Snazzy, creepy, cutesy

I've finally learned how to put a background on my blog! It'll take some time to fashion one that's uniquely me, but in the meantime I'm liking this one a lot. Thanks, Dave for sharing. I asked someone a while back, but I guess it was some big secret. Oh well, I guess he didn't know Harry Wong.

Speaking of Harry Wong, I'm going to see him live real soon! (insert crazy screaming and jumping up and down here)
I hope I don't go all Sanjaya on Wong. Yep, that would be a little bit awkward and embarrassing. **************
Sommer says, while driving into Kobler, "Tontonville!" LOL, almost but not quite baby.

Wasn't Me!

There is a less than tasteful letter circulating through emails, supposedly from PSS Principals. It is both Bondlike and Cowardly Lionish at the same time. The letter, if you got it, will self-destruct in about a week, cannot be saved, printed, or even converted into a PDF file. Very clever huh? Well, not if you have a camera. Anyway, who is this undercover "visionary, inspirational leader" who is being ignored? Who knows?! I have very little respect for anyone who prefers to remain anonymous and thinks they can still affect change. Some may argue that the fear of retribution is preventing this person from speaking up. While fear is a legitimate emotion, bashing people to make yourself feel better is not. In the words of Gandhi "fear has it's use, but cowardice has none."

On the record: many principals, including myself do not endorse this letter and have no knowledge of who wrote it. I am a very hard-headed person, and have probably wasted many principals' meetings locking horns with our COE while my colleagues mutter under their breath "not again Boni - just let it go", but I swear WASN'T ME!

Poor soul, you think that the e-mail is a metaphor something bigger?

Hey, Mr. Cowardly Spy:
Do you want to self-destruct? Deep down inside? You do, don't you?
You're self-destructing in your heart aren't you?
(Do your best Ben Stiller "Night at the Museum" face here)

It's not just business, it's personal!

The Zoning Board met two days ago right across the street from Garapan School. I should say, right under our noses. I got an email saying they were meeting, but I didn't really put two and two together. Ironically, the last time the issue of SELLING G.E.S. OUT came about, I was celebrating Education Day with my teachers. Two days ago we were celebrating National Teacher Day. Creepy huh? Oh yes! SELLING G.E.S. OUT, yes, I heard that there were legislators there ( I vote in precinct one and I work in a precinct 3 school district) who were very vocal about there not being any need for a school in the middle of the tourist district. Ahem, the question posed, as I heard it paraphrased was, "Does the school in the Garapan zone really need to be there?" And the answer from our legislators was a resounding "No." There was one particular Congressman who was pretty adamant that G.E.S. would be better used to entice tourists.

Never mind the children. Local children do not need a beautiful environment, the trees at G.E.S. should shade tourists. Our children do not need a large sports field to play on, hey, health education is over-rated. Let's F$@*%# take paradise away from the snotty nosed kids and build a freakin' mall in it's place. YEAH! Let's build a great big mall! OOOOH -OOOOOH! I know! Let's expand the freakin' prostitute strip. OH Shhhhhh Boni, don't say that. Don't get hysterical now, this is not an Education Administration remember, this is an Economy Administration. Okay, I got it. Loud and clear.

In other un-f@#$%^ believable news: GCA gets an extension on their lease and a reduction in their rent that is already almost next to nothing. Six million dollars gets taken away from the public schools, the lease on GCA gets extended and the rental decreased?

What is your song?

A bird sings not because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.
-Chinese Proverb

I heard this proverb at the beginning of a seminar that I had already decided was a complete waste of my time. While our esteemed presenter shared numerous bits of wisdom about being passionately in love with your job, I was busy writing a list of all the things I'd done at work BEFORE I made it to the meeting. I got 9 things done in 45 minutes, and I resented having to leave my school to listen to someone tell me that I had better love my job or leave it. I thought, "Who does this guy think he is, really!" It was not his fault, no matter how charming he was, I wanted to be at my school.

Then he said something that I couldn't shake off of me no matter how stubborn and negative I was determined to be. He quoted the proverb that would haunt me to this hour. I always try to avoid this kind of intense self-reflection, but stuff like this sticks to me like rice on a serving spoon. Soon as he said it I thought, "NO! Don't do that! Don't make me second guess every decision I made from the minute I left my classroom. Don't force me to make a decision about why I'm singing". But, there was no going back, it started and since that moment I've been asking myself if I'm singing at all. What song is it? Am I dancing? Who is leading?

This is an insane segway into the political climate of our islands, but for me it is a crucial piece. Our government does not value education enough to protect it. There - I said it and I'm not taking it back. There is nothing that convinces me otherwise right now. Educators are a resilient bunch, always able to create from scratch what cannot be afforded to them. We are trained to survive. For so long, our leaders have relied on the resourcefulness of educators because we sing.

They take for granted that we sing.

I am an administrator and I have to make tough choices, this I am prepared to do. What I want to know is why our legislators, why our government, cannot do the same. Where is the ownership in what happens to our children and how it impacts their learning?

Who owns this song?

Does the PSS? The Board? Does the Governor? The legislature? Stand up and be men and women of integrity and forget that elections are around the corner. There will always be someone to pressure you, someone to con and bribe and intimidate and threaten and judge and blackmail you! But, they will be adults who should know better, not children who rely on you to protect their rights. Do the right thing by them next week when you meet to discuss how to save some money. Put the politicking aside and forget about one-upping each other with fancy-schmancy anecdotes and quips. Save that for the pocket meetings. It goes better with free food and beer.

In the next few weeks you will decide, because others who should refuse to, the course our educational system will take. Please remember one thing: the boys and girls in our public school system have worked so hard over the last decade to raise their level of academic proficiency and are now competing successfully with their private school counterparts. The children no longer walk into competitions with dread and uncertainty. They are champions, challengers, comrades and equal in ability and worth. We are proud to have been a part of bringing them to this point. Aren't you?

A bird sings not because it has an answer, but because it has a song.

What will be your song?