Being Thankful for What I Have

After spending entirely too much time over the last few weeks searching online for a new toy to park in my garage, I had an epiphany: I already have everything I could ever want in life. However, there is one thing that I need. I need to remember to be thankful for what I have.

Sure, a 50th anniversary edition 2003 Chevy Corvette would be a great addition to our family’s current fleet of five vehicles, but I already have a two-seater hot rod, a 1971 Chevy pickup with a hopped-up 327 cubic inch V-8 transplanted from a 1969 Chevy Impala. Do I NEED a two-seat Corvette with a fuel-injected 350 cubic inch V-8, too? Of course not. But do I WANT one? Of course I do. Sort of.

While the members of my household exchanged their Christmas wish lists with one another, I thought about what I already have.

I already have an amazing wife, three great kids, and an awesome bonus-kid who happens to be the mother of my beautiful grandbaby.

I have a dad, two brothers, and a sister who still claim me as an immediate family member despite my decades of making poor decisions and a public spectacle of myself.

I have a mother-in-law who loves me as if I were her own son, three sisters-in-law, two brothers-in-law, and a brother-in-common-law who all seem to enjoy my company.

I have cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and various other relatives who act happy to see me and hear from me.

And I have more friends than a moody, bipolar, recovering alcoholic could ever hope for.

I also have a house with room for seven humans, two dogs, two cats, and a half-dozen aquarium fish. My family.

In that house I have a closet full of clothes, a room full of musical instruments, and two refrigerators full of food. 

And I have two garages and a driveway full of cars and trucks. Why would I need, want, or deserve a Corvette?

I think the better question is: “What do you give a man who already has everything?” It’s a question that has been posed by advertisers and marketing people for as long as I can remember. Perhaps the best answer would be: “Give him a sense of appreciation for what he has, but if he already has that, give him a Corvette.”

This Thanksgiving, remember to count your blessings. Write them down. Take stock of what you have and then take a moment to appreciate those blessings. Be thankful for what you have. 

If you are fortunate like I am and you have everything you could ever want or need, then you may want to consider sharing the wealth before buying a sports car. My wife and I give time and money to a few worthy causes. We support the Salvation Army, the United Way, the Food Bank, the Red Cross, and we “adopt” a family at Christmas. We also feed, clothe, contribute to college funds, and provide transportation for our three children. (Does that count as charity? Asking for a friend.)

I do know how lucky I am, and I am thankful for all that I have. No, I don’t need or deserve or desperately want a Corvette, but my family is pretty insistent that I give them some ideas for my holiday wish list, and if a Corvette showed up in my garage on Christmas morning, then you can bet that I would very thankful indeed.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Southern Boone Teachers Are Drowning

 In an email sent to district parents last week, Southern Boone School District Superintendent Chris Felmlee wrote, “As the school district continues to navigate through one of the most challenging years any of us have ever experienced in education, we recognize that our teachers and staff are exhausted and stressed. We understand that they need time to rest and recharge. In order for us to make our district the best place for our students, we must make this district the best place for our staff. Out of an abundance of concern for the mental and physical wellbeing of staff and students, the Board of Education approved an amendment this afternoon to the 2021-2022 school calendar to extend Thanksgiving break for much needed time for rest and renewal.”

The school board voted unanimously to add Monday the 22nd and Tuesday the 23rd to Thanksgiving break, giving teachers and students a full week off. I applaud this decision because the teachers I have been in contact with this school year are experiencing more stress and pressure than ever before in their careers. They are tired of hearing parents complain about face masks and quarantines. They are frustrated with having to administer endless assessments and standardized tests while a pandemic rages on. They are worried about contracting a deadly virus from their students and bringing it home to their families.

One educator friend described the seriousness of the situation to me. “Teachers feel defeated. We are asking for help, and no one will help us. We are yelling at the top of our lungs, but instead of giving us a life raft they are letting us drown.”

Mr. Felmlee’s letter continued, “Our board of education and district administration care deeply about the mental and physical wellbeing of teachers and staff. Our students, faculty, staff, and parents/guardians have all worked tirelessly to persevere in the face of some very difficult challenges. The school district is hopeful that the extra time will ultimately benefit everyone in some way, even though it may initially present a challenge for some families. The additional two days off during the extended Thanksgiving break will give all of us a chance to focus on self-care, family, and friends during this season of being thankful.”

One of the biggest issues teachers have cited this year is their perception that the board of education does not listen to teachers when they voice their concerns about their safety. By doing away with mask mandates and voting on changing the school visitor policy (an item on the board’s agenda this week) to allow unmasked and potentially unvaccinated parents and visitors to squeeze into crowded classrooms for holiday parties and to pack gymnasiums for assemblies and concerts, some teachers feel that the school board does not take seriously its responsibility to keep staff members and students safe.

Sarah Papineau is a member services coordinator for the Missouri State Teachers Association. “I can certainly say that the staff I have worked with at Southern Boone want a positive, collaborative, and supportive relationship with the community. They do want a voice in the decisions that impact them, just as each of us do in our own work settings. We're currently in the process of setting up a Community Teachers Association Welfare Committee with the goal of ensuring that staff have an avenue to weigh in on issues, collaborate on great ideas, and to strive for continuous improvements. Their desire is that Southern Boone continues to be a wonderful place to work, which will in turn allow staff to do the incredibly important job of educating our kids. I work with welfare committees around the state and I'm excited to see the great ideas and outcomes in Southern Boone.”

Another area of concern for educators is a severe shortage of substitute teachers. Finding reliable and qualified subs is a tremendous stressor to teachers, especially during the pandemic. I subbed in the Southern Boone School District for nine years. When I started in 2012, I was paid $80 per day. In 2021, subs still receive $80 per day despite a substantial increase in the cost of living over the last decade.

 

Substitutes in Missouri are required to complete at least 60 hours of college courses. Currently, the University of Missouri charges resident undergraduate students $321.30 per credit hour, which adds up to $19,278 for 60 credit hours, not including thousands more in mandatory fees and textbook purchases. Yet at roughly $10 per hour, qualified substitute teachers who have completed two years of college earn less than entry-level workers in other fields who might possess no college or professional experiencewhatsoever.

The SoBoCo school board is taking a look at compensation for substitutes, and one can only hope that they will decide to follow Jefferson City’s recent decisions to increase sub pay to $100 per day and implement an incentive plan that pays subs a $500 bonus for every 20 school days worked. Under Southern Boone’s current substitute pay plan, a sub can earn only $8,000 for working 100 school days. Under Jeff City’s new policy, a sub will earn $10,000 in base pay for working 100 days plus an additional $2,500 in bonuses for a total of $12,500.

Don’t even get me started on Southern Boone’s base pay for certified teachers. SoBoCo ranks 161st in the state for average pay for teachers with a bachelor’s degree. 15 miles to the south, Jefferson City ranks 49th overall while Columbia, 15 miles north of Ashland, comes in at 30th.  

The Southern Boone County Board of Education must continue to listen to its teachers. These educators are doing an amazing job of teaching, nurturing, assessing, and protecting our children in a tremendously challenging time, but they are feeling overwhelmed, underappreciated, and utterly exhausted. If things don’t improve substantially, I fear there will be a mass exodus of teachers at the end of the school year. That would be much costlier to the district than any increase in pay.

 

Wheeling and Dealing

 When I bought myself a two-door, six-speed, 424 horsepower, 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport a few months ago, even I had to admit the purchase was completely frivolous. No one NEEDS to own a car with a top speed of over 150 miles per hour.

A car like that has no practical applications. I can tell you from first hand experience that as much fun as it is to drive a Camaro SS on an open stretch of highway, it is not much fun at all when it’s being used to drop children off at school every morning. I purchased the Camaro in July when school was the last thing on my mind, but soon after the Fall semester began, I realized my awesome sportscar was a lousy taxi. The Camaro sits very low, which makes it difficult to climb out of, especially for my daughter Tiana who has mobility issues caused by cerebral palsy. And having only two doors makes it tough for passengers riding in the back seat (my son Truman) to enter and exit the vehicle. 

For the past few years, my “daily driver” vehicle has been a 2010 Volkswagen Beetle, which is no easier on my children to climb in and out of than the Camaro. Most of the time we end up taking my 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD to school. The four-wheel-drive, crew cab, three-quarter-ton, diesel-powered truck does have four doors, but its ride height and bumper-to-bumper length make it a behemoth in the drop-off line while its relatively poor fuel economy makes it a less-than-ideal commuter vehicle. My two-wheel-drive, regular cab, 1971 Chevy C-10 pickup is considerably smaller than its massive younger cousin, but it only has two seat belts, making it ineligible to ferry three people around town.

Eventually I came to the realization that none of my four vehicles was particularly well-suited for driving my children to school, work, doctor’s appointments, or anywhere else. I needed a four-door passenger car. Then I remembered that I already own one.

My oldest son Alex had been driving a 2014 Chevy Cruze that I bought for him to use when he went off to college. The small sedan offered plenty of room for a single college student, but when he became a father to my darling granddaughter Freya last year, the Cruze suddenly proved to be much too small. When Alex expressed an interest in acquiring a vehicle with room for a child’s car seat, a stroller, and all the other stuff that goes along with having a baby, I realized I could solve all of our family’s car needs with a little bit of wheeling and dealing.

First, I contacted the dealer who sold me the Camaro and asked if he would be interested in buying the car back at a reasonable discount that would allow him to sell the car again for a modest profit. Because the car was in the exact same condition it was in when I bought it, he happily agreed and issued me a check for my full asking price. While completing the paperwork, we calculated that I had driven the car only 1500 miles in the three months that I had owned it. A fair portion of those miles were driven at excruciatingly slow, responsible speeds while operating a taxi service for my children.

Next, I began searching for small SUVs or station wagons for Alex and his little family. I found a pre-owned, all-wheel-drive Subaru Outback wagon for sale near St. Louis that seemed like a good candidate, so I traded in my Volkswagen and used some of the cash from selling my Camaro to purchase it. I also bought a brand-new set of tires for Alex’s girlfriend’s car while I was at it. Now Baby Freya has two comfortable and safe cars to ride around in.

The third part of my plan was to make the Cruze my new daily driver. With four doors, a backup camera, and a comfortable ride height, the Cruze is an ideal vehicle for shuttling kids to and from school. Plus, if and when Truman and Tiana get their driver’s licenses, it will be a perfect first car for them to drive.

Naturally, when my kids start driving the Cruze, (which may be soon), I will be on the lookout for a new daily driver for myself. This time I won’t be constrained by the need for a practical family car. Perhaps I’ll buy another Camaro. Or a Corvette. Maybe something luxurious like a Cadillac. Or a muscle car. A Jeep would be fun. Oh, the possibilities…

Southern Boone Principals Keeping Our Kids Safe

 A few weeks ago, I wrote an opinion piece expressing my displeasure with the Southern Boone school board’s decision to abandon their masking policy just days after it was first implemented. I wrote, “These are good people. They care about our community. I believe they have good intentions. But I also believe they made a terrible mistake.”

I stand by that statement. Every word of it.

For those who have taken exception with school administrators who have barred parents and other visitors from entering school buildings for holiday parties and other occasions in order to prevent exposing students and teachers to Covid, I would hope that as they voice their concerns, they would be careful to recognize that the principals and assistant principals of our schools are good people who are doing what they think is best to keep people safe. Unfortunately, a vocal minority in our community has started beating the drum of tyranny and parents’ rights, insinuating that administrators are deliberately depriving parents of their opportunity to make precious memories with their school-aged children.

I personally know most of the administrators in our district. Some have young children of their own whose lives are also being affected by Covid restrictions. Believe me, if anyone thinks these principals enjoy restricting parental participation in school parties, assemblies, etc., then those folks have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

There is not an evil conspiracy against parents taking place within our school district. Our principals are genuinely good human beings who worked their way through college in order to earn bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and even doctoral degrees in education. They didn’t go through all of those years of grueling preparation as part of a diabolical plan to deprive parents of their right to attend their kids’ Halloween parties at school. They put in all that hard work in order to improve the lives of children. Period.

None of those administrators were taught how to lead a school during a pandemic. I truly believe they are doing the best they can. This particular pandemic has killed nearly 800,000 Americans in less than two years, and our principals have been following CDC guidelines, county health recommendations, and local mitigation plans in order to minimize their students’ exposure to the virus. One of those measures has been a policy of limiting the number of people allowed in school buildings. With a shocking number of adults who refuse to get vaccinated or wear masks, who can blame principals for doing what they can to prevent potentially exposed visitors from infecting students and teachers?

A handful of unreasonable and loud parents, that’s who.

Some parents in our district have accused administrators of breaking a district policy guaranteeing parental access to schools. These folks are anti-mask, anti-vax, Covid-deniers who seem to think that school administrators are a socialist, power-hungry cabal bent on depriving parents of their liberty. To fight this oppression, they say parents should have more control over how the district operates. Many of these people also feel that parents should have more of a say in what is taught and how it is taught.

Of course, they don’t mean that ALL parents should have such input. They really believe that only those parents who are conservative, anti-government Christians should have more influence. In other districts, this is the argument parents have used to prevent the teaching of racism in this nation’s history and its continuing negative influence. This is the same argument religious leaders and parents have used to justify the teaching of Christian creationism in public schools. This is the same justification for barring sex education and references to LGBTQ+ people. 

Make no mistake, these folks do not want more input from parents like me who believe in science, history, and the Constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state.

In order to advance their ultra-conservative agenda, I predict that some of these parents will run for school board. Recently a conservative school board in Southlake, Texas, that has cracked down on the teaching of critical race theory, made headlines for requiring educators to teach opposing views of every topic including racism—and the Holocaust. In other words, if a teacher wants her students to read a book about the horrific slaughter of six million innocent Jews, the students must also read a text that supports Hitler’s Final Solution. Keep this in mind when the next school board election takes place.

School boards should not have political agendas. Neither should school administrators. I can tell you that our principals in Southern Boone do not allow politics to influence their decisions. They simply do what they can to keep students and teachers safe while fostering an environment for a quality, well-rounded education for our children. 

The Southern Boone school board held a public meeting last week to gauge parents’ opinions about whether or not the district should open its doors to visitors. An educator who observed the meeting used one word to describe the behavior of some of the parents who spoke: “Shameful.” 

Ultimately, the board decided not to allow visitors in school buildings for class Halloween parties, but they did commit to revisiting the policy in the near future.

It is my hope that the board continues to bar visitors in school buildings until the pandemic is behind us. No one is happy about missing kindergarten concerts and holiday parties, but it sure beats burying a loved one. If those outraged parents would support vaccine mandates, then the pandemic might be over sooner. Unfortunately, their political opinions and personal desires mean more to them than scientific facts and the welfare of their fellow human beings.