Didn't Know He Was Still Alive

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog: "Ich do hopen that this newe blogspote syte plese yow as muche as yt pleseth me, for ich do muchel relisshe myn litel florale bordere and smal illustraciouns. Ywis, ich waxe fondre and fondre of myn goode scriven and webmayster, hende Adam Lynkferste (confuse hym nat with Adam Pinkhurste, who ys a scabye manne who did stele two large and creamye wheeles of chese from myn hous and shal neure worke for me ayeyn!)."

Do Laptops Boost Learning

The Governor recently proposed funding to make laptops available in every classroom for core subjects. Do they really help or is this just another lets throw money at a problem? The answer is definitely maybe. South Dakota is also looking into providing both of their students with laptops, some skeptics think they should wait till South Dakota has electricity.

In Watertown, where students have had laptops for three years, measuring an
increase in student achievement has been difficult.In other states, districts
with their own laptop initiatives have stopped short of saying they have seen
increases in standardized test scores.But those with the programs also say
learning and communication between teachers, students and parents are enhanced,
and students develop skills they Article

Knowledge vs Imagination

"I wasn't surprised when the results confirmed my intuition,
but I would have been surprised had I been wrong. I'm enough of an artist to
draw freely on my imagination, which I think is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." - Albert Einstein, Berlin- 1929

The greatest challenge in real education is not producing the highest scores, testing the knowledge of what is known, but to pass on that knowledge while preserving the spark of imagination that burns so bright in the young.

In order to put that imagination to good use students have to know not only what was successful but what was tried and failed. Rules are made to be broken but first there has to be an understanding of why they were created. Real rebels in the arts and sciences all had an understanding and years of training in their field before they broke new ground in their fields. In government, the rebels who founded this country had spent years studying ever form of government from the earliest up to their time knowing the promises and the pitfalls of each before settling on a republic.

The current emphasis with the No Child Left Behind is not as bad as it critics say it is. It is an attempt to ensure that every student leaves school with basic knowledge and skills and that schools be accountable for the results. That is all well and good but it can't be the overriding factor. Schools that drop subjects and forgo teaching "unimportant" subjects like history, art and music to pump up on math and reading are like jocks that ruin their overall health by taking steroids for the big event. A quick short term solution that will lead to very bad long term results. A way has to be found to not only teach what we do know but just as imporant, what is not known along with subjects to inspire what might be.

So I left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is - for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I neither know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the advantage of him. - Socrates searching for the wisest man in Athens

Lovello is The Morning Call's Class 2A coach of the year.

March 27, 2006
From The Morning Call

In December 2005, Sam Lovello, then 58, was rolling around the mats with some of his wrestlers at Brandywine Heights High School and felt a tingling in his left arm.No big deal, he thought. Just aches and pains of an older body working out with young men.Then the cold sweats started. During workouts.''I thought it was old age,'' joked Lovello, now 59. ''My wife talked me into going to the doctor. We did a stress test. I had a blockage, and they put a stent in.''

A few days later, Lovello was back on the mats, demonstrating closed-eye jumping jacks for the team, when the clot sealing the hole where the catheter had been inserted in his inguinal artery broke.''I was just showing them what I wanted, and PLOP,'' he remembered. ''Blood everywhere. I had to stay on the couch for two days with a heavy bag on it.''Lovello recovered just fine, though, and Brandywine wrestling fans are glad he did.

This season, Lovello led the team to a 21-1 record, won the Berks County League title, and qualified six wrestlers for the PIAA Class 2A tournament.But that's only part of it.With a win over Kutztown, Lovello collected a major milestone, his 400th career victory. The Bullets also picked up the 450th win in school history, a feat honored by being listed in the state tournament program.For his achievements, but more importantly, for his compassion for the young men in his charge, Lovello is The Morning Call's Class 2A coach of the year.

''I am humbled,'' he said when told of his second such selection (he also won in 2003). ''There are so many good coaches in the Lehigh Valley and District 11, this is a true honor.''Indeed, Todd Herzog of Northern Lehigh, last year's winner, took his team to the PIAA dual-meet tournament final before bowing to Reynolds. And Northwestern coach Mike Williams, in just his fifth season, saw Scott Clymer win the 125-pound state title, the first for a Tiger since 1980.Few can argue with Lovello's merits, however.''I would agree with you,'' Herzog said. ''What a program he's built. I went up to Sam and congratulated him on the 400 wins at regionals. He's worked hard, and he's still in the room with the kids.

When Herzog first took over at Northern Lehigh, he took his squad to the Bullet Invitational — and the team finished last.''We took a whooping and they finished first,'' Herzog remembered. ''It opened my eyes. The next year we went back and finished first. Sam pulled me aside and said I was on to something. He said we beat some of his best kids. He gave me a lot of incentive to keep working hard at it.''That's the thing about Lovello, his attitude.''You won't see him get angry often during a match,'' said John Toggas, the former Parkland head coach who has served as Lovello's assistant for the past four years.''Like most good coaches, they do their work before a match.

You won't see a Dave Crowell [Nazareth's head coach] get crazy in a match because he's done all the work before the match.''Sam's really good with the kids, that's his best quality,'' Toggas continued. ''The kids respect him as a person. They look up to him and like him a lot.''And Lovello likes them back. A sixth-grade English and social studies teacher at Brandywine, Lovello enjoys being around the kids.''I always got along with the kids,'' Lovello said. ''From the beginning, I never had problems. They did what I asked them to do. I've gone to clinics, talked to a lot of good coaches, asked questions, sat in on practices. I love to learn about wrestling. I've been fortunate because I've never had a problem with a kid or a parent in 30 years. There's never been anyone to yell at me or anybody who wanted to get me fired.''

Lovello agreed that this season certainly had some memorable highlights. Seniors Matt Toggas and Jeff Lapp became the 22nd and 23rd Brandywine wrestlers to win 100 matches. Brandywine won the Canner Duals and the Berks County championships.And the lone loss on that 21-1 record came in the District 3 team tournament in a 35-35 tie with Delone Catholic that was decided on the fourth criteria.Lovello ended the season with a career mark of 408-137-4, legendary numbers. The school now has 453 wins, and, for the 21st straight year, sent at least two wrestlers to the state tournament.

Lovello, who has coached at Brandywine since 1975 except for two years at Wilson of West Lawn in the mid-1980s, figures he has four more years left in his tenure. He's got a bumper crop of eighth-graders ready to move up, and he's looking forward to helping them reach the top step at the state tournament.''I still believe every time we go out there, we're going to bring [a champion] back,'' he said.gary.blockus@mcall.com

The People In Charge Need Help

as much as the students. Keep the other subjects just emphsais math and reading more in them. Drilling in math is boring they really most people need to see practical applications. Using math in other areas helps to reinforces their mush filled brains. Put math question in the history test and reading questions in the science test.

Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math - New York Times

Thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush's signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some low-proficiency students, eliminating it.
Schools from Vermont to California are increasing in some cases tripling the class time that low-proficiency students spend on reading and math, mainly because the federal law, signed in 2002, requires annual exams only in those subjects and punishes schools that fall short of rising benchmarks.
The changes appear to principally affect schools and students who test below grade level.
...
"We don't choose the curriculum," Mr. Colby, a spokesman for the federal Department of Education said. "That's a decision that local leaders have to make. But for every school you point to, I can show you five other schools across the country where students are still taking a well-rounded curriculum and are still making adequate yearly progress. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask our schools to get kids proficient at grade level in reading and math." Article

School Budget

"Action: The Brandywine Heights School Board's finance committee has reviewed technology, curriculum and athletic budgets for 2006-07.
After three meetings into the budget process, a shortfall of $856,000 in the preliminary a $24.8 million budget is forecast.
Plans to reduce the reserve fund $500,000 to $2 million leaves $350,000 to be funded through a tax increase or cost cutting, Steven Fischer, the district's business manager, said Wednesday night."
...
“These amounts are unconscionable,” said Elaine Falcone, referring to technology budget requests for laptop computers. “Everyone would love a laptop but spending this kind of money doesn't make sense to taxpayers.”

Another association member asked, “What part of the athletic budget is mandated and how did it become our duty to provide this?” To a suggestion that students pay to participate in sports Dr. John P. Curtin, superintendent, responded, “I came from a pay-to-play district. It was disastrous. After three years the board did away with it.”

Asked after the meeting if a tax increase would be necessary Committee Chairman Lori Yocco said, “It's uncertain but if it is, it will be minimal.” More

Pay For Performance

About time. if you want to be treated as a professional then you should be willing to be rewarded as one. Shouldn't be rewarded strictly on test results but with a combination of customer satisfaction (parents, students) and supervior assestment.

Teacher
pay reform challenges states: "Paying teachers based on talent and student
performance instead of seniority is gaining traction in the states thanks to
support from governors and new federal incentives to tie teacher pay to student
achievement.

Minnesota and Florida are at the forefront of the movement. Minnesota inaugurated the nation's most sweeping teacher pay changes last fall, and Florida announced last month that all schools must begin compensating the
state's top-performing teachers by next year under a system based on student
test scores."

Not The Sharpest Knife In The Drawer

"Reading police arrested a 17-year-old city boy Wednesday night after he smoked marijuana in the lobby of the Berks County Courthouse and then used a metal ashtray to repeatedly strike a Northern Berks Regional police cruiser parked outside, officials said." Article

Preschooler and Team Sports.

Is my preschooler ready to play a team sport?

Short answer NO but go ahead and do it anyway just to get it out of your system. "

"There's nothing wrong with cheering your preschooler on if she enjoys kicking a
ball around with other kids her age. The emphasis should be on having fun and
getting exercise, though -- not on competition. Most 3-year-olds are too young
to participate in team sports, but some 4-year-olds may get a kick (so to speak
...) out of playing a casual game of soccer or tee ball. The American Academy of
Pediatrics recommends waiting until age 6 before introducing team sports, since
few kids understand the concept of teamwork until this age. Preschoolers should
spend most of their time engaged in free play -- running, jumping, chasing"

For The Little Guy In Your Life

Time to close the patent office everything that needs to be invented has been. New from BuyBuyBaby

• The world's only flushable toddler urinal
• No more training your little man to sit first and stand later
• Start him out right - teach him to stand from the beginning
• Little girls need to sit, but with the new Peter Potty, little boys can stand like Daddy
  
  
  

Maybe I am just jealous I didn't think of this.

If you ever heard Don McLean song "American Pie" and the lyrics "the day the music died". Well it seems that event was actually caught on tape back in 1969. This is not for people with weak hearts but you should watch this historic clip

WARNING LOTS OF BIG HAIR.

Be sure to stay around for the big finish it is worth the four minutes. Extra credit if you can name the people featured in this medley.

Bet This Goes on The Drivers Permaent Record

Article: "School bus hits principal's car

A school bus with 15 students on board crashed into the principal's car in front of Longswamp Elementary School Monday afternoon, state police said.
No one was injured in the crash about 3:30. The school nurse checked all the children.

The school notified the children's parents, some of whom picked up their children. Others were taken home on another bus.

Police gave this account:
School bus driver Francine Gore, 53, Kutztown, was pulling away from the front of the school and struck the right rear of the car driven by Principal Susan Smith, 61, Mount Penn.
The bus driver said she was looking in her side mirror at a school bus she thought was trying to go around her and did not notice the principal's car in front of her.
Both Gore and Smith were wearing seat belts"

Early Admittance, Early Acceptance or Shotgun em

In New Twist on College Search, a First Choice, and 20 Backups - New York Times: "Michael Martin has done well in the college admissions sweepstakes, having been accepted by eight universities and rejected by one. But he expects to hear from 12 more colleges in the next few weeks, including Georgetown, Wake Forest and the University of California, Los Angeles. Worried about the increasingly competitive race to get into the nation's top universities, Mr. Martin decided he needed to apply to as many colleges as he could, 21 in all.

Are You A Helicopter Parent?

with a propensity to swoop in at the slightest crisis.
"They are needy, overanxious and sometimes plain pesky -- and schools at every level are trying to find ways to deal with them.
No, not students. Parents -- specifically parents of today's 'millennial generation' who, many educators are discovering, can't let their kids go.
They text message their children in middle school, use the cellphone like an umbilical cord to Harvard Yard and have no compunction about marching into kindergarten class and screaming at a teacher about a grade." Putting Parents In Their Place: Outside Class

But What About History?

Berks County students submitted nearly half of the 44 winning entries in the National History Day regional competition held over the weekend in Lancaster County.
About 350 students in grades six through 12 participated in the contest Saturday at Penn Manor High School. This year's theme was “Taking a Stand in History.”
Students from Berks, Lancaster and Lebanon counties entered the competition either individually or in groups. The winning entries advance to the state competition May 10-11 at Penn State University in Centre County.

Didn't see Brandywine mentioned and Kutztown mentioned way too much.

Now If We Only Had A Football Team To Cheer For

A Muhlenberg Township cheerleading squad won first place at a national competition Sunday.
At the Atlantic Championship Cheer and Dance Competition in Fairfax, Va., Muhlenberg Cheerleading placed first in the division for participants 12 years old and younger.
The Brandywine Youth Club placed third in the same division.
Exeter Youth Football Cheerleading placed third in the division for participants older than 12.
Today's Reading Eagle

Vote-a-Rama

OK who voted and why for Specter?

WHAT IS THE GOP FOR? [Andrew Stuttaford]
From the Washington Post: “It was the political equivalent of going on a shopping spree the same day you get a credit-line increase on your over-the-limit card. In the morning, the senators increased the federal debt limit by $800 billion, to $9 trillion -- that's with a T. In the afternoon came the Vote-a-Rama, a carnival in which the lawmakers took turns pitching scores of amendments to the 2007 budget measure, most calling for more money for favorite programs. There is no specific mention of a "Vote-a-Rama" in the Constitution, which is probably because the Framers could not have imagined what happened in the Senate yesterday: The chamber's 100 members gathered and, in a frenzy of legislative activity, did their darnedest to empty the Treasury. "The Republican Party is now principally moderate, if not liberal!" exulted Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), after the Senate -- including a majority of Republicans -- approved his budget-busting amendment to spend an extra $7 billion on domestic programs. Just a week ago, GOP leaders gathered in Memphis and proclaimed the party's commitment to fiscal restraint; yesterday, the restraints came off. "All the talk in Memphis doesn't comport with reality," said Specter, savoring his victory in a leather armchair in the Senate press gallery. "I don't have any apologies to make for this 7 billion. I'm still not satisfied." The Corner

recess in schools under fire

Article in today's Eagle concerning the pressure schools seem to feel they are under to reduce recess Article

This should be a no brainer. Trouble is schools are run by people that loved being in a classroom. Probably spent their recess and vacation time playing school.

Children are no different then kittens or puppies in using play time to learn. Sports,recess and other non-classroom activities are when classroom lessons are synthesized by the brain and become real. You can hear a teacher state Newton third law of physics concerning "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" but it never really hits home till you have money on the pool table and the laws of probability become crystal clear when you contemplate drawing to an inside straight.

More Reports on Flying Cows

Sorry ever since the movie Twister can't pass up a good flying cow story.

Flying Cow Leaves Two Police Cars in Flames:

State Computer Inititive

"The man assigned to implement Pennsylvania's $250 million proposal to provide every high school with student laptop computers came to Kutztown High School Friday to see how it's done.

"Kutztown is a model," Deputy Education Secretary L. Michael Golden said. "To be successful in a program like this, it's all about the implementation. It's not the hardware and the programs, it's how it's being used."

Now in its second year, the Kutztown program provides all high school teachers and each of its 640 students with a wireless laptop an Apple iBook and backs it up with a schoolwide intranet, online teaching materials and classroom systems." Article

Instead of funding schools properly the state is once again giving money to schools to use as the state directs. They look good and the local boards and administration gets the blame for raising taxes and administration bloat when new people are hired to keep these laptops running. With today's falling prices the initial purchase price is not bad but the total cost of ownership can be a killer. On the plus side it does put all the students on a more equal footing when it comes to use of technology. Like Sec. Golden said it is not about the box it is about how it is used. Unless the curriculum is modified to make full use of the new tools it is just another 10 lbs in the backpack. All the ramifications and cost need to be studied carefully because sometimes it may be best to look a gift horse in the mouth and say no thanks.

Act Local Think Cosmoally

Most of us become tied down with local problems but others like Brian Greene look at the really big picture "Galaxies are nothing but quantum mechanics writ large across the sky." You may think inflantion has to do with runaway school taxes but it also concerns the creation of the universe.

The theory holds that that, during its first moments, the universe, fueled by an
anti-gravitational field, underwent a violent growth spurt, called inflation. It
ballooned from the size of a marble to larger than the observable universe today
in less than an eyeblink.. NY TImes

Professor Andre Linde of Stanford has a Nice site and some of it is even almost understandable plus has some really cool pixs. There is also a link to his book Particle Physics and Inflantionary Cosmology where if you are so minded you can see how a physicist describes the creation of the universe.

Interesting contrast to how a poet would describe the same event.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be
light: and there was light.

Anyway have a good weekend and be careful with the green beer.

Happy St. Patrick

High School Phone System Under Repair

See Topic section for details

Mid-skolerer winns spelin B

“I'm really glad my grandmother can cook,” the 14-year-old eighth-grade student from Brandywine Heights Middle School said after the contest.

Moments before, Philip Calafati was locked in a tense duel with the other final contestant, Athena Deren Heck, Heidelberg Township, a 14-year-old, home-schooled eighth-grader who defeated Philip in last year's finals.

It took about a hour for the 38 other contestants to be eliminated.

Philip and Athena exchanged spellings for more than 20 words, including juggernaut, an irresistible force; cacography, bad handwriting; and tumulary, relating to a tomb.

Then Athena misspelled filamentary, the characteristic of being thin and flexible.

Philip said afterward that he thought of the root word filament before giving the correct spelling.
Then Philip had to spell one more word. When manicotti was announced, he smiled and spelled it quickly and confidently

As the winner, Philip will represent Berks County at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, May 28 through June 2, on an all-expenses-paid trip with one parent.

He also received a dictionary, the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, which is a $100 U.S. savings bond, and a trophy. He also will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Reading Phillies' Newspapers in Education Day on April 30. Article

Need to recruit him to join our highly paid but phonics challenged editorial staff. Funny the spell checker program just choked on cacography and tumulary.

If you want to see what goes on behind the curtains at the National Spelling Bee watch Spellbound .

One of the many excellent viewer reviews:

"
How did they do this??! Let's make a documentary." "OK!" "Let's try to find the most mundane, boring subject we can!" "OK!" "How about spelling bees?" "Har har har!"

And somehow, from this subject, these filmmakers managed to craft one of the most exciting films you'll ever see. It was nominated, too, for an Academy Award -- an achievement which speaks volumes for it.

What you read in the other reviews is true: This film provides enough heartbreak, suspense and triumph to make Hollywood envious. All achieved, as another reviewer noted, without a single four-letter word, car chase or explosion. It's the simple story of eight kids who went to the National Bee in Washington, DC -- where parents sit clench-fisted as they wait for their child to complete a tough word, where those eliminated put on a brave face or break into

tears, and where the kids themselves cheer each other on ... all closely knit into the fabric of America and what it means to be American, wherever you may come from.

Not only does this film put a bright side on America; but, as well, it could easily have any viewer on the edge of their seat; and more importantly -- and in a way achieved by VERY few of the films, books and ideas of our time, with their reliance on false hope and handy panaceas -- it made me realize, in the last 20 minutes or so, that I wasn't watching the journey of one champion. I was watching 249 of them.

A Bullet Abroad

How to drop 62 euro on one meal (around 80 dollars)
Get a house wine
bottle of water
one pizza
and one piece of stupid fish that is supposed to cost 7 euro but since you get charged by the gram it is 35 euro...
other then that were in venice which is georgous..leaving for munich tommorow...

6 Things That Are Right With Schools

This may come as a shock to a lot of people but today's schools aren't all bad.

"What's right with America's schools? Well, let's see, we have:
1. inspiring teachers
2. inspired students
3. a commitment to educate everyone
4. fine facilities and equipment
5. caring, sensitive administrators
6. plenty of choices
I know. It sounds like a satire. Shouldn't it be that we don't have all those things? Well, it all comes down to examples. Yes, you can dredge up lots of examples to show that schools are in a terrible crisis, but there are some counterexamples too. You want to hear a few of them? Read on. "
6 Things That Are Right With Schools

Moving On

Shouldn't they actually have done something first.

Article: "HARRISBURG Sen. Don White is willing to vote for nearly any piece of legislation that will cut property taxes, but he and other lawmakers in districts such as his have one problem: No amount of pressure seems to forge a majority behind one bill.
White senses that momentum on the issue has slackened in recent weeks, with other pieces of legislation waiting in line, a state budget to be negotiated and more than 70 legislators thinking about their May 16 primary contests.
?It's not the pressing item we were talking about in caucus every day? as recently as January, said White, an Indiana County Republican. ?It's like we're moving on.?"

Pay To Play

Seems the districts have a conflict, they are supposed to be the new weight nanny but the ones that went with the governors Act 72 are being forced to cut out sports and other activities. Article in today's Reading Eagle on dead trees by Ms Phoebe Sweet. How a student can participate and learn valuable lessons in sports, theatre, band at $250 a pop? How many students can participate in anything? This will only hurt the students that need these activities the most.

Daniel Boone School District families might have to pay for students to
participate in activities such as sports, band and clubs under a program the
school board is considering.The so-called pay-to-play program is one of several
options the district is considering as it looks to trim $1 million from a
proposed $42.6 million budget.Although Boone board members have said they aren’t
likely to approve the policy for the 2006-07 school year, the district may be
one of many in Pennsylvania forced to look at such programs to deal with Act 72
budget restrictions.In Berks County, only Reading and Daniel Boone voted for Act
72, but Gov. Ed Rendell has said he wants to make the legislation mandatory for
all districts.Act 72 is the state law to help school districts trim property
taxes by using revenue from slot machines. But those gambling dollars are not
yet available, so districts such as Boone are left to make difficult budget cuts
and consider other cost-saving measures.Under Act 72, districts need voter
approval — with some exceptions — to raise taxes above the rate of
inflation.Scott J. Smith, director of sports management at Central Michigan
University and an expert on pay-to-play athletics, said states that enact laws
with limits on yearly tax increases historically have been the first to enact
pay-to-play programs.California and Massachusetts, for example, require voters
to approve tax increases above a set index. Both states have large numbers of
districts that charge students to participate.“I think maybe we’re taking a
permanent step in the direction that school athletics must be paid for in the
future by the people who participate,” Smith said.Daniel Boone Superintendent
David H. Robbins has told the board that the district doesn’t know how much it
would charge students, how the program would affect participation or whether it
would be a major revenue generator.The school board is scheduled to review the
proposal and other potential budget cuts tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Monocacy
Kindergarten Center in Birdsboro.Richard C. Fidler, school board finance
committee chairman, said Daniel Boone probably won’t go to pay-to-play right
now, but that the district would consider it for the future.Pay-to-play programs
began in the 1980s. A 2004 USA Today survey found that 34 states had school
districts with such programs.A Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
spokesman said pay-to-play sports are virtually unheard of in this state,
although some districts have discussed them.Keith Manville, superintendent in
Saugus, Mass., said his school district was faced with eliminating sports, band
and clubs two years ago.“We made it very clear that unless there was more money
coming into the school district budget, we couldn’t fund athletics and
activities,” Manville said.During the first two years, Saugus students paid $250
per sport and activity, with no caps on the fee regardless of the number of
activities or students in a family.Donations from businesses and the community
partially funded programs.Manville said the district hopes to reduce the student
contribution next year and set a maximum amount each family would pay.Alyssa M.
Daloisio, a Daniel Boone High School senior who plays three sports and
participates in several clubs and activities, said she thinks pay-to-play
programs are unfair to some families.“You may have students who won’t be able to
afford it and won’t go out because they don’t have the money and they don’t want
to be ashamed to say they don’t,” she said.The Daniel Boone School Board has
discussed giving discounts or waiving the fees for families who qualify for free
or reduced lunches based on income.Alyssa’s father, Jeffrey J. Daloisio, who
owns JD Sport, a Douglassville sporting goods store, said he objects to the
program for a different reason. He believes there are some things students learn
only through sports and other activities outside the classroom.“As a business
person, I know that when you get out in the real world, teamwork, honesty and
integrity are what people like myself are looking for in employees,” Daloisio
said.Michael D. Sheerer, a school board member and president of the Daniel Boone
Music Boosters, said after-school activities teach time management, and that
some activities, such as band, are graded.“If you look at statistics of who
participates, these are the kids who tend to do better in school,” Sheerer said.
“Any after-school activity supports these kids and really keeps them off the
street, which is important to the community as a whole.”Joseph A. Peterson,
president of the Daniel Boone Sports Boosters, said the question of whether to
charge for sports will take on a larger meaning in society.“This is going to
cause a polarization,” Peterson said, suggesting that pay-to-play could divide
rich and poor families.And because extracurricular activities play such an
important role in college admissions, Peterson said, pay-to-play could have
far-reaching impacts on students’ futures.He said some Boone residents fighting
property tax increases and saying schools shouldn’t pay for after-school
activities take for granted the benefits of their own publicly funded
education.“It’s our responsibility as a society to educate the next generation
of leaders,” Peterson said.But pay-to-play may soon get more attention in Berks
County and Pennsylvania, especially if Act 72 becomes mandatory.John Crossley,
president of the Boyertown School Board, said he is a pay-to-play
advocate.Families of students who want to play sports or an instrument should be
responsible to pay their own way, just as participants in many club teams do, he
said.“I think the responsibility of a school is academics,” Crossley said.
“We’re taking taxpayer money for nonacademic reasons.”? Contact reporter Phoebe
Sweet at 610-371-5014 or psweet@readingeagle.com.

Bullets Score At State Tourney

Sophmore Matt Yocco at 103 won the Bronze medal in Hershey yesterday. He also won a award for most falls in the least time 4 falls in 8:06. by the Pennsylvania Wrestling Roundup. His twin brother Nick Yocco also a sophmore finished 6th at 112 pounds. Greg Lapp tied his brother's 1995 fifth place with one of his own in the 171 catagory. More highlights in today's Sunday's Reading Eagle.

Hamas An Equal Opportunity Employer

Seems the US efforts to give women more rights in the middle east is finally paying off. Hamas is now providing 10 year old girls with opportunties and even featuring them on their very own web site. And some people were worried that Hamas would not provide responsible leadership to the people of Palastine.

"One of the stories on the site quotes a mother saying that when she heard her son had become a shahid, a martyr, she bought dates, candies and coffee to give out. An entire section of the site is called "Stories of the Shahids," and the most recently posted story honors Hamas terrorist Naseem Ja'abari, who murdered 16 people when he blew himself up on a bus in Be'er Sheva on August 31, 2004.The page is egalitarian in its encouragement of martyrdom, with a prominently featured drawing of a religiously garbed girl participating in violent attacks (pictured above) on both the homepage and on a second page. The drawing is accompanied by a poem glorifying Jihad, Islamic conquest, and Shahada."

Rockland Will Rock On

Every configuration makes the other schools too crowded, especially when rooms for special education are included.

More Lives the a cat

Get Your Mojo Working

Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday and Gerry Mulligan,Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis won't be there. Because some are dead and this aint Newport or New Orleans .
But there will be groups just about as good this Friday at the High School.

Oley, Daniel Boone, Kutztown, Twin Valley, Easton, Reading and Brandywine's Midnight Riders will be featured this Friday March 10th from 6-10:30pm at The 3rd annual Phil Forlano Jazz Festival So come on down to the High School. You may purchase tickets at the door for $5.00, and food will be available in the cafeteria.

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez"
(Let the Good Times Roll)

Introverts Unite

We really should start a club and have regular meetings in seperate locations.

Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet
conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a
big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has
to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who
growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people
who are just trying to be nice?

Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with
Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast." Rather, introverts
are people who find other people tiring.

Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often
seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert
alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after
an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and
recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of
socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not
call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as
restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're
okay—in small doses."

How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect
his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's
an orientation.

Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's
the matter?" or "Are you all right?"

Third, don't say anything else, either.
More

Follow up interview:
Most magazine articles do not, as a general rule, inspire impassioned
responses. But in 2003, when The Atlantic published a short essay by
correspondent Jonathan Rauch on the trials of introversion in an extroverts'
world, the reaction was overwhelming. Rauch was inundated with more enthusiastic
mail about the piece than for anything else he'd ever written. And on The
Atlantic's Web site, it drew (and has continued to draw) more traffic than any
other piece we've posted. Interview with
Author

Back To Work To Get A Break

Article in Reading Eagle Business Section about a book on women returning to work after raising a family but since Eagle articles don't hang around you can read the original column published in the Chicago Trib back in Jan.

... book is titled “Women Reworked: Empowering Women in Employment
Transition” (Creative Bound Inc., $29.95). [Couldn't Find It On Amazon]

Resnick studied 14 re-entry women in the United States and Canada. The
average woman she studied was in her early 50s, divorced with two children. She
had been out of the work force on average for 12 years when she started her job
hunt.
“The women returned to work for financial reasons and to have a sense
of purpose,” Resnick said. “They wanted to be tax-paying citizens.”
It took, on average, three years to find a job. In Canada, as in the United States,
employers do not view mature women as attractive candidates.
“I did a survey of the top 40 employers and all said they would hire a re-entry woman, but only in entry-level jobs and beginning salaries, despite their experience - unless they had updated skills,” the author said. “Even though corporations pay lip
service to so-called ‘advantages' of older workers, they want to hire younger
ones

This really makes no logical business sense. If you hire a young woman or a young male for that matter how likely are they to grow with the company. They are so much more likely to change careers, locations or have new family situations that will cause them to leave. Now if you hire someone that already has a family, settled in the area, and family situation is stable in their late 40's early 50's they are probably good for at least 15 years. Besides if they can handle a 5 year old tatrums should have no problems with demanding customers. Probably has a lot to do with government policies making workers over 50 a protective species.

New Threat To Farmers

Farmers have always been plagued with weather and price problems. Recently development has brought people seeking new homes raising the price and limiting the quantity of good farm land. Now a threat to their livelihood from out there .This is the story the main stream media is trying to keep quiet but thanks to the internet the truth is slowly emerging.








Heartbreaking drawing by a 3rd grader
in Riverside, CA.

What Are Colleges Supposed To Do

Schools Avoid Class Ranking, Vexing Colleges - New York Times: "Application files are piled high this month in colleges across the country. Admissions officers are poring over essays and recommendation letters, scouring transcripts and standardized test scores.
But something is missing from many applications: a class ranking, once a major component in admissions decisions."

Regional Wrestling Update

Six out of seven qualify for states. Details posted in the Topic Section

Taxpayers Association In League With The Devil

The taxpayers association has joined with Satan's workshop Sweet Street Desserts in a fund raising drive. Don't fall for this, once you fall for this temptation there is no turning back. But if you feel like it is a worthy cause go ahead and buy one or or more just send your ticket(s) to the hell of gluttony to the editoral board. We are making this offer to dispose of them as a community service. Email Lucifer's Little Helpers for further information.

[EDITED: 3/4/06. Previous mistake on email address it was steetstfunD instead of streetstfun . But don't bother since they don't want any money from readers of the site. Just another case of No Good Deed Going Unpunished. ]