Boy, 50 is a big number, but I feel pretty confident about being able to do many of the things that I am rolling out on my list. These five make the numbers I have shared 15. Enjoy.
1. My body needs to lose 20 pounds and to have better muscle tone. I truly believe that I will better be able to handle the health issues that aging throws my way if I eat healthier and exercise more.
2. Apparently, there is Family Space Camp. We are so doing that!
3. Go to the Headlands International Dark Sky Park. I'm a city girl, but I know that all the city lights are not good for us.
4. If it was good enough for Edgar Allan Poe, I've got to try it. Not opium, I'm saving that for my 70th birthday. I mean absinthe. I just want a sip.
5. Learn a card game, any card game. Currently, not counting solitaire, the only card game in my repertoire is Go Fish. I can never remember the rules to card games. Perhaps that can be rectified.
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Sharing Our Stories
Today, AFT-MI members turned up in Lansing to talk to legislators about a number of issues important to educators in Michigan.
One of the bills that might go to vote during this Lame Duck session is HB 4639. This bill would give the EAA the authority to take over schools throughout the whole state. Currently, 15 schools in Detroit are under EAA authority. I won't even go into what an unmitigated disaster the EAA is. Eclectablog has done an amazing job covering this train wreck, please give that site some more traffic.
As for the bill, support for it has been largely partisan. Many Republicans are eager to expand the EAA's powers to other "failing" schools. Luckily, the AFT has had a huge impact on stopping the district's expansion. All the AFT-MI did was transport teachers from EAA schools to Lansing and let them tell their stories to legislators, this past spring.
One of the legislators who heard those teachers stories was Republican Senator, John Poppageorge. He initially supported the EAA, but changed his mind after listening to teachers tell their stories. One of the teachers told the senator that the EAA was a Potemkin village. Clearly, that analogy made an impression on the senator, as he repeated the phrase to us today to describe his opinion of the EAA.
We have voices, but they are useless if we don't use them. Teachers have been under attack across the nation at an unprecedented level over the last several years. If we engage, even minimally, in the political process and simply tell our stories, even members on the other side will listen.
One of the bills that might go to vote during this Lame Duck session is HB 4639. This bill would give the EAA the authority to take over schools throughout the whole state. Currently, 15 schools in Detroit are under EAA authority. I won't even go into what an unmitigated disaster the EAA is. Eclectablog has done an amazing job covering this train wreck, please give that site some more traffic.
As for the bill, support for it has been largely partisan. Many Republicans are eager to expand the EAA's powers to other "failing" schools. Luckily, the AFT has had a huge impact on stopping the district's expansion. All the AFT-MI did was transport teachers from EAA schools to Lansing and let them tell their stories to legislators, this past spring.
One of the legislators who heard those teachers stories was Republican Senator, John Poppageorge. He initially supported the EAA, but changed his mind after listening to teachers tell their stories. One of the teachers told the senator that the EAA was a Potemkin village. Clearly, that analogy made an impression on the senator, as he repeated the phrase to us today to describe his opinion of the EAA.
We have voices, but they are useless if we don't use them. Teachers have been under attack across the nation at an unprecedented level over the last several years. If we engage, even minimally, in the political process and simply tell our stories, even members on the other side will listen.
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