Tuesday

Last night all of the fall coaches met in the auditorium with our new athletic director. He seems like a very interesting man. I really like his focus on respect and accountability.

Then he introduced the coaches and spoke to the parents and athletes involved in fall sports. There too I liked his emphasis on responsibility. He repeatedly mentioned how participation is tied to attendance and grades. Hopefully, gone are the days when a senior hockey player who was failing two of my classes was still allowed to practice and participate (though he rarely played - this had more to do with his lack of talent than an punishment for his grades). One of the powers that be told me, "I'm not going to sit him, but I'll talk to him and have him get his act together." The point was made - play sports and who cares if you graduate. The other example was last spring when one player had a tragedy happen in their family and they missed considerable time, yet they still practiced and played.

This new AD seems determined to put a stop to such nonsense.

But then again, everyone new to this place seems to start out with a bang and then everything goes down hill from there.

We'll see . . .

*****

I've started the required reading for my Minnosota History class that is part of a grant from the MN Historical society that allows us to earn graduate credits through Hamline. It has been a fine experience so far. We are going on the end of our third year in the program. Supposedly next year we were going to go to Boston and some other areas out east during the summer, but the entire program failed to be funded. So this likely will be our last time together. And truthfully, that's fine with me.

As I sat down to begin the readings for this session, I was frustrated by how dry and boring they are. Initially, English teachers were allowed to be part of the program, which is how I got in, with the idea that there would be some literature added to the curriculum. However, so far the curriculum has been roughly 90% history and 10% English. And I have been able to use about 5% of what I've learned in any of my classes. I mean reading a speech by Lincoln and the dedication of the Washington National Monument is fine, but there are so many better things I could be reading that would really impact how and what I teach.

But our 'scholars' for next week - Eric Bergerson of "Down on the Farm" fame and Loill Dyrud, a retired high school teacher, are excellent. Listening to them - and interacting with them - is easily worth the dreary reading. Plus the teachers that I get to work with - particularly Larry Barton from Crookston - is great too.

Well, I should get back to the dreary reading. Where or where have you gone Harry Potter????