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tabling at PHS 2/4/2014

Monday, 10 February 2014 01:47 Libby Frank

After seeing the 4th or 5th male student with bleach blonde hair I began to wonder if this was a new fad. I am told that they are all on the boys swim team and this is something they do as a team. When my kids were in high school the members of the boys swim team shaved their heads. I'm not sure which I like better.

Anyway, I had a few meaningful conversations with students but otherwise it was pretty quiet. Since we come to the school on the first Tuesday I try to make the association with the civil defense siren which also sounds on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Most of the students know what I'm talking about.

One of the social studies teachers I know stopped by briefly and we talked about the student privacy issue and inBloom. I directed him to the article on our website. I've now talked to 3 or 4 teachers about this and not one has heard of it.

Libby

tabling at WHS 1/24/14

Sunday, 26 January 2014 23:28 Libby Frank

Although we had the usual stream of students that really just wanted candy but thought they had to talk to us to "qualify" for the handout, there were a few interesting discussions.

We talked for a few minutes to a nice young man who plans to join the Marines. I pointed out a few things he should think about. He said that he wouldn't kill innocent people and I pointed out that he just may not be given that choice. We're you're in the middle of a situation things often get out of control. You could see his eyes clouding over. I had to disappoint a young man but I certainly would rather he go into the Marines with "eyes wide open" than be disappointed.

I left a bunch of zines and a flyer advertising the peace essay contest with one of the teachers there. It would be great if a D214 student applied for to the contest.

Libby

tabling at JHHS 1/23/14

Sunday, 26 January 2014 23:04 Libby Frank

The following is a brief synopsis of activity that happened. There were visits from the usual students stopping over including:

  • A very nice tall, thin, young man who often stops by announced that he has turned 18 but did not register for the draft . . . it's his personal protest against the wars. I told him I very much appreciated his sentiments and asked him to look into something: Will he still be able to qualify for student financial aid at a community, state or private college? He'll let me know next month. I guess we know the answer but I want him to look into it himself.

Then there was some troubling news from a couple of students:

  • A senior plans on joining the military right after graduation from high school.
  • Another senior has already signed up for the Marines and will enter right after graduation.

And some that give a person hope yet:

  • A junior interested in taking engineering classes also was thinking about going into the military and work on equipment, etc. After talking, he has now promised to think it over and may even write a submission for the peace essay contest.
  • Another senior - very birhg - anticipates attending McGill University in Canada and will major in linguistics. She too may write and submit a peace essay.

Then:

  • Two teachers that just stopped by for a moment and when asked how they feel about private personal information of students being sold by the ACT - both said they were not aware of it or the lawsuit (and one teacher said it didn't surprise her) however both seem unfazed. I didn't even have a chance to ask what they thought of the inBloom project.

Esther

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