To Dr. Mubenga and the DPS Board of Education (re Principal Hiring Process)
This is the letter I sent to the Durham Public Schools Superintendent and School Board to implore them to *truly* choose a parent/teacher/community-oriented principal for my son’s and all Durham public schools, not just by their words but by the expectations that are communicated to prospective candidates as well as their previous records in this regard.
First Day of School
My dreams have been ridiculously stressful as my son’s first day of middle school - and first day of school post Covid - approaches. After the bittersweet drop off, my dreams suddenly make sense. Hindsight truly is 20/20 - sometimes immediately so.
On the occasion of my son starting college...
Yesterday, eyes wet and heart full, we drove home from Asheville, NC, for the first time without our son Seamus, who is now a UNC-A student in Music Technology. From the get-go, we have tried to raise our children to be empathetic, nonmaterialistic, inclusive, generous, and happy people…
FREE STEM AR App to Use with Elementary Students (and beyond)
Teachers and HomeSchoolers (and all parents are the latter), this is a great AR (Augmented Reality) App to engage your kids in science. ***It's FREE to schools***; so, if you work for whatever constitutes a school these days, please don't miss this opportunity.
Public School Use of Covid Funds for Outdoor Learning Should Incorporate Curricula and Sustainability
…My 15-years experience with DPS administration is that ‘outdoor learning’ is too often interpreted as benches, gazebos and sidewalks (and maybe a few potted plants), which may provide outdoor seating areas but do not exactly encourage engagement and learning…
City Budget for Green Programs/Jobs More than Just Lacking
This is the email I sent to Durham’s mayor and city council members today regarding the city budget: I am deeply concerned by this year's city budget's lack of new investment in green jobs, particularly for the Bionomic Educational Training Center (BETC) program and the Impaired Stream Improvement Program (ISIP). In fact, I think it is negligent of the city not to provide substantial funding for these two programs, given that…
The Kinks, Predatory Marketing, Durham's Elf, and Feline Broccoli
Fat cats eating broccoli and other musings on another capitalistic American day.
Gum Stump Squirrel and Asheville
Now for our (final) college update (at least for this year): Five days ago, with 36 hours to college deposit deadline, my 17-year-old son Seamus was still deciding between UNC-Asheville ($11K/year after scholarship and aid) and Berklee in Boston ($46K/year after mostly aid) in pursuit of a Music Technology/Production degree.
The College Drama Continues, Mac
My theme song today is, of course, the last college-apps composition and production from my 17-year-old son, Seamus. From everyone he/we have talked to (including Berklee grads), if Seamus wants to go into Music Production he should just move to LA, New York, Nashville, or another music city (including Asheville but with some disdain toward Boston) and actually get an entry-level job at a music production company rather than going into debt to Berklee. …
Seamus's Abyss
Thanks for the positive feedback and informative responses to my last post regarding choosing between Berklee and UNC-Asheville for Child #2. We still have not received a financial package from Berklee. The Berklee admissions office told Seamus his official transcript was not received in time and that we should receive the financial details in a couple weeks. His decision is due May 1, mind you (exactly 2 weeks away).
Lesson Plan: Plants and Spring Planting
Shortly after the Coronavirus quarantine started last year, my elementary-school 'pod' and I did a 4-days plants rotation … So today we planted the seeds of several spring vegetables … All three types of seeds are large and beautifully round, like tiny marbles. Using a ruler, we compared their sizes and found that …
Judy Garland's Ever Elusive Rainbow
Judy Garland first recorded “Over the Rainbow” for The Wizard of Oz with MGM on October 7, 1938. Since then, the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts ranked the song number one on the “Songs of the Century” list, and the American Film Institute named it the greatest movie song of all time on the list of “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs.” Somewhere Over the Rainbow was adopted in World War II by American troops in Europe as a symbol of the United States…
Remembering Mr. Hammond
My #ThemeSong today, once again, is Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes. It's one of my all-time favorites, and today the chorus calls to mind the life of SamHammond, long-time carillonneur at Duke University (53 years, daily(!)) and generous accompanist for Duke University String School (local elementary through high-school students, many on scholarship), who passed away recently. …
#VoiceInMyHead Today (re Teachers)
We need to start paying teachers the salaries of both caretakers and educators if we want to maintain the system as it is. Teachers have shown they can do it, which is why we are demanding they do it now. But the current situation is not sustainable unless …
Durham Elementary Students to Return to In-person Learning 4 Days/Week (!)
My last post concerned the debate over whether Durham Public Schools should resume in-person learning in order to accommodate state legislation mandating a return to in-person instruction within 15 days (of the legislation's passing). Discussion on the topic has become heated and personal, which I find sad and incredibly frustrating. The simple question is this: After doing remote learning for nearly 12 months, why are we forcing teachers and staff back into classrooms mere weeks ahead of ensuring they are administered the vaccination we've all been waiting for?
From a Teacher in Durham, North Carolina, on the Forced Reopening of Schools
A Durham, NC, public school teacher’s take on North Carolina’s forced reopening of schools for in-person learning, and Durham Public Schools planned response.
Edelweiss and Remembering for Both of Us (ReadAloud)
Years after the book's release, Charlotte continues her involvement in improving our understanding and communication about Alzheimer's Disease, which her husband suffered before his passing. Remembering for Both of Us is *the* book to give a child (or a parent or grandparent) who has a family member suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia. Every physician/counselor in the field should have a copy of this book in their waiting room.
AJR, Snow, Certitude and Sludge
“We wrote ‘BANG!’ about the weird middle-ground between being a kid and becoming an adult; a time when we’re doing all the things adults are supposed to do, but we don’t yet feel grown up,” says AJR. "The fact is, adulthood is bound to hit us at some point, so the plan we made in the song is to ‘go out with a bang.’" I'm at least twenty years older than these boys, and the sentiment applies to all of us, just the same.
17 Jan 2021- 6 days off Facebook (Peter Gabriel, Watched Pots, and Edible Creations)
I came upon the Peter Gabriel song below for the first time today, when looking up the lyrics to Bon Iver's Holocene (one of my son's all-time favorites), and it melted my heart. I shared the song with my musically voracious son, who surprisingly hadn't heard it; and we agreed that it's crazy that, though hauntingly beautiful in its own right, Bon Iver's version is more well-known than Peter Gabriel's original…