Something Creative » Story

Edu-ma-ka-schun

Nil17 — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:38:36 +0000

I’m going to begin this story the way all classic stories begin…

Once upon a time there was a boy name Joshua. Joshua was like most kids his age (8)…he liked video games & movies, running around outside & playing with his cousin JD. Like all boys he could get into trouble in the most entertaining ways. He was inquisitive & imaginative; never short on explanations for his escapades either. Joshua was a sweet boy when he chose to be…willing to help his mom & generous with telling her she did a good job.

The biggest (well one of the biggest anyway) challenges with Joshua was getting him to sit still & listen in class. In order to help him with that, he attended two years of kindergarten. The extra year helped quite a bit though Joshua is still a little rambunctious at times. Nothing that would require medication-more just growing up. Now in first grade, Joshua is working on reading, math & all the good stuff that comes with that. Before I continue with Joshua’s school adventures we should explore the school itself.

This is a rural farming area in the Upper Midwest. Picture your stereotypical small town life—get rid of the hillbillies, hicks & rednecks—well not get rid of them; just don’t populate the entire area with them. Since this area is comprised of many small farming communities the schools have combined districts in order to keep the schools open. This means that 3-4 schools are combined & bus kids to various schools. There are usually at least 2 sections to any given grade but never more than 4 sections. In fact I think 4 might be really pushing it. With the towns combining districts this means that the normal grade size is between 30-60. We will work with 50 since that’s a nice round number. Fifty kids to a grade would mean 25 kids to a classroom. A decent size class though not totally unmanageable. For the most part classes tend to be a tad smaller.

Back to Joshua—as a first grader he is learning the consequences of acting out more than in kindergarten. When I say acting out I mean yelling out answers without raising his hand, jumping up to help with passing out papers without permission or being upset that he doesn’t have a job to do if the teacher passes it to another student. He is working on it & getting MUCH better. Joshua’s eagerness to participate sometimes overwhelms his “indoor” voice. Another thing that Joshua doesn’t always judge well is when to be silly. Let’s face it, the kid is only 8 and he has embraced childhood completely. This is as it should be…life gets complicated quickly enough these days.

Joshua has a very quick & odd sense of humor. This is in no way discouraged by any family member & that includes aunts, uncles and grandparents. Joshua’s grandpa, T loves to joke around, pull pranks & generally laugh. Grandpa T is good at doing silly voices & had spent a weekend talking to Joshua in a duck voice. Think Daffy Duck flustered & sputtering. Joshua loved it & quickly picked up the knack for doing the duck voice himself. Fastforward to the next week in school. Mrs 1st Grade, his teacher, asks Joshua to do something in class. Joshua isn’t feeling cooperative & says, “No”. The teacher asks a second time & Joshua decides that in order to really make his point he will quack his answer. Needless to say Joshua got off the bus with a note from the teacher. After patiently (and with a great deal of exasperation) explaining that quacking was only allowed with Grandpa T, Joshua’s mom shared the story with the rest of the family. I mean, while it wasn’t polite to quack at the teacher, it certainly is worth a hearty chuckle.

Recently though things have taken an odd turn with regard to Joshua’s actual education. Being in first grade, Joshua is learning to read…or so his mom thought. Lately though Joshua has been coming home with papers that have been graded & a note saying “This paper was read to Joshua during class”. Another note said, “Due to Joshua’s slow reading this paper was read to him during class”. Joshua’s mom is troubled by what this means. After all, learning to read is a fundamental skill; if Joshua isn’t working on his reading IN school where should he be working on it?

Now I can hear all the people who are going to clamor that the parent(s) need to be involved with Joshua’s education. There’s no argument there & Joshua’s mom does work with him at home though not always as much as she would like. Joshua’s father isn’t around so he is a non-issue. The real deal here is that reading is something that MUST be taught in school. Forget the politically correct stuff—the “How to be Green” and whatever else is taught these days. First & foremost what needs to be taught are the fundamentals— reading, writing & arithmetic.

Granted there are 20 some students in the classroom so individual time with each student is harder to manage. On the other hand there are 2 adults in the room. The teacher & a certified teacher’s aide. When I think back to my own days in elementary school we did a lot of practice on reading. We even read out loud…including the slow readers. I was a quick study with books so I remember wondering why we had to keep reading our primers. I got sick of “Dick can run. See Dick run. Run Dick Run.” “Jane sees Dick. Jane sees Dick run.” However, we went the pace of the majority of the class. It was too slow for a couple of us; it may have been too fast for a couple students as well but by the time we moved to second grade everybody had a decent handle on reading.

So what’s the deal here? Is Joshua so slow that he needs extra help in school?? Why hasn’t the teacher discussed this with Joshua’s mom? Is Joshua really that slow or is the teacher trying to hurry the students through their assignments & tests? The big problem as Joshua’s mom sees it — she is sending her son to school to learn to read & rather than learning to read the teacher is doing it for Joshua. No wonder we are doing so poorly on test scores, falling behind other countries in education & are graduating children who are almost completely illiterate. If we don’t teach our children to read (and work hard with the ones who need it most) then we are setting them up for failure. If this is happening in a class of 25 kids or less think what is happening in the giant city schools. It is to weep.

Paddle Boat Fishing & Other Adventures Pt. 1

Nil17 — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:33:31 +0000

Craig & Joel were pretty excited when fishing season rolled around every year. The two brothers were 16 years apart in age but fishing was one of the activites they could both enjoy. Sometimes the other brothers Drew, Robert & Dan would go along. Mostly though it was time that Craig & Joel spent bonding. Though they enjoyed fishing neither of them owned a boat so sometimes they borrowed one from their friend John; other times they fished from the shores of the local lakes. Of course after a while Craig & Joel got tired of not being able to go out on the lake whenever they wanted.

Dan was working one day- roofing a house when the owner came out & offered him a paddle boat. The owner was getting ready to move across country & needed to get rid of it. Dan thought of his kids & happily accepted. Dan figured when the kids were a bit older they’d love having a lake toy. Not having a way to haul the paddle boat Dan gave Drew a call. “Hey man, whatcha doing? Got a minute to buzz down & pick up something in your truck”? “Sure, whatever Dan. What is it this time”? Drew was curious as the boys all had a habit of picking up odd items when offered free.
“Oh just a paddle boat. Shouldn’t be a problem to get into the truck. Craig said I could leave it in his garage ’til we get mine built. He’s home so you can drop it off on your way by.”
“A’ight, I’ll be down in a couple hours. See ya then.” Drew hung up & went to explain to his wife why he was going to be gone all afternoon.

A few weeks passed & the boys didn’t give much thought to the paddle boat until one day Craig’s wife complained that it was taking up her parking space in the garage. ”Get the thing out of my way! I’m so sick of having to park under the trees…my car always has sap & leaves or worse all over it.” Jenn was used to the boys storing stuff in the garage but usually it wasn’t as big as the paddle boat.

“Fine, I’ll move it tonight”, Craig muttered as he headed off to work on his garden/landscaping business. During the long hot day Craig thought how nice it would be to finish work & head out to do some fishing in the cool of the evening. ”Damn not having a boat anyway…I’m sick of asking John to borrow his & I want to get out where the fish are really biting. If only I could come up with some extra money.” Shaking his head Craig gave Joel a call to see if they could go fishing. Joel was more than game & promised to have his gear ready when Craig stopped to pick him up after work.

After work Craig swung past his folks to pick up Joel. He chatted with his mom, grabbed a fresh rhubarb muffin & off the boys went leaving a cloud of dust drifting across the parched fields. As Craig & Joel discussed the advantages to fishing different spots Joel suddenly remembered the paddle boat sitting in Craig’s garage.

“Hey, it’s too bad we can’t use the paddle boat! We could get past the reeds at the edge of Sanderson’s Slough…might give us a better shot at catching something. It’ll be quieter than the lakes right now.” Craig gave a sort of dumbfounded look….then his face broke out into a huge grin. “That’s awesome, it’s not like we’d have to paddle far. And it’s so calm out there we wouldn’t drift much.” Craig screeched to a halt at the nearest corner, whipped a U-wie & headed toward his house. “Besides I promised Jenn I move it out of the garage tonight anyway”.

The two boys quickly grabbed the paddleboat & with some awkward manuvering managed to get it on top of Craig’s car. Several bungee cords & a little duct tape for good luck later & they were back on the road.

Once they reached Sanderson’s Slough the boys wrestled the paddle boat down from the car roof & managed to slide it to the shore. Getting it into the water past the reeds & rushes was a challenge. Craig ended up having to wade out about waist deep, pulling the paddle boat before they could move very well. Climbing aboard the two of them peddled quickly toward the center of the water. Craig used an old cooler with no lid as a makeshift drag anchor. After a couple hours of fishing the boys had caught enough for a late dinner so they pulled up the cooler (which had nicely doubled as a place to keep their catch) and headed for shore.

Rather than go to all the trouble of getting the paddle boat back on the car, Craig & Joel hid it in a little spot in the slough where they knew no one ever went & tied it to a scrawy but tough tree. As they climbed into the car the two were already making plans for the next Saturday. They wanted to try their luck on Current Lake.

“We should call Drew, Robert & Dan…see if they’re free too. Drew can bring the smoker & we can make a day of it. I don’t mind taking turns on the paddle boat. Besides my legs got tired…” Joel’s legs weren’t as long as Craig’s so he had a tough time keeping up. Craig laughed, “Yeah, it’d be nice if we could find a way to…” Craig stopped the car in the middle of the road. “Hey! Remember that old trolling motor Dad has? You know, the one he fixed up off that old boat that got smashed in the windstorm last summer. I know it works great. I bet Drew could weld a mount for it…it’d be perfect for the paddle boat!”

Craig took off again as Joel grabbed the cell phone to call Drew. After talking for a bit & explaining what they were thinking Drew was happy to get onboard with the project. He also suggested that they look through the local free trade flyer to see if there were any other paddle boats going cheap.

Well it took almost a month to get everything set & fixed up but finally the brothers got it all done. One hot lazy Friday in July Craig, Dan, Robert, Drew & Joel piled into Drew’s truck & headed for the lake. The bed of the truck was piled high with fishing gear, lifejackets, coolers & camping gear. Behind the truck was a trailer holding 2 paddle boats & behind that on it’s own separate trailer was the smoker. The boys were finally ready to try out the paddle boats with the trolling motor mounts.

What Do You Mean You’re 15!

Nil17 — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 04:07:51 +0000

On Friday a milestone was reached…mostly nobody noticed except a few close family & friends. They woke up, looked at their calendars & decided that it was a good time to haul out the jet packs for the commute to work & school. What the rest of the world was blissfully unaware of was that G-man had turned 15. So what you think; lots of kids turn 15 every day. What makes this what’s-his-face special? There are a lot of things that make G-man special. He was an uncle at age 7. Now that he’s 15 he is an uncle 8 times over. He is the youngest of 8 kids. His siblings sometimes have a really hard time remembering he is so young—they’ve treated him as part of the gang since he was born. In spite of having much older siblings, G-man managed to retain his childhood…that means he’s a pretty okay kid. He doesn’t really get into trouble like some kids you hear about these days. You know the ones; those kids hanging out with “the wrong crowd”. G-man often feels sorry for those kids…”If only they had parents who were around & siblings & whatnot”. After all G-man knows the parents can’t always help not being there but he also knows that many times the parents are too busy to pay attention. G-man is very independent. He has always been able to go out with the big kids…he didn’t like to be left behind. In fact, he’s been known to stow away in his dad’s van & sneak into town. See, G-man lives in the country & his dad volunteers at the teen activity center in the next town over. G-man likes to go along with his dad & hang out; sometimes they would shoot hoops (well sometimes they still do). Anyway, G-man really wanted to go with his dad one Saturday night. Dad said G-man should stay home & get some rest. G-man appealed to Mom but she agreed with Dad. G-man was upset & stalked out of the house. His mom & Dad let him go…he’s a pretty okay kid in the country after all. Well G-man’s dad headed into town & G-man’s mom thought it was time to eat some supper (dinner is for city people…or what country people eat at noon). When supper was ready—about 15 minutes later; G-man’s mom called out the door. She waited & then called again, “G-man you better be in here, hands washed in the next 5 minutes or you are going to be in SO much trouble”! Time passed & G-man’s mom decided it was time to call G-man’s dad. Meanwhile, G-man had gotten so angry he stalked off across the yard & hid behind the shed for awhile. That wasn’t much fun though & he decided he’d hide out in his dad’s van. Quietly G-man snuck his bike into the back of the van, climbed in after it & closed the door. Soon G-man’s dad hopped in the van & went flying off down the gravel in a cloud of dust. G-man stayed hidden & quiet. He waited until the van stopped & he heard his dad get out. After a few minutes he cautiously peeked out, saw he was in the clear & hopped out with his bike. So while G-man’s mom was calling him to supper he was happily wheeling around Danesville. G-man was feeling pretty pleased with himself—not only had he gotten to go with Dad but he’d also gotten to go when he’d been told no. While G-man was enjoying his adventure he lost track of time. Riding around Danesville is fun when you are off riding your bike. It’s big enough for a nice ride but not so big as to get lost. Suddenly G-man noticed that the air was a little chilly & that it was getting quite dark out. Now G-man isn’t a sissy but being alone when Mom & Dad don’t know where you are stops being fun in the dark. Thinking about how he was supposed to stay home & had disobeyed made G-man worried. ”I’m going to be in SO much trouble. Dad is gonna kick my butt when they figure out what I did”, G-man thought. So to avoid the dire consequences of his imagination (no supper for a week, twice as many chores for a month & not being allowed out of the house for the rest of his life) G-man decided he should hide. Hiding in the dark alone is scary though so he thought he should find a safe, sheltered place to go. After some careful thought he turned his bike around and rode up the main street in Danesville. In fact he rode straight up to the yard of his pastor. He leaned his bike against the big oak tree on the front lawn & curled up beside the solid trunk. Now Pastor’s Wife had gotten a phone call earlier saying that G-man was missing & that his parents thought he’d snuck into town. She had promised to keep an eye out for him…lo & behold she happened to see his little figure slide into her front yard. Quickly she called G-man’s mom & dad before going outside to collect a very tired & scared 7 year old boy. So now eight years have passed & that scared little boy is taking driver’s education training. That’s right—he’s learning to drive. He’s still a pretty okay kid. Sometimes he is a total teenager & gets that stubborn teenage set to his jaw. His hair is often a little longer than his mom would like. He listens to loud music that his dad doesn’t like at all. G-man’s siblings are often surprised when they think about his age…after all they forget he’s still a kid most of the time. However all of them are proud of him & love him dearly…. but none of them are going anywhere near the roads for awhile….

Banana vs Muffin: DeathMatch 2009

Nil17 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:56:09 +0000

One bright but foggy autumn day a young receptionist walked to work & planned out her day. In her bag she carried her lunch & a snack. Since she had been unable to make up her mind there was a banana & a muffin for snack. They were busy arguing from the second it became apparent one of them would be the unchosen snack. Banana was proud of his perfect yellow skin & bragged about all the potassium he would provide to be used as fuel when our girl went running later. Muffin scoffed, confident that his big puffy top & fiber content would help him win the snack contest. The yogurt, veggie sandwich & water Lunch listened to them aruge all the way up to the 15th floor. Finally when they were tucked away in the desk Lunch got fed up with the bickering. “Look, we are sick of you two arguing about this. What does it matter who is the left-behind snack?” Banana responded, “It matters because whoever is chosen is the superior food. The chosen snack gets to fuel our girl through a critical part of her day”, with a proud lift of his stem Banana looked at Muffin. “I am THAT snack. Full of potassium & other minerals. Not to mention my vitamin capacity.” “Vitamin capacity”, snorted Muffin, “What sort of nonsense is that? I am filled with fiber & carbohydrates to provide a longer boost of energy to ward of the fatigue & boredom during the long afternoon.” “ALRIGHT! That’s it”, Lunch lost its temper, “We are going to settle this like proper food. None of this lunchbox squabbling…Muffin you put out the word to the morning coffee break snacks & Banana you let the afternoon sugar dip crowd know—We are gonna have ourselvs a Desktop Deathmatch! That’s right…10:30 right here when our girl takes her first bathroom break. A fifteen minute, no-holds-barred battle. As Lunch I will be the referee…Now get going.” All morning the snack gossip was buzzing about the Desktop Deathmatch. There were rumors, hints of this happening before but the stories were so fantastic that nobody really believed there was any truth to them. Now the lunches & snacks were excited to see this legendary battle. Right on schedule our receptionist pulled the snacks out & set them on her desk, then got up & walked to the bathroom. Immediately there was a mad dash for the receptionist’s desk as lunches & snacks from all over the cubicle farm raced for seats at the Desktop Deathmatch arena. Word had spread as far away as the 7th floor & exotic looking snacks from Taiwan & Bolivia slinked toward the front to squeeze in with Carrots & Apples from Wisconsin. As Lunch slid into the ring the noise from the crowd was deafening. Lunch motioned for quiet & began the announcement. “In the corner wearing the yellow trunks, weighing in at 10 oz is……MUFFIN”, Lunch points & Muffin shadow boxes. ”And in the blue trunks, weighing in at 11.73 oz is……BANANA”, Banana jumps up & down pumping his legs high. ”We’ve been over the rules…there really aren’t any rules and may the best snack WIN!” The judges: Pudding, Rice Cakes & Popcorn watched closely as the bell rang & the fighters charged toward each other. The two fighters danced around & took theatrical jabs at each other. This lasted for awhile but the ravenous crowd started booing & screaming, “Come on…hit him. Stop being such a wuss, get in there and hit something. You suck, this is the worst fight I’ve ever seen!” As the crowd grew more rowdy Muffin got more brave. Suddenly Muffin kicks Banana hard & Banana goes down. Muffin jumps & quickly snaps Banana’s stem in half. Banana manages to jump up & with a Chuck Norris-like roundhouse kick knocks out the front of Muffin’s glorious puffy top. Soon the two snacks were engaged in a melee & it was impossible to tell who was winning. The judges were about to ring the bell when out of the back and into the ring came Granola Bar with Almonds. Before Lunch or anybody else could react, Granola Bar quickly knocked out Banana & got Muffin into a full-Nelson. ”I AM ALL THAT IS SNACK!”

All Signs Say “Huh”?

Nil17 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:55:39 +0000

I’m going to tell you a little tale about a girl, the boy she loves, the job she has, the commission he is given & the villian who tries to dash their hopes & dreams. This girl, Lin is an average looking girl with glasses. She loves Troy, a boy who works hard with his hands to provide for their life together. She works as an office girl: answering phones, greeting customers, writing letters & filing papers. He is a finish carpenter by trade (although he’s been out of work for a while) & a furniture maker. They live quite happily on a little acreage surrounded by giant pine trees with their dogs. It’s a mostly happy life filled with all the usual ups & downs. One day Lin’s boss asks if Troy would be able to create a sign to hang on the front of the building. Lin says yes & her boss begins the long process of getting a design approved. Once the inital design is approved by Lin’s boss & also the bank that shares the building (the bank has to be in on everything as they think the world revolves around them) Troy gets to work. He spends many hours in his shop selecting the proper pieces of lumber & planing them down into smooth boards. Then Troy joined the boards together to make the signs. After months of waiting for a decision from the bank (they were given the task of choosing a font for the words) Lin made a decision. She urged the two businesses to use the same font as their logos— this was met with a great deal of surprise as it had not occurred to anybody else that this was an option. Lin & Troy had the local print shop make up the letters in the appropriate size & soon the letters were ready to be routered into the signs. Before making anything permanent Troy arranged the paper letters on the signs, took pictures & sent the files in for approval. After a month of waiting the bank finally reached an agreement (after much discussion & a vote of 3-2) & Troy was able to begin the task of actually putting the letters into the wood. During this process Lin asked what color the letters & signs should be. Nobody responded…but Lin was persistant & finally got the okay to use a nice forest green color for the letters & the rest would be left natural with a clear protective coating. After months of work the signs were finally ready. Troy had worked many hours & carefully planned the project. He had made certain that each step was approved before continuing. Over all the project took 6 long months but looking at the finished product Lin & Troy were proud of the work. Since it was close to the end of summer so Troy made sure he got the signs mounted on the front & end of the building. He got it done just days before the town would be full of people for the annual town festival. It was hard work too. The big sign for the front of the builidng weighed in at nearly 300 pounds. The day after Troy hung the signs he & Lin stopped by the building to deliver the invoices for the signs. When they arrived they saw 3 people standing at the front entrance looking up at the sign. Before getting out of the truck Lin said to Troy, “I’ll just bet they are complaining about something. You know how they are…if it wasn’t their idea or they didn’t do it then something must be wrong with it.” Lin was right. As she walked into the building the people standing outside were busy trying to figure out how to “improve” the signs. When Troy came back from fueling up he walked right in blissful in his state of being totally unaware of what was waiting. It didn’t take long until this was shattered by multiple people suggesting ways to improve the signs to make them “pop” more. (One of the suggestors had been watching many home improvement shows on cable television.) Angered by the lack of appreciation at delivering a product that was exactly to the specifications requested Troy & Lin left and swore that if that’s how Troy’s hard work was going to be treated they would take the signs back. The next day Lin had to work & she was prepared to do battle for the boy she loved. It made her feel sad & angry to see Troy’s hard work dismissed so easily. The two businesses had asked for signs that matched the log building that housed them. They wanted something nice yet not too modern so that it didn’t look incongruous with the surroundings. Troy had obliged with a beautiful wooden design…now the same people who commissioned the work were saying it wasn’t at all what they thought it would be. When Lin’s boss arrived that day he immediately brought up the signs. Lin was cautious & curt with her answers at first. Finally she told her boss how upset & hurt Troy had been at the seeming disregard for all his hard work. Lin said that it was beyond rude to treat someone in that fashion. How would he feel if after putting in hard work to create something based on a vague design there was nothing but criticism? Lin’s boss thought about that & agreed that the presentation of questions & suggestions could have been handled in a nicer manner. Lin also let it be known that Troy was so upset he had insisted on working the night before to correct some minor alignment issues so he wouldn’t be subjected to more opinions on what wasn’t “right” with the sign. After more discussion Lin’s boss said that he thought the signs were actually quite nice & that the craftsmanship of the signs was indeed very good. While there could have been some things done differently with the design it wasn’t anything that was critical to the appearance & that next time Lin’s boss would have a better idea of what to ask for when having a sign made. Lin passed all of this on to her beloved Troy & the two of them felt appeased. They set off for a long weekend content that the drama had been resolved. Little did they know what the next week had in store for them. It was just as well they didn’t because it would have ruined the relaxing weekend in the country. After the weekend Lin went back to work & Troy went back to his shop. Their lives fell into its regular rhythm. Lin stopped in to ask when they could expect the payment from the bank for their portion of the signs. It was with great dismay & anger that Lin learned the bank president had made it known that the sign invoice was not to be paid until the owner of the bank (and Lin’s office) approved the signs. Lin was shocked & nearly in tears…how could she pay the bills? The rent was due and Lin had counted on that payment. With Troy essentially unemployed her small income wasn’t enough to take care of everything. Troy’s work on the signs & some upcoming projects were their only hope of making it. Lin’s mind raced as she tried to adjust to the news & not cry right there. After a moment she looked at the lady who had reluctantly shared the news. ”Please let Prez SL know then that I will not be paying my rent until the signs are approved”, Lin bit the inside of her lip to keep her voice from cracking. Finished with her errand at the bank Lin stalked across the hall, past her desk & into her boss’s office. She explained the dilemma that she & Troy were now in. Lin’s boss was so pissed off when he heard that the bank was refusing to pay on something they had approved already that he marched over to the bank. Unfortunately the prez was with a customer but Lin’s boss did talk to the VP & came back reassuring Lin that the bank would indeed pay & in a timely manner. Lin felt a bit better that she had more people in her corner. The longer Lin thought about the matter the more steely her resolve became. She was risking not only her job but also her home going toe to toe with the bank president. Of course when weighed against the hurt Troy would be caused if the bank got away with refusing to pay Lin knew that nothing was too great a risk….

Protected: Untitled #19

Nil17 — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:49:13 +0000