Friday, June 29, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Some Time With Gracie
My daughter and I decided to go fishing today after hitting the graduation parties... Well I caught a few... Maybe 3... She reeled in a total of twelve fish today! And did she rub that in! But we had a blast!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Kindness
Did you ever have a teacher that just left an impression on you... one that you won't forget for the rest of your life? I personally had one teacher who changed my life. It wasn't directly related to education, but definitely had an impact on the rest of my educational life. And every time I think about school, he is the first one who comes to mind. The reason I bring this up is that I have been out of school for a long time and last night I was lucky enough to be witness to a second educator that I will never forget.
I went to the Dallas HS senior banquet last night to photograph it for their yearbook. It is a fun night for the kids at the East Mountain Inn, with dinner, dancing, and awards! Well I got there a half hour early to get a few candid shot of the seniors' arrival and receiving line. Well 5 minutes before the festivities were scheduled to begin, a pair of seniors walk in dressed in a some-what liberally casual attire. One of the teachers informed the seniors that the event was semi-formal and that their dress was not appropriate for the night's event. Explaining to a 17, 18 year old that "formal" attire would be a tux, and semi-formal attire would be a suit and tie. No offense to the teacher, but to many young adults under the age of 25, formal is a sports coat and tie and semi-formal is a button down shirt. A tux doesn't even enter the picture until they are a best man or groom. But in the teachers defense, they took semi-formal to an extreme stretch that barley reached "just look nice"!
Anyway.... to make an already long story short.... Another teacher approached the students and told them to leave. "Go home and change, we will keep your dinner warm." In the receiving line was Dallas's new HS principal Mr Jeffrey Shaffer. He overheard what was going on and left the receiving line to talk to the students. It wasn't the typical "what were you thinking" speech you would expect at this point.... Mr. Shaffer went to his car, where he had some of his suites from the cleaners, and "helped" the students rather than ridicule their mistake. No questions asked! All the way down to the shoes!
To Mr. Shaffer, I salute you. And if these students take away only one thing from their high school life, I hope it is your act of kindness on this night! I know that I will not forget your actions and hope that my own daughter has the pleasure of having an educator like you in her life. Dallas is lucky to have you, and with you at the helm, I think the many great teachers there will only get better!
I went to the Dallas HS senior banquet last night to photograph it for their yearbook. It is a fun night for the kids at the East Mountain Inn, with dinner, dancing, and awards! Well I got there a half hour early to get a few candid shot of the seniors' arrival and receiving line. Well 5 minutes before the festivities were scheduled to begin, a pair of seniors walk in dressed in a some-what liberally casual attire. One of the teachers informed the seniors that the event was semi-formal and that their dress was not appropriate for the night's event. Explaining to a 17, 18 year old that "formal" attire would be a tux, and semi-formal attire would be a suit and tie. No offense to the teacher, but to many young adults under the age of 25, formal is a sports coat and tie and semi-formal is a button down shirt. A tux doesn't even enter the picture until they are a best man or groom. But in the teachers defense, they took semi-formal to an extreme stretch that barley reached "just look nice"!
Anyway.... to make an already long story short.... Another teacher approached the students and told them to leave. "Go home and change, we will keep your dinner warm." In the receiving line was Dallas's new HS principal Mr Jeffrey Shaffer. He overheard what was going on and left the receiving line to talk to the students. It wasn't the typical "what were you thinking" speech you would expect at this point.... Mr. Shaffer went to his car, where he had some of his suites from the cleaners, and "helped" the students rather than ridicule their mistake. No questions asked! All the way down to the shoes!
To Mr. Shaffer, I salute you. And if these students take away only one thing from their high school life, I hope it is your act of kindness on this night! I know that I will not forget your actions and hope that my own daughter has the pleasure of having an educator like you in her life. Dallas is lucky to have you, and with you at the helm, I think the many great teachers there will only get better!
Friday, June 1, 2007
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