our ramblings, we usually find something that keeps us where we are or at least lets us know that things are not that bad. I recently witnessed the worst job ever being performed and man do I feel foolish for complaining.

While I was eating lunch with my wife recently we observed a strange woman wearing a name tag with two small children by her side meeting with a younger woman who looked pretty rough. Everything about her signaled a troubled life. The younger woman greeted the children and ran off to order their food. The name tag wearing professional sat quietly and even helped get the children sat down to eat. The younger woman payed little attention to her children and even used her cell phone most of the time. I didn't pay much attention to this scenario until my wife pointed out that the name tag wearing professional was a DCFS transporter. It is her job to bring kids to visit their unfit parents (by order of the courts) and take them back when the visit is over.

I will never forget the look on this woman's face. I am in the business of helping kids and the teachers that teach them. My life's work is put young people in a position to succeed and grow into productive adults and it can be tough. This woman's job is to deal with those that fall through the cracks, many of them likely the failures of people like me. I don't know how I could handle her job. I'm going to take back all those days that I wanted to scream because I had a bad day at work and focus on what I need to do help lower her clientele. In some way we all need to help her look for a new job.

Happy Father's Day

Today is father's day and people who know me well know that I have dad issues. I was raised by my grandmother and had limited contact with my father. I've spoke to him a few times and a couple of visits here and there but he basically has not been in my life. That ship has sailed and I am reflecting today about the men who were father figures to me over the years.

You see, I had no body to teach me my man-lessons as I grew up. Despite this I was wise enough to seek out what appropriate man behavior was. My earliest memory was at Emery Brother's Skating Rink in Marion, Illinois. Jim and Patty Emery own that establishment and it is home to some of my fondest memories in life including meeting my wife. I remember saving all my paper route money to go skating three nights a week. I had always looked up to Jim and respected his authority. He was fair to us and treated us like more than patrons.

When I was fresh out of high school Jim gave me a job at the rink. I was the guy that skated around and picked people up when they fell and kept the kids in line while they had fun. I often credit my desire to teach to this job. I learned, though, to appreciate Jim in a whole new way. He taught me the value of hard work and to treat people with respect. I loved to see him take pride in his establishment and do anything he could to make his father proud of the job he had done with the rink.

I would like to send out a Happy Father's Day to all the men out there who raise more kids than just their own. Countless men go beyond the all of duty because they recognize it is their small way to help save the world around us. Sadly some still do not get it. Jim, among others, had a tremendous impact on me because my father didn't do the job. Kids need their dads. I see the result of this each and every day and I try to do for them what Jim has done for me. One kid at a time.

Jim is now battling MS and one of Marion's finest citizens is not in the rink to do his best work. If you know him and have a connection to the rink, you know how empty it feels without him. Jim if you are out there, thank you for all you have done for me and please continue to fight on.

Public School Funding

I recently took a survey sent to me by a graduate student working on her administrative degree in education. The focus of the survey was my approach to school finance and how changing from a teacher to an administrator has changed my views. The very predictable question of how schools should be funded was present. Should schools be funded by property taxes or income taxes? I say income taxes.

Lets imagine that the state police were funded by the property taxes it's individual districts were collecting. That means more rural and poorer communities would not be able to provide the protection that they would like to their citizens and they would have to not only depend on the state for help and grant writer to get the extras. This is not the case. The state police is an agency that is funded statewide. I believe that public safety is one of the state's top priorities. However, and this should not be shocking to anyone, education is the most important to me.

Why do we allow our Illinoisans to be as safe as they can possibly be but we are willing to gamble on how educated our kids are. Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on the state police. One of the greatest people I know is a state cop.

What do you think is the right answer? Property or income taxes?

New Governor, Same Politics

The Southern Illinoisan ran a story today about what would happen if the proposed state income tax increase were not made a reality. If the this new revenue source is not in place, Gov. Quinn says, cuts will have to be made. Again we are threatened that a human service would be cut, this time its at-risk kids that are being used as a bargaining chip.



I'm glad Blago is gone. I'm glad Pat Quinn is behind the wheel. What I'm not happy with is our local leaders voting no on the income tax increase. The reasons given are terrible and do not reflect any values in what we need as southern Illinoisans. What their actions do show value in is winning elections.



Sometimes you have to do what it takes to get by. If your home is in financial trouble, you may get a second job to pay the bills. You don't like it but you do what it takes. No one likes higher taxes but if it saves our most vulnerable citizens, whats the problem? Is it not legislator's jobs to vote on behalf of their constituencies? My hope is that John Bradley and Brandon Phelps stand up for the people who need the services that will potentially be cut and be a representative for people who cant always advocate for themselves.





You can read the above mentioned article at:

http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2009/06/16/front_page/29079838.txt