In Remembrance

Jon's trombone playing has matured quite a bit. We sure enjoyed this moment last week.

What a performance this was! Enjoy this on You tube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKmXpCHm0o

It was interesting to see all of the related videos and comments that were put up.

A Makeover

What does one do to raise $10,000? A few minutes of being able to laugh at yourself with 300 screaming elementary school students is one heck of an easy way to do it. In fact, it is just down right fun.

Linwood students raised $10,000 for student funds and activities and I offered myself up as a spectacle with the help of our music teacher, Dave Noyes who gave me quite the makeover.

After a busy day of dealing with the challenges of being a principal, it was fun just to let go for a moment.

The Movie- Once

I don't often go to see movies more than once, but you'll have to excuse the pun. I did see this movie more than once. Some have characterized it as a music video expanded to a music movie. Anyway, I really got into this story and the lyrics of the music by Glen Hansard of the Frames. The song, "Falling Slowly" really seemed to be the main message of the whole film.

I found an excerpt from an article on the web that shares some of Hansard's insights into music. Here it is:

Music is medicine and dreams. For me that's what music is, when it's at its best. It makes time stop. It's salve. For me music is a moment of peace, and quietude - ironically. Poetry on the other hand is different. Poetry stirs the blood. Poetry makes men go to war. If you listen to any of the speeches from Bush or the statements from Al-Qaeda, it's all poetry, and that's what makes men kill. For me singing a political song is like me trying to sell you a Volvo, only because it's like selling an idea. If I write a song about a situation, some people can do that very convincingly, but I don't think that I can. It's something I admire. I admire Damien Dempsey for example. It's not even that he writes political songs, he writes songs about social situations and his people. You have to be very strong to write and sing songs like that. If you can see someone like that as a troubadour or a herald, that's not what I am. I'm more like a little cinema. I'm a little world cinema in the corner of the town square, inviting you in to look at something. Follow the story and forget about the politics for a little while. I've always had a real problem with people standing up on a stage and singing those songs. As much as I love Dylan, and as much as I love so many other singers who've done that, for me selling an idea is like using music to sell McDonalds. It's wrong. Not that commerce is bad, it's not, but it's not in the same realm as music. It's like using naked women to sell beer. Naked women are beautiful, they're sacred. They've been depicted through the millennia as being the source of all man's inspiration, and yet you put a woman in an American flag bra and put her with a bottle of Budweiser - you're taking something sacred just to shift some units."

Time For Truth

I have dived into a book entitled, Time for Truth by Os Guinness. I have been awestruck by the examples he shares of fake biographies and stories published all in the name of trying to get at the truth of a matter. He shares the example of the Nobel peace prize winner from Guatemala who wrote a book in 1983 depicting her brother's execution in the village of Chajul. She was honored by Pope John Paul II. It turns out the whole story was fictionalized. Her brother was executed, but not in the manner depicted which included bizarre descriptions of being burned alive in a town square where people were forced to watch.
He shares other examples including the life of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens).

Recently, I have also been reading a book, Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. I saw her speak at the recent National Association For Elementary School Principals. She has done an amazing thing. This book is essentially a compilation of diary entries from the students in her English classes who were writing about their own realities in inner city LA during the 1990's and the Rodney King backlash. She was able to get the students to compare their own existence to the lives of Ann Frank and others such as Zlata Filipovic (siege of Sarajevo). I have to say that this is some of the most honest writing I have ever read. Mind you, I have no way to check out all the stories that are being shared, but it is hard for me to believe the experiences of these students are fictionalized.

In thinking about Os Guiness's assertion that as a western society we have lost respect for the truth, I have to say that I agree with him. I agree that there are many examples of stories that were made up just to get attention and promote a cause. But after reading the entries of these students and their own discoveries of the similarities between their existence and the life of Ann Frank, I find it hard to believe that they could be exaggerating. I believe that sometimes truth hits us so hard, that we refuse to believe it. Truth is a funny thing. It seems that sometimes we need to change it somehow to make it more glamorous or sexy. And at other times we need to minimize it or just ignore it altogether.

But to glamorize or minimize, we have to have some certainty of what the truth is before we can do either. I wonder what someone like Nietzsche would say about the Freedom Writers. Guinness quotes Nietzsche in his book, Beyond Good and Evil.
He says, "Indeed, it may be a characteristic of existence that those who would know it completely would perish, in which case the strength of a spirit should be measured according to how much of the 'truth' one could still barely endure- or to put it more clearly, to what degree one would require it to be thinned down, shrouded, sweetened, falsified."

The diary entries of the freedom writers are for the most part, short and straight to the point. There isn't much sweetening that I can tell. They are heroes trying to communicate forgotten truth or truth that we refuse to pay attention to- the poverty in our inner cities, the growing gap between haves and have nots, and the lack of equity in our educational systems. Why can't we all follow the example of the freedom writers by sharing our own realities, sharing the truth about our lives without fabrication? Somehow, I can't help but think that we could build a better existence. Nietzsche says this is impossible and that we cannot endure the truth. Perhaps by sharing it, we can be healed and move on to be transformed to some higher form of existence.

Jon Spooner- 1st Place at Sate Solo Contest!

Congratulations Jon Spooner! He holds the State Title For Trombone at the State Solo Contest

Jon, his mom, dad, and his sister Rachel were in a surprised state of blissful shock when the names were announced for 1st through 5th place at the state solo contest held at Lewis and Clark College yesterday, Saturday, April 28th. Jon had an outstanding performance of the Graf concerto. After it was over and after having listened to other performances, he ranked himself in 5th place or lower. There were a few missed notes, etc. that he thought would cost him with the judges ratings. We listened as the names were read at the awards ceremony: 5th place- no Jon, 4th place- no Jon, 3rd place- no, Jon, (At this point we had to think it was an honor just to be there) 2nd place- no Jon, 1st place- There he was! Wow! Our hearts were pumping.

In the end, we all knew that Jon's muscianship and his ability to play this piece with his heart was what mattered most. The competetive element can be a blessing and a curse depending on one's perspective. We're all glad for Jon.

Here is an excerpt from the Oregonian's blog:

Four students defend titles at OSAA solo music contest
Posted by The Oregonian April 28, 2007 22:16PM
Categories: Breaking News

Four students successfully defended state titles they won last year Saturday at the 2007 OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires Solo Music State Championships at Lewis and Clark College.
The repeat winners were Briana Lehman of Gresham High School on the bassoon, Matthew Keown of Springfield High School on rudimental snare drum, Nicole Skau of David Douglas High School on alto saxophone, and Matthew Markham from Colton High School on low saxophone.

A total of 424 students from 105 high schools participated.

Trombone: 1. Jon Spooner, Gresham High School; 2. Bryan Pawlowski, Aloha High School; 3. Sean Meesey, Churchill High School (Eugene); 4. Matthew Hettwer, West Salem High School; 5. Naomi Jeffries, Oregon City High School.

A Queen In The Midst Of It All

This is an excerpt from the KOIN News Website:

1942 Rose Queen Finally Takes Crown

MILWAUKIE, Ore. - A Rose Festival junior war queen was honored Friday decades after she was crowned.

KOIN News 6 visited Linwood Elementary School to witness history. Students held an assembly to honor women's history where they told stories of historical women from A-to-Z.  
After they had completed the entire alphabet, two students returned to the stage with the letters P and K, the initials for Phyllis Kremers, a cafeteria cook at the school.
In 1942, 9-year-old Kremers was named the junior Rose Festival queen, but much of the festival was canceled due to the start of WWII. She is now in her early 70s and was honored to receive a crown, a scepter and a dozen roses from the kids.
All of the princesses from 1942 will be honored in June as the Rose Festival celebrates its 100th year.



With all the busyness and stress that happens this time of year in schools, I have to say that I was really blessed to have been able to create this opportunity to recognize one of our fellow staff members and I am glad we were able to take the time to do it. It was the perfect opportunity to celebrate Women's history by highlighting a significant life achievement of one of our own. It was quite a coincidence that I heard about this just as our third grade students and teachers were preparing a presentation on this topic. It was also an opportunity to reminisce about my experiences with the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade as a drum major with the David Douglas High School Band. I hope that Phyllis will have the opportunity to ride on the float and experience all the attention and revelry she deserves.

Scratching It for Linwood

On Tuesday, April 10th we had the distinct pleasure of joining the 1190KEX radio team in an effort to scratch Oregon Lottery Tickets for Linwood. Here is an excerpt from Marie Dodd's blogg:

"The 1190 KEX team of Mark and Dave, Scott Lynn and I are some darn good scratchers. We raised $1,525 dollars for Linwood School in the North Clackamas School District as part of the 2007 Oregon Lottery Scratch-it for Schools event. Media teams are invited to compete to scratch as many lottery tickets as they can in five minutes. There was just one other team that managed to beat us, and they did so by a measly six bucks. (We demand a recount!). Let me tell you, scratching with Mark and Dave is certainly something. Mark has this whole scratching thing down to a science. At the halfway point, 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the scratching, Mark yells at everyone on the team to change scrapers, so that we can continue the effort with gunk-free scrapers. Scott Lynn and I were both sweating from the extreme effort, and I even developed a blister on my prime scraping finger. Still, the stress and injuries are all worth it when we can help a school. We’re looking forward to trying to beat our record next year! Thanks to Linwood principal Kevin Spooner and his staff for scratching along with us. We know they’ll put the money we raised to good use."

I was especially grateful to the KEX team and our volunteers, Tracey Imper, Yvette Perez, and Stephanie Walker. And I have to agree with Marie. This was an intense five minutes of scratching. Mark, the scratching virtuoso provided us with some great tips to get the most out of this experience. Thanks to his coaching, those cards were literally streaming through our scrapers and all those little 1 and 5 dollar winners added up. We were extremely fortunate to be paired with the KEX team.

Linwood will put the money to good use. In the last couple of years, our PTA has made a commitment to continually fund and update technology for student use. This money put us way ahead of our fundraising goal for this year. On behalf of the staff, students, and parents of Linwood Elementary, I would like to thank the Oregon Lottery Commission for the opportunity to participate in the event. It was an experience we'll never forget.

Jonathan Kozol Presentation at NAESP

I had the opportunity to hear Jonathan Kozol at the NAESP conference last week. I am sure many of us have had the experience of obtaining that stimulating high that comes from attending a great conference where you hear great speakers with ideas that seem to be "the fix" and the solution. Many times after a great conference, I have returned to work only to experience the low point where you face the reality of your situation head on and your nice bag filled with powerpoint packets, notes, books and nicknacks just sits there while you take on all the administrivia that comes your way.

Fortunately, I've had the opposite experience this time. Kozol's message was hopeful, but it also helped to frame my reality for me. As I reflected on his presentation of the inequities in public and private education that we continue to see across the country especially in places like New York and Los Angeles, I was reminded about my mission and purpose in my role as a principal at a Title 1 elementary school.

My school, one way or another will be moving from a" targeted assisted" status to "schoolwide" status next year. During the late 1960's when this school was built, it was located on the edge of the urban growth boundary. Fields and wetlands surrounded the campus along with new homes interspersed in-between. Most students walked to school and SES levels of families were quite high.

Now the scene is changing. The percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch is surpassing 50%. We have a growing number of immigrant families. The street next to our school is quite busy with traffic and it is becoming increasingly dangerous to walk. The new developments have moved miles out to the East and the homes in our area, while kept up and maintained nicely, they are considered rather modest. Large apartment complexes fuel the ebb and flow of our enrollment and we are beginning to see homeowners with young families begin to move out of our area as they gain more purchasing power.

In a way, I am beginning to see myself as a guardian of this sanctuary of learning. (I heard this phrase from another principal who was running for an office in the NAESP organization. Forgive me if it sounds like a cliche.) I suppose this means that it will be my job to help this school and community make a transformation. We have a strong, hardworking staff who are preparing themselves for these changes and in some ways are already prepared. We have visited schools who are farther along in the process. We are learning how to develop our professional learning community. Systems such as RTI (Response to Intervention) and PBS (Positive Behavior Support) are being put in place. The PTA is made up of a strong, supportive group of parents who are working hard to support the school through volunteer and fundraising efforts.

My reality and my job in the coming days, weeks and months will be to guide the momentum that has started. I will have to do what I can to steer the ship of this school community and seek to funnel as many resources to it so that the inequities Kozol refers to are avoided. I have to believe they can be avoided or I wouldn't be able to do my job effectively.

NAESP Convention in Seattle

Here I am at the NAESP convention spending the last few precious days of my Spring break. I had visions of spending this time differently, but I have to say that after the last two workshops I've experienced, I am finding that it has been worth every penny and moment of time I've spent so far.