10:51 p.m. - 2007-01-16
work
Yesterday our furnace decided to crap out. Poor Kevin had to sit at home (where he works) with a winter hat and flannel jacket on until his brother who has worked in heating and a/c for 15 years or something came and hooked us up. Yay for brian! It is cold now and not a good time for such an event to occur so I am grateful for that.
I went to a school board hearing last night to rally for the support of after school programs. (Anyone who wants to can sign up to address the school board for three minutes...they cut you off at three minutes which I absolutely LOVE because most people seem to have no concept of what three minutes is.) Among other people who spoke at the hearing was this family who homeschools their kids and was angry that their kid couldn't be in the musical at the school where he would go if he went to school. It is a somewhat reasonable concern, but it was annoying for two reasons.
One: if your kids are too good for the public school system, they shouldn't be allowed to do the fun stuff at school. Sorry, i know a lot of people probably disagree with that, but I just don't see how you can in good conscience let your kid play with the inner city kids but not learn with them. It's an arguable issue but that's where i stand.
Two: Homeschooled kids so often seem to grow up thinking they are better and smarter than everyone else. Lachmans aside, as they are an example that does not fit the norm. I went to a public school with lots of bad kids but lots of good kids too. It really wasn't that hard to stay out of trouble and pay attention. I have kids in my program now who come from a rough neighborhood and are all low income. Some of them are getting straight A's. Granted, some of them are doing terribly but it's not because it's impossible for them to do well - it's because they don't care. And that, I imagine, is because no one at home is teaching them to care. And that is what my program is trying to do...teach them to care. It's an uphill battle, indeed, and some of them might not ever care. But it's not because no one cares about them.
Ok, off to the salt mines, or more specifically, some early morning meeting that I have no idea what it's for. There's been a lot of that, but it's usually valuable once I get there.
