This story just left me speechless and gave me chills. http://www.pjstar.com/stories/121707/TRI_BF7SMA0D.006.php I can't even begin to imagine what I would have done in the same situation. There is no doubt in my mind that God had it in his plans for Marilyn to be there and that a small angel named Aaron asked for the special by passer to be his mommy. As a mother I am comforted to know that people like Marilyn are out there. In the day and age of fear of aids and other diseases, Marilyn showed true selflessness and compassion.
Marilyn's son Aaron was a student at Northmoor. There is a beautiful picture of him hanging up outside the library. He and his family obviously left their "heart stamp" at Northmoor just as his mother has with Limestone High School.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
ISAT Results in Peoria
OK - I have got to say that some people may look at the ISAT results from last year and not see positive results. I would like to say though that I think several of the school have very positive results even if they didn't meet AYP. http://www.isbe.net/nclb/default.htm Here's a link in case you'd like more information.
Anyway, back to the positive - when looking at the results for the schools in the City of Peoria specifically, many people will talk about the percentage of poverty in each school (basically the number of children who receive free or reduced lunch). Well I wish that could be broken up even more to show the percentage who receive free lunch only. Harrison for example then is probably 97% free lunch and 2% reduced. Many of the other schools would have similar statistics and there is a difference between groups in the low income catagory and don't get me started on the differences between generational poverty (like the families who live in Taft, Harrison, etc) and situational poverty.
So without getting too wordy (and if you'd really like to learn more about the challenges children who live in poverty face you can read the work of Ruby Payne) I want to say that several schools did much better than the numbers may say. I think the fact that a school like Kingman, with 87% low income (probably 70% free lunch), has steadily increased their percentage of kids meeting or exceeding standards is awesome! Then add to this their almost 60% mobility rate - just imagine what the teachers could do if all of the kids stayed at the school for the entire school year. So basically, when you look at everything that teachers and staff at Kingman and many other schools have to overcome to help children succeed, the fact that children exceed is a huge positive! Personally, as a parent, if I saw that my child's school had a small low income percentage and ISAT scores in the 70's or 80's, I'd wonder about the quality of education my child was receiving. Small low income and low mobility schools should have much higher scores - just look at what Northmoor has done with a low income percentage of close to half the student population, yet their ISAT scores were right at 90%.
So - to me - add everything up and the test scores are positive - they show that children and educators are working very hard and are achieving!
Anyway, back to the positive - when looking at the results for the schools in the City of Peoria specifically, many people will talk about the percentage of poverty in each school (basically the number of children who receive free or reduced lunch). Well I wish that could be broken up even more to show the percentage who receive free lunch only. Harrison for example then is probably 97% free lunch and 2% reduced. Many of the other schools would have similar statistics and there is a difference between groups in the low income catagory and don't get me started on the differences between generational poverty (like the families who live in Taft, Harrison, etc) and situational poverty.
So without getting too wordy (and if you'd really like to learn more about the challenges children who live in poverty face you can read the work of Ruby Payne) I want to say that several schools did much better than the numbers may say. I think the fact that a school like Kingman, with 87% low income (probably 70% free lunch), has steadily increased their percentage of kids meeting or exceeding standards is awesome! Then add to this their almost 60% mobility rate - just imagine what the teachers could do if all of the kids stayed at the school for the entire school year. So basically, when you look at everything that teachers and staff at Kingman and many other schools have to overcome to help children succeed, the fact that children exceed is a huge positive! Personally, as a parent, if I saw that my child's school had a small low income percentage and ISAT scores in the 70's or 80's, I'd wonder about the quality of education my child was receiving. Small low income and low mobility schools should have much higher scores - just look at what Northmoor has done with a low income percentage of close to half the student population, yet their ISAT scores were right at 90%.
So - to me - add everything up and the test scores are positive - they show that children and educators are working very hard and are achieving!
Shopping in Peoria
OK - I have just got to say I am pleasantly surprised by my shopping experiences in the last few weeks - even though we're in that time crunch, stressful time - people have been so nice!
I was at Cub Foods the day before Thanksgiving and the people shopping were smiling and chatting with each other. Then, when I went down one aisle in particular, one woman was looking for canned asparagus so she asked and then another shouted out something she needed and everyone just kind of pitched in and helped find the items. I felt like I was shopping with friends.
Then the day after Thanksgiving I dared to go out to Kohl's. I didn't up end buying anything because the line seemed to stretch all the way to Sam's, but the people in line were talking and seemed to be in a good mood. I don't think that I could have been in such a good mood after spending that much time waiting in line!
Well and then there was the lady I ran across in the parking lot at WalMart. I tried to be helpful to the cart people by carrying all of my bags to the car. It was a great plan until I got to the car and realized I would need to set all of the bags down in order to open the door to my SUV. Well luckily a lady in a navy blue convertable recognized my plight and came to my rescue. She opened the door for me and we even had a nice little chat about how her daughter has the same type of SUV and how nice they are for the size, etc, etc. It was one of those moments that I walked away with a "fuller bucket." So thanks to the lady in the blue convertable.
I was at Cub Foods the day before Thanksgiving and the people shopping were smiling and chatting with each other. Then, when I went down one aisle in particular, one woman was looking for canned asparagus so she asked and then another shouted out something she needed and everyone just kind of pitched in and helped find the items. I felt like I was shopping with friends.
Then the day after Thanksgiving I dared to go out to Kohl's. I didn't up end buying anything because the line seemed to stretch all the way to Sam's, but the people in line were talking and seemed to be in a good mood. I don't think that I could have been in such a good mood after spending that much time waiting in line!
Well and then there was the lady I ran across in the parking lot at WalMart. I tried to be helpful to the cart people by carrying all of my bags to the car. It was a great plan until I got to the car and realized I would need to set all of the bags down in order to open the door to my SUV. Well luckily a lady in a navy blue convertable recognized my plight and came to my rescue. She opened the door for me and we even had a nice little chat about how her daughter has the same type of SUV and how nice they are for the size, etc, etc. It was one of those moments that I walked away with a "fuller bucket." So thanks to the lady in the blue convertable.
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