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Ted Williams: Encouragement to Start the New Year

Do you need an encouragement in starting 2011? Has life been tough? It has been for many of us, if not all of us. Well, I came across the story of Ted Williams, a homeless man with an amazing voice. Just listen to his story and it will just move you and encourage you.

CBS News has an interview that has on this man who has encountered life of difficulties and failures and managed to encounter God.  If his story doesn’t encourage you and challenge you to live carpe diem, I don’t know what will.

This is yet another fine example that everyone has a calling.

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Texas Comptroller Cutting 12000 Elementary Teachers?!

Update 01/13/2011:

Someone from my area e-mailed her directly for clarification and here’s her answer:

January 11, 2011

Mr. ******

Dear Mr. *****:

Thank you for your message concerning our recent Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) report.

The education of Texas school children is among the state’s highest priorities. The recommendations in the FAST report are intended to provide school districts with options to manage their budgets during these difficult times.

The FAST report does not recommend firing Texas teachers; the report recommends replacing the current 22-students-per-classroom cap in grades K-4 with a requirement that districts maintain an average of 22 students per teacher for those grade levels. In practice, this would give school districts the flexibility to have slightly more than 22 students in a particular class as long as it was offset by a classroom with fewer than 22 students. In this way, districts could determine student class size based on the needs of their particular students and district rather than a state-set mandate.

To read a detailed description of our recommendation to allow school districts to maintain an average of 22 students per teacher, please see Page 31 of the FAST Appendix, which can be found at www.fastexas.org/study.

In addition, we have recommended a study of the growth in school district administrative positions. Reducing growth of these positions could result in increased resources for teachers. Please see Page 32 of the FAST Appendix for more information on this recommendation.

Legislative action would be required to adopt any of these recommendations, which may be discussed in the 82nd Legislature convening Jan. 11. If you would like to contact your state legislators concerning education policy, you can find their contact information at www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us.

We hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,

Susan Combs

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

So if the above e-mail is indeed true (and it starts at page 30, not 32), then I would like to do the decent thing by retracting my anger towards the Comptroller.  I guess I will not read from The Dallas Morning News anymore.

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As I am about to go to sleep, I come across this disturbing news that the newly elected Texas comptroller is planning to cut 12,000 elementary school teachers to save $500 million! What the %23@#!$!$

Of all the stupid things to do to save money, you cut education?! Cut your own salary first! Even more infuriating is the fact that I see this on her website!

Combs

I added the red circle to point out that she promised two things she’s breaking as we speak! What kind of baloney is this?! How is she FOR education by destroying the basic foundation of the education: elementary schools?! Kids first get exposed to school through this system and I can’t see any of my kids being happy to hear that their teachers may not return next year!

I am soo mad right now! I hope people take notice and address this!

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“Rain Man” Conversations During Lunch

We went to Starfire Grille for lunch today.  We were eating our meals when a father and son duo walked in.  Didn’t think much of it at first except for a bit loud son.  He soon got loud and I soon figured out that he was mentally challenged.

He was rather loud.  We kept eating.  Until JJ brought up the issue.  He asked what’s with him and normally, I’d have bypassed the conversation until I realized that every opportunity can be an opportunity to learn.  So we had our conversation that no one is best at everything.  And that some of us are born with certain conditions that may seem worse than others on the surface.

We talked about “Rain Man” and “Forrest Gump” and the kids seemed to take it in well.  I had told them that most of the time, these mentally challenged people are not hurtful though they may seem so on the surface.  Most of how your kids see others, I believe, are stemmed from how you as parents teach and raise them.  If I had taught my kids to be afraid or be mean to people who are different, chances are that would have everlasting impact on their future behavior.

I am thankful that the opportunity surfaced and that the kids took it in well.

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Missionary that built a Flying Car!

Flying car and the inventor
Flying car and the inventor

Source: CNN

I know… the title of the post seems… unbelievable!  But it’s true… this missionary wanted to be able to reach the indigenous tribes in Ecuador easily and so sought out to solve the problem himself!  Not only that, powered by a 250-hp Subaru engine, this baby will do 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds!

I salute you, Mr. Saint (yes, that’s his name!), on a job well done!  His non-profit group I-TEC will build and sell this puppy at $80,000 and hopes to build about 100 per year!  Wish I had one!

I found a man who not only has heart for missions but also the innovation to make it happen!  My hero of the year!

Video can be seen here.

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Memories of Grandpa – Becoming Softer

Grandparents

What’s reminiscence without complementary grandpa?

My paternal grandfather was a man of education. He spent the entire life on education. He was a principal to an elementary school in Namwon. Most of the people that are in and around the area grew up having him as the principal. I recall so many people coming over to pay their respects during his funeral.

It was a very emotional one for me. He had just one wish and that was to hold a great grandson. Trust me, if I could turn back time, I wish I could grant him that one last wish. But alas, he died without having held JJ. I used to think badly of that. You see, Anna is my older child but having grown up in Confucius teachings and the older culture, he practically ignored my daughter when we had visited him several years ago.

I used to hold that against him… but now, I just … let it go. He has known that culture for all his life and have realized that expecting him to love my daughter just as much as he would my son was more than he could. Perhaps, it was being a principal but I remember him being very strict and … not very fun to be around. My (paternal) grandmother was so much kinder, though I barely remember her now… She passed away when I was only about 20. Having bored 10 children was more than she could handle. The biggest thing I remember was that she would let me go out to play when grandpa told us not to go outside.

Namwon was a countryside back then… no covered roads to home… just dirt. So the beginning decades for me weren’t very fond memories of him. But as conversations come back again and again to it, jung (?, the essence of emotional bonds between people that is formed over time and/or circumstances) is a very strong and scary stuff.

Since adulthood, I have had the opportunity to visit him again and again. Once he came to visit us in the States. We drove him around even to Canada to sightsee. Over the years, I noticed him getting… softer. It was rather subtle but it was there. He was less strict and laughed more (at least to what I remember).

I’d like to believe that he died peacefully having made peace with what he could and the people that he could. Seeing all those people coming to pay respects reminded me that he did something right. But it was definitely a gentler and softer grandfather that I remember now…  I am so glad that is how I remember him.  See you soon grandpa…  Hope you can see JJ from up there…