Chunks and Fragments

Stuff and Things 1

2005-12-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

Stuff and Things #1
2005-2006

The snow began to fall early Thursday and as we all began to realize, our own schedules for this particular day were about o be altered. Snow has a funny way of doing that; it is one of the forces of nature that arrives so gently and then causes havoc wherever it falls. On these type days my mind always flips to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, not the movie but my own real life adventure.

I was in what seemed like my thirtieth year of college. It was one of those years when it started snowing in August and it appeared that the only relief would involve an ice bridge and some Mastodon. I shared an apartment with the Snow Mizer and his merry band of Norselanders (both a pithy holiday reference and a shout out to the flagship). In any case heating the place would have been useless since they both preferred fresh air, and at 10 below zero, there is no shortage of that. It was nearing the Thanksgiving Break and I got a whole week back on the west side of the state where temperatures hovered fifty degrees above my current location. It was a balmy 40 degrees. I awoke at 4:00am to begin my drive home, a restless night - I was excited about the chance to get away.

Which is exactly where I was last Friday morning when I received a Cheerful Phonecall from Captain Taylor. He indicated that the sky was taking on water, the deckhands could not keep pace, and he was recommending anchoring the whole fleet for the day. He indicated that the school district was shutdown, only essential personnel should report. Even at 4:00am I noted the fact that I was unclear with the whole essential personnel thing. I had always wondered what that meant, felt essential once, but was unclear in my current state if that was still the case. I inquired as to these terms and he suggested this meant only people that would keep our ship afloat, even the custodians were staying home he said. Now I understood, if the very people who keep the heat on are not there, then why I would want to return to my college apartment? I called all of you and let you know. Same result as college, I should have taken the incomplete. In the future what that means, when we see the words essential personnel only, that means full year employees report and everyone else does not have to. All would admit that the full year secretaries are essential, but who would have guessed that means us too. So in review, essential personnel means that all full year employees report, everyone else needs to stay home. Those that report are to answer phones, keep the public informed, and keep the building shipshape and facing into the waves.

Which was what was falling from the sky back in Pullman in the fateful year, waves of snow with periods of partial windiness. The Palouse is actually named after these very same winds and so as I started up the first hill all was going quite well, until I started back down the hill. I should clarify here, it was not on the downward side that I started down, and it was actually half way up when I started down. Odd feeling to see things shoot by you as you retreat down an up. Soon I was turning around, much like the teacups in Disneyland only much less exhilarating. Bounced off a few cars on the way down and slid to a stop in the Lutheran Church parking lot. Divine intervention some would say, I think based on the positioning of the other cars it was simply a case of Newton’s’ second and third laws. I examined the other cars but noticed nothing unusual about the damage; it looked just like most of the cars in Pullman. But what to do now - only made it three blocks and apparently automobile transportation was out. I needed to make a few calls.

Which is exactly what happened last Thursday with the transportation of the students. You each got an email indicating school would run as normal, followed by one that said we were dismissing one hour early, followed by one that said you would be notified when the busses had gotten your kids home. It would have worked too except for a couple of slight problems. The first was that some did not see the e-mails. This can be fixed by knowing that this is how information will be disseminated in situations like this. The second was that some of you immediately placed your phones on the answering machines, which only allowed transportation to leave a message that I am sure you received today. That can be fixed by….answering your phone…I think is really the only solution I can think of.

The solution back in Pullman that presented itself was that a Greyhound bus was leaving at 5:30am and it was just up and down and up and down and up and down the hill from where we were. So the three of us lugged our luggage, (plastic Safeway bags), to the bus station/Social Security Office/diner/bookstore. There a large line had gathered, the kind of line you see at women’s bathrooms at Macy’s during a shoe sale.. The man behind the counter indicated we would all fit nicely and took our money with great enthusiasm. He soon posted a sign that said sold out and disappeared which is hard to do in Pullman. Soon the bus pulled up and the driver opened the door and peered out. He kept looking at us and then looking over his shoulder, the situation looked grim, as through the window you could see many a face. He started loading but as he came to me placed his hand out and said he was sorry. I indicated he could be sorry later, I had a ticket, he said he was saying he was sorry and was but not so sorry as to actually let me on. Me and my two friends would have to wait, they would dispatch another bus from…Spokane. He told me to act natural, a term I have used ever since. He suggested I could find and activity to occupy my time, I could think of one but believed it may lead to jail time. I would wait.

Speaking of both jail time and activities it should be noted that I have taken a few minutes to read through the Thomas Lawsuit Agreement and have noted that there are a few things I need to have you do, before I do my required work. The first is to have each of your clubs and activities advisor fill out a roster of the members that are in their clubs and activities, and the second would be to send that to me. I will take it from there and fill in the rest of the data fields to meet the required assessment of our current status. We will need to find a systemic way to do this in the future, but for this year this will fill the ticket.

During the quality time I was given by Greyhound, I realized two things. The first was the fact that an officer of the law had just partaken of a tasty baglet and notified the café owner that the highway between Colfax and Othello was closed due to the weather. This was slightly distressing in that my ticket suggested that was the preferred and in fact only route to home. He did say that the road between Pullman and Spokane was still open, but was slick, he would not drive on it, but he laughed and said that others would and that would keep them busy. It was here that I began to take stock of other options. Option one, staying in the Bumble cave, or option two get to Spokane and catch a plane. Only problem, about $4.55 in my checking account. The snow mizer suggested he could pay with his mothers Visa card. Sounded great to me, we made the call and booked flights from Spokane to Pullman. After only five short hours the bus arrived from Spokane. We went aboard and waited for the others. We were the first on the bus and so had any seat to ourselves. That fact would remain constant. No one else did show up and so off we went with the driver fresh from his experience in the Joey Jestwood Stunt Spectacular. When I say he knew the road I would not be kidding, because he knew every part of it and used it all. We spent more time Sideways than the Oscars (trendy movie reference). He just sat up front, radio blasting laughing like he was at the Improv. Somewhere between Pullman and shear death he indicated that we would be making a few stops along the way. I indicated we had a plane to catch which seemed to amuse him even more. He laughed heartily and noted that Spokane International had ceased operation, with all the snow and ice. He thought we would have plenty of time. Soon we made our first or what would be several stops at every one horse town. I note this because at one of the towns that is all we saw, one horse. No people, or major dwellings, only one horse. In each small berg we picked up what appeared to be either mail or Jimmy Hoffa. After only three and one half short hours we made Spokane where we did in fact learn that the airport was closed and we could catch the next available flight sometime in the future.

Which is a reminder that the snow day we had on Friday will have to be made up some day in the future and that future is already planed. The date for snow makeup is May 26th and it is now a school day. I know that many plan tips around these possible extended weekends so it would be best to have the staff know of these plans now.

Now we had finally made Spokane but only to the bus station which is in the heart of Spokane, if Spokane actually had a heart. The sign across the street read -22 degrees, an omen of sorts which we failed to recognize. As we arrived at the bus station we were told that the pass was now closed and so any further bus traffic was stalled. Except for the enthusiastic wine connoisseur sitting next to me, this was not welcome news. We decided that the only solid plan would be retreat to a local watering hole and contemplate our next move. After a brisk walk in the frigid air we arrived to find the local watering hole closed, due to the weather. We realized that the only true means left to obtaining Western Washington was the good old railroad. We briskly retreated to the train station and inquired about a ticket. The man at the window, looking strikingly familiar to the man at the bus station in Pullman said the train was a few hours behind. Apparently cold tracks are bad and so speed is greatly reduced. It would be…oh two to possibly ten hours.

Which is exactly the amount of time we need to successfully complete student orientation programs during the August months. In cabinet we have been struggling with dates in order for all the necessary activities to take place without duplication. In the end we figured there really are only a few dates not used by very important things. These are August 30-September 1. If possible please place your student orientations on this day to avoid any possible impediments.

Impediments were exactly what we were faced with at the train station. In order to keep folks from sleeping in the station the City of Spokane has made single seats only by placing barriers in the benches. The train was two to ten hours away and thus we had hoped to lie down for a few moments. We were the only ones in the station with the exception of a rent a cop, so this seemed reasonable to think laying down would be a viable option. The benches were out and thus the floor seemed good. It was here that the rent-a-cop swung into action and suggested that laying on the floor was a crime, loitering, he would have to hall us in for this if we did not cease this activity immediately When I inquired as to why, it was suggested I was a fall hazard, big lump in floor could cause serious injury to other guests. I pointed out the other guests were the schmucks I was traveling with and if they fell over me; it would not be the first time. He said if I did not stand down (his term not mine) he would have to ask us to leave. So we decided that based on our current situation, leaving was the less preferred thing, so we decided to set for a few hours.

Six short hours later the conductor appeared behind the window with good news. He told us he got to go home, bad weather and all and that the ticket office was closing. We inquired about the train and he seemed quite surprised. Had we not heard that the train had fallen off the track in Idaho, track snapped like kindling he said, cuz of the cold and all. Could take hours to repair. We decided the only prudent act would be to order a pizza from Domino’s. We called and all was going well until we asked them to deliver to the train station. They hung up immediately and we called back. No one would believe we were at the train station and without someone else verifying we were there they would not deliver. Only problem, everyone went home and no matter how many times we disguised our voices it did not seem to work.

After a short 36 hours in the train station the train arrived. We got on and traveled at a brisk 15 miles an hour from Spokane to Seattle, cold tracks and all. I sat next to the Beverly Hillbillies and their brood as they called them, lovely children except for the barn owl like screeching and the occasional upset stomach. I did get to lie down, but only after being pushed to the floor when returning from the restroom at the same time the bar car opened. I made it home for the holidays finally, I think it may have been the fourth of July.

Bottom line, we went to a great deal of trouble all in an effort to get home to be with our family and friends. In the next few days each of you will have a chance to spend a little time caring for yourself. The hardships we went through are nothing compared to those faced by many. It is the time of year that I look around and think of how thankful I am to be surrounded by the people that I get a chance to be around each day. I want to wish each and every one of you a happy holiday season and hope you have a chance to spend some time caring for those you care about, especially yourselves. Thank you for a wonderful year thus far. If you are in the mood to see a few holiday lights swing by 10123 22nd Avenue East off of 104th and Portland Avenue and take a look at a little display I amused myself on during the months of September and November. I figure while I am allowing the people at the power company to get raises someone should enjoy it.

Intro to Meeting

2005-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

Intro to Meeting
Go Get Um- The last piece on an already tight agenda. As I sat examining my copy of the agenda I noted the word Rah-Rah after the words Go Get Um. It was hear that I heard my name. It was worth noting since you often do not hear the words Rah-Rah and Casey in the same sentence, sort of like oil and water, may be in the same room but not usually a good mix. This is not the first time this has happened, but it is important to examine the repercussions of the first event.

It was a pep assembly and I was the one to provide the pep. Much like all of you here today, you were asked to do this, are less then thrilled, and are just hoping that someone will seek pity on you to get you through this. I was in the same boat. The day of my pep assembly I had learned that I would be singing and dancing to I’m A Little Tea Pot. Did I mention singing, dancing, and 280 pound bald man in the same sentence? I had just come off of Carpal Tunnel Surgery one day prior, had good meds, and figured it was for the kids so I would do it. Again much like you today.

I gathered up all of my good will toward men and stepped to the middle of the floor. I started with the side to side teapot movements made famous in “Beauty and the Beast” and moved on to short and stout which seemed like typecasting. I showed my handle and my spout with great enthusiasm usually reserved for Eminem Concerts and Victorian County Christmas. Soon it was time to pour me out and I did. All was well until a little thing called dizziness made an appearance followed closely by loss of balance. Down Mr. Teapot went right on my spout. The handle part soon followed showing all of the best principles of gravity. I then noticed two things. Ten thousand Eyeball staring at me and laughing and a pool of blood. The frightening part was that it appeared this pool was growing, and to add to my anxiety, it appeared I was the only possible source. Apparently, me spout had ripped a stitch or twelve. I made for the door with great haste, much like you will do as soon as a finish this, with the same thoughts I had, and I will never do that again.

Well, I’m a little tea pot, short and stout once again. We need you to be the candelabra, clock, Beauty, Beast, teapot, broom, and footstools. Please know that we sincerely thank you for being here today and for your support for our children and our district.

(Intro to Meeting)

Leadership Voice 2005-2006

2005-11-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

Leadership Voice 2005-2006
I was watching an episode of “Rescue Me” three weeks ago and by the end of the show realized that I would never be watching that show again. There are moments in one life that you only want to experience once and on this night I returned to August 22, 1996, a place I had never hoped to return.

It was my son’s birthday and he was spending the night at his mother’s house. Gunnar had been under my care exclusively since he was two years old. He lived in a joint custody world but he spent most of his life with me. I had agonized for weeks the fact that he would not be with me on his birthday and was a little sad that morning as I wished him happy birthday. He was eight today and looking forward to his gifts, my heart sank of the thought of not being with him, but he was happy. At seven that night I received a phone call that would alter my life forever. All I heard was his mother screaming into the phone that Gunnar had been run over and then silence. I rang back numerous times finally reaching a person who said they were rushing him to Auburn Hospital. No more information was available. I immediately made for the hospital, in a state of shock, anger, and remorse. When I arrived at the hospital I received the news that he “was not doing very well and had been airlifted to Harborview. It is here that a piece of me died and was lost forever, I drove as fast as I could from Auburn to Seattle figuring that by the time I got there it would be too late. It was a long, silent drive, filled with remorse for all the things I should have done, could have done, wish I could do.

If you have ever been to Harborview you know that just getting there is a challenge, parking is impossible, and the hospital is ground zero for all that is bad in our world. I arrived in the Emergency room to find his mother crying uncontrollably and Gunnar no where in site. I asked how he was, but did not really need to; the look on her face told me that it was not good. I asked where he was and she pointed in the general direction of a door marked do not enter, obviously something that did not pertain to me. I entered a room from somewhere in the depths of hell, a hallway of people waiting for treatment. Gunshot and knife wounds were the order of the day, the nurse said to another as she passed. At the far end was my son, being attended to by two people in masks. He was strangely silent as he looked up at me, a tear running down his bloodied face. I hugged him the best I could and asked what hurt the worse. He pointed to his knee and back. I uncovered his knee, or what used to be his knee, the entire knee torn open by the force of a pickup truck, one that contained a drunk driver who drug my boy for fifty feet before he even knew he had hit someone. His back was torn open and holes that you could see forever torn through his eight year old body. The nurse said Happy Birthday to him as she looked at his chart. I was never happier in my entire life. He was alive, was talking, and the nurse said he looked much better now.

When I was just starting out in this business a parent came to school looking for me, she was not happy. Soon I sat before the principal and tried to explain my action, the kid was bad and I knew it. He was disruptive, a smart mouth, rarely did as directed, and had turned in less homework than a University of Washington Football Player. The parent finally turned to me and said, son, we were not related, you might not think much of my son, and your principal may think even less, but for me, he is the greatest gift I was ever given and I have given that gift to you. Please do not discount the value of my gift. On this day, I suddenly knew what that meant and it is what has driven me every day of my educational career.

As I sat in the area deemed personnel only I witnessed one of the most influential and inspirational moments of my life. On each gurney was a person, whose very life and well being was tied to these few moments of decision making and personal care. In the outside world they were businessman and women, criminals, drug abusers, prostitutes, gang bangers, constructions workers, police, and fire. On these tables they were the most important people on the face of the earth. Nurses swarmed around the gurneys in an orchestrated dance of compassion and professionalism. Each person was treated with the utmost of respect, where personal dignity was maintained even in the midst of crisis. No patient was unattended, not for even a few minutes. the sites and smells where horrible, yet love and caring filled that room. Although they could have easily forced me out the area, as had been many times before at Good Sam with my grandmother, they allowed me to stay with my son. In fact they allowed me to visit the operating room prior to his emergency operation, just to get a feel of where he would be. They never left me out of the loop as to where they were, each member of their team seemed to know the name of my son and his condition, as well as the next steps. During the operation they let me stay in the operating area, a roundhouse type place outside the eight operating rooms. While it may seemed that this personalization was because they were slow, the reality was that the eight operating rooms were going solid the entire time, a busy night at Harborview I was told.

In the days and weeks that followed, so did the second and third operation. In the last set my son received skin grafts on his back. This placed him in the burn unit, not just any burn unit, but the burn unit at Harborview. The floor is a fortress, an isolated floor where security is tight and access very limited. A big sign as you walk in reads, God works here, everyone else assists. I cannot begin to tell you the horrors that I witnessed in this place. The person in the bed next to my son had been exposed to gas and fireworks on the Fourth of July; he would be here for almost a year. Pain had no meaning here; it was the only constant in this place. Yet, they stood there at each station with huge smiles on their faces. I watched in amazement as 12 nurses and three doctors worked the floor like a Chris Rock Concert, smiles were everywhere, laughter was prevalent. Some of the patients, my son included, got to be part of the wheelchair races a sprint around the corridor with a three lap minimum. The patients called it fun, the nurses called it rehabilitation. She explained the during fun times, patients would get exercise and would start to feel comfortable enough to move muscles that may be lying dormant. Nintendo, kickball, bean toss, crutch races, and board games. These folks understood both the physical demands and needs but also the mental part of being around others. Differentiated instruction was the norm, individualized instruction a must. Positive attitudes, positive emotions, and customer service was the key to survival on this floor. They taught me that in the worst situation, in times of crisis and personal tragedy, the key to success was teamwork.

Today, my son is alive and well thanks to all of them, but also thanks to all of you. The things that have followed in his life have been a blessing at times and a curse at times. Not an easy child to raise and not the greatest parenting of all time have resulted in a few hiccups along the way. Some of you have witnessed these hiccups and it you that I want to thank. To Dana who showed my son and daughter, that although they occasionally had to move to other elementary schools because of class size, they were still important to her and to the Puyallup School Distinct, to Mark and Krista who held my son accountable for his actions although hard to do with a colleagues son, to Margie and Gerald for giving him another chance to make a bad decision, and to Scott and especially Barb, who know of his shortcomings and yet accentuate his strengths. Each of you is the reason I work here and the reason I believe so strongly in this district.

Each of these people believes what the parent said to me so long ago. That Gunnar may not be the best student, but he is the greatest gift I have to give. They may not have made a difference for everyone, but they sure made a difference to my kid, and for me, that made all the difference in my world.

Chunks and Fragments #3 2005-2006

2005-11-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

Chunks and Fragments #3

Rats! Literally. You know - the brown furry creatures, big tail, nasty disposition, big teeth, those type rats. I have them and once you have them they are hard to get rid of. They have a growth factor similar to that of the South Hill. Much like Shaq, you can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them. Sometimes the answer to problems like this is to form a committee to seek out answers from a variety of opinions on the best way to solve the problem.

Thus the Facility Advisory Committee was formed. A little history here - to include at least one instructional area in every conversation. The Facility Advisory Committee is actually the second FAC (trendy acronym) to be formed. The first completed their work in 1999 and their work became the basis for the Board decisions on what our current bond consists of. The FAC is a group that is not formed to set policy or decide priority. They are assigned the task of identifying the condition of the District in terms of student and instructional needs, and to make recommendations on how to best meet those needs. They review the conditions of schools, and determine the best solutions to deal with the issues affecting the District in regards to student populations. The FAC is made up of representatives from each of the schools, community members, school partners, and administrators. The reason for having a representative from each school was to provide information regarding student needs at each site to the committee. If you still do not have a FAC member, it is a great idea to add one to the group. Once this committee has their report completed they will present their work to our Board of Directors. It is assumed that this information will be one part of their decision making process as they attempt to deal with the issues of student growth.

I decided that the best way to deal with my growth issues would be a natural solution involving me, a golf club (I like to use a driver myself, since I often do not get the distance I desire out of my irons), and the trusty dog Cooper who seemed very excited about the impending festivities.

Speaking of impending festivities I should stop here to mention the fact that we actually are going to begin building some things soon. Soon like, a Galactic Standard Week (obscure movie reference for fine art credit). In any case we are actually already well on our way with both Fruitland and Meeker, with both being done sometime next summer, about August 31st kind of next summer. In any case the question always seems to be, when are you starting the new schools. Well this is where the soon part comes in. Kalles will be starting in January of 2006, followed closely by Elementary 22 and 23 which start in late March. At this time next year all of our projects will be in the construction phases except PHS which will follow closely behind. Junior High #7 and Aylen will begin after the movement of ITC to the Warehouse, where it will have a new home. Lots of excitement and much planning and innovation went into these designs.

Planning and innovation seems to be what I need to rid myself of the rat problem yet I know from experience that these are not always enough. Some years back we had a similar rat problem and these two came together with less than spectacular results. It all started with the first rat of the spring being spotted. My grandfather, the older version of Gunnar, was well into his 60’s. He loved many things about Spring but furry rodents were not among them. In fact the only thing he hated worse than rats was Dolly Parton singing Jolene..not really sure why. In any case the first rat of Spring sprung forth a series of events that would lead to the destruction of a building, the decimation of a vacuum cleaner, damage to an automobile, water damage, and possible environmental damage.

The first order of business after seeing a rat is the setting out of poison. This is usually done in locations convenient for the actual traffic patterns of rats. Another option would be to place the poison in the chicken food container and wait for the rats to return for a meal. Works great too, unless someone else comes to feed the chickens and is not aware of the location of such food. My grandmother seemed less than pleased by the fact that a hen had died, after expecting eggs and all. Undaunted by this minor set back, the only real solution would to build boxes, specifically designed to hide the poison and thus catch the rat. Unfortunately sparrows did not get the memo about these boxes and a family of sparrows was found dead, and there appeared to be fowl play involved. The anger was growing along with the amusement level as the next plan was set in motion. It involved running the hoses down into the hole and turning on the water. The water ran, ran for quite a while, and nothing seemed to be happening. The obvious solution was leave it on for a while and accomplish other tasks, like perhaps setting fire to a bee's nest or chopping down every flower on the place with the weed-eater…my grandfather thought they were weeds, after all they were growing everywhere. In any case about a hour or five later he returned and no rats. We did have, however have a new swimming pool in the chicken house - chickens don’t do well in the water as it turns out. No rats, yet but we were down a few chickens and a family of sparrows. Soon afterwards it was apparent that there was only one answer to the rat problem, car exhaust. Soon the truck was hooked up to a hose which ran down the hole and the truck was started. There was a great deal of smoke rising, and it appeared that we were really putting out a lot for our effort. Soon there was fire too, black smoke, and a distinctive smell. After two fire extinguishers and a great deal of water we were able to extinguish the truck fire. It seems that plastic hose burns, who would have thunk it. Did I mention this was the hose from my grandmothers brand new vacuum? She was now down a few chickens, a family of sparrows, a vacuum cleaner hose, and a fire damaged truck bumper. There was only one thing left to do. Pen the dogs up around the shed and let them wait it out until the rats appeared. Natural selection was surely the answer and so as my grandfather left for work Foxxy and Buffy were sent to work themselves. He returned later in the afternoon to discover that the rats had once again alluded capture but not for lack of trying on behalf of the dogs. One whole side of the shed was torn off, or should I say chewed apart. They obviously had seen the offensive rats and went about their duty. The other side had a very large hole dug, that would take several days to fill in. The cost of the new siding would be deferred by the fact the shed had siding. Grandpa was really mad now, so he cemented the holes in, which cost a few hundred dollars, but they were not escaping him this time. There was no way they were getting out. He was right too, they didn’t. They didn’t need to because as the cement was setting up we noticed them peering at us from inside the feed bucket. Gunnar exploded, shovels were flying, things were breaking, and before long we needed a new shovel and a new window, and a new bag of chicken food.

Like I mentioned early shovels will be a flyin soon, at a number of places. But the one place we still need help is at the high school level. We are in the process of working on High School Educational Specifications and these apparently are as popular as Nicole Richey at Paris Hilton's latest video release. I will need experts in the field of high school education and barring that I will take experts on just about anything. If you have an opinion and don't have your own cable special, than I desperately need you. If you could see me you would see that I am down on one leg which is deceiving in a way because truly if you are down on one leg it means you are up on another. So down on one leg is really a pessimistic way to say I am standing still but could use a hand. The next meeting is November 28 at 3-4 in the Pioneer...Feel very free to drop by. I will have snacks and everything.

The rat debacle was several years ago, but my current rat just ran across Cooper's nose and I think I recognized him. He had a glint in his eye and I think he recognized me too. I think I am going to send young Gunnar to work on this to see if rat catching skills run in the family, it could be a job shadow.

Chunks and fragments #2 2005-2006

2005-10-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

The heat was beginning to be a real problem and I noticed that the Llamas seemed a bit restless, like Kate Moss on a chemical plant tour. I watched them for a few days trying to determine the real essence of the issue. After only a few short days it occurred to me that now might be the right time to shear the animals - after all, every two to three years must be the standard.

The next question was of course, who would do this task. It would have been a logical choice if it were not for the fact that the llamas have a restraining order out on me for the last time I tried to trim them up. I had tried to hire a woman previously who told me she would do it, only to be called away on an emergency llama rescue, never to be heard from again. I am not really sure what happen to her but rumor has it that she is on tour with Alpaccapolooza. In any case, I got wind (llama humor) of a young lady in 4-H that loved to shear llamas. I called her and she said she and her mother would gladly do this task for me. I once again went over the fee structure and again agreed to the customary getting to know the llama fee of two hours time. These are uninterrupted blocks of learning time focused on the health and safety of the shearer and the shearee. We had a plan, the only task I had was to have the llamas in a holding area when they arrived. How hard could that be?

How hard could that be was also the same verbiage I had used when I originally explored the option of being the Educational Planner. Two years later I can tell you that these buildings are a lot harder than they look. The same can be said for the timing of the projects. In my old paradigm (trendy educational word), the modality (hee hee) would have been to think that once the Bond was passed we could start building. Apparently that was in the Billy the Builder World. In the real world it takes every bit of self control and discipline I have not to pull my hair out. So where are we with the other projects, the ones that are not new schools, but make good schools better? Well, here is the latest based on a Ouiji board, some dice, and deck of cards. Next summer or by next summer the following projects should be started. Firgrove sewer (a job that really stinks), Walker Cooling so that cooler head can prevail, PHS security System pending the securing of federal funds, Stahl sidewalk a real Wal-Mart greeter, Ridgecrest electrical, pluming, patch, and paint. In addition Pope Playfield drainage, Hunts improved parking, Waller Road improved mechanical units, Hilltop replacing of the gym floor and improved fire alarm which are not related, Karshner field improvements, Ferrucci parking and bus area, Mt. View’s add ional parking, and Sparky gets a new roooof. (Shiztsu Humor)). Include into this the starting on three new schools and you can see we will be ssstttrrrrrreeeetttttccchhheeddd.

Stretching would have been good too as I thought about the best means to catch a llama on ten acres of open land. I decided the best course of action would be to but some orange construction fence. That is not entirely true. I actually asked to borrow it from the construction people, which apparently is against the law. So with new knowledge as to the legal system and a newly purchased shiny orange plastic fence I devised a plan. The llamas like to sleep by these trees at the far end of the pasture. I would connect one side of the fence to a tree and then surround them when they were not looking. I figured that once surrounded by my plastic fence they could be roped and then led to the barn. Simple plan carried out as well as Custards last stand. I surrounded the Llama just as planned only to realize that once surrounded they would be less than pleased. They began to make this very deep growling noise, much like the one made famous in The Howling. I attempted to distract them by placing a rope around their necks. This seemed like a great plan until I realized that the two of them were going to be much stronger than the one of me. That coupled with the fact that the rope I had put around their necks appeared to be pulling tighter on them as they pulled on me. The barn was getting father away and I decided that a good course of action would be to tie the rope off on a fence. Good plan, carried out with the efficiency of a FEMA communication plan.

Which leads me to another topic revolving around communication and my other job. We have run into a couple of snafu’s when it comes to projects requests, like ohh, we needed to build a timeout room after school had started or add a classroom here or there. I need to strongly suggest that planning for these type things needs to be started by March. Any later than this and we have to wait on permits, which by the term alone suggests you may not have a real shot. In addition, it should be noted that the same is true with furniture. My craftsmanship skills were developed to around an 8th grade level, much like my vocabulary, which means if you need a circle cut and sanded I am your man. If you need more than that we will need to order from professionals. The process takes anywhere from six weeks to six months on some of this stuff. What that means is that when growth happens like it did, we do not have the ability to get things within a day or two. If your projections suggest growth, we need to start those conversations early. That way I can figure out how to fund these things and it takes me a long time to bake that many cookies, again based on my 8th grade education in Home Economics.

So there I was halter in hand, rope pulling tighter on the Llamas, and a half an acre of space between me and the barn. I approached one of the Llamas the same way I would approach Tom Cruise at an anti-depression seminar. Suddenly the sound that I can only describe as a pubescent girl in tantrum started out of their mouths. It was loud in sort of a rock concert sort of way. Screaming so much that neighbors were coming out of their houses from all around, all looking at me the same way one may look at Gerald Ford at a tightrope’s convention (for our older guests of the program). I went to place the halter over their face, an obvious move to alleviate some of the discomfort they were feeling. Obviously this signals aggression in the Llama world and suddenly my world was…well…green. You know that they say Llama’s spit? Well they do in sort of an exorcist sort of way. Spit would have been good, but this was more of a projectile admission. There was a lot of it, aimed at my eyes but covering my, well entire body. It was really smelly, gritty, and reminded me of the scene in Ghostbusters. The only thing I could think of was how funky I felt. It was here that the kicking began, and that would have been OK if I could see the kicking coming. So, here I had a screaming Llama, an audience, a green body wrap, and a kicking Llama. I also had the Police. Apparently having a small girl screaming alerts the authorities. They drove by very slowly, which I noticed from my prone position on the ground holding on to a three hundred pound angry animal by a small dog lead.

I will say this about myself - I regained my composure. I managed to get back up and lead the Llama. Well lead may have been a little strong here. I began to pull; well no that is not it either. The Llama would not budge, not an inch. I was mad, the Llama was amused. I pulled and pulled and she just screamed louder and pulled the other way. I made some progress and in the effort only ended up 250 yards from the barn. The crowd had gotten bigger, much like an accident scene. They were pointing and shaking their heads in disbelief. So I had had it, I began to push, and push, and push, and push. After only one half hour I had one Llama within ten feet of the barn door. She suddenly looked at me, and walked right into the barn, no noise, no, fight, no pushing. She was done with the fun, had made her point and was ready to eat. All I had was one more Llama to go.

In the end the Llamas got sheared after the two hour getting to know them conversation. The lady who did it said how well behaved they were, like they had done it a million times. I must be very proud of the work I had done to make them this gentle. The neighbors still look at me as if I am a level three Llama abuser and some still show pictures of me to party guests. In the end the easy solution would have been to wait until fall when the hair would have been handy, but what would I know about that?

Chunks and Fragments #1 2005-2006

2005-09-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

Chunks and Fragments #1 2005-2006
I have been sitting here for the last week practicing my educational voice. I started with a helium balloon and a did some scales. (Fine Arts Requirement). At the conclusion of this all I am a little light headed and hoarse...it seemed to work better for Dick and Brian.

August 3rd would be one of those moments that I look forward to about as much as a daylong rerun of St. Elsewhere. It was dubbed the Central Management Retreat although I really had no idea why I would be invited. When I first received the e-mail indicating my need to attend I assumed it was a mistake, like spandex, one of those spam e-mails that someone thought I should know or perhaps just an attempt from Linda to make me feel "valued". I of course deleted the message as quickly as " Dukes of Hazard" will go to DVD. A week later I received a letter at home indicating my need to attend this very same meeting. While I was sure that this time it was meant to be that I was invited, my assumption was that there must be a need to hang something up real high or serve some chilled fruit. So as I entered the Tacoma Yacht Club that day I really had not really put much thought into my place in the organization, my role in my team, or where I fit the sum of the whole. (Math reference as part of my CSIP plan). I assumed I would see every principal, assistant, support staff, and intern and that it would be a passive affair, the very same reason I was thinking of taking my own life to begin with.

To my surprise there was only about 26 people in the room. I would be sitting with the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, Executive Directors, and others with real important jobs to do. As I scanned the room I realized that I was way out of my league, like Anna Nicole Smith at a MIT Think Tank. (I was going with President Bush at a Literary Convention but figured that was too political). Every person in that room was much smarter, had much more experience, was much articulate, and was much older...hee...hee...hee. I was a fish out of water, a boy among men and women, a tree amoung a forest, many other cliches. I looked for the opportunity to hide but the only escape was through the open door of the yacht club leading to the roof and seagulls scare me. I was here and seemed to be expected to be here, both firsts.

Over the next several hours I took part in discussions about focus and vision. I actually felt proud to be at a meeting, felt some ownership over the vision we were developing, and actually had something to add to the discussion besides information regarding the location of the restrooms.

I have been asked a million times, (slight exaggeration for literary merit), what it is I do.I now am very clear as to what I do, or at least can sound like I am very clear about what I do. My primary responsibility is to ensure that the 198.5 million dollar bond budget is spent exactly how the public intended it to be spent when they so graciously passed our bond. I am to ensure that every building level project meets the educational goal specified by all of you and the vision of our district. I am to work with each of you to ensure you know what is happening and how you need to be involved. I am to communicate with the Bond Oversite Committee and the general public about the progress we are having and about what next steps we are about to take. This year I will be completing the high school educational specs with your help. The PHS master plan will be complete as will the Sunrise Master Plan. ERHS/Pope will set sail and new schools will spring from the ground designed as you have indicated best fits our students needs. I will help facilitate the boundary study, work with all of you to develop administrative guidelines and checklists for the start through the end of a typical school year, I will be part of a committee to name elementary 22/23 and Junior High #7, I will assist Larry Sera in Human Resources, help with our levy campaign (information only), and do whatever Linda tells me to do. (She added that). Ohhh... and pinpoint the location of restrooms and serve chilled fruit. I love being part of a team!!!

Serving the Public

2005-08-07T09:48:00.000-07:00