November 25, 2007 by jmmblake.

Cold drizzling rain and cloudy skies met me and our dog Gavin on the Sunday, the last day of Thanksgiving vacation. The weather ran us back into warmth of comfortable couch and my MacBook. While checking my email, I glanced at the list of articles in summarized in the New York Times. I subscribe to their daily email feeds on a few topics that that generally find interesting and thought provoking.

This morning, I read an article that warmed my heart and got me to thinking about why I teach. Let me just say, it is complicated. This article has a great phrase that I plan to steal: ‘crackjack’.

Let’s ask the question: Is Your (our) school- crackjack? If not, then why.

The New York Times: Reference Search for ‘crackerjack’

crackerjack
Jump to:
Dictionary| Thesaurus| WordNet
Back To Top
Dictionary

crack·er·jack (krăk’ər-jăk’) pronunciation also crack·a·jack (krăk’ə-)
adj. Slang.

Of excellent quality or ability; fine.

[Probably from CRACK, first-rate + JACK.]
crackerjack crack’er·jack’ n.

logo The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. See crackerjack on Answers.com

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

November 18, 2007 by jmmblake.

School take a bad rap when it comes to fat kids and teachers like me. I eat school cafeteria food Monday-Friday during the school year. Where else can anyone buy a warm meal for under $3.00 in Whiteville, NC? Fast food vendors may offer 99 cents fries or hamburger. I do not know a single teenager that can make it all day on one of those dinky tasteless cheap burgers. Add to that the cost of gasoline and school lunches are even a better deal. It is all I can do to keep from commenting out-loud when I hear students that receive “free lunches” complain about the food. If they were at “MacWendy”, they could ask for their money back. However, if it is free, why complain? The only meal I refuse to eat from the school lunch is pizza. It is always cold and never cooked enough. The kids like it doughy. Many of my students could eat pizza everyday. I have noticed this year, pizza is only available on Fridays. What a wonderful strategy.

newsobserver.com | Kids’ waistlines vs. bottom line

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

November 12, 2007 by jmmblake.

The radio alarm clock and wake-up timer on my old-school TV came on as programmed precisely at 6:00 a.m.  I took the dog out in the 35ish degree morning air as he sniffed his way across the edge of the frost covered lawn. The sound of a few early travelers rushing who-knows-where was clearly audible in the cold. The trip was short- Gavin was ready to head back inside for the warmth of the couch and snuggling under my fleece jacket. Coffee would be nice about now. My wife is able to rest. She came down with a nasty cold Thursday, and has been coughing and sneezing ever since. Today, we are attending a grave side service at 1:20 p.m., and then we will be going to Wilmington to eat out. We are celebrating 30 years of marriage today. It seems like yesterday. My words just can not describe it. All the joy, excitement, ups and downs, families, friends and more.

I love my wife. It is a great day to have off so I can spend time with her.

Got to turn off this computer!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »