Specifically, I'm sorry that I didn't participate in getting the vote out. How sad is it that a decision as vital as whether to renovate and replace parts of the current high school could be decided by such a small percentage of the city's population? Can't we do better than that? I'm also sorry that … Continue reading I voted “Yes” on the AHS project and now I’m sorry
Category: Schools
The beautiful awkwardness of middle school
One of my responsibilities at school is morning hall duty. I generally bring a book to my post at the end of corridor, but often I don't read more than a sentence or two because I am so captivated by the students making their way to their home rooms. They are so incredibly compelling in … Continue reading The beautiful awkwardness of middle school
I Am Princess X
The fiction collection in the library where I work is organized by genre, a situation which sometimes vexes me. I mean, it can be really challenging to decide where a book should be shelved from merely reading the subject tags or the inside of the jacket. Sometimes, a title seems as if it could be … Continue reading I Am Princess X
Glory Days – Greenwood Lake Middle School’s Class of 1980
It probably wasn't coincidence that I heard that Springsteen song not once, but twice, on my way to the 35th reunion of my 8th grade class, right? There probably isn't a song more appropriate for getting together with classmates and reminiscing about shared childhoods than that nugget that made its debut the same year I … Continue reading Glory Days – Greenwood Lake Middle School’s Class of 1980
What home feels like
Memorial Day weekend probably seems like the ultimate cliché when it comes to traveling a couple of hours (or more) to revisit one's childhood. Not to take anything away from our nation's true heroes, but surviving our teenaged years in the small village of Greenwood Lake made us veterans of an entirely different sort. Since … Continue reading What home feels like
April Fool me
If I had known 25 years ago that choosing a career as a public school teacher would mean fighting for survival against a megalomaniac governor, I might have elected to simply stay full-time in the hospitality industry. During my college days, I imagined my biggest challenge would be landing a job in what is a … Continue reading April Fool me
Testing boundaries
Last week I attended a meeting sponsored by the NYS Alliance for Public Education. The forum discussed current controversies and issues in public education including the Common Core Learning Standards, teacher evaluations, Governor Cuomo's 2015 Education Budget and the NYS assessments given to elementary students in grades 3-8. My interest in attending the meeting was … Continue reading Testing boundaries
DelSo 