Thursday, December 11, 2014

December 2014 Red Pencil

Pencil           

Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel

 
December Meeting
Noon, Thursday, December 18, 2013
Deerfield Methodist Church *
Cost per meal is $10, payable to Watauga Unit, NCRSP
 
Program:  Music – lovely, seasonal music from the WHS Honors Chorus
 
To make your reservation:  Just let your caller know that you will attend.  IF YOUR CALLER  HASN’T CALLED BY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, PLEASE PHONE MARGARET AT 264-2036.  SHE MUST REPORT SHORTLY AFTER THAT SO THAT GEORGE CAN ORDER THE FOOD FOR US.
 
To bring:  as much non-perishable food as you can for the Hunger Coalition.  Powdered milk, soup, oatmeal, pasta products, canned fruit and vegetables, ANYthing non-perishable will be acceptable. Did you know that more than 300 children receive food on Fridays to feed themselves during the weekend? PLEASE help.  [Later in this newsletter you’ll find a list of suggested items to donate and NOT to donate from someone who runs a food bank and has experience.]
 
Also to bring:  a new or gently read children’s book for distribution to the children in this county through the Santa’s Toy Box Program.  DO NOT bring books that have been marked in.  We’re honoring the legacy of Dr. Seuss and the Read Across America program he loved.  On that subject, if you would like to volunteer to read to kids, select an appropriate volume, put the first week of March on your calendar, and call your favorite elementary school – AND, AND, AND –
 
     all your loose change.  We want our scholarship program to continue, and for that to happen, we need all those lovely, noisy nickels and dimes and quarters.
 
AND  your volunteer hours form!  [More about that later, too.]
 
DON’T FORGET:  After our lunch, you will be able to purchase a second meal to take home for $5.  As good as George’s food is, imagine how much you’ll enjoy sharing with a friend or spouse or having your own dinner already prepared!
 
*Meeting cancellation policy is later in this newsletter.
 
President’s Message
 
With midterm elections and another Thanksgiving holiday over, teachers and students can begin anticipating the December holidays.  In my family, our son, daughter, and son-in-law are keeping our Christmas holiday tradition by coming home.  Our daughter, Kristin, who teaches in NYC, and her husband, Jeff, make coming home a priority.  Our son, David, who has also moved to NYC for his work, values family tradition,too,  and he is protecting the few vacation days he has in order to be home during Christmas.  When our children were younger, like a lot of families, we split time with our parents during our holidays. At some point, the traveling stopped and we focused on starting our own family traditions.  Currently, we are enjoying the fact that our kids are traveling instead of us!
 
Christmas brings our children home, but it also brings many of our former students back to Boone, and I enjoy being reminded of them when I am out around town and am greeted by someone who says, “Do you remember me?”  It’s usually a former student I taught or a former athlete I coached.  Recently  one of these young people shared how I had influenced his life.  I taught him more than “winning and losing,” he said, and he hoped for a similar experience for his kids.  When I greet former students, I am always amazed how pleased they are when I remember their names and seem surprised that I am not a permanent fixture at Watauga High School!   You and I have so much for which to be grateful at this time of year, especially the happy memories we and our former students can share.  We can never know just how many lives we touched on playing fields and in classrooms, but each reminder means so much.
 
                                                                                                            Happy Holidays,
                                                                                                            Lee
 
 
 
 
 
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Keeping in Touch, All about Us
 
The Watauga Unit of NCRSP extends its sympathies to member Janet Sue Auten on the death of her husband, Frank, and to Jane Rogers on the death of her mother, member Jean Bolick Clawson.
            -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 
 
 
 
    If you can stay behind after our meeting to help clear tables and clean the kitchen, you’ll be a Christmas angel for sure.  Margaret works so hard to get the fellowship hall ready for us and Beth makes it look pretty.  Doing a little KP is a great way to say thank you.

Book Nook:   Need something wonderful and inspirational to read this winter?  Try two wonderful books, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings, the true story of two sisters in Charleston in the 1800’s who were at the forefront of the women’s movement and the anti-slavery movement, and Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, about a ragtag bunch of American kids who became a winning rowing team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  Both of these books are available on Kindle or in real, honest-to-goodness paper.
 
 From the Western Youth Network, Candace Hall
         At the Board's meeting in November, Jennifer Warren from the Watauga Youth Network spoke to us about the program and their need for assistance.  The WYN is made up of four main areas of working with the youth in Watauga County.  One is the mentoring program for youth 6 - 17 years of age.  There are needs for adults, 18 years of age or older, to spend time with a youngster or youth, about two hours a week.  Another area of serving the youth is with an after-school program for those in grades 6 - 8, with sites at the Boone United Methodist Church and the old Cove Creek School gym, five days a week.  
          Additional areas of service are in a summer day camp and a substance abuse prevention program, comparable to DARE.
          Areas where they are especially in need of assistance now are with tutoring when ASU students are gone, with fundraising, and with office support.  Brochures about the WYN will be available at the next meeting of our group for those who would like to pursue this further.  We look forward to having Jennifer at a future meeting to let you all meet her and get further information!


This little piece runs annually in the Red Pencil, but it is always pertinent.  It’s a personal favorite of your humble editor, who always looks for requests from teachers right here in Watauga County and always finds them.
Looking for a unique and simple way to make a difference to education?  Go towww.donorschoose.org (that’s org, not com), a site where teachers across the nation can post the needs they have in their own classroom.  Donate a little or a lot. Donate in honor or in memory of a colleague, your kids’ teachers, or even one of your own mentors in education.  Click through your choices, select one close to  heart, and remember how you felt when you provided your own books, pencils, bulletin board materials, videos, recordings, and on and on and on.
 
 
What Food Banks Need Most – and Least
 
•       Canned meats: Think beyond tuna & soup, which food banks get tons of. Instead go for canned beef, canned ham, canned chicken, canned salmon. Or hearty ready-to-go meals like beef stew and chili with meat.
•       Canned vegetables: Everyone donates green beans. Instead, give potatoes, carrots, spinach, peas or any other veggies your family likes.
•       Canned fruit: Not pineapple. This is the most commonly donated fruit. Any other fruit, particularly those in fruit juice without extra sugar, would be great. Dried fruit works, too. (Think raisins and more.)
•       Boxes of rice (bags can tear)
•       Low-sugar cereal like plain Cheerios or Raisin Bran
•       Peanut butter
•       Instant oatmeal, instant grits
•       Cans of beans
•       Pasta, pasta sauce
•       Biscuit mix or any mix you only add water to
•       Cans, cartons, or boxes of powered and evaporated milk
•       Snack items for kids to take to school: juice boxes, applesauce containers, granola bars
•       Diapers in sizes above newborn, plus wipes
•       Toiletries: toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste, lotion, shampoo & conditioner, Chapstick (consider someone living outside this time of year)
•       Feminine hygiene products: unscented pads will be most universally used, not tampons
•       Spices like cinnamon, oregano, basil, salt, pepper
•       Sliced bread. It’s got a long shelf life but always goes immediately.
•       Bags of apples or potatoes. Ditto.
•       Chocolate. It’s not a necessity but just a pick-me-up that anyone would appreciate, especially when it comes time to fill stockings.




•       Consider donating reusable shopping bags. It takes a lot of humility for people to come to a food bank and since they’ll likely be walking home or taking public transportation, it’s nice to at least blend in.
•        
 WHAT WE MIGHT NOT REALIZE ABOUT FOOD BANKS:
 
•       A lot of people have diabetes in this group. Consider low-sugar dietary restrictions.
•       Cans and boxes are sturdier than bags. By the time families are receiving the food, it’s been handled A LOT and packaging needs to be strong enough to hold up. One food bank said never bring anything in glass, ever.
•       Pop-top cans are ideal; particularly for those living on the streets.
•       Think about weekends and school breaks. Kids who qualify for free lunches typically receive breakfast at school, too, and when schools are out for holidays or summer, these families need more support.
Microwave Fudge     
 
INGREDIENTS  


•       3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
•       1 14-oz can condensed milk 
•       1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter
•       1 tsp vanilla extract
•       1/4 tsp salt


 
PREPARATION
•       1. Prepare an 8x8 pan by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
•       2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, condensed milk, and butter. Microwave in one-minute increments until melted, about 2-3 minutes.
•       3. Stir to ensure all the chocolate is melted, then add the vanilla and salt. Stir until the candy is smooth and well-mixed.
•       4. Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer.
•       5. Place the fudge in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours. Once set, cut into 1-inch squares and serve at room temperature. Store excess fudge in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
•       OPTIONS
•       Add 1 cp. pecan pieces or walnut pieces.  Before placing fudge in refrigerator, sprinkle with ¼ tsp sea salt.
 
X marks the spot:  MEETING CANCELLATION POLICY -  If schools do not operate on the day of our meeting, we won’t, either.  We WILL meet if schools are delayed.  In any case, members with email will receive a message about cancellation on the morning of the meeting AND a notice will be posted on the Public Announcements page of Ray’s Weather, www.raysweather.com.


Community Participation
            Candace Hall, our Community Participation chair, reports that our new method of keeping track of our volunteer hours is working!
 
            Bring your completed form to the December meeting or mail it to Candace Hall,   You can even send her an email with this form attached or the total number of your volunteer hours that you haven’t reported yet.  Email, snail mail, phone, or in person, Candace expects to hear from you!
 
            AND- AND- AND:  HEADS UP!  We will have a VERY special drawing of the names of everyone who brings his/her completed volunteer hours form to the December meeting.  Your close-mouthed editor is not at liberty to discuss the prize for this drawing, but she does understand that it has something to do with CHOCOLATE.  Bring your completed form to the meeting for a chance to win. (We will have forms at the meeting for you to complete, as well.)
 
NCRSP Community Participation - Volunteer Hours  2014
 
Name _____________________________
 
Category
Jan 
Feb 
Mar 
Apr 
May 
Jun 
Jul 
Aug 
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Total
 
Education
 
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
 
 
 
 
 
Other
 
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
 
 
 
 
 
                        Total Hours in All Categories ________
 
Candace Hall:  mcandacehall@gmail.com, 229 Ivy Dr., Boone NC 28607, or 828.264-5763.
 
Watauga County NCRSP
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