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New Priest

We have a new, wonderful priest, so holy, so devout, so dedicated.  How lucky we are on the Feast of Christ the King to hear his words in his sermon about the old testament, how our God grew tired of human kings, through Solomon, and then David, and finally speaking through the Prophets, that He would shepherd his people Himself!   How enlightening to realize that he would come soon to all of us, as a poor child, wear a crown of thorns, and live in the hearts of all of Christendom and be our Everlasting King of kings!....Amazing, Mystery, Oh Lord!

Another student...gone from this life.

Another former student is now with the Lord.  On the Feast of Christ the King, I write these words of solemnity for another student who was part of my life.  Marc Young.  Sadly, died alone, and wasn't discovered for nearly a month.  This painful event should not happen to any so young, with so much to offer, and so much in life yet to look forward to.  Good bye, child of God.  This makes number 14...and 14 too many.

Catholic Media

EWTN - Eternal WORD Television Network -  On Dish or Direct TV or cable.  

Catholic Radio: 

XM Radio - The Catholic Channel - 117

Sirrus Radio - The Catholic Channel - 159

Listen and tune in....see the best on the WEB!

Ode to Merckle

I watched her smooth pace glide by, as she helped a student through the hall.
       I recall her voice to mention a valid point.
             I noticed her emotionless countenance, and it seemed uneasy.
                    I thank her for all she did for me; how she filled in; how she worked; how she cared.
                         I pray for her mental health and to those who have done this to her,
                               May they receive their just reward.
             

                        Expect to be out in her honor, it is the least I can do.

Kleptomania

Well?  Here goes.  I have strong suspicion that one of my students is a Kleptomaniac and a pathological liar.   Also, he may have been the thief who stole the Samsung Mythic and I-touch from my son's locker on May 7, 2010.   Here's the activity that all my students were so cooperatively doing:  We read a story, in which a necklace is the object of desire, value and then turmoil for the main character.  My students were going to see how they too, were very much like the main character.  As my students were taking notes, a jewelry box of 10 various pieces circulated.  They were to each decide which piece held the most value and why, and write down in their notes, those details.  I continued about the author, and worked on a few points on the story's structure.  All went well, over 90 students did as I asked, and then two items in the box disappeared.  In all cases, I opened the box, and explained each piece, its relative value, either monetary or sentimental.  As I back-tracked with the box, it came down to one student with a ring box in his hand, and a second ring in his gym shorts left pocket, amid change.

In front of the class, I was forced to ask him to return the "jewels" to the box.  In front of his classmates, he said he thought he was to remove it, from the box.  No one believed him, as if that was the case, by the time the box got to the 11th person in the room, it would have been empty!   They all watched in disbelief as he pulled one ring from his gym shorts pocket.   My reaction was " $5.99 at Walmart."  Then I shook my head in disbelief.  How disappointing.

Last week, the same student came back to my desk, offering to "help" me with whatever I needed.  I thanked him and told him I didn't have any jobs at the moment.   Now, I realize that this is part of the MO, to offer help, scope out what he can see, offer his service, build a sense of trust, and hope that he can find items that are of his fancy.    His name goes to our SAP - Student Assistance Team, he needs help.

In my years of experience, I have seen this behavior out of three boys, who were thieves.  One, many years ago, broke into a classroom and stole a computer, over Christmas break.  About three weeks prior, he came back behind my desk and sat at the window sill that he would later break to get into the room.

Last year, a known community thief, also a boy, "did a stake-out" in my classroom, again, it was interesting to watch him, looking around, as if to see where the "valuables" were hidden.  I sent him to his next class.   In my case, there isn't anything valuable sitting on my desk; unless one wants to steal a book.  Have at it!   Also interesting, all of these have been boys, boys with low self esteem, loser types, with few friends, and broken or dis-functional families.    

I have seen this condition develop over my lifetime with a family member, and the condition of Kleptomania and Pathological lying to support it, doesn't go away.   My cousin served jail time for illegal disposition of funds, illegal electronic transfer, and was charged following an FBI investigation with 11 federal indictments.   He is not cured.   All along in his life, small thievery was ignored, tolerated, and it continued.  He lost a job, a car, relationships, and eventually ended up in jail.   To this day, at 50 years old, he is not cured.   I suspect that he will go to any length to steal, or take what he views as valuable, and at any cost.   A few years ago, I believe that he may have gone as far as attempted murder on one of his victims.   Our local magistrate has reminded us, that the only way to "catch" this thief, with a 40 year record, is by catching him on camera, through a set up.  Oh my.

What is it like to have your own child in the classroom?

Might make one wonder, what it is like as a public school employee to have your own child in the classroom.  It can be interesting, but it is much more difficult on the child than it is on the teacher.   Peers are relentless.   Peers imagine that somehow there are special favors granted for the teacher's child.  Peers think the child gets inside information about tests, or answers.  Peers think that the child "knows" things that the teacher has passed on.  Many staffers at this school have had their own children, and some of those staffers have looked for ways to provide their children "advantages."   To me, this is not fair to the other children, and didn't happen when my children were in my classroom.   
It is a fine line, but for 45 minutes, my child is a student just as the other 24 students are in the room. no more, no less.   The expectations are the same for each and every one.   Period.

Parent Toolkit!

Fall has arrived!

Some friendly tips from Sharon Randall, syndicated columnist, mother, and others:


In the drugstore, when I got lost looking for shampoo and ended up on the Back to School aisle, I saw a mother with three young children picking out school supplies.

The girl wanted everything pink. The boy wanted anything "Spider-Man." The baby wanted something to chew on. And the mother wanted a break.

"That's it," she said, "we're out of here!"

Then she popped a wheelie with the cart and made a run for the checkout counter.

I wish I could've seen what she had in that cart. The last time I went back-to-school shopping, my three were not much older than hers. But they were still doing homework with pencils, not computers. Things have changed a bit since then, in ways both good and bad.

Still, it made me wonder. What does a child really need for school? To find out, I asked a panel of experts - parents, teachers, grandparents, students and a few folks I met on the back-to-school aisle. Here in no particular order are 20 things kids really need for school:

1. A No. 2 pencil and a willingness to erase.

2. A healthy respect for themselves and for others, especially for their teachers.

3. An awareness that the world does not revolve around them and that they alone are responsible for their actions.

4. Parents (or grandparents) who teach by example a love for reading, learning and life.

5. An assurance that school is a good, safe place; their teachers will like them; and their parents won't leave town without them.

6. An understanding that school is their job and no one else can or will do it for them.

7. A system for exchanging communication between school and home; a backpack for notes that need to be signed; an emergency phone number that always answers; a quiet place and a consistent time to do homework; a daily chance to read aloud and to be read to.

8. A plan for getting to school on time every morning and back home every afternoon.

9. A pet to care for, clean up after and come home to.

10. A public-library card and regular chances to use it.

11. Someone to welcome them when they come home from school; to laugh at their jokes, answer their questions and listen, really listen, to what they say and don't say.

12. The power of knowing how it feels to give anonymously and sacrificially to help someone less fortunate.

13. The encouragement to try new things; the freedom to fail; and the chance to try again.

14. The gifts of being well-fed, well-rested, well-mannered and well-covered for medical, dental and after-school care.

15. The confidence to know how to deal with bullies (stand up straight, look them in the eye, don't start a fight, but don't back down); how to ask questions (raise your hand and wait to be called on); and to never, ever, stop asking questions, especially "Why?"

16. To feel they're the best (or almost best or pretty good, at least) at something; and it's OK not to be good at everything.

17. To spend more time with humans and less with machines.

18. To have nothing to do once in a while but look at clouds or make up songs or daydream.

19. More than anything (almost everyone who responded to the question said this in one way or another), they need someone to love them unconditionally, no matter what, regardless of their grades; someone to beam at them; someone to light up when they walk into the room.

20. Finally, they need to know that school won't last forever (despite how it may seem), but learning is a lifelong process.

Even if you're just looking for shampoo.

Sharon Randall can be contacted at P.O. Box 777394, Henderson NV 89077, or at 
www.sharonrandall.com.

Parents, 
As a veteran of the teaching field, I have a quarter century of experience seeing the global picture of what it takes to keep a student ready for the school.   There are several issues which keep students from performing their best, or doing well in the work place, at technical training, school, and post-secondary training, college.   It takes a concerted effort on the part of parents to see through it all.


In fact, the main stumbling blocks that come to mind which cause the achievement and success of students to suffer.

• Missing, skipping, or absent from class
• Overextending themselves
• Over-surfing the web, or spending hours a day with digital devices.
• Procrastination
• Going it alone, being overly independent, not seeking help from the teacher.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit -

The seven infused virtues (gifts of the Holy Spirit) at the time of baptism are 

Faith - the belief

Hope - the trust in the belief

Charity - love of others

Temperance  - patience and control of behavior

Justice - honesty and truthfulness, conformity to human and Divine Law

Prudence - good judgment and common sense

and Fortitude - persistence and strength

We are all thus gifted.

Single Gender Classroom - An opportunity for better instruction.

I have proposed this concept two years ago to the principal.  I wanted an all-girl section and one all-boy section, one academic/accelerated section; one heterogeneous section and one section of the neediest students with reading difficulties.   Yes, this would have created more work for me, but wouldn't it have been worth it for the students?   My idea was not only pushed aside, avoided, but was ignored.  No surprise, he was certainly not an innovator.  I was hoping to be able to present Gender-appropriate material to my students, based on interests and discussion topics.     Please read this article, posted in the Post Gazette, Pittsburgh, (click on the title for this post) where this concept is taking hold, as the public schools have taken a bit of advice from private school practices.   In my opinion, and especially for students leaving junior high, this is an ideal time to change up the classroom with gender.   Keep it the same for health class and Phys Ed.   I would even suggest the strength of Gender-class for theater arts, vocal ensemble, math, home economics, English, and computer. 

The Separation of Church and State

David Barton is the founder of Wall Builders, an organization dedicated to presenting America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious, and constitutional heritage.  He is the author of some books that I am reading:  American History in Black and White and his short pamphlet on "The Separation of Church and State." 

If you have a bit of time, both books are short, and easy quick reads.   Become enlightened to a past that has been perverted in ways that defy common sense.   Know your history, so that your children will learn the truth.  Know your Constitution, which was never intended to erase religion from our lives, but was written to protect our right to religion of our choosing,
all that is good, righteous and moral.
How can the Court system get it so wrong since 1947?  Plenty of people are riding the wings of 20th century court rulings that claim to re-interpret the intentions of our founders.  They lurk in many guises emboldened in evil, to discredit the truth and rid Our Lord from our lives.
  Seek the Way, the Truth, and The Life.  

How Mental Illness touches the lives of us all

 

St. Dymphna ...Pray for Us 

Patron of the Mentally Afflicted

I am the daughter of a talented wonderful woman, who suffered the cruelest of demons, schizophrenia, and postpartum depression, which led to manic depression.   She endured the medical community's answer to treatment - electric shock, and was never the same, or as she was meant to be, before I was born.   She lost everything that she had, a first husband, her firstborn, her second born, her 3rd (me) 4th and 5th child all removed in some way from her care.  Care that she could not adequately provide.

When I think about her life, and remember her when I last gazed upon her face, I realized that as she lay still in the casket, she was finally still, and in the hands of the Lord.  In His hands where she was truly protected, she could be still.   Finally no one could harm her.  Finally no one could take anything else from her.  She was still and she was safe.  I had never known her not to pace, or chain smoke.  It was a bittersweet moment as I saw her for the last time.

My mother's mental illness was all I had ever known, all my life.  I had difficulty understanding what had gone wrong.  Why did such a beautiful, talented woman suffer in so many ways?   Why her, and why my mother?   Divorce,  stripped of all that connected her to that marriage, including a child, inhumane treatment at the hands of the medical community, unwelcome when she returned home, gang rape, an illegitimate child, a son, Michael, as the result of that rape, and then her three girls.     She didn't just die from this world on August 28, 1988.  She died with the first electric shock treatment, she died when my father took my sisters and I to his parents' home to protect us from the Ohio State Child Welfare Agency.   I lost her not once, but multiple times, and finally the last time, on that day in August, when the Lord decided.  She was 54.

My Father's Mother, my Polish grandmother, suffered also from a cruel disease, Alzheimer's by which day by day, the guardian of my childhood, I also lost my grandmother.   The wonderful lady who taught me to cook, fixed my wonderful breakfast, day in and day out, tended a garden and wonderfully provided where my own mother could not, died a little each day to Alzheimer's.   When she left this world, I knew that she was also in the hands of the Lord.  Safe from what Alzheimer's had done to her.

Should bring Tears to your eyes

Thank you Mike Aquilina!

If you have a need to watch movies, such as Angels and Demons,  Lost Symbol or the DiVinci Code, it would help to put all the background into perspective by informing yourself with some quick reads by Mike Aquilina.  Here are some of the latest I recommend:

Signs and Mysteries -  Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols -

   which makes me want to have these signs all over my home!   I have a Fish Vessel and  the Vine/Grapes.  There are 24 more that would complement any Christian Home!  Aquilina explains chapter by chapter, each symbol with appropriate illustrations to show the original appearance on everyday items of early Christians. 

Try this one:

You will be more aware of the role of the heavenly hosts, and more aware of their presence in our lives.  We are reminded our our guardian, and the guardian of others.   

This quick read includes angel prayers! 

The Fathers of the Church

I have this book on my KINDLE, and I'm still in the middle of it.  Also insightful for the lay reader.   Helpful to those of us, who are unable to visit Vatican archives and research for ourselves.

SHELFARI

For all readers: This site allows you to join discussions on

• what you are reading, 
  • what you have read, 
  • and what you plan to read. 

Join and ENJOY!

Shelfari.com

OH no...OBAMA!

What in the world? Why did this country elect such a man, who has already placed the tax dollars of the working class in the United States in the places that will provide for abortion? Now he is hurrying Congress to pass a Health Care Plan to rival the world, and yet a health care plan, thousands of pages long that NO ONE who is voting on it has read; that could also be born out of all tax payers to also provide for abortion? When will this madness stop?


I'm glad to say the madness has begun to stop with the NOVEMBER elections.  I voted PRO-life and pulled the Republican party line!   GOP again, and hopefully the pro-abortion politicians are thrown out for good!

Getting Ready to return to school

Every fall, this time of "getting ready" precedes the event on August 31st, when I return to school. I still have much to do, reading and working in the room. There is an orientation at the school for the incoming 7th graders, this week, but this is no longer my focus.

Working with the 9th graders, I see I have a much better schedule for this year, and much better students to work with, we'll see how it goes.  Usually students are very much "into" their studies in the fall, things generally get boring to them by the winter; and once the "testing" season is over, they shut down.   So human, they are.    I hope I'm ready.

Sadly, another student is gone

A former student, a quiet wonderful young lady, age 28, is now gone.  She leaves a husband and a one year old son.  She lost her father at an early age.   She was never bitter, always loving and giving.  She adds to the list of former students lost.

  Damaris Deeter Tartara
Link back to the memorial page.

9 DAYS That Changed the WORLD

Citizens United Productions -  Nine Days That Changed the World 

"Let your Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth, and this land!"

Pope John Paul II, Warsaw, Poland, June 2, 1979

Pictured above on Good Friday, just before his death, unto eternal life.
I graduated on June 5, 1979, while Pope John Paul was on his first 9-day pilgrimage to his homeland.  I was not totally aware of the tremendous impact that his visit had on his people.  My Polish grandmother was always pleased  with the Polish Pope, and I have come to understand her love of this man.  
Check out www.CitizensUnited.org
and www.ninedaysthatchangedtheworld.com
and www.gingrichproductions.com
for a video for your church. 

Cancer is illusive, but no match for a Shih Tzu!

This is a true and amazing story for cancer survivors everywhere. A dear friend recently underwent treatment for her breast cancer. Her Shih Tzu found her cancer before she could even feel it, and alerted her to the point where she saw her doctor, and got checked out. Sure enough, a cancer that even she could not feel or detect on her own, was discovered. The male ShihTzu is a hero!

20 year Milestone

I was honored at the School District's Recognition Dinner last night. For twenty years of service to the district, where I have missed but 2 days sick in 21 years. I was humbled by the many others who were also honored last night, and very pleased with this milestone accomplishment. My neighbor, Harry Hicks is a board member who passed the greeting, another board member Harold Shorts was a teacher in my elementary, and a colleague, and now a board member. I received a grand hug. The retiring Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent also wonderfully greeted me with hugs. I was among new teachers, retirees, and many others with 30+ years of service. It was a special gathering.

I'm not a spring-chicken and the rigor is beginning to wear me thin, and tire me out. I hope to be able to provide another 14 years of service to the district, the students and my community.

Is this the Shroud of Christ Our Lord?