Last night I wrote a somewhat lengthy post about school board seats. It was a cohesive blog about the issues school boards are having now. I reviewed my own extensive involvement with our school district, as I served in numerous volunteer capacities over the 21 years my boys were in school here. As an active…
educational reform
A Change of Mind and Heart: Education is not enough
When I was in graduate school for my natural resources degree (EE/EI), one of our first assignments was to read two papers written by seminal voices in the environmental field. One was by Richard Wilke and the other was by Jo Kwong. Before I started the assignment, I was pretty sure that I felt that…
Stop Assuming, Please!
There’s a lot of assuming going on. You might assume I am a Republican. Actually, I was a registered Independent voter when we lived in New York State twenty-five years ago. When we moved to Wisconsin, I might have registered as a Republican. Honestly, I don’t know. And, it doesn’t matter because I don’t vote…
Educational Soapbox: Dander Up!
One thing I miss about not having my boys home anymore is the conversations we would have after dinner. This is true of my middle son, especially. He is a big picture thinker and a conceptual learner. Our current educational systems, in the U.S., at least where we live in the mid-west, do not cater…
Poetry Friday: An Original Poem or Two
There’s been a lot going on in my writing life during the last six months. Working hard, I’ve experienced both rejection and success. I’ve continued to learn and hone my craft and returned to sharing my love of poetry with students this summer. I’ve learned about the editing world through two different projects and how…
What Does Public Mean to You?
Public schools Public health Public library Public defender Public market Public bathroom What does the word “public” mean to you? In nursing school, eons ago, the senior year clinical was called “Community Health.” This clinical, the culmination of three prior years of classes in liberal arts, hard and soft sciences including biology, chemistry, physiology, sociology,…
Out on a Limb
Last night, I did something spontaneous. It’s a big deal because I rarely work that way. Typically, I’m an over-thinker. But, I have been missing student contact. It’s been almost two years since I had a student group. Before that, you have to go back to 2004 to get to a year when I did…
Sometimes, Life Gives You Just What You Need at the Right Time.
For the last few days, I’ve been in a slump. It’s really the first slump I can recall during the pandemic. Mostly, my “slumpiness” revolved around feelings about my own self worth and feeling undervalued. But, today, several things have happened to restore my sense of being valued by others. I realized that I do…
Slice of Life Tuesday: Provocation & Acceleration, Part I
One of my goals for this year is to ramp up my blog readership to at least fifty visitors a day. This month, February – a short month, that goal will be hard to reach. I was on target until a few days ago when I noted a failure to reach the previously attainable number….
Educational Leadership on the Line
In a few hours, the League of Women Voters in our area will host a candidate forum for those running for our local school board. As you can imagine, it has been a challenging year and it will be an interesting forum to watch. I intend to do so. Rarely, do I post more than…






