Never gets old

Along the same lines of my previous post... this note is a keeper.


Ryan -
Hello hello! haha ... It's been a really long time! How are you? It was really funny yesterday because my CF (or RA) was in my room and she interviewed my roommate and I about our experience with military recruiters. We talked about how we don't really appreciate, to put it nicely, how they're coming into our schools offering "loads of money and opportunity" and how the No Child Left Behind act allows them to do that ... to have full access to our names and addresses etc.
anyway ... the point I'm trying to make is that we started talking about politics, which lasted like another 2 hours, and how the U.S. is becoming more and more corrupt .... and so on. It was cool tho because I was trying to think when I actually started to pay attention to politics/ what was going on in the world ... and I told them that it started my ninth grade year with this really great teacher that I had for government ... haha. Hmm ... who could that be??? ;)
So, I just wanted to share that cuz a person who has made that great of impact on my life should probably know ....
... and I was going to keep this short ... haha... hope you're off to a good start today and I'll talk to you again sometime I'm sure :)

Have a great day!

---- J.M.

Thanks for the note - It means a lot!!

The work never seems to end... but it is worth it

I just returned home from the Rogers High School National Honor Society's annual induction of new members. I was asked to be the Guest Speaker at the event - an honor for sure.

I was pleased that the students regarded me as someone who has inspired them and might have a message that resonates with their talents and hard work ethic. It was a simple yet poignant evening.

As I drove home, the clock approaching 9:00pm, thinking of the millions of things I have to do yet, I wonder what the heck I am doing wrong. I have tons of correcting to do, I need to preview my lessons for the upcoming week (heck, tomorrow!!) and I am eternally feeling like I am not meeting enough of the students' needs.

Then it hit me - I must be doing something right. The induction speech - and the theme of individual and collective accountablity - and why I was asked to be there made sense. I put in a little extra time here and there, and it must be paying off. I still need to find a balance, but the efforts I'm putting forth to help my kids succeed seem to be striking a chord within some of them. I have to remember that.

A Pink Mohawk For Food

From October 10 until the 18th, students at the high school where I teach were encouraged to bring in food for the foodshelf. There basic incentive, besides doing a good deed, was a pizza party that the winning classroom would win.

To foster a charitable environment, I decided to brainstorm with my students ways to increase the incentive. Well, as any teacher can appreciate, that when your classroom is engaged and actively participating, one doesn't want to do anything to dampen their enthusiasm. Well, as a result of the brainstorming, I somewhat foolishly agreed to match the top donor item for item, wear a costume of their choice for each day for 5 days, and allow them to shave and dye my hair into a pink mohawk. Well, these students had a REAL set of incentives now, and they worked their butts off rounding up LOTS of food. By the second to last day, my students were in the lead with 325 items. I thought "I'm getting a haircut for sure!!" Then rumours started brewing that the class down the hall had conjured a great idea to win, so my homeroom planned and worked together to really ratchet it up a notch on the last day. We estimated we had close to 900 items, surely placing us in the lead!

Well, at the end of the day, the items were counted, and my class lost by 10!!! ONLY 10 items! Weber and her fundraising efforts allowed them to buy 821 items, my class at 811, and Onell (and his unique incentives) garnered 608 items. A very close call.

But - because my class did so well, I decided to get a fauxhawk haircut this weekend and will wear it proudly tomorrow. All for a good cause!

Who Knew?

America's Best Bar?

Is right in our backyard, apparently. "The best bar in America is Nye's Polonaise." according to the magazine Esquire. The 'man's magazine' - one that has been around for almost 80 years and, although was once the place for literary giants (like Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote) to write presently focuses on fashion and all that is fashionable. It's good to see that they voted a 'townie-bar-meets-kitsch night club' the best bar and not a snobby, $12 martini house or $20 cover club.

Thanks for the tip Randy.

Kampa Fall Festival vs. Apple Fest

The group split up this weekend and attended separate 'Fests'... a text war ensue to decipher just who was at the better fest. They had the city, the sights and a wider variety of people (i.e., better gays) but we had a corn maze, a bonfire, hayrack rides, guns (okay, that's not so great) and the sights as well! It's pretty hard to decided who really 'won', but I think we can agree that we all had a good time.

Pictures too come!

Ocotober Fest - LaCrosse

Randy, Steve and I travelled down to LaCrosse on Saturday to meet up with Amy and Jeff at her sister's house and then to the Alpine. As usual, the sights were unbelievable, the beer was beer, and the laughs frequent and hardy. We made it down to the Fest grounds around 4pm, and had several drinks there before we headed Cheap Shots to meet up with some of the WIS students. The streets of LaCrosse were packed and crazy! What an event. Lots of police and people, it is amazing everyone gets from their point A to B that evening.

At Cheap Shots we met up with Andy, Luke, Owen, Melissa, Wes and ... boy there were a lot, I'm not sure I remember them all! We made our way to the gay bar, since it WAS Steve's birthday, for some dancing and good music! We met up with some more WIS students - Matt, Eric, Kacia, Ali, Megan K, Brad, Ann F (and the others joined us as well). It was a fab time until the end of the night - when a late and then no show taxi caused a bit of a tiff between the group, which led to some tears and spilled drinks, which led to some harsh words between strangers, which led to some physical aggressiveness and then a trip home for the whole lot! Nothing like ending a GREAT night with a wee bar fight. I'd say everyone made it out safe and sound and only our dignities took a bruising that evening.



Me, Ali, Eric, Matt and Kacia

Me, Kacia, Ali and Eric (& 2 excited strangers!)