Our 39th President

James Earl Carter, Jr. was our country's 39th President.  Many people my age remember when he was president.  We remember a fuel crisis where gas went up to almost $1.00 a gallon, American hostages being taken and held in Iraq, Three Mile Island, the $200 Sony Walkman (which played cassette tapes),  Bungee jumping beginning, peanut farming,  Trivial Pursuit, The first Alien movie, Mork and Mindy,  and Amy Carter living in the White House(some of us were very jealous).  President Carter was the leader of our country in a tumultuous time in our nation's history. During his tenure as president he encountered the disaster of Three Mile Island, Iraqi Hostage Crisis, stagflation and the gas/energy crisis.  President Carter a supporter of negotiation not violence aided in the Camp David Accords, SALT, and The Panama Canal Treaties.  As long supporters of human rights, President and Mrs. Carter opened the Carter Center to aid in bolstering human rights across the planet.  President and Mrs. Carter still volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.





I could go on and on; only President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office, a Naval Officer, a two term Georgia State Senator, a peanut farmer, a family man, a proponent of civil rights, created the law making life in prison a substitute for the no longer available death penalty in Georgia, writer, public speaker, and negotiator.

President Carter has been involved in great acts for many decades, so why am I blogging about him today?  I am blogging about him today because even at almost 86 years old he flew to North Korea this week and negotiated the release of American School teacher, Aijalon Gomes.  Mr. Gomes was sentenced to 8 years hard labor for crossing the border from China to North Korea and committing a "hostile act".  Not only did President Carter bring Mr. Gomes home to the United States on Friday, August 27, 2010 he discussed North Korea's nuclear program with Kim Yong Nam.  This is a man I feel we can and should all learn from.  Long story short, after talking with my students and researching President Carter I felt compelled to invite him to speak to my students.  My theory is if you want to change what is wrong in the world start with the children.  My students may not be young children, but they are young and they are or will be having children.  Violence does not have to be the answer to every conflict


See my letter to President Carter below:



August 27, 2010

President James E. Carter
Carter Foundation
453Freedom Parkway NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

Dear President Carter:

I would like to invite you to speak to my students at Crittenton Services in Wheeling, West Virginia. Crittenton Services is a gender specific treatment facility, and our students range in age from 13-18. Many of our girls have experienced great turmoil in their lives and have suffered many hardships. We try to help them get emotionally healthy, educate them, prepare them for adulthood and all of its responsibilities, and give them skills to handle anything that may come their way. I want to instill upon them violence is not the answer to their problems, and I could think of no person better than you to discuss this with them.
We participate in Globaloria, a five year pilot program focused on teaching 21st century skills utilizing wikis, blogs, and Adobe Flash programming. Our focus in this pilot is civics. Today, the students read the article about you securing the pardon for Aijalon Gomes and bringing him home from North Korea. They then researched you and blogged about your missions of peace.
Please let me know if you are ever available to speak to our girls any time in the future. You can contact me at 304-242-7525 or mmilliken@crittentonservices.com. If you would like to know more about our organization, please visit our Web site at http://www.florencecrittenton.net/.
Sincerely,
Melonie Milliken
GED Instructor

Welcome Back

Welcome back!  Okay, I realize most of you just were in class last week, but still welcome back.

Tuesday

Hello Everyone!

Paul McCartney

I guess I would have to say Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. I know impressions of artists, musicians, singers, actors, etc are skewed because they generally let us see what they want us to see and their managers construct their images, but I find Sir Paul to be a classy man. Paul, comes from England is a singer songwriter, is an active member PETA, plays many different instruments, is a composer, entrepreneur, producer, painter and a poet. Plus, my mom says he was the "cute Beatle". One of my favorite Beatle songs featuring Paul is

The Jury 's Out

Whew! Lori and I just created our team...The Jury's Out. I am not sure if that refers to our game or our gaming skills! We have our topic....Juveniles in placement. Obviously, this a topic near and dear to our hearts. I will keep you updated with our progress.

Sirdeaner Walker

I am sure most of you have no idea who Sirdeaner Walker is or what how her life is forever changed. She is a single working parent whom within the last year lost her 11 year old son to suicide. Yes, I said suicide. Her son, Carl, was speaking with his mother one day as she cooked dinner when he said he was going to his room. Sirdeaner assumed he was completing homework or playing video games as he did frequently after school. Imagine her horror when she found him hanging by the neck from an extension cord.

Why would an 11 year old honor roll student, athlete, and active member in his church want to kill himself? I know the answer is only known by Carl, but the fact is Carl was being bullied at school. Children in his school were calling him gay, faggot, and harassing him. Carl was devastated and told his mother. Sirdeaner called the school. The school said it was a part of normal social interaction. Carl continued to endure the bullying.

After Carl's death, Sirdeaner chose not to lie down and let grief consume her. Sirdeaner focused on making schools safe for all children. She met with representatives of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) which helped her understand how widespread bullying is in this nation's schools. Sirdeaner is encouraging everyone to sign this petition to get the Safe Schools Improvement Act (H.R. 2262) passed. Please hear Carl's and Sirdeaner's story here. Children are still committing suicide due to harassment and bullying, recently Phoebe Prince committed suicide due to being bullied. This is a national crisis.

This Friday, GLSEN is having a National Day of Silence to raise awareness of Anit-LGBT bullying in schools. If you want to join in raising awareness you can sign up here. GLSEN's National Day of Silence in 2009 fell on what would have been Carl's 12th birthday. Click here to read their support of Carl and his family.

Please for the sake of all our nation's children take the time to read and consider signing this petition.

Spring has Sprung!!

I am not sure what it is about spring, but it seems to inspire and trigger all sorts of things for us humans. I can attest to the fact in my classroom alone I have seen hair color changes, attitude changes (for the better), an increased work ethic, a desire to clean, and smiling (yes, smiling). Is it the sun makes you feel sunny? Or that the warm weather warms your soul? Or is it we are biologically programmed to change in the spring? Whatever it is we are definitely feeling the effects of spring.

Here are our big plans based on our current attitude:

• Complete our team pages
• post our game demo
• complete two games
• demonstrate our games to staff, clients, and Globaloria staff
• blog on a regular basis related to our game and current civics issues
  

So, please do everything you can to keep the sun shining and our progress up!