Patriot Day was created through a proclamation (Public Law 107-89) by President George Bush after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The day is in memory of the nearly 3000 who lost their lives at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. President Bush has made the resolution and proclamation to designate September 11 as Patriot Day each year since 2002. The legislation requests that President designate September 11 as Patriot Day each year. The day is a discretionary day of remembrance – which means it is not an official public holiday.

How or when Patriot Day is observed depends on your location. US flags are to be flown at half-staff and flown from residences as well (that includes US buildings abroad as well). Now, here’s where location will make a difference. Americans are asked to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46am (EDT) to mark the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City. A moment of silence could also be held at 9:03am (EDT) when the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, struck the second tower of the World Trade Center, at 9:43am (EDT) when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon or at 10:10am (EDT) when United Airlines Flight 93 went down in a field near Shanksville, PA.

Initially the day was called the “National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks.” Then changed to Patriot Day by a by Joint Resolution 71 which was approved in the US House by a 407 – 0 vote (25 members didn’t vote) on October 25, 2001 and approved unanimously by the US Senate on November 30, 2001. President Bush signed the resolution into law on December 18, 2001.

People have had some trouble wrapping their thoughts around Patriot Day – with most referring to the day as 9-11 or September 11th instead. Another problem with the day is that it is often confused with Patriots’ Day (one has an ‘s’ and one doesn’t). Patriots’ Day is observed on the third Monday in April and is a civic holiday in Massachusetts and Maine. It is also a public school observance day in Wisconsin. Patriots’ Day has nothing to do with Patriot Day.

Canada shares the observance of Patriot Day as well with flags on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and all Canadian diplomatic missions in the US flying at half-staff.

The Cape school district begins teaching Chinese to elementary students this year, as the Cape Gazette reports:

With the benefit of an $832,000 federal grant, Cape elementary students are preparing for an academic adventure designed to teach them Mandarin Chinese, the official language of China and the language spoken by more people on Earth than any other. Cape is the only school district in Delaware offering Chinese to its students, said Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Michael Kelley.
“In addition to learning to read, write and speak Chinese, our students will learn about Chinese culture and civilization – the longest sustained civilization on our planet,” said Kelley. The U.S. government determined Chinese is a foreign language that is critical for national security and commerce, he said. The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was created to encourage schools to teach critical foreign languages.

President Bush’s National Security Language Initiative policy also gives grants to schools teaching Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Russian and Urdu.    The Department of Defense has a hand in this too, figuring that the future will have us dealing with military enemies speaking these languages.  The government needs to start prepping the little ones at Cape now to prevent or engage future conflicts. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings says, “This is not just an education issue; it’s an economical issue, a civic issue, a social issue, a national security issue, and it’s everybody’s issue”

 

Cape’s $832,000 is not without strings as the Gazette reports:

A condition of receiving a FLAP grant is that the recipient will strive to continue the program after the three-year grant expires. Kelley said the district is in the process of establishing a community advisory committee to provide for continuing the program.  Kelley said the district is also looking at ways to continue Chinese language classes for students who will be moving from its elementary schools to its middle schools next year.  DOE may be able to help, Kelley said, as it recently received authorization to approve visas for people who can come to Delaware from forewing nations to teach for one or two years.

…
The FLAP grant requires an equal matching investment of money spent or in-kind services but district officials predict only a minimal monetary outlay will be required to match the grant.  “The key is what we can allocate as in-kind services and resources within costs that have already been budgeted,” said Director of Business Operations Edward Seibert.  “We want to provide the in-kind match from services and facilities that are already being provided and are available,” he said.In-kind matches would include the pro-rata charge for time spent on the program by administrators, time spent using available computer resources, classroom maintenance and tuition reimbursement for the teachers of Chinese.  In addition to the in-kind matches, Kelley estimates that approximately $20,000 will be required for the purchase of classroom materials. Kelley said he believes the cash outlay will be for one-time expenditures and expects there will be no cash payments applied to the match during the second and third years of the federally funded program.
 

So this program was sold to many in the community as something that wouldn’t cost anything, but we see that is not true.  Cape needs to try and continue to pay for Chinese with local tax dollars after three years and Cape must pony up its own 832,000 dollars to make this thing work. 
I like Chinese, I like Chinese food, I even like foreign language opportunities for children, but with Cape’s budget problems of late, this is not the right time to spend on training future CIA agents.

Todd McCabe owns his own school bus, and is contracted to drive students in the Indian River School District.  Wednesday he took his bus to the inspection lane of DMV.  His bus was deemed safe and in good working order with one exception;  he could not pass his DMV inspection because he had an American flag sticker on the back of his bus. He had to get razor blades and scrape off the 5” x 8” sticker before he could pass at the DMV.  This is a revolting moment for freedom and liberty in the United States.  The DMV explained that Ron Love of the Department of Education dictated that stickers including the American flag should not be allowed on the bus.  Ron Love explains that “administrative code” limits lettering or symbols on busses, although no specific rule prohibits flags, no rule allows it, so it is not allowed.  Follow?  Mr. Love of the DOE admits that flags, and “support our troops” ribbons have been allowed “temporarily” since 9/11, but that time is up.  Sadly Todd McCabe has had his rights trampled on, and sadder still is the trampling of America by the Delaware bureaucrats. I urge Delawareans and all Americans to call Governor Ruth Ann Minner and ask if she supports her Department of Education and DMV removing American Flags from our school children’s busses!   Call Ruth Ann and ask her to stop the trashing of our flag, 1-800-292-9570.

The News Journal ran the obligatory annual story about how much money teachers “have to” spend out of pocket each year.  It started in an odd way:

 

No one told teacher Barbara Finnan she had to buy $50 worth of chewing gum for her pupils at Baltz Elementary School. She even has a policy of no gum chewing in class, and the school also does not permit it.But she read somewhere that chewing gum helps children think. And so, for a week’s worth of testing, she bent the rules a little and bought the gum with money out of her own pocket. To her delight, the scores did go up a little, although she’ll probably never know if the gum did it.Gum is an unusual example of a “school supply,” but it illustrates how some teachers will spare no expense — especially at their own expense — on trying to help their students.

And now my obligatory smarmy comments: 

I “read somewhere” that methamphetamine helps children study.  I hope Ms. Finnan doesn’t read the same thing next year!  Gum is not a “school supply”, it’s a fanciful experiment that a teacher wanted to conduct; hardly a good example of teachers who really do need to supplement the classroom with books and supplies.  

I also wonder what other school rules she helps her students violate?

So, I went to see the new Simpsons movie yesterday, and while in line, I was eye-molested by the guy in from of me’s oh-so-saucy t-shirt.. Let me preface this by saying, I wasn’t offended by the guy’s t-shirt.. not because of high-community standards.. but, offended by the taste of the gentleman… I ask you, my brethren, is this photo captured by my WGMD Local eye-spy camera phone funny?

Now, I’m not telling you, Wichita Lineman, that you don’t like it hot.. maybe you do… to me that means you like to get electrocuted.. but whatever floats your superconductor…

Why do people find it suitable to tell us all in eye-shot how the “like it” or how they “do it”.. I give you another fine example from cafepress.com

Really? That’s very subtle… here’s some more that I didn’t feel appropriate posting the actual images of…

it seems as if they have some of these delightful t-shirts for almost every job…

  
(these are just not true)

The worst of the bunch: TEACHER’S DO IT WITH CLASS… !!!!

 (*sigh*)

And the oddest of the bunch: mediators do it until both parties are satisfied.. I’m sure they’ve sold a load of those…

I’m gonna market this one to all the other lazy bloggers out there…

In the 05/06 school year Cape Henlopen had 401 cases of crime and other offenses ranging from fighting and criminal mischief, to drug offenses and assault.   However, the most shocking statistic from the Delaware Department of Education School Conduct Report is the 14 “violent felonies” reported at Cape.  It sounds terrible just saying “violent felonies” and school in the same breath.  The number 14 is far more than any other downstate school.  Appoquinimink had four, but zero and one were the numbers reported for the other Sussex and Kent schools.   I decided to look into this report of 14 violent felonies and found that a shocking 12 happened at just one school in the district; HOB Elementary!  This had to be a mistake, I thought, 12 violent felonies at an elementary school in Milton Delaware?  I asked Superintendent Dr. George Stone about this and here is his sad reply:

The statistic is correct as reported. The issue is in the way the SRO chooses to report the offense.  All of these “violent felonies” involved inappropriate sexual contact or offensive touching.  If the SRO feels it is unlawful sexual contact, it is reported as a “violent felony” If it is  reported as “offensive touching” it doesnt show up on that report.  Our SRO  in that prior year took a very strict stand on offensive touching, and part of the reason was that the court would order mandatory counsling the offender’s family could not afford.  Of these twelve incidents, most could have been reported as “offensive touching” by a different SRO. I’m not saying that woud be right or wrong, its just how they view it. Bottom line, HOB has similar offensive touching situations as do other elementaries, and anyone touching another inappropriately was dealt with according to the legal interpretation. Often with severe consequences.

GS

So we’re to believe that a cop is trumping up charges on six and seven year olds in order to get free counseling?  Charging kids with felonies, flooding family court for a welfare program?  This doesn’t smell right.  Remember, we’re taliking ”violent felonies” as in Del. Code title 11, s. 4201 (c).  Either we have an out of control cop, or something very wrong is happening at HOB.  Stay tuned, we’ll attempt to find out.  

 

Tragedy, killing spree, “event” as some have named it…call it what you will. The horrific terror of 31 children…for they were children…being slaughtered and over half that number wounded. No-one can comprehend or even try to relate to the suffering in the hearts of their parents, families, friends and classmates. We talk glibly about when the healing process will begin…not for a very long time, if ever…for any of them.

As a good friend said yesterday, who really ever thinks when watching their child leave home to start their future in college, that they their safety and well-being could be in jeopardy? We send a child to school, to college…increase their independence, support their dreams, watch them get excited about becoming a full-fledged adult…and the life, in a short time, is snuffed out along with every iota of dreams and hopes and ambition. Countless lives are shattered and a nation’s thoughts, prayers…and sorrows…are with the families of the victims. It is very early days but there has been no mention of the gunman’s family other than we can presume they are South Korean. Seems as though no-one has given much thought to them and I have no doubt that some would wonder why they ought. But you see, I’m sure there is no different a loss to that young gunman’s parents, either. They are the forgotten ones in this and will remain so…they didn’t do it, surely had nothing to do with it and yet, could be for them it is even worse because they know it was their son who took those young lives before taking his own. My heart goes out to them every bit as much. He wasn’t born a killer, at five that wasn’t his “ambition” and at fourteen probably wasn’t even a thought, let alone a “dream“. Who knows what happened, there can be no logical explanation, no excuse whatsoever, But his parents will suffer as much as the parents of those kids whose lives he took…their lives just as much in tatters.

Perhaps, as we grieve for the many parents suffering today we can, in compassion, spare a thought and include his.

I watched young David Walter (NCCo. Teen) win the Jeopardy Teen Tournament this evening, rooting for him all the way. He didn’t win last night’s game but came through, magnificently, tonight, to take $75,000 home with him.

While I was watching it was difficult not to reflect upon the news of earlier today where the Cape and Central game last night caused such a disgusting ruckus. Causing a pregnant woman to be taken to hospital and police called out from all over. Maybe worse is the result of the poll results on this home page. Why in the name of all that’s holy are so many calling for additional police to be on duty and a children’s sporting event?? For some reason I suppose I hoped the majority would choose the last option…”Get rid of all HS sporting events” but only 16% of the voters did. Meanwhile, a shocking 32% called for “allowing the fans to watch but bring in more cops”. Have we, as a society, gone mad?? How many times has some disturbance…or worse…been reported as happening in or around our schools and their events? How many times has violence been the end result of such disruptions followed by ensuing arguments “this…or that…didn’t happen”. Strikes me that with the increasing frequency of such reports it’s as the old adage says…no smoke without fire. And it makes little difference that the four who were arrested were obviously not HS students. (At least I hope they weren’t, given their ages…!)

I’d like to know what is hoped to be accomplished by increasing police presence at something as inconsequential as a kid’s sporting event. And wouldn’t it be much more effective to ban sports events, at least for a year? In the grand scheme of things, how important does anyone deem sports to be, anyway? Yes, it’s healthy…but not when spectators or pregnant women get hurt or leave in fear. It’s not educational. It may be seen as a means by which some kid gets scouted for better but what about that if he/she doesn’t have the academic ability to graduate college with a real education and purpose for life instead of, at a minimum, a few years of pseudo-fame as the best player on a team and, at best, go on to play pro-sports…few and far between.

A referendum has just been approved to bring a middle-school campus and a new elementary school to the Milford district at an increase to the tax-payer. No…it’s not huge increase but as a tax-payer I’m absolutely fed-up hearing we need new schools, bigger and better, more modern buildings in order for kids to get a better education. Since when has an edifice dictated the quality of education? We need improvement, yes…in the quality of our educators, better compensation for excellence in that area; for parents to stop making excuses for their ill-behaved children and/or suing school boards when they take a stance against an unruly child. Perhaps we are more in need of schools where the unruly and undisciplined may be sent so that children who want to learn may do so. Maybe then we would have more kids like David Walters, who can be admired and emulated by his peers for his academic ability rather than by how well he plays or how good he looks in on the field. Where the investment his family made in his upbringing and education will benefit him throughout his life and not only for a few bragging rights at the Friday night post-games.

Congratulations, David!! On a day when there is some disgust at a few of your generation for their behavior, you did make some of us very proud for the manner in which you conducted yourself throughout…even though you had not won.

After I revealed problems at Mariner Middle School as told by actual teachers in the school, the minutes of the Cape teacher union meetings have been mysteriously removed from the CHEA web site.  A little too much publicity I’d say. The “culture of secrecy” between educrats and parents continues.
Just for fun, here is a cached screen shot of the site the day we discussed it on the air.  This image shows the minutes were up on the site, but removed today.

Teachers have a right to speak out against a weak administration, and I applaud the union members for coming forward. 

The fighting I wrote about back in December here, continues at Cape Henlopen High School. The Cape Gazette reports:

Ten Cape Henlopen students are expected to be arrested for disorderly conduct following an early morning brawl in the cafeteria of the school.
Three teachers received minor injuries during the fight on Wednesday, Jan. 17, which spilled over from a Tuesday night basketball game, said state police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham.

This is not the first time fighting has spilled over from a basketball game. Some of my listeners may remember the post game brawl that closed the Rt. 1 McDonald’s a while back.

The police were called to school and the nine male students and one female student involved in the fight were immediately sent home, said Oldham. Cape Henlopen Principal John Yore said some ice packs were handed out, but no one was seriously injured. According to the police report, one teacher complained of a strained muscle, another of a pinched arm and the third complained of a fat lip. For six of the students, the fight was their first offense, but four of the 10 students were also involved in a fight in December. That fight was unrelated to the one that broke out on Wednesday morning at the school, Oldham said.

Why were these kids still in school after the last fight?

He said the fight seemed to be a stand-off between students from Burton Village and students from East Atlantic Apartments in Rehoboth Beach. “Fighting will not be tolerated,” said Yore. “Strict disciplinary action has been taken.” It was not clear what specific disciplinary action would be taken, but expulsion is one possibility, he said. “The staff was very responsive,” said Yore. “We have staff monitors and everyone was mobilized very quickly to resolve this.”
The school’s discipline dean, Bobby Maull, was not on the premises at the time, but he was rapidly and actively involved, said Yore. “The vast majority of our students conduct themselves appropriately,” said Yore, who along with teachers and staff members is planning a summit to talk to parents and students about violence and safety in the school.

Of course the vast majority are good, but let us not cloud the issue here. A serious lack of discipline at Cape! The post from yesterday seems to indicate we are training a new group of high school fighters at the middle school level.

The school sent a letter home to parents to let them know about the fight and assure them that swift action will be taken. “I, along with other members of the school team, will be meeting with parents and students throughout the next week,” said Yore in the letter. “As a school, we want to work in partnership with the community to resolve conflicts and issues.”

Good luck to the staff at the school; I wouldn’t want your job for any amount of money. I also wonder why we don’t hear of these fights at other schools?