Memorial Day

Today as we observe Memorial Day, a day in which we honor and remember everyone who has served and sacrificed, often with their lives, so that we could remain free, I looked at a little bit of the history of the holiday. It was originally called Decoration Day that was supposed to be a day of remembrance to honor those who died in our nation's service. While it is difficult to determine where and when observing Memorial Day REALLY began, President Lyndon Johnson officially declared it a holiday in 1966. It is believed that it began in Waterloo, NY, but that there were probably many other towns who had spontaneously begun to remember and honor the war dead long before that.

New York was the first state to recognize this day in 1873 with all of the rest of the northern states observing it by 1890. The South refused to observe and honor this day choosing to honor their war dead on a different day until after World War I when the date was changed from remembering just the fallen from the Civil War to the fallen of all wars. However, there are still several southern states who choose to remember their Civil War dead on a separate day.

It seems as if it takes a national tragedy to unite the people of this country anymore. For many years prior to the events of 911, there didn't seem to be as much patriotism as there was for several years following those horrible events. People proudly flew the American flag and sang the national anthem as well as God Bless America. While there are many who still do all of these, it seems as if the patriotism of many has waned. Why? Is it because of the state of the economy? Is it because of who we have as president? Is your political party not in control? Is it because we haven't had a huge tragedy since 911? 

Our patriotism shouldn't be based on who is currently serving as our president, on the state of the economy, or on which politcal party is in control. It also shouldn't only be based on us coming together as a nation simply due to tragedy. We are AMERICANS! Our fore-fathers fought and died to make this country free. Because of what they did and the fact that we live in the greatest country in the world, we should all proudly and respectfully fly our flag. We should feel it an honor to be able to sing the greatest national anthem in the world. Mostly, we should take the time to respect and honor ALL of the men and women who have fought and died to keep us free all of these years. I don't necessarily agree with our current administration, but I am incredibly proud to be an AMERICAN! We all should be.

So, thank you to all who have fought, suffered, lost loved ones, and who still serve this great country of ours so that we can remain free. May we always know freedom. May our flag always fly. May God bless America. 

End of School 2013

The school year of 2012/2013 has officially come to an end at SDOW. Friday was the final day for students and the staff still have one more day. Since I'm not in the classroom anymore, I have more days that I need to work in the summer. I know that many of my teacher friends also "work" in the summer; creating lessons, updating lessons, finding new ways of teaching, attending workshops. For those of you who aren't teachers, it seems as if we ALWAYS work, even when we are off. I know that many of you do too, but I think teachers often get a bad rap because people often think we have June, July, and August off. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Even when I didn't have to work in the summer, I still did. I always brought home my teacher's guides, files, worksheets, etc., to work on from home. I can remember having books and papers spread all over just about every room in the house so that I could organize and reorganize for the next year. I would usually give myself a week or two to get caught up on the things I needed to do at home and then I would hit it hard with the school work.

I don't have a classroom anymore and sometimes I miss that. I do have to say that it is a lot less stressful having the job that I now have, especially with me having RA. I still get my "classroom" fix with my college students and especially enjoyed them this semester. 

So, for all of my teacher friends, enjoy your summer!! You have earned your time off and you deserve it (even though most of you will continue working at least for part of the time).