With a Song in my Heart

Stories

As a junior high school student I began to have a special interest in singing. I was encouraged by my music teacher and then in high school I participated in as many singing groups as I could. One of the groups was our high school select choir which sang some spectacularly wonderful and challenging music. There was such a sense … Read More

Digging For Education

Stories

I remember once when I was little, trying to dig a hole in the yard deep enough to stand in and look around me at ground-level. Silly and odd, I know. But I wanted to. So I started digging and soon I did have a pretty deep hole, but I was tired and my muscles had begun hurting so I … Read More

The Three Most Important Questions in Education

Leadership, Learning, Organizational Change

It’s graduation season again – yet nobody seems to be celebrating. On college campuses, graduates are entering an economy in which the stable career paths of yesteryear are disappearing – and the specialized job opportunities of tomorrow have yet to appear. And in communities across the country, parents and young people are left wondering what exactly those past four years … Read More

A Small Comment, a Huge Assumption

Stories

Most every teenage girl starts off as a babysitter before getting a real job. As long as the kids are safe and happy, everything is fine. Sounds easy right? Well, it’s just as easy to mess things up…. As I shuffled out of the neighbors’ house, the mother casually asked me, “So, do you think you will be available next … Read More

Book Smart

Stories

I was four years old and a very independent child. It was after dinner and I needed a band aid for a cut I had received earlier. I had remembered the other day I had found the band aids on the top shelf of tall book shelf in my room. Walking up to my room, my mom asked what I … Read More

The Bees Came Back to Bite Me

Stories

I used to catch bees in a manner that would have horrified Pol Pot. Stick in hand, I would march up to any available honeybee (blissfully unaware) and give it a solid whack with the weapon. At this point the bee would do one of three things: A. Sustain injuries (I refuse to accept liability) B. Die or C. Fly … Read More

The Gig

Stories

`“Hey guys! Are you going to our awesome gig tonight? We are gonna rock your socks off!” exclaimed my good friend Cameron. Apparently he and Erek were in a “hard core” band that we just HAD to see. So, of course, whether it was out of curiosity or just to humor ourselves, my friends and I decided to go. Though … Read More

My Mom, the Teacher

Stories

I have learned a lot from my mom because life is hard. She has to keep up the bills and she has to get up early in the morning and make sure everything is right. People in the world learn differently; some people learn from bad experiences about how life is so hard. My mom works in Stevens, Georgia. She … Read More

Independent Adolescence

Stories

Children always depend on their parents. No matter how young or old; a mother and father are deeply needed in their child’s life. Unfortunately, some children don’t have their parents to depend on due to death, jail time, or something of that sort. So it is a pity when a parent is with their child and the child can’t depend … Read More

The Regret Trip

Stories

I realize now how much I have learned through some of the things that I have done or experienced. I’ve learned a lot of life lessons that can’t be taught by just listening to someone telling you what to do. That’s why I think that learning by actually doing something helps me, rather than just listening to someone talk, talk, … Read More