Rolla Public Schools: Opinions Wanted

As I have mentioned in some prior blogs, we have two students in the Rolla Public Schools.  So, far we have been pleased with the education our sons have been receiving, and very pleased with the  communications, via emails, that we receive Monday-Friday from the high school and the junior high.  The emails  help alert and inform the parents about  school news, athletics information, band and choir information, scholarships to apply for, messages from teachers about specific classes, dates approaching for school functions, etc.

Rolla High School

Recently, we received information that the Rolla Public Schools, beginning on April 26th, would be making phone calls throughout the district to ask citizens for their opinions about the Rolla Public Schools.   Questions would be about the quality of education, communication between the district and citizens, possible technology updates, and possible building updates.  Even if a household in Rolla doesn’t get the phone call, one’s opinions can be expressed by visiting Rolla Public Schools website and taking part in the Patron Survey.  That is what I did and what I read on the survey gave me something to muse about pertaining to the Rolla Public Schools.

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and the first few questions establish whether the person taking the survey has students in the Rolla Schools, or whether a citizen has no children enrolled.  At no time did the survey ask for my name, age, address, etc.  It is set-up to keep the survey’s responders anonymous.

After establishing that I have students enrolled, the next set of questions were about my opinion on  the quality of education the Rolla Public Schools provide.  Then there were a set of questions about how well the school  district communicates with the citizens.  The third set of questions began a bit of my musings.  Technology…should the Rolla School District, in the future, raise a bond to update technologies at the schools?  Then there was a list of three levels of bonds that could be raised, and how much each would  affect property taxes.  In this uncertain economy, I am not in favor of raising taxes for anything, so I said “not sure” about improving technologies, and “no” on bringing up a new bond.  This question on “technologies” was very vague.  Specific technology examples weren’t listed.  Did it mean updating elevators in buildings(I am assuming there are elevators for the schools with 2 or 3 floors)? Updating the computers in the schools? Do they need updating? Smart boards for all the classrooms?  Or even that radical idea of using ipads for all students in the classroom instead of textbooks? (I had heard of some private schools doing this 3 years ago in the St. Louis area.) New copier machines for the secretaries? New microwaves for the cafeteria and/or teacher lounges? Those last technologies might not be on the list of improvements, but since the category on the survey was so vague, I feel like I can list all of the technology ideas that came to my mind!

Rolla Junior High School

The fourth category is the one that really got my brain to musing.  Should the Rolla Public Schools undertake building an auditorium for the high school?  That might be a good idea.  Currently the middle school’s auditorium is used for the high school’s plays.  The gymnasium is used for the band’s Christmas concert and Leach Theatre on MS&T’s campus is used for the Spring concerts.  So I can see an auditorium for the high school possibly happening in the future.  However, the next idea got a “no” from me.  Should the Rolla Public School’s undertake the  running of  a full-time preschool?  If the district does this, a bond would need to be raised, and then the three different levels of bonds and how they would affect property taxes were listed.  One option mentioned on the survey would be to build a brand new building to house this preschool.  Another option was to make one of the three existing elementary schools the new preschool, and then make the other two elementary schools house only 2 grades each: elementary school A would have grades 1-2 only for the entire district, and elementary school B would have grades 3-4.  Kindergarten wasn’t listed, so I assume it would be housed at the new preschool.   I looked in the yellow pages of the Ft. Leonard Wood/Rolla/Lebanon phone book.  For Rolla alone, there are 8 private preschools up and running and there is also HeadStart.  Does the Rolla Public School district really need to get into the preschool business?  If it does this, it will have a negative impact on these private preschools, many who have been up and  running for quite a while and doing a great job of educating preschool aged children.  The ages for this proposed preschool weren’t mentioned.  Ages 2 up to kindergarten?  Ages 3 up to kindergarten?

My hometown in Ohio is about the same size as Rolla and 5 years ago the school board and administration got the idea to sell off the 4 elementary schools, and build a new building near the high school that housed all of the elementary grades K-4.  According to the administration, it was going to cost too much money to improve the 4 elementary buildings, so building one new building was the solution.  From what I have heard, parents still don’t like having all of the elementary grades at one building because they miss having their kids at the old elementary schools that were much closer to their neighborhoods.  I think that parents in Rolla won’t like  a new rearranging of their elementary children by grades and schools, either.  The existing elementary schools in Rolla all serve specific parts of town and to tell all of the parents who live near Wyman and Mark Twain elementary schools that in the future their first and second graders must go to Truman, which is farther away from their homes, I don’t think that is a hassle worth pursuing.   I just don’t think that the Rolla Public Schools needs to get into the  full-time preschool business.  The phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to my mind.

Whether or not you have children enrolled in the Rolla Public Schools, and if you are a citizen of Rolla, please go to the Patron Survey on the district’s website and give them your opinions on the 4 categories on the survey.  As a citizen and a voter, you need to let your opinion  be heard.

Wyman Elementary

Truman Elementary

Mark Twain Elementary

Synthetic Drugs: A New Scourge in Missouri

In late March, our household received a mailing from the Rolla Public Schools with our teen sons’ names on the envelope.  I immediately opened the envelope to find in it a colorful card, and a pamphlet containing information about synthetic drugs.  The card mentioned a meeting on April 30th that would be held at the Rolla Technical Center, to alert the community to what synthetic drugs are and the dangers for those who choose to take them.   I told my husband that I would attend, as it would be a good subject for an upcoming blog post.

When I got to Room 134 that evening, there was a panel of seven individuals sitting at the front of the room, facing those of us in the audience.   Mr. Phil Cox, the Pastoral Care Director at Phelps County Regional Medical Center(PCRMC) was the moderator for the evening, and he directed questions from the audience to the correct persons on the panel who could provide answers.

Before the question and answer session began, Mr. Jeff Tucker, a panel member, rose and gave a moving talk about his family’s unfortunate experience with synthetic drugs.  Mr. Tucker is the Director of Occupational Medicine and Outpatient Therapy Services for Mercy Health System in Springfield, MO.  He and his wife, one early morning last May, were awakened by their doorbell ringing.  At the door were two police officers who asked to come in.  The Tucker’s let them in and in the family’s living room the heartbreaking news no parent ever wants to hear was delivered: their 19 year old son, Joshua, was dead.  He had been found lying down on Highway 65 and a car had struck him.  The Tuckers were obviously distraught by this devastating news but also had a lot of questions.  Their son had told them of his evening’s plans, he had driven his car to meet with two other friends, all of them home for the summer from college.  They were going to hang out and then he’d return, that’s what he had told his parents.  The police said no car was on the side of the road and they left, promising to search for Joshua’s car.   The next day the mystery was solved when one of the young men who was with Joshua the night before came to the Tucker’s home and asked to speak to them.  He explained that one of the friend’s, who attends college in the St. Louis area, had brought a joint with him and the three boys had decided to smoke it.  By the way Joshua was inhaling deeply and coughing a lot, the friend didn’t think Joshua had ever smoked before and they soon found out that the drug wasn’t marijuana but a synthetic compound.  It made Joshua become psychotic and his friends lost control of trying to keep Joshua from harming himself-he ran out onto Highway 65, at first dancing around before he laid down and was hit by a car.   Due to the  nature of Joshua’s death, the coroner at first assumed it was a suicide.  The Tucker’s knew this wasn’t the case and explained that their son had a summer internship job  in Springfield, that he had a lot of friends, that he was a happy individual.  From the other boy’s information, Mr. Tucker told the coroner that it was the synthetic drug that killed their son and then the family learned from the coroner that on many drug tests, synthetic drugs don’t appear, due to the chemical compounds that they are made from, and that the makers of synthetic drugs  often change the chemical compounds in order to make new drug tests unable to detect them.

Mrs. Cindy Butler, a RN with a lot of experience dealing with drug overdose patients spoke of the psychotic dangers and real health risks associated with synthetic drugs.  She said often, the patients are dumped in the ER and  whoever has dumped the patient  drives off in a hurry and the staff has to deal with a patient off on a psychotic-induced “trip” and they can’t answer basic questions: who they are, where they’re from, what drugs they’ve been taking, etc.  She said the patients can be very violent, and the effects of synthetic drugs lead to very rapid heart rates, extremely high blood pressures(that are often at levels that can lead to strokes), and seizures that are hard to stop.  One young man they had to work on ended up with brain damage due to the seizures the drug caused him to have, and it also damaged his kidneys so now that young man is on dialysis for the rest of his life.

Officer Luke Kearse, of the Rolla Police Department, discussed how  synthetic drugs are made and marketed and sold.  He did say that some area businesses who had been selling synthetic drugs had stopped and a few others were part of an ongoing investigation.  Synthetic drugs go by names such as “Spice”, “K2″, “Incense”, “Go-Go”, “Pump It”, “Diablo”, “Primo”, “Head Trip”, and “Snax” which included a picture of cartoon dog Scooby Doo on it’s package.  He said sellers also sell the drugs online or out of their homes, and many are using hotel bathrooms to make the synthetic drugs.  2011  is when the area police departments began seeing synthetic drugs hit the Rolla area.

Mr. Michael Sass spoke, a former synthetic drug user.  He shared the ill effects that the drugs have had on his physical health, his mental health, and how the drug abuse destroyed his family and friendships.

Mr. Jamie Myers, Executive Director of Prevention Consultants of Missouri and a licensed Professional Counselor, and a Missouri Advanced Certified Substance Abuse Prevention Professional spoke.   To the basic question of what can parents do, he exhorted parents of teens to sit down with them and share the fears and concerns they  have about drug abuse.  Listen to your teen’s response.  Find out who their friends are.  If you suspect your teen is abusing drugs, contact all of their friends’ parents and tell them about your concerns because chances are those friends are also abusing drugs.  Set down consequences with your teen.  If they promise to stop abusing drugs and then fall back into using them, you need to know what your next steps will be.    Seek professional medical and counseling help if the  rules are being ignored.  Explain to younger children that the only drugs they should ever take are ones that a medical doctor has prescribed for a specific illness that they need to be cured from.

I did go home and discuss all that I had learned at this meeting with my teen sons and husband.  I was also very glad that this meeting was held for the Rolla community and I want to say thank you to Phelps County Advocacy Network, who sponsored it and for the Rolla Public Schools for advertising it with the letter that was mailed to our home.

Getting a College Degree in Today’s World

With a large family,  I knew that college and its costs would be the big bugaboo in our family.  My husband’s philosophy is that if the kids want a college education than they’ll find a way to pay for it themselves, and urging them not to do it with loans, as it isn’t very fun or smart to graduate from college with a lot of debt hanging over one’s head.  Aim for great ACT scores, have good grades in high school, and hopefully some academic  scholarships could come their way.

Our oldest decided to serve our country for four years, and then use the G.I. Bill to pay for college.   As his last year in the service is now upon him, he is evaluating  colleges he might want to enroll at.  Some of the states charge the “out of state” tuition rates to veterans and some don’t, which has been a nice surprise for him.   Our second child was accepted at College of the Ozarks which has the  nickname of “Hardwork U”.   Our daughter  works for the college while taking the required courses for her  degree, and that pays for her tuition.  Some scholarships were also earned by her during her senior year at Rolla High, so those have paid for her room and board.  Her only expenses were for books and supplies, which was manageable  for our family’s budget.  Child #3 will be a senior at Rolla High this coming Fall, and he doesn’t want to pursue a career that requires a 4 year degree.  He is looking to gain his training via the Community College route, which again, will be easier on our family’s budget.  There are still 4 more kids to raise and educate, but their college careers are not in the immediate future, yet.

Looking over our first 3 childrens’ choices for higher education made me start musing about earning a  college degree  today.  Tuition costs have been rising steadily and they don’t look like they’ll be slowing down in the near future either.   I read an interesting article by Richard Wolin, for the July 2, 2012 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.  Wolin pointed out that college tuitions have been rising since 1986, at an increase of 500%!  He also shared some startling statistics: A household that earns $90,000 or more, the children of these households stand a 50% chance of attending college and earning a bachelors degree by the age of 24.   A household that earns $60,000-$70,000 and the odds fall by half, only 1 out of 4 children will earn that degree by the age of 24.  A household earning $35,000 and that odd increases, to only 1 out of 17 earning that degree.  Wolin also pointed out that in order to offset the rising costs of tuition, low and  middle-income students are graduating with tons of student loan debt.  The average debt owed is $23,000.

I then recalled a blurb of news I had heard on the radio last week about a legislator in Missouri telling the State’s  Department of Higher Education that perhaps degrees should be offered that will lead to students finding jobs, and less degrees should be offered in careers that aren’t very lucrative and have high rates of students who remain unemployed after graduation for far too long.   That blurb got me to researching for some more information: The 12 Worst College Degrees, meaning that those who graduate with these degrees have a very hard time finding employment,  and they don’t earn much pay, which would make paying off those student loans very difficult.  Here are those degrees:  English, History, Sociology, Graphic Arts, Drama, Physical Fitness & Parks and Recreation, Music, Liberal Arts, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Film& Video& Photographic Arts, Anthropology, and Archaeology.  I found those two lists from Forbes magazine online and Kiplinger online, so it is a combination of their Top Worst Degrees lists.

Next, I decided to find the Top 10 College Degrees, the ones where graduates find jobs, and find jobs that pay pretty well for beginning employees.   These degrees are: Information Science and Systems, Construction Science and Management, Civil Engineering, Finance, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, and Computer Engineers.  If those trends continue, then American public schools need to focus on mathematics and sciences!

Not all students are drawn to careers in such technical fields.  College educations are increasingly expensive.  Students and parents need to really examine carefully what the student wants to pursue for his career field.  There should be no shame in working a year or two out of high school, saving one’s earnings, and really evaluating what degree a person wants to attend college for.  Far more economical than launching off  to college with a major of  ”Undecided”, and waste a year of money, or two, in trying out one course of study and then having to change it in mid-stream.

At the end of Wolin’s article, he pointed out how in the 1960s and 1970s, colleges were pushed and/or pressured to allow more students from diverse backgrounds to enroll at their campuses, students  who in the past wouldn’t have been considered “appropriate”  for college.  He warned that with today’s exorbitant tuition costs, colleges are once again shutting out the students from lower-income households, and colleges are becoming what they fought against in the 1960s and 1970s, exclusive places where one can attend if they are from an upper middle class or higher level of income family.

It seems to me that if one wants that college degree, then one should:  work very hard in high school to get those top grades, take the college entrance tests whether it be the ACT or SAT, research all of the scholarships out there that one can apply for and apply for them,  research the schools where the desired degree can be earned for the least expenditure from the parents’ pockets, if a college is close to one’s hometown then consider living at home and being a commuter student,  if one works a part-time job in high school, sock that money away for that degree.  Be very sure of what you want to go to college for, work hard and earn that degree, work a part-time job while earning that degree(I did that, working for one of the on-campus cafeterias),  and try your hardest not to graduate with loads of debt hanging over your head.

Land of the Free,Home of the Brave

When I began my blog I decided to use WordPress for my work and  publishing site, and it has been a great support system for me in my blogging adventure.   One feature  that WordPress has  is a section called “Stats”.   I can click on the Stats button  each day and it will show me with bar graph displays  how many times that my blog was looked at or “visited” on any given day.  Even more interesting to me is a map of the world to show me   the countries where visitors to my blog  are from.   I shared with my husband that the other day I had visitors from Germany,  the United Kingdom, and Australia.  All of these visitors to my blog, from around the world, gave me my idea for today’s blog offering.

What is the view of the United States from someone in another country?  My husband’s niece and her husband live in Kenya and from what they have told us, our President is very popular there due to his father being a native of Kenya.   From my son living in Japan for 2 years, I have learned that the Japanese people are extremely polite, curious of western culture, and would never wear ill-fitting clothes or garish outfits in public, like our son saw when his plane touched down in Seattle a couple months ago.    From a humorous article I read last week, we are a puzzle to our fellow English speaking allies  in Great Britain for our habits of : flossing our teeth, baking brownies and cookies, yelling out whoo-whoos whenever we’re excited about anything, and hugging everyone in sight.

The week that just passed was a horrible week for our country, especially for the city of Boston, Massachusetts and its suburbs.  The two brothers who set off the two bombs that killed 3 and injured over a hundred during the 117th  Boston Marathon,  were found.  One brother was killed in a police chase, and the second brother was found the next evening, hiding in a family’s boat in their backyard.  All of the questions and speculating have begun and with our national media’s efforts, will probably keep on going for quite a while.

One thing I hope that the rest of the world witnessed was that despite this terrible act,  examples of  goodness and courage  happened  immediately.  Marathon runners  began taking themselves to Boston’s hospitals in order to donate blood, which would be needed for the bombing victims.   The police: city, state, FBI, military, national guard, firefighters, all worked quickly and well and thoroughly to find those responsible for the bombings.  As a child of a police officer, now retired, I knew that my dad dealt with people making bad choices on a daily basis, that his work had the potential for harm befalling him, but I guess I just didn’t dwell on that fact.  I just knew that my dad would do his best at keeping the citizens of our Ohio town as safe as he possibly could.  Many of my friends on social media began to post prayers they were praying, or reminders for all of us to pray for the people in Boston; the power of prayer and faith in God must never be downgraded or demeaned.

I hope that the rest of the world  recognizes that our country was begun by a grand experiment, if you will.   The colonists thought it quite unfair that they should pay ever increasing taxes to the British government with no say in the matter: no one in Parliament represented the colonists voices, whether yay or nay for these taxes.  Having a very large ocean separating the colonies from their starter/sponsoring country of England also helped in providing a buffer for the burgeoning colonies when protests against the taxations began.   The Founding Fathers (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton), and the other 50 men who signed the Declaration of Independence  all knew that by  signing their names it  would mean death for them if they were caught by the British forces during the American Revolution.

America has been called a “melting pot” and that has been true for hundreds of years.   We are a young country and when the colonies began forming in earnest, many of them were set up expressly for various groups: Massachusetts was for the Puritans, Maryland for the Catholics, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island for anyone who wanted to live in the New World.  America has always been this, a land holding promise of a new start for those willing to work hard and to work wisely at making their dreams come true.  My own ancestors decided to leave Germany and France for America.  I think about that now and then  and I am so very glad that they did.

In summing up, we Americans may be without royalty, we may be too loud, too coarse, too rude.  Our entertainment culture boarders on trash and crosses over into trash at times.  (For that I am embarrassed for our country!)    We have societal problems, political problems, economic problems, but despite all of that and the horrors of last week, we Americans stick together.  We come together in times of tragedy and offer our help, our knowledge, our faith, our prayers.  It is still the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave, as the song’s lyrics proclaim.

Ode to Large Families

During the movie The Sound of Music, the nun-in-training, Maria, is told to go to the Mother Superior’s office.  There, Maria is told that she is not quite fitting in with the Abbey’s ways and that for a time, she will be sent to a family in the nearby city of Salzburg, Austria and be a governess for a widowed Naval Officer’s children.  Maria takes the news pretty well, and then asks how many children are in the family.  The Mother Superior replies that there are seven children in the family and Maria, her voice rising with incredulity and shock, keeps saying over and over, “Seven??  Seven Children??!!”  That scene always makes me laugh because  I am a mom and I have seven children.  That admission sort of sounds like an introduction to a support group meeting, doesn’t it?  

When my husband and I married in June of 1988( we will celebrate our 25th anniversary this year!), we had discussed children as a part of our future life together.  We  thought three would be a nice number.  Babies one through three arrived in 1991, 1994, and 1996.  Before we sat down and re-evaluated our plan of only having three children, we found out that baby number four was coming, and would arrive in 1998.  Again, before we sat down to discuss if four children was our limit,  we found out babies five and six(twins this time!), would be born in 2000.  Baby seven arrived in 2003.  Our children now range in age from 21  to 10.  We have had a few young married couples ask us how did we do it when our kids were small so I thought I ought to write a post about life in a large family.

With only one child, life would seem much simpler and easier and probably less-costly at times, but from a sister-in-law’s perspective as she was  an only child, if a sibling can happen, let that sibling happen for  being an only child can be so lonely at times.  With two children, when out and about, or in the home, Mom can deal with one of the children  while Dad deals with the other one.  However, once the number of children in the family surpasses two,  that means  mom and dad will always be outnumbered with child related tasks.  Being outnumbered doesn’t mean being outwitted, let’s make that clear right away!

Large families mean larger vehicles.  When we knew twins were on the way, my husband thought ahead and realized that nine people wouldn’t be able to fit in a minivan at all.  Ford Econoline van, here we come!  It does help to have a relative who works for the Ford Motor Company(my brother), so the “family discount” was quite helpful when we went giant van shopping.   All of those who want people to get rid of their gas guzzling vehicles and get electric cars?  Those types of cars won’t work for a large family.  Also, the friends of kids in a large family always think that getting to travel around in a giant van is very cool!

Large families, when visiting museums, or zoos, or amusement parks have to pick and choose and plan ahead as to what exhibits, rides, or  snacks they’re willing to pay extra for.  When we visited Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry about 7 years ago, it was cheaper to buy a year’s family membership to get in for a lower admission rate.  At the St. Louis Zoo, my kids knew we wouldn’t be riding the trains or the carousel as those rides mean an extra fee has to be paid.  It is great that the zoo is free, but it is also a challenge to try and find a free parking spot for a giant van in Forest Park, so sometimes I would give in and pay the zoo parking lot fee.  Food items cost a lot at these sites so a large family will tend to pack a picnic lunch for all, and bring along water bottles too.  

Sam’s Club or Costco, are nice for large families. because many items used by a family are sold in bulk amounts.  Aldis is also a boon for large families.  If you don’t have one near you, I feel very sorry for you!  Aldis, a German-based grocery store chain that has hit the U.S.( and is making a dent in Wal-Mart’s sales), is a bag your own groceries type of  store.  Some name brand items are sold, but more often than not, items sold are Aldis brand.   Items are priced much lower than similar products sold at a full-service grocery store, and those lower prices are very helpful  for large families.

Larger families believe in hand-me down clothing.  Luckily for us, our boys have all had the same build and it’s been easy to pass the clothes right on down the line.  Same for the girls; a few fashionable styles have been outdated from big sister by the time they got to the twin sisters, but just a few items.  Shoes, haven’t been passed on as easily, except for snow boots, so Pay Less Shoe stores have been also helpful for our large family.

Large families get stared at, a lot.  When we go out to a restaurant(not a common occurance, eating out in restaurants), we have to wait for a table for 9, and often we have to agree to two booths next to one another.  We take up an entire church pew.  When I would do the grocery shopping with two carts, a twin in each one, the oldest child pushing one cart, me pushing the other cart,  and the other children trailing behind me, I would usually get the question, “Are they all yours??!!”  I would just smile and say yes and go right on with my shopping.  What I really wanted to say was something very sarcastic, such as, ” No!  I just found them all in the parking lot and decided to bring them in the store with me!”

Large families are loud, at home, of course.  Lots of kids are hard on the furniture, walls, carpets, windows, their toys, etc.  However, before I make you think our house is pure bedlam, there are also many, many moments of laughter, and shared jokes, and love.  Big brothers and sisters learn to pitch in and help with the younger siblings.  Help dress them, help them with bandaids, help get mom or dad for someone, help read someone a story, play with someone, teach them to play a board game or a card game.  I have greatly enjoyed listening in as my older children would  sit down  and tell their younger siblings what junior high or high school will be like.    Older siblings helping with younger siblings is good preparation in how to be a parent.  Lots of children means lots of training on house care chores and yard care chores.  I am guilty of letting my kids not do as much as they can, since  I can do some tasks much faster and to my satisfaction, but I  have been making more of a daily effort in having the five we still have at home help more and more with the chores.  After all, one day they’ll have their own homes and they have to know how to care for them.

LIfe would have been easier if we had only had three children.  If that were the case, we would only have one child at home now, as the oldest two have left the nest and are flying quite well on their own.  We would be facing the “empty nest” after August of 2014.  Finances wouldn’t be quite as tight, probably.  Then I look over the younger four and I cannot imagine life without them.  In 8 years we will finally experience the “empty nest” so until then, I will rejoice in my large family, feeling very  glad and thankful for the blessings that my children are to my husband and I; they help to keep us young, he once told me, and he has been quite right in that statement.

KTTR, You’re Growing on Me!

When I lived in Florissant, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, I listened a lot to KMOX radi0.    I had the station  on in the mornings while preparing  breakfast for the family. In the afternoons I would  listen to talk radio programs or Cardinals baseball games.  I even listened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to the old radio shows they would play, such as Lionel Barrymore and Campbell Soup presenting “A Christmas Carol”.   Our move to Rolla, Missouri meant no more KMOX, and  I would have to find a new radio station to listen to.  (KMOX, claims they are 30,000 watts of power, but they’re nothing but static in Rolla, during the daytime at least.  I’ve tried streaming the station in on my laptop, but it isn’t consistent, and  the signal cuts  off a lot.)  

Playing around with the radio dials, I discovered a station on the fm dial, 99.7, KTTR, and I began my odyssey of discovering a new radio station.  The early morning hosts, Bill Bates and Lee Buhr, who call themselves the “Morning Mayors” start the day out with weather reports, when I tune in at 6:30 a.m.  Mr. Buhr reads the Regional Record, a  list of obituraries in the area, and Mr. Bates reads off community events and area school lunch menus.  There is also a snippet about Missouri history that coincides with today’s date.   ABC Radio carries the national news at the top of the hour, then there is Missouri Net News for state news, and then after a stacatto, beeping tune, Rolla news is reported by Mr. Buhr.  After all of those items have been commented on, the Morning Mayors get down to business, sort of, and they discuss topics of interest to them, once in a while having a trivia question and callers can win tickets to a community event.  They also mention the birthdays and anniversaries that callers have called in weeks before in order to have them announced on the special day.  Breaks are ended with songs by musical artists as varied as Garth Brooks and Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra  to  Five for Fighting’s 100 Years song.   I know what some might think, that listening to a radio station that actually reads obituraries outloud?  I will say it was odd when I first tuned in, but then I thought about it.  Rolla is a smaller community, with even smaller communities ringing it, and it is a service to read those announcements for the listeners.

The Morning Mayors also have citizens join them on the air.  Small business owners, charity groups, spokespersons for the area hospital about classes being offered, or new doctors who are in town and what they specialize in.  One weekly guest is the Ford Dealership owner, Denny Ford Lincoln, and after the banter is over, Mr. Bates always comes up with a poem about saving money and getting great deals at the dealership.  Every week, the poem is brand new, and usually has a reference in it about the season of the year, or a current event.  I really don’t know how he comes up with those rhyming poems  so quickly!  

On Friday mornings at 9, a local business owner, Mr. Dave Weinbaum, comes on the air, to host a one hour talk show, airing his conservative, political views.  The callers make it interesting, as a few  number of conspiracy theorists always  call in.   I have heard  some very interesting conspiracies, to say the least!  Mr. Buhr stays nearby handling the calls for Mr. Weinbaum, and once in a while, Mr. Buhr will let his opinion out, which is usually not in alignment with the host’s, and that makes for some interesting and amusing radio discussions!

One show that always makes me shake my head is the half-hour, Monday through Friday Garage Sale.  From 10 am – 10:30 am, people can call the radio station and list items they are wishing to sell, buy, or barter for.  One can’t call in and sell property, animals, and a couple of other items, but one can call in and sell guns!  I shake my head at that because that would never fly at  KMOX!!  It just illustrates to me that South-Central Missouri and the  St. Louis Metro area march to different drummers’ beats!

The afternoon talk radio shows the station carries are hit and miss with me, as I am busy with homeschool lessons with my youngest three kids, and they appreciate the radio  being off while they are working.  If it’s a Cardinals baseball game, I will leave the station on and that doesn’t bother them.  There is a one night a week local sports talk/call in show on Mondays from 6:00 – 7:00,  hosted by two great guys, Justin Renaud and Bryan Rush, both who also attend the same church our family attends, Greentree Christian.  Their  show is a fun one to listen  to and it is obvious that they are both knowledgeable about sports and not afraid to share their differing opinions to one another and to the callers.

There is a Saturday morning Green Thumber show hosted by Huffman’s Garden Center, a business located   in neighboring St. James.   A show about troubleshooting computer owners computer  problems, hosted by a local computer business,  airs after the gardening show.  Then there are  several hours of bluegrass music, hosted by a local bluegrass musician and sadly, my family only tolerates the bluegrass music for about an hour, and then requests begin to filter to me to please turn that radio off!  I am alone in our family  in liking this style of music.

So to radio station KTTR, I say, keep up the good work that you do for Rolla and all of the listeners from the surrounding communities.   Did I mention that they also carry high school sporting events like football and basketball games?  It is a nostaligic feeling I get when I tune in to KTTR, I guess, as I did grow up listening to WOWO radio out of Fort Wayne, Indiana-the station my parents liked to tune into every morning in our Defiance, Ohio kitchen.  I think it’s in my blood, to tune in to the local radio station and listen in as the day goes by.

 

One of KTTR’s Slogans.

Where Has Common Sense Gone?

Last week while perusing the daily news from around the country I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read one headline: The Windham  School Board in New Hampshire had decided to ban dodgeball!  Dodgeball???  I loved to play dodgeball when I was a kid growing up in the 1970s.  I was a pretty good player, at the dodging part, at least.  As I read the particulars of the report many questions came to my mind.   A handful of parents, it stated, had gone to the school’s administration with concerns about bullies misusing the game to pick on their children.  The dodgeball games were happening during gym class.  Had the parents gone as a group to talk to the PE teacher?  Where was the PE teacher when these dodgeball  games were happening?  As a former teacher, it isn’t too hard to observe and figure out in any classroom  who the smart kids are, who the popular kids are, who the loners are, and who the bullies are.  A teacher worth their paycheck would find a way to curb the bullies’ antics in a PE class.   There are rules  in the game of dodgeball, such as all the throws  of the ball have to land below the waist to avoid hits landing on  students’ faces or heads.  Had those rules been explained?  Were those rules being enforced?   If the rules had been explained to the students  and were being broken by one or several students, if I was the PE teacher, I’d make those students who had thrown a ball that made a non-allowed hit to sit out a round or two.  The article said a  handful of parents had complained.  A handful?  That’s not a lot of parents, honestly.  If 15-20 parents had complained, that would be  a lot, and it would be pretty easy to come to a conclusion that there was a problem in the PE class.   At the school board meeting, where this ultimately ended up, were the parents who had no problem with dodgeball allowed to speak?  The report didn’t say.  It did mention that a couple years ago the traditional red, rubber balls that the Windham schools used for dodgeball were replaced with softer, foam balls.  So the kids were being hit with softer balls to begin with!

School girls playing dodgeball.

At our daughter’s college orientation, there was a meeting for the incoming freshmen students’ parents.  The college President spoke to us and he was not mincing words when he said our children were the first generation to have experienced “Helicopter Parents”.  He didn’t mean we were a large group of secret helicopter owners and flyers.  He meant that we, the parents,  were notorious for hovering too much around our children.  We tried to protect them from all hazards in the home when they were learning to crawl and walk.  I can attest to laughing at a “Protect Your Child Forever From Every Bad House Hazard” type of catalog that I somehow got on the mailing list for when I saw a product being sold: knee pads to protect those  crawling babies tender knees.  That product  made me laugh out loud.  It’s a wonder I ever learned to crawl as I know my parents didn’t have knee pads to give me in 1965!   Not only was my generation of parents guilty of overprotection of our children from dangers in the home, we were guilty of protecting our children from anything negative.  Junior gets a poor grade, confront and blame the teacher.  Demand that Junior be allowed to re-take that test or earn extra credit!   Junior didn’t get that award at the spelling bee?  Give every child a trophy for participating in it!  

 Thinking back to the President’s words and to the news story about dodgeball last week caused me to think that when parents try to protect their children from all negative experiences, it just sets the children up for a harder time when they’re adults and have  to deal with those negative experiences life  throws at them.  Kids have to learn how to deal with some of life’s difficulties without always having  mom and dad stepping in for them,  trying  to take or soften  the blows.

Before I wrote this blog, I did a bit more reading about the school and its ban.   Fortunately for the students who attend schools in the Windham School District, those students  will have other opportunities to play dodgeball.  Neighboring school districts have told the press that they allow dodgeball and don’t plan on banning it.  In fact, two area high schools told a reporter that dodgeball remains one of the most popular of the intramural sports that their schools offer!  Those two high schools near Windham, Pinkerton Academy and Londonderry High, have a charity dodgeball tournament each year, where they play against one another.  Perhaps in the near future, those two high schools will invite Windham students to join them?  That sounds like a winning plan.  

Why the acclaim for Jesse James?

Having lived in Missouri for now 20 years,  I have always been puzzled as to why  the state would be proud of an outlaw.  Missouri rightly shows pride for author Samuel Clemens, who wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn under his pen name of Mark Twain.  President Harry S. Truman is also a famous, native son.  Why  Jesse James made it onto this list of renown when what he did was rob banks, trains, and kill people, I just don’t understand.    With some of my spare time this weekend, I decided to read up on Mr. James and see if I could glean any insight into him, his life,  and possibly any reasons as to why he was so revered by some Missourians.

Jesse’s parents, Rev. Robert S. James and Zerelda Cole James, were natives of Kentucky and moved to Missouri.  Rev. James was a successful farmer near Kearney, Missouri and even helped found William Jewell College, which is still a college in Liberty, Missouri.  Jesse had an older brother, Alexander Frank James, and a younger sister, Susan Lavenia James.  When Jesse was 3 years old, his father had gone to California to minister to the gold rush miners, caught cholera and died.  Zerelda, remarried a year later to a Mr. Benjamin Simms,  and by all accounts, this second marriage wasn’t a good one, as the stepfather treated Frank and Jesse cruelly.  It got to the point that Zerelda packed up herself and her three children and left this second husband.  Before she could file for a legal separation or even a divorce, Mr. Simms was killed in a freak accident with a horse.  A few more years went by and Zerelda again married, this time to a Dr. Reuben Samuel.  This third marriage was successful, and 4 more children were added to the family, half-siblings to Jesse.  As I read about this tumultous family life, I couldn’t help but wonder if losing his real father at such an early age, and not having him for guidance in those formative years probably had a negative impact on the development of Jesse’s person.  Suffering from a cruel stepfather couldn’t have helped a child’s development.   It seems that  some peace must have come to the family at last with Dr. Reuben Samuel entering  their lives.

The Civil War erupted and Missouri, being a border state, had both pro-slavery and anti-slavery citizens, pro-union and pro-states rights citizens.  The James family were slave owners, and Frank, being old enough, joined the Confederate Army.  Jesse was too young to serve as a soldier, so he stayed on the farm, helping his parents with the farming tasks.   After Frank was taken ill after the battle of Wilson’s Creek, near present day Springfield, Missouri, Frank returned to the family farm.  Frank then  joined up with a guerilla group, known as bushwhackers, who would attack union soldiers and farmers supporting the Union’s cause.  One day, a Union milita company came to the James-Samuel  farm, and demanded to know of Frank’s whereabouts.  As the family either didn’t know or refused to answer, Dr. Samuel was hung, Zerelda was beaten, and so was Jesse.  When the militia company left, Dr. Samuel was cut down and revived, but the starving of oxygen to his brain left him in bad health.  This hostile action led Jesse to join another guerilla group at the age of 15.  The group he joined was very violent and in September of 1864, they stopped a train traveling through Centralia, Missouri and ordered the 22 unarmed Union soldiers off of it, lined them up, and shot them all dead.  The other passengers on the train were robbed.  One can only imagine the hatred Jesse  felt towards the Union army and the revenge he wanted to drive down upon them.  Seeing violent acts done to other human beings must have only further deadened Jesse’s soul to these bloodthirsty acts.

After the war, Frank and Jesse teamed up to rob banks,  and trains in various states with a gang of other outlaws helping them.  Eventually, a life of being on the run( by this time Jesse had a wife and two children), was getting to Jesse.  Many of the original gang members were either dead or serving time in state prisons.  Only Frank, and Jesse were left and two other, newer members, Charlie and Bob Ford.  The governor of Missouri, Thomas Crittenden had offered a reward of $5000 for the capture of Frank and Jesse James, dead or alive.  With this information, Bob Ford went to see the governor and offered to be the one able to bring down Jesse James.  On the morning of April 3, 1882 as the gang of 4 was getting ready for another bank robbery, Jesse noticed a picture hanging on the wall of his house that  he thought  was dusty and decided to climb up on a chair and clean it.  Bob Ford took this moment to shoot Jesse in the back of the head, and killed him.  Ford eventually received a full pardon from the governor and the reward money.  He was eventually shot dead  himself in Colorado in 1892.

Near the end of his life, Jesse had grown increasingly edgy, nervous, always worried about being caught, turned in, or murdered.  His death made me think of the phrase, “there is no honor among thieves”.  Yet why was his image turned into that of almost a hero?  In my weekend readings, I stumbled upon a website called “Stray Leaves”, a site for James family relatives.  The James family, many of them from Kentucky, can all trace a similar lineage back to their Scotch-Irish roots.  On the site are  articles by a historian, Mr. Phil Steele, and his research on Jesse James.  Many myths abound, including one that the James gang hid out in many of the state’s caves.  Frank James, who lived until 1915, told a St. Louis newspaper reporter in a 1902 interview that  the gang never hid out in caves as they didn’t want to get trapped where there wasn’t a back door!  Take note of that Meramac Caverns, as they claim the James gang hid out in their cave!   After Jesse’s death, dime novels began to be written exploiting the James gang, especially putting Jesse on a pedestal, making him out to be an American version of Robin Hood.   As time has gone on, Hollywood has done it’s part, making many  Jesse James movies.  One I haven’t seen was made in 1939 and  it  starred Tyrone Power as Jesse and Henry Fonda as Frank.  It must have done well as the next year there was a sequel, all about Frank, again played by Henry Fonda.  For a movie that is probably a truer picture of Jesse, Frank, and their gang, one should watch the film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.  It has a long title, but a strong cast, headed by Brad Pitt(who looked more like Jesse James than Tyrone Power ever could!),  Casey Affleck as Bob Ford, and Sam Shephard as Frank.

After all of my reading this weekend on Jesse James, I found myself feeling sort of sorry for him; the sorrows in his childhood, the horrors of Civil War and guerilla warfare, and it made me also think about choices one makes.  Choices can be good or bad, but the bad ones always  have nasty consequences, and ultimately, Jesse James paid the price for his string of bad choices.  Fortunately, from the Stray Leaves website, I did learn that Jesse’s son, Jesse E. James Jr., did become a lawyer, and  even had Governor Crittenden, who had  put forth the reward  on Jesse James, took Jesse Jr. under his wing for guidance and encouragement in  getting that law degree.  Jesse Jr. did marry and raise 4 daughters, some who married and had children and some who didn’t.  I couldn’t find as much  information on Jesse James’s daughter, Mary, but she did marry and her last name changed to Barr, and she did have at least one child, a son.   I do think that despite the dreadful choices of their father, Jesse’s two children did go on to lead productive lives and tried to instill that in their own children.   For an interesting page on Jesse James, Frank James, and the gang, visit the Stray Leaves website, and read the articles written by Mr. Phil Steele.

Jesse James

Brad Pitt as Jesse James

Tyrone Power as Jesse James

Books that I Remember

I have always loved to read.  I can recall sunny, summery days when my brother wanted me to come outside with him and play but I didn’t want to because I had my nose in a book.  Oh how mad he would get at me, complaining loudly that I had already read that book!  Sometimes that was true, I would re-read a book, especially if it had made an impression on me.  With my own seven children, ranging in age now  from 21 down to 10, whether they were under my homeschooling tutelage or at public high school, I have read to them and  encouraged  them to read on their own.  Visiting the library was, and often still is,  a weekly family outing.  Some of my children do read, some only if they have to, but I have tried to share with them the books that meant a lot to me when I always had my nose in a book.    I decided to take a trip down memory lane  and recall some of those books that  I enjoyed in my younger days, and perhaps they will form a reading list for an enterprising parent or grandparent.

The first book I remember reading all by myself was Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit.  I adored the pictures that the talented Miss Potter had drawn for the book.  I remember stumbling over MacGregor and sieve, but eventually figuring them out.  That was a proud moment for me.

A second book that I remember enjoying was The House at Pooh Corner, by A.A. Milne.  The bedtime tales invented by Mr. Milne for his only child, Christopher Robin, were funny and full of interesting animal characters.  I really enjoyed getting to know the different personality quirks of Owl, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Piglet, and of course, Winnie the Pooh.

The third book, and one I was guilty of re-reading was Charlotte’s Web.  I don’t like spiders at all, I realize they do a great service to mankind, and this book helped to illustrate what a true friendship could really be like.  Once, after reading E.B. White’s classic, I went on an anti-pork project and didn’t eat bacon or ham for a bit.

The Little House books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I have read and re-read these also.  I remember receiving the boxed set one Christmas from my Uncle and Aunt, who live in that metropolis of Chicago.  I was unfamiliar with the books, but my Aunt, who loves books, had enjoyed these when she was a girl and so the choice was made to give me a set as a gift.  What a wonderful gift too!  I really immersed myself in the saga of the Ingalls and Wilder families, in their journeys as pioneers across the Great Plains until they ultimately settled in De Smet, South Dakota.  The television show based upon the books soon hit the airwaves after I received my book set, and I was a regular watcher of the show, but it often bugged me how the tv episodes didn’t exactly follow what happened in the books.   I made it a point 9 summers ago that since we lived in Missouri,  our family would travel from St. Louis to Mansfield, where Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband Almanzo farmed, grew apples, and where the Little House books were written.  There is a very nice museum there, and one can see belongings and pictures of the Ingalls and Wilder families.  One can also walk through Laura and Almanzo’s home.   In fact, since our 10 year old was only a baby when we went, I think it is time  to re-visit!

Nancy Drew mysteries were also read voraciously by me.   I think I was in 5th grade when I noticed other girls at school reading those books, an entire set had been either donated or purchased by our school’s  library.  I tried to read them in order, but that was impossible as they were constantly being checked out so I had to read them as I could grab one!  My Chicago relatives came through again with a nice set of the books for me that Christmas, too.  I enjoyed Nancy’s smarts, the fact that she was always so fashionably dressed, had a blue convertible, loyal friends, and always helped capture the evil doers at the end of each book, foiling their plans to steal jewels or swindle some elderly person of their money.

Other books that I delighted in were: Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson, Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, both by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, Little Women and Little Men and Jo’s Boys, all by Louisa May Alcott, Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight, and many of Beverly Cleary’s books: Ramona and Beezus and Ellen Tebbits.

Reading is such a wonderful hobby to have.  Books can take one to far away places, to  past times in history, to  allow one to walk around in someone else’s shoes and experience their life with them.   As our pediatrician told my 19 year old daughter when she was 5, “Reading makes your brain smart!”   So by all means, grab a book, a favorite spot to sit, and read to your children, your grandchildren,  and read for your own betterment!

I’ve been Summoned!

Last Friday afternoon I went to the mailbox to retrieve the day’s mail.  There was a large envelope with my name on it, sent by a Phelps County official.  I was curious about this piece of mail so I opened it immediately.  When I saw the word “juror” printed  on the letter, I was surprised and also felt a bit of trepidation.  I had been summoned to appear for jury duty.

I have never been summoned for jury duty before.  The letter had an accompanying question and answer form which I filled out later that evening.  One question asked if I was related to a law enforcement agent.  I am, but he is retired, and doesn’t live in Missouri.  I wondered if the answer I gave to that one question would strike me off of a lawyer’s juror list?  The letter stated that I would be considered for  serving on a petit jury.  I didn’t know what that term meant so I did some research.  Petit juries are the ones we think of thanks to many television shows and movies.  It’s the jury made up of 12 citizens having to reach an unaimous decision as  to someone’s innocence or guilt. The letter also reminded me to dress appropriately for my day at the courthouse: no jeans, no t-shirts with any words on them.  That reminder sort of made me chuckle, but then I recalled  what some Americans wear when out in public and  I decided that that reminder was needed in the letter.

If I am picked to serve, it is for a several month span of time, and one of those weeks has already been set and planned for a family vacation.  The condo is already reserved!  I really hope that I won’t be summoned for that week.  I don’t have any medical conditions that would keep me from serving.  I do home school our three youngest children and I don’t know if that would excuse me from serving  or not.  Since I am a stay at home mom, there is no job that I would need to be excused for.

Visions of courtroom dramas from  the entertainment world keep filling my imagination.  Will it be a case that leads to a jury arguing with one another like in 12 Angry Men?

Will it be a case with an outstanding attorney summing up the case, like Atticus Finch did in To Kill a Mockingbird? 

Will there be an angry outburst from one of the witnesses on the stand mirroring Jack Nicholson’s famous rant, “You can’t handle the truth!”, from A Few Good Men?

Actually, I am hoping that if I do get selected for a petit jury, that it will be a simple traffic case and not a disturbing criminal case.  Some well meaning friends have shared with me court cases where they almost were selected or a loved one was on the jury and the weight of the responsibility sat heavily on the juror they knew.  One friend was selected for a jury case that would have been devastating to sit through and fortunately the perpetrator decided to plead guilty and the trial was dismissed, my friend not needed to be on that jury at all.

I have decided that the day that I spend at the courthouse should be looked at as an educational experience.  It will be interesting to me, to see how the wheels of justice work, to be able to be a part of that process, to fulfill my civic duty.  I also plan on visiting the library and having a good book to read.  That should help immensely!