When I was an Assistant Superintendent for Instruction in one of the larger city schools in Ohio (way back in the early `80's) it was quite common for consultants and universities to schedule workshops and even offer courses that purported to tell we "leaders in Education" what was coming down the...
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1878 Views
Along about 1967 the tsunami of money from the Federal Government to “Education” that was created by the nerve shattering “beep-beep-beeping” of the world’s first space vehicle had reached its crest and was receding. It was Russia’s vehicle. . . and it was called “Sputnik” or fellow traveler. Those beeps were...
1385 Views
1385 Views
If you picture a valley as a bowl or a long trough between lines of mountains, Caney is not in a valley. But Urban S. Gibbs, a patriarch who had the stern, unforgiving look of John Brown, was President of our bank and keeper of Caney’s money. He called his bank...
1370 Views
1370 Views
In the “dark ages” of mid-twentieth century life was pretty much an “assume your own risk” proposition whether at work, at home, or at play. There was no OSHA, no safety requirements for toys, games, child seats, helmets and so on, and very few rules or laws dealing with personal behavior...
2162 Views
2162 Views
The Great Bermuda Short Scandal In today’s society a person would have to appear in public almost as uncovered as a new-born babe to get arrested on a charge of indecent exposure. That was not the case as the 20 th Century rolled past the halfway mark on its road to...
1854 Views
1854 Views
Spend 36 years in “The Vineyards of Education” and unless you were somehow completely insensible to your surroundings you will have a truckload of incidents, some humorous, others poignant, and a few (although too many) tragic, lurking in your memory. I began my career in September of 1957 as a band...
1547 Views
1547 Views
In the first few years after “The War” every American wanted either something they had been denied during “The War” or something they’d never had. We teen agers were no exception. There were, of course, some fads that came and went, such as boys insisting on a pair of boots –...
1112 Views
1112 Views
New Year’s Day, 1954 found me bundling up the few belongings the Army allowed me to have into my reasonably nice looking 1948 “Kaiser.” “Kaiser” being one of the several new car company start-ups that bloomed and died in the years following “The War.” I was officially a tuba player in...
1395 Views
1395 Views
In December, 1994 we were living in St. Charles MO. I was working on an irregular basis as a “temp” paralegal for a large law firm in downtown St. Louis and as a substitute teacher in two suburban school districts. Anne worked as a secretary at The Jewish Center for the...
1520 Views
1520 Views
On October 4th, 1957, my first year as a teacher and one day after my 25th birthday, we were "treated" to a beeping sound being sent from space by a man-made satellite. The first of the many that now roam about the earth. It was called "Sputnik," and, God forbid, it...
1460 Views
1460 Views
All science classes in the small-town high school from which I graduated were taught by a poor soul whom, for out of respect for his memory, I will not name. Consider him “Mr. X.” Mr. X became infamous for the total anarchy that reigned in his classroom. This unfortunate man had...
1272 Views
1272 Views
In the 1930’s, Central Oklahoma would have made any film director looking for an “On Location” site for a movie depicting the seven plagues of Ancient Egypt drool with desire. Most of Oklahoma, after enduring the destruction of the Dust Bowl, foreclosures on family farms and double-digit unemployment had one...
1124 Views
1124 Views
Forgive? I have much more to be forgiven for than to forgive. The years between 1950 and 1979 are filled with things I did to hurt other people. It wasn’t deliberate or malicious but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I did hurt people, sometimes severely. I either didn’t know or...
870 Views
870 Views
Life is made up of achievement, failure, frustration, fulfillment, ecstasy and agony: and in my 79 years I have both sampled and sometimes dwelled too long in every one of them. That is as it should be. I would find it impossible to say which among the thousands of joyful moments,...
1471 Views
1471 Views
There are some things we did in our lives that we may wish we had done differently, but there is a good probability that if we got a second chance we would not do them differently. Why? Because the motivation to do what we did the first time is firmly grounded...
1808 Views
1808 Views
During the darker days of “The War” (to the “elders” of today’s society that always means “WWII.”) gasoline was stringently rationed. Drivers were issued “A,” “B,” or “C” decals to put onto their windshields and a rationing book filled with coupons that could be redeemed only on a week by week...
1226 Views
1226 Views
Wishing one could go back in time and relive some part of one’s life is tempting, but with a little reflection it is easy to see that changin perhaps even a small decision or action is loaded with unintended, life changing consequences. The poet Robert Frost made this point clearly in...
1345 Views
1345 Views
A couple of miles west of my home town, Caney KS, after crossing an old iron truss bridge spanning the muddy Caney River on a narrow asphalt country road there was a crossroads. To the north the road ran a few miles and then fizzled out. To the south it turned into...
1530 Views
1530 Views
Not all Christmases are “Tiny Tim,” “Santa Claus,” “Joy to The World” affairs. Some are. . .well . . . “different.” This is the story of one of those. It was December, 1987. Anne and I were living in Lone Jack MO where I was the School Superintendent. We...
1299 Views
1299 Views
By the time I married that Italian girl with the deep brown eyes, enticing figure, “girly-smelling” dark brunette hair and unusual, to me, last name of “DeNicolo,” I knew I was marrying into an “ethnic” family that had many traditions whose roots were sunk deep in “Old World” antiquity. I...
1067 Views
1067 Views