Because of COVID-19, I hadn’t taken my grand-kids to a movie in over a year, and it’s something I love to do. I have thought about taking them to the Drive-In down in Palmer between Ennis and Corsicana, but that’s a long way to go and I’m old enough to remember what Drive-Ins are like in the winter time. The windows of the car fog up constantly and you have to keep wiping the windshield just to see.
As virtual learning rolls on, it is becoming more evident how much parents rely on schools being open. It seems with each new day, more parents want their children back in the classroom. I read a news story out of Los Angeles where parents took to the streets in downtown LA for a morning caravan, demanding schools be reopened immediately so their children “could get an education.”
I have just started an adventure that I have always wanted to embark on. I am jogging the entire length of Hadrian’s Wall from near the North Sea on the Eastern Edge of Great Britain to the Irish Sea to the West. I started at Walssend and jogged along breathtaking views of the River Tyne, and at a pace of 30 minutes a day I finished the first of thirteen legs of the Hadrian’s wall jog in two days at Quayside. The best part is the weather was a perfect 70 degrees with not even a drop of the rain that Central England is notorious for and I never left my living room. I jogged the path on my treadmill with a computer monitor mounted on top.
Our actions and how we spend our money tell us more about our priorities and motives than anything we tell ourselves or others. This sentiment is accurate when you consider public education in Texas is moving forward with STARR testing in the spring. According to a January 4th article in the Texas Tribune, $388 million in assessment contracts have been awarded to two companies, one of which has a 30+ year history of providing assessment services for Texas students.
According to the news the COVID-19 is mutating, growing stronger, and may become immune to the vaccine. Although we don’t need a picture of doom and gloom we can become more aware and ready for what is to come. I think we should start by giving thanks and praise to GOD for our own health then protect ourselves the best we can and be ready to help others when they need it. Humans’ needs are everywhere and as Christians we should be available to help.
Aqueducts, concrete, elaborate roadways & bridges, bathhouses: Ancient Rome was a very sophisticated place. Experts may disagree on the order of importance in the factors that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire, but they agree that things like an army that grew ineffective, a failing economy, an incompetent emperor, and invading barbarians all played crucial roles. Regardless, the ruination of Rome inevitably led to the loss of these tremendous engineering feats. Indeed, in the case of concrete, that knowledge would fade away by 476 AD (those darn Goths), and not be rediscovered until 1824. But, we are here neither to bury Caesar nor to praise him. We’re here to talk about another black American you must know, but probably don’t. But this Roman thing, tuck it into your back pocket for me, please?
I’m including background that someone reading my column for the first time might not know. If you read it regularly feel free to skip down a couple of paragraphs.
In this climate of uncertainty that is becoming our new sense of normal, I have found myself increasingly hopeful we will emerge a better, cohesive more caring America; especially as it relates to education. I have seen so many creative approaches to teaching children, some of these methods should remain long after COVID19 is a distant memory. This predicament has forced us to look at education, health and life differently and with hopefully, a new appreciation for each.
It’s all our fault: the participation trophies, the “everyone’s a winner” mentality, the “no awards” movement. We, the latchkey kids of the 70s and 80s, are sorry. It’s out of control in a way we never envisioned. It’s just, we got all in our feelings. After all, it was a rough life. And, it all started with Valentine’s Day. Play the Gilligan’s Island dream sequence music, cause we’re going back in time.
Let me get the important information in this article out of the way up front before I tell the story. Dr. Wilson at Texas Health Family Care is receiving 70 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine per day.
Many parents are discovering the current options for education may not be suiting their children well. While many students have returned to regular, in class instruction, some are still receiving instruction virtually. For students who receive special education services, virtual learning can be very difficult and ineffective.
Each year, millions of Americans get sick from “seasonal influenza” (“the flu”). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 38 million people got sick with the flu during the 2019-2020 flu season. The flu is more dangerous than the common cold and children are at higher risk for developing serious complications. More than 12 million children under the age of 18 were diagnosed with flu last year, and of those children diagnosed, more than 52,000 were hospitalized. However, there are preventive steps parents can take to protect their children and family from the flu.
It was 1965 and our family had moved from Hondo, Texas to Floresville. I was a new kid in a new school. I didn’t know very many people, but what I did know is that whatever the pecking order was, I was starting out on the bottom of it.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 936, Forney, TX 75126
Physical Address: 201 W. Broad St., Forney, TX 75126
Phone: 972-564-3121
Fax: 972-552-3599