S.A.T.

Have you ever just been Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired. Well, I am. I can’t wait till I can get out of  town. I am getting out of the heck out of this city. I need a change of scenery. I need some new faces and places in my life. This town will drain you dry if you let it. This weekend I am vehicle shopping and by next weekend I will clocking miles on the highway. I am packing the kids and rolling out. We are taking a family break. Then the next weekend I am taking a me break. Places to go, people to meet. I need some new things in my life, I am tired of the old, I need some new. New friends, new adventures, new hobbies, new everything.

I refuse to get stuck in the rut again. There is way more to life than this and I am about to experience it. I am way too excited about it. I do have some new things though, school and work has opened so many doors. I have some new friends too (Shout out to my Americorps buddies) and a new atmosphere, may be that is where my excitement is coming from. These new things are doing things and I am about to do things with them. There is so much to do that does not involve Dayton, OH and this woman is about to get busy doing them. And I can’t wait. I have been looking at all the happenings and I have honed in on a few that I will be participating in, so I will keep you all posted.

Yes You Can!!!!!

Wow, last week really flew by…let me see…what did I do…Well, I went through my official training with Americorps…I am still awed and amazed. I met some AWESOME people this week. I was surrounded by people from so many different walks of life. The thing that stuck out the most was the number of accomplished young black men. We had men who were at various stages of education. There were some who had graduated college and been in the work force and now heading back to school. Then others who were on their way to college. I was proud, so proud. It was great to see the other side of the statistics. I can’t wait to introduce them to the kids in the after school program where I work. I am so excited. The kids in my program are the kids according to statistics won’t make it. They are urban kids in urban schools. They hear so much of what they can’t do, I can’t wait to show them what they can. The young men in our Americorps group came from the same schools that these kids now attend.

I am taking a Educational Psychology and a Multicultural Education class right now and I am beginning to see educators and education in a whole different light. The big thing around here right now are the EdChoice scholarships. With these scholarships children who are in schools that are in academic emergency are going to private schools. We have families bailing in droves and heading for private schools. I thought about it and in the end decided against it. I came from these schools we are running from and if we all bail what happens to our schools. I thought about this a long time before finally deciding to attend Central State University and major in Education-Intervention Specialist. What better way to affect the system than to work from the inside? I am on a mission to help turn Dayton Public Schools around.

The education our kids receive is totally up to us as parents. Your child gets as much as you put into it. If you just drop your child off and never participate in the education they receive (besides doing homework with them) what do you expect. A lot of times we as parents see issues and just talk about them. We don’t participate in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Community Education Council (CEC) and then want to complain when things are wrong. What are we doing to change these schools? What part are we really playing in our children’s education? We have every excuse in the book on why we can’t do those things. Then we snatch our kids out and move them to “better” schools. The thing that scares me most is public schools are going to be here. Our grandchildren will be going to these schools and if we don’t stand now they are going to lose in such a major way. I am excited because I am not the only parent who feels this way. There are others of us out there and together we can effect change.

If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building, or do you change the nail?
Rwanda proverb

I Don’t Like It

It’s Friday and it’s time for my favorite things but today it is with a twist. I have been in training all week for my new job. I am working through Americorps for a local community center. So far training has been great, until today… We are going to Camp Kern for an outdoor team building experience. Today’s list is going to be things I hate about outdoors.

10. It’s Outdoors

9. It’s Hot

8. It’s RAINING today

7. There is a possibility of activities that involve HEIGHTS

6. Reported that last year the food was NASTY

5. Bugs

4. Did I mention BUGS

3. Grass, ragweed, pollen…I have allergies and asthma

2. It’s a long bus ride

1. And again…IT’S OUTDOORS

So, today while you are chillin’ inside remember me and throw up a prayer. I forgot to go get a poncho so I will more than likely be WET, which sucks more than being hot. I am trying to geek myself up to be excited and have fun (which I probably will), so let’s hope for the best, right?

The Truth, the Whole Truth…

…And Nothing But the Truth.

I am taking a class right now called The Introduction of Africans in US History. This class leaves me awed and amazed every time. This class basically covers the slave trade. We have been talking about the middle passage. This is the trip the Africans made from their native lands to the various countries including the Americas. I have studied this before and knew a little about it but my teacher has been filling in some blanks and introducing some new facts to me about it.

Today we watched a portion of Amistad. And I was weak, I’ve seen this movie before but today armed with what I have been learning, it made it all the more real. I was almost in tears just watching it. In my other class we saw a video about some little known events in African American History. I am so intriged by this I am putting together some stuff so I can teach my kids about it. The video touched on something that excites me every time I hear about it…Brown vs Board of Education. I learned to appreciate my education more when I really studied this and how it has effected education for African Americans.

Because of these classes, Black History Month around here is going to be really different, really different. I can’t wait to teach this. There is so much our kids don’t know that they should about where we came from, how we got there, where we are and where we are going. I only have to take this one class to fulfill my history requirement, but I taking as many classes as I can, this really excites me.

Love List

Last week we finished our definition of love. Thanks for the great comments. I was reading an article about a week ago, it talked about the lists we make in life: shopping, Christmas, wish, goals and dreams, to-do lists etc. and how beneficial they are to us. They help us stay on task or track our progress. A little check shows us that we have taken another step, big or small in the direction we want to go. The article went on to talk about how research has shown that people who make a tangible list and keep it handy are far more likely to achieve their goals than others who have the very same desires. The writers of the article came up with something called The Love List. It was created for married couples but with a few tweaks; I think this is something beneficial for dating couples too, especially if you are looking to be married couples in the future.

Here is how The Love List works. It consists of eight small actions practiced daily, weekly, monthly and yearly:

•    Once a day
Take Time to Talk (If Only for a Minute)
Find Something That Makes You Both Laugh

•    Once a week
Do Something Active That Lifts Your Spirits
Boost Your Partner’s Self-Esteem

•    Once a Month
Rid Yourselves of Harmful Residue
Try Something New

•    Once a Year
Review Your Top-Ten Highlights
Chart Your Course for the Coming Year

The List does not seem like a whole lot but it is the little things that make or break a relationship. I am going to try this and I hope you will too. What can it hurt? the things on this list will cost you nothing or very little to do. If anything else you will learn more about your significant other and that is priceless.