Science .. That is like Art Right?

I was sent a link for a recent article in the SF Gate about how 5th graders are getting less than an hour of science on a weekly basis.(link at bottom of post) There are some great points about how this will impact the future of the career choices down the road without an early understanding of the subject.

"Fewer than half of Bay Area fifth-graders (47 percent) scored at grade level or above on last spring's California Standards Test in science. (Only fifth-graders are tested in science at the elementary level.)"

Why is this the case in Bay Area High Schools? Supposedly, the teachers are spending all their time on meeting the requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act".

I read this article about a week ago and thought about it as an issue. Yesterday, it dawned on me. When did the Act go into place? I knew it was passed during President G.W. (43rd) Bush's first term. My quick research found that it was enforceable July 1, 2002. Um.... My math equates 5 years or school terms ago. Where is the catch up with the fifth grade class? They shouldn't be in the fifth grade if they can't read and add!

I will add to this a comment Gov. Mike Huckabee said about the importance of having Art and Music taught in schools. It is important to open children's minds to art and music at a young age. It is also a way to keep artistically minded children in school with subjects that interest them and they can excel at because of their talents. Yes, he is a conservative Republican running for the Presidency. See, they all don't have horns.

I have a good friend that is teaching music and chorus at a high school in NY. She recently was bubbling about a student that is not well liked by other teachers because he causes trouble. However, he is a great kid in her class. Oh, did I mention the kid can sing? He was terrified to try out for the lead in their musical because he thought the panel of teachers would never give him the part. I look forward to cheering him on as he has one of the male leads.

Science, Art, Music, Reading/Grammar(English), Social Studies and Math... are very important. I will also add gym and a foreign language to the list. All should be taught and explored during elementary school.

I wonder if it is not the "No Child Left Behind Act" or more likely the issue of teachers not being allowed to control their classrooms. Teachers have been stripped of all of the tools to maintain order in the class room without fear of being fired or sued.

Parents learn this.... You aren't perfect and neither is your child. If a teacher risks their job to call your kid over the coals, chances are today they caught them red handed. Wake up... The coddling of the youth of this country is terrifying.

Stace, I don't think this was quite what you expected me to write. I would appreciate your comments....

Article link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/25/MNNKSVFOH.DTL

Sports Weekend - Wow!!! Congratulations to Red Sox Nation

I am now just reviewing the weekend in sport....

1) Red Sox win the World Series !!!!

2) Patriots continue to roll over every team .. Spy Gate ?? Go get 'um Bill!

3) Giants beat Dolphins across the Pond. (Mr. B is happy)

4) GEORGIA beats Florida in the largest cocktail party.

5) UCONN beats Southern Florida.

I need to check on my nephew's pop warner football game... How can you get any better besides Mr. B winning the Amstel Gold race.

Meeting at the Blazer

There will be a meeting at the Blazer on October 27th at 7:30pm for the cycling group. Please rsvp by hitting the comment or emailing Mrs. B.

Nike is Just Doing it with Community

Remembering back to the days, about sixteen years ago when Nike launched the “Just Do It” campaign. I was at New England College in Henniker, NH. The Model UN Group I was a member of was putting together a Model Middle East Summit. It was a lot of work. We found each other screaming “Just Do IT” to each other all the time. It became a mantra for the organization and for many of us in our professional lives as well.

I think that Customer Self Service is basically an evolution of the “Just Do It” campaign. In reality, Nike has created a community to let their running/jogging customers AND PROSPECTS to do it together and better. In a recent NY Times article, Nike’s community was highlighted as their most recent advertising genius. They are enabling their customers to interact and find better ways to “Just Do It” all with the trademark Nike Swoosh neatly but understatedly featured. The community member they feature in the article is also 53 years old not 22 years old.

For those of you that are still looking for the hard data on why communities are essential to business, let me clearly talk to your wallet….

· Nike has dropped their traditional media budget by 22%
· That equates to 149 MILLION dollars.
· Members choose to visit the site 3x a week.

How is that for data?

Here is the crucial quote I found from the section on Nike:

“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,” Mr. Edwards says he tells many media executives. “We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.” Trevor Edwards, Nike’s corporate vice president for global brand and category management.

I will repeat a profound question recently poised by my colleague Derek Showerman:

“When are you going stop preaching to your customers and start listening to them? A community is the vehicle to JUST DO IT for you.”

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/business/media/14ad.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I want to thank the Nike Corporation for my Mantra …

Seamus is gonna get it....

Seamus ... my darling nut bag. He has been really driving us nuts lately. The separation anxiety and shadowing has risen to a level that it is compromising both of our health. He is acting out including destroying things that could poison him. I am getting to the point I am scared to leave the house with him alone. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

Today, we have a dog trainer and behaviorist coming over to "work" with him. It should be interesting. Full report tomorrow.

Weekend in Cape Cod

Courtesy of our great friend and pet sitter, Leslie, we were able to get away for the weekend to the Cape. Uncle Bob's services weren't until Tuesday and she felt confident she could deal with Annie's confinement to the first floor (ACL is totally gone and will need Surgery- OUCH).

We got off late given the trip to the vet in the morning and a lot of back and forth on whether we should leave Miss Annie. BUT Leslie assured me that we should go and have fun. She had nurse duty down for her.

Mr. B had arranged a great suite at the "By the Sea" Bed and Breakfast in Dennisport. I think I gave it 4 stars on TripAdvisor.com. (Lacking parking and a hair dryer). Staff was delightfully helpful. Rooms were well decorated and clean. The only other thing is at this time of year the windows are open. We awoke on Sunday morning about 6 AM to our neighbor doing something with Velcro. So privacy, not so much... Oh well...

Friday night, he had picked out a nice little Irish Pub. The food was traditional and good. The entertainment was delightful. Lots of old Irish pub songs including my domestic favorite, "Charlie on the M.T.A"

The next morning there was a cloud burst only over our part of the Cape. I was close to calling my mother and asking her to make it stop raining.... AGAIN! (inside family joke). That blew ...literately off and we were able to get in a 25 mile ride on trails to trail path. It goes through the interior of the Cape by cranberry bogs and a couple of large lakes. Interesting but I have to agree a bit boring. I think I am ready to stick to the roads .. hills and all. The "freddy" traffic on the rail trails is annoying.

Back to the B&B to shower and change for a drive to Chatham to go to the lighthouse, lunch, and shopping. This is when I discovered a lack of hair drying equipment. However, the shower was amazing. I wish I took a picture of it. I think I would like to do something similar with our Master Bath.

On to Chatham ... We drove by the lighthouse and determined that we were too hungry to stop and went to the Wild Goose Inn for Lunch and a beverage or two. Here is a picture I took for Aunt Sue to paint. The lunch was fabulous. http://www.wildgoosetavern.com/ The beverages set us up for a flurry of irresponsible shopping. Let's just say the shoppes in Chatham had a good weekend.

After the appropriate amount of time and shopping to let the beverages wear off... We drove back to the light house and snapped a few pictures of the beach and lighthouse.

We went back to the room for a bit of a nap and then out to dinner at a restaurant Mr. B. went to during family vacations to the Cape in his childhood. The Swan Lake Restaurant was fun. We had a terrific waitress. It is always fun when you can joke with the help... Basically, "it wasn't her first day" after I gave the in-depth description of how I prefer my martini. The last couple I have been served at various places have been 1/2 Vermouth ... I swear! ... Not this time... Perfection. As was the meal.

The next day, we got up went out for breakfast and back down memory lane or Folger Way. Here is a picture of the house Mr. B's parents rented for several summers on vacation. It looked a bit down at the heels. I think he is wondering if it might be for sale. OY!

We got back good season as we were worried about Annie. I also had to do a turn around and drive back to New Hampshire on Tuesday morning for the memorial service. It was a good and memorable weekend. Seamus liked his present as well!