Conflicted

 Thurston High School.

Columbine High School.

Heritage High School.

Deming Middle School.

Fort Gibson Middle School.

Buell Elementary School.

Lake Worth Middle School.

University of Arkansas.

Junipero Serra High School.

Santana High School.

Bishop Neumann High School.

Pacific Lutheran University.

Granite Hills High School.

Lew Wallace High School.

Martin Luther King, Jr. High School.

Appalachian School of Law.

Washington High School.

Conception Abbey.

Benjamin Tasker Middle School.

University of Arizona.

Lincoln High School.

John McDonogh High School.

Red Lion Area Junior High School.

Case Western Reserve University.

Rocori High School.

Ballou High School.

Randallstown High School.

Bowen High School.

Red Lake Senior High School.

Harlan Community Academy High School.

Campbell County High School.

Milwee Middle School.

Roseburg High School.

Pine Middle School.

Essex Elementary School.

Duquesne University.

Platte Canyon High School.

Weston High School.

West Nickel Mines School.

Joplin Memorial Middle School.

Henry Foss High School.

Compton Centennial High School.

Virginia Tech.

Success Tech Academy.

Miami Carol City Senior High School.

Hamilton High School.

Louisiana Technical College.

Mitchell High School.

E.O. Green Junior High School.

Northern Illinois University.

Lakota Middle School.

Knoxville Central High School.

Willoughby South High School.

Henry Ford High School.

University of Central Arkansas.

Dillard High School.

Dunbar High School.

Hampton University.

Harvard College.

Larose-Cut Off Middle School.

International Studies Academy.

Skyline College.

Discovery Middle School.

University of Alabama.

DeKalb School.

Deer Creek Middle School.

Ohio State University.

Mumford High School.

University of Texas.

Kelly Elementary School.

Marinette High School.

Aurora Central High School.

Millard South High School.

Martinsville West Middle School.

Worthing High School.

Millard South High School.

Highlands Intermediate School.

Cape Fear High School.

Chardon High School.

Episcopal School of Jacksonville.

Oikos University.

Hamilton High School.

Perry Hall School.

Normal Community High School.

University of South Alabama.

Banner Academy South.

University of Southern California.

Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Apostolic Revival Center Christian School.

Taft Union High School.

Osborn High School.

Stevens Institute of Business and Arts.

Hazard Community and Technical College.

Chicago State University.

Lone Star College-North.

Cesar Chavez High School.

Price Middle School.

University of Central Florida.

New River Community College.

Grambling State University.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School.

Ronald E. McNair Discovery Academy.

North Panola High School.

Carver High School.

Agape Christian Academy.

Sparks Middle School.

North Carolina A&T State University.

Stephenson High School.

Brashear High School.

West Orange High School.

Arapahoe High School.

Edison High School.

Liberty Technology Magnet High School.

Hillhouse High School.

Berrendo Middle School.

Purdue University.

South Carolina State University.

Los Angeles Valley College.

Charles F. Brush High School.

University of Southern California.

Georgia Regents University.

Academy of Knowledge Preschool.

Benjamin Banneker High School.

D. H. Conley High School.

East English Village Preparatory Academy.

Paine College.

Georgia Gwinnett College.

John F. Kennedy High School.

Seattle Pacific University.

Reynolds High School.

Indiana State University.

Albemarle High School.

Fern Creek Traditional High School.

Langston Hughes High School.

Marysville Pilchuck High School.

Florida State University.

Miami Carol City High School.

Rogers State University.

Rosemary Anderson High School.

Wisconsin Lutheran High School.

Frederick High School.

Tenaya Middle School.

Bethune-Cookman University.

Pershing Elementary School.

Wayne Community College.

J.B. Martin Middle School.

Southwestern Classical Academy.

Savannah State University.

Harrisburg High School.

Umpqua Community College.

Northern Arizona University.

Texas Southern University.

Tennessee State University.

Winston-Salem State University.

Mojave High School.

Lawrence Central High School.

Franklin High School.

Muskegon Heights High School.

Independence High School.

Madison High School.

Antigo High School.

University of California-Los Angeles.

Jeremiah Burke High School.

Alpine High School.

Townville Elementary School.

Vigor High School.

Linden McKinley STEM Academy.

June Jordan High School for Equity.

Union Middle School.

Mueller Park Junior High School.

West Liberty-Salem High School.

University of Washington.

King City High School.

North Park Elementary School.

North Lake College.

Freeman High School.

Mattoon High School.

Rancho Tehama Elementary School.

Aztec High School.

Wake Forest University.

Italy High School.

NET Charter High School.

Marshall County High School.

Sal Castro Middle School.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Great Mills High School.

Central Michigan University.

Huffman High School.

Frederick Douglass High School.

Forest High School.

Highland High School.

Dixon High School.

Santa Fe High School.

Noblesville West Middle School.

University of North Carolina Charlotte.

STEM School Highlands Ranch.

Edgewood High School.

Palm Beach Central High School.

Providence Career & Technical Academy.

Fairley High School (school bus).

Canyon Springs High School.

Dennis Intermediate School.

Florida International University.

Central Elementary School.

Cascade Middle School.

Davidson High School.

Prairie View A & M University.

Altascocita High School.

Central Academy of Excellence.

Cleveland High School.

Robert E. Lee High School.

Cheyenne South High School.

Grambling State University.

Blountsville Elementary School.

Holmes County, Mississippi (school bus).

Prescott High School.

College of the Mainland.

Wynbrooke Elementary School.

UNC Charlotte.

Riverview Florida (school bus).

Second Chance High School.

Carman-Ainsworth High School.

Williwaw Elementary School.

Monroe Clark Middle School.

Central Catholic High School.

Jeanette High School.

Eastern Hills High School.

DeAnza High School.

Ridgway High School.

Reginald F. Lewis High School.

Saugus High School.

Pleasantville High School.

Waukesha South High School.

Oshkosh High School.

Catholic Academy of New Haven.

Bellaire High School.

North Crowley High School.

McAuliffe Elementary School.

South Oak Cliff High School.

Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Sonora High School.

Western Illinois University.

Oxford High School.

Robb Elementary School…

This is a list of 245 school shootings dating back to May of 1998. 245!

This should bother us. It *should* have bothered us twenty-four years ago. Twenty four years. How many young, innocent lives must be lost before a sustainable, permanent change is made to protect our greatest natural resource--our children?

What is the answer? I don't know, but we, as a nation, need to do better. We've needed to do better for a long time! There is technology out there that can detect weaponry on a person entering any facility and alert police before the perpetrator can even step foot into that building. How many schools have those? I bet we'd all be shocked at how few schools have this.

Following the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 (10 years ago), a campaign was started, called "See Something. Say Something." The statistics on this website say that four out of five school shooters told someone of their plans before committing these horrific acts of violence. This is a program available to all schools at no cost..You read that right. NO COST! How many of our schools have this? https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/our-programs/say-something/ The Department of Homeland Security has a campaign, as well: https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something. Yet hundreds of schools have not taken advantage of any of these precautionary measures in place.

It's time for teachers to take a stand. For the families of our children to take a stand. When you go to the polls to vote in the primary elections later this summer, check to see where your candidates stand on gun control and school safety. Write to your state's representatives. This has got to stop!

This image should make you sick to your stomach!

Should we arm teachers? I have my Conceal and Carry license. Would I carry into my preschool classroom? I'm conflicted. Would I protect my students with all that I have in me? Absolutely! Without question!! My biggest fear, if I were allowed to Conceal and Carry at school, would be that one of my students would somehow get ahold of my gun. That's a whole different conversation, then. One I'm not ready to have. So, for now, we will continue to practice our school intruder drills, with the rest of our location and on our own, as a classroom. My kids will be prepared. My question is, will it be enough? We cannot continue to be numb to this. It needs to stop! It needed to stop a long time ago....

Reflections on Year 39

      Oh, boy. Where to start? 

     I was hired by Topeka Public Schools the day of Back-to-School Night, the day before school started.  We were still in the process of packing up our home in Hutchinson and moving to who-knows-where, so weekends were spent driving from Topeka to Hutch and back to Topeka every weekend. This was a 2 1/2 hour drive each way.  I would leave as soon as school was out on Friday, drive home, spend the weekend packing boxes and doing laundry, then drive back to Topeka on Sunday afternoons.  I was so blessed to be able to stay with Abbey, our middle child, and her husband, Alex!

     I felt like I was already behind the proverbial eight ball.  Because of when I was hired, there was absolutely no training period, no time to get the room ready, no opportunity to familiarize myself with the curriculum, not really a chance to settle in.  I just hit the ground, running.  Topeka is a technology-driven district, so the learning curve for me was very steep and I felt like I was playing catch-up for a long time.

     Without saying too much about the area of our school for the safety and protection of the families, Pine Ridge Prep is in the middle of a subsidized housing development.  From it's inception, the school was a brain-child that students would be able to walk to school. This location has it all! There are three buildings that each house a classroom, a separate building that houses a food and clothing bank for the community, an empowerment center that helps adult find jobs and/or get their GEDs, a health center, and a Parent-as-Teachers building, which helps families with children who are not yet old enough to come to school. It truly has almost anything a family would need.

     The bottom line is the children.  It doesn't matter where you live. Children still have the same basic needs: to feel safe, to be fed, and to be loved.  That doesn't change no matter where you work and these precious children were no different!  Honestly, I believe that it was the children that kept my sanity! They were, and have always been, my focus.

     Fast forward to November.  The house in Hutchinson sold, so we needed to find temporary housing in Topeka, until the end of the school year.  We found a duplex in a decent area of town and then began the process of sorting through what we could take to the duplex and what had to go to storage.  Downsizing from a five-bedroom/four bathroom home to a duplex was no easy task!

     One day, after work, I went to the city offices to turn on the utilities and get groceries.  It was to be the first night I would be staying in the duplex, and not Abbey and Alex's basement.  I was literally a mile from the duplex when some idiot ran a stop sign and I hit him, totalling my beloved Jeep Wrangler. I still miss that car!  Because I was experiencing chest pain and my wrist hurt, Abbey drove me to the hospital.  Nothing was broken. I had a serious burn from the air bag and bruising from the seatbelt.

     But life goes on and so does teaching.  We were able to finish the year strong and I felt like the students and I were really a family!  They became such kind and caring little people, who gave the best hugs!  Eleven of them graduated from preschool, outside, on a record-breaking day of heat, in little robes and mortar boards. It was so adorable!

     As I reflect, it was a year of trial and tribulation, curses and blessings, and the cutest little people in Topeka!  I fully believe that God puts us where we need to be and this year was no different!

     

Becoming a Published Author

     Holy smokes!  Who would have ever thought that a girl from small-town Nebraska would have become a published author? I have to admit, I'm still a bit dumbfounded!

     A posthumous that you to my second grade teacher, Maxine Moore, who's love and compassion made me want to even become a teacher.

     To Jim Sporleder, who gave a name to everything I think teaching should be.

     To Katie Perex, who gently nuged me to share my story and my beliefs.

     To my family, for encouraging me and believing in me.

     To my friends and colleagues who have supported me on this journey.

Thank you!  It truly take a team. Thank you for being part of mine!

 

More than a Number on a Spreadsheet

      I cannot and will not be silent anymore! This madness has got to stop!  Our children are more than just a randome data point on someone's spreadsheet.  They are human beings. They have bad days and good days. Just like everyone else.  To refer to them by the number they show at any given day of the week is just so wrong!

     I cannot emphasize enough that standardized tests are just a snapshot of one moment in time. In no way does it tell you the most important things about that child, like do they have a safe place to live, do they have food and clothing? Is someone home at night to read to them?  THAT'S what's important about each child!

     As I sit here, trying to put in end-of-the-year data on my preschoolers, I can't help but think that in no way doe this reflect who my students are.  It's not right!  It's not fair!  My students are so mjuch more than what the precious data shows!

***End of Rant***