Thursday, September 29, 2011
Power Walking Grannies
I did my first 5K when I was at the College of Charleston my junior year. I was in a sorority, Chi Omega, and one of our philanthropic events was to participate in a 5K called Waves for Wishes. Although it was benefiting Make-a-Wish, an organization that is near and dear to my heart, I had no desire to wake up at 7:00 A.M. on a Saturday morning to participate in a 5K. So naturally, being that misery loves company, I enlisted my roommates to join me, which I must point out that my roommates were not part of my sorority and had no obligation to be up at the crack of dawn to participate in organized exercise, but being the good friends and good hearted people that they are (I still think what sealed the deal was the promise of breakfast at the end of the race as well as the chance to watch some athletic men run without their shirts on) they signed up for the race. Now let it be stated that I had no intentions of running this 5K, however, I never considered that by not running, or even power walking, that my roommates and I would come in just about last place. Seriously, we were passed by a power-walking grandma. My roommates and laughed it off, because here we were, three 20 year old girls, being lapped by someone at least triple our age. Next year we vowed that we would step up our game and at least power-walk. Well, the next year came around, and it came time for the annual Waves and Wishes 5K. As I did the previous year, I goaded my roommates to sign up with me, and once again they did. Well, this year, we were all 21, which meant that Friday nights were spent out at the bar, and being the naïve young people we were, we thought it would be no problem to wake up at 7:00 A.M. to do a 5K. Our rationale was that we would still be drunk from the night before and probably wouldn’t even remember participating in the event. Boy, were we in for a rude awakening. When we awoke that Saturday morning, the sun was shining full blast. I don’t know if any of you have been to Charleston, but the weather in September is about 75-80 degrees, which is wonderful if you are well-rested and going to the beach; when you are hungover and about to participate in a 5K, not so wonderful. Let’s just say our lofty goals of power-walking and beating our previous years time was immediately thrown out the window. I’m fairly certain that it took us an extra ten minutes to complete the 5K than it did the previous year. At that moment, I decided that 5Ks were not for me, those people were way too perky and energetic on a Saturday morning for me. Flash forward to this Sunday where I will be participating in a half-marathon. Let’s just hope this time I don’t get passed by a power walking grandma.
Brown v. Board of Education Article
Here is a link to a current event that is relevant to Brown v. Board of Education today:
In this article from May 2004, Sara Neufield explores the idea that many of the nations schools are re-segregating. It focuses on Randallstown School in Baltimore, Maryland. Randallstown High Schools 98% black, while Towson High, 14 miles away, is 78% white. Many people in the Randallstown school community still feel a sense of inferiority when it comes to education. Some of the factors that contribute to the inferiority of these schools is high teacher turnover, low expectations, lack of high expectations, and tough odds.
There is a high teacher turnover in these majority-black schools because many teachers seek jobs in affluent, majority-white schools, where the pay is the sam for less demanding work.
There is also the trend of low expectations as a result of many of the brighter students now enrolling in magnet schools. Students get As and Bs without much real effort, many of the classes are more like a review, and due dates are very lax.
When a teacher has high expectations for a student, the students will feel more challenged. Many of the predominately black schools lack teacher who have high standards for their students, which goes along with the low expectations, and when the students are not challenged they are more likely to become restless and bored.
Another problem faced by predominately-black schools is that the teachers and the students are up against tougher odds. In many cases, there is a lack of parental support, not necessarily because the parents don't care, but because they are uninformed and unsure.
Even though Brown v. Board of Education ended state-sanctioned segregation, there is still a divide among schools, and as a result of this divide, there exists an uneven distribution of academic achievement and student success.
In this article from May 2004, Sara Neufield explores the idea that many of the nations schools are re-segregating. It focuses on Randallstown School in Baltimore, Maryland. Randallstown High Schools 98% black, while Towson High, 14 miles away, is 78% white. Many people in the Randallstown school community still feel a sense of inferiority when it comes to education. Some of the factors that contribute to the inferiority of these schools is high teacher turnover, low expectations, lack of high expectations, and tough odds.
There is a high teacher turnover in these majority-black schools because many teachers seek jobs in affluent, majority-white schools, where the pay is the sam for less demanding work.
There is also the trend of low expectations as a result of many of the brighter students now enrolling in magnet schools. Students get As and Bs without much real effort, many of the classes are more like a review, and due dates are very lax.
When a teacher has high expectations for a student, the students will feel more challenged. Many of the predominately black schools lack teacher who have high standards for their students, which goes along with the low expectations, and when the students are not challenged they are more likely to become restless and bored.
Another problem faced by predominately-black schools is that the teachers and the students are up against tougher odds. In many cases, there is a lack of parental support, not necessarily because the parents don't care, but because they are uninformed and unsure.
Even though Brown v. Board of Education ended state-sanctioned segregation, there is still a divide among schools, and as a result of this divide, there exists an uneven distribution of academic achievement and student success.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Waitressing
Why do some people think that it's okay to be rude to their server? Don't you know that a waiter or waitress is in charge of your food, which essentially means they are in charge of your happiness, especially if you have young kids. After a long summer season, you don't even what to know the images that run through my mind when a customer is rude (let's just say it involves plastic utensils).
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