Tuesday, May 8, 2012
May 2012 Red Pencil--Luncheon May 17th
The Red Pencil
Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel
Vol.XIV, No.5 May 2012 ntn1066@hotmail.com___
May Meeting
When: Thursday, 17 May 2012
Where: Deerfield Methodist Church
How much: $10, check payable to Watauga County NCRSP
What: Annual presentation of scholarship
Memorial service
Election of officers
Please bring SMALL medicine bottles (and recycle the larger ones!), any food staples you wish, especially powdered milk, canned soups, and cereals, and lots and lots of diapers. If you can manage it, include a bag of cat or dog food for our four-legged friends at the Humane Society.
If your caller has not contacted you by the 12th of May, call Margaret Sigmon at 264-2036 or email her at margaretsigmon@bellsouth.net. Please understand that an accurate accounting of our attendees is extremely important, since that is the number of people for whom George will cook. Callers make every effort to reach all the names on their lists, but you can help by responding to your caller or by notifying Margaret.
In a practice we began last year, we will have meals for sale for $5 after our meeting. If you are having guests or eating alone for dinner or just love George’s wonderful food, place your order as you arrive or stay for a few moments after the meeting.
President’s Message
Father Time and Mother Nature must be in cahoots with each other because time is speeding up and my knees are slowing down. I hope you’re finding the warming sun to be kind to your spirits and bones!
Spring, of course, is about a renewal of life and of hope. Today, I’m hoping that I can get through my list of responsibilities, both the ones the world hands me and the ones I impose on myself. Each of us, I suspect, wakes up each morning with just such a list.
Today, my list includes finding a chance to:
Smile at little kids and tell them how cool they are.
Visit a friend in a nursing home and do her hair.
Tell my dental hygienist that I appreciate her cleaning my teeth for about 25 years.
Open the door for someone.
Sing with my grandchildren. 2
Plant some flowers in a friend's yard.
Wash [a] window.
Check friends on Facebook since we don't get to visit that much anymore.
Be more patient with my "hard-of-hearing" husband.
Appreciate the fact that I am an active part of an organization that does many things for others just as we all did in our school systems.
Finally, I’m taking this opportunity to wish you comfort and joy this spring and throughout the summer months.
See you in May.
LaVerne Franklin
Important Bits and Pieces:
Congratulations to our vice president, Bill Winkler, who brought an entire NCRSP state convention to absolute silence with his a capella performance of “How Can I Keep from Singing” at the memorial service in Winston-Salem.
Our memorial service in May will honor three past members of our chapter and two current/recent members who have died this year. Past members are Jim Cole, Kathleen Goodman, and Mattie Lou Wilson, and current/recent members are Elizabeth Elliott, Mary Henson, Mary Moore, and Jim Roberts.
Please remember to keep up with your volunteer hours. At a time when our membership and our mission are being challenged by the state legislature, explaining the value of our contributions to the community is more important than ever.
3
An invitation for us all:
“You are cordially invited to a very special celebration of the lives of Robert and Agnes Shipley of Vilas, NC, a birthday gathering in honor of Robert, who will be one-hundred years old on June 23, and Agnes, who will be ninety-five years old on June 26. The celebration will be held on June 23, 2012 from 1:30 to 4:30 PM at the Historic Cove Creek High School, 207 Dale Adams Road, Sugar Grove, NC. If you have any inquiries, please direct them to the Shipleys’ daughter, Janie, at shipley100@mindspring.com by email, or 828.263.4218 by phone. Come help us honor these two special individuals. No gifts, please.”
For your calendar: The 2012-2013 school year begins in Watauga County on Wednesday, August 8. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend our annual breakfast meeting at 9A on that date.
****If you haven’t completed the flipping process to pay your dues, please do it as quickly as you can. Remember that you can still pay your dues by check at the August meeting if you wish. The bank draft for your dues will NOT begin until September; our membership year has not changed. If you have any questions about continuing your membership in NCRSP, please call Dot Barker at 264-3621.
Don’t forget to make regular visits to our blogspot at http://wcrsp.blogspot.com/ for the latest local news about your NCRSP chapter, and go to www.ncae.org to sign up for daily political briefings about legislation that affects retired school personnel. Other helpful sites include www.ncrsp.org for our NC Retired School Personnel and www.ncga.state.nc.us/ for the NC General Assembly. To share news of our own unit activities and members, please get in touch with Nanci Tolbert Nance, ntn@skybest.com or 828.963-8892.
4
The Red Pencil
Watauga Unit, NCRSP
451 Poplar Hill Dr.
Boone NC 28607
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Red Pencil for March 15th meeting
The Red Pencil
The Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel
Vol.XIV,
No.4,
March 2012
Nanci Tolbert Nance, editor
_ntn1066@hotmail.com 963-8892
March Meeting Noon, Thursday, March 15, 2012
Deerfield Methodist Church
Cost per meal is $10, check payable to Watauga Unit, NCRSP
Program:
A local attorney will be speaking to us on “things we really need to know but didn’t know to ask.” This program is one you will not want to miss.
Also, we will be spending time helping you to “flip” your method of payment for your NCRSP membership. PLEASE come, and PLEASE, PLEASE read this newsletter carefully for important information you will need before you come.
Bring as much non-perishable food as you can manage for the Hunger Coalition. Powdered milk, cans of soup, oatmeal and pasta products, canned fruit and vegetables, ANYTHING non-perishable, will be acceptable. Remember those empty medicine bottles, too; each one of them saves the Hunger Coalition at least a nickel. And plastic bags. And Box Tops for Education. And individual servings of food such as crackers or fruit or mac and cheese for the backpacks our county’s hungry children take home over the weekends.
And yourself, of course.
With the coins in Sue Aldridge’s sock and the coins in Ann Millsaps’ coffee can, plus the coins you put in the little watering cans on the tables, we collected $107.49 for the scholarship program at our December meeting. Thank goodness for the coin-counting machine at the State Employees Credit Unit!
Very important note: If your caller has not phoned you by the 11st of March, call your caller if you plan to attend. If you change your mind at the last minute about attending, call Margaret Sigmon at 264-2036 immediately and come ahead! As usual, Margaret thanks her team of callers who generously volunteer their time doing important work for our organization.
AND remember: 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! Let one of your officers know as quickly as you can at the meeting so that your meal will be ready for you to take home.
President’s Message
None of us can be aware of all the individual contributions our fellow NCRSP unit members make to our community, but I want to thank you for your collective efforts on behalf of the unit and remind us of what we accomplish. Our unit has supplied food and money to the Hunger Coalition, donated food for the backpacks our elementary students take home over the weekend, saved and delivered hundreds of aluminum tabs to the American Legion to help with the expenses of Ronald McDonald houses and thousands of medicine bottles for DSS to use to fulfill their clients’ medical prescriptions, gathered carload after carload of supplies for our schools and Box Tops for Education to purchase school equipment, and raised enough money to award $1,000 scholarships each May.
Most recently, we supplied one of the baskets for the Watauga County NCAE group to raffle fortheir scholarship this spring.
Now, please take aminute each day to record YOUR INDIVIDUAL donations of time and energy to ourcommunity. You’ll make us all look good.
La Verne Franklin
In Memoriam
The Watauga Unit of NCRSP extends its sympathy to the families and friends of Elizabeth Elliott, who died on August 14, 2011, and Mary Moore, who died on September 21, 2011. In their memory, we have made contributions to the Watauga Unit Scholarship Fund.
The ways by which we communicate are changing. Don’t be left behind!
We hope you aren’t tiring of hearing this message, because we can’t tire of saying it: every member of our unit who receives The Red Pencil by email saves the unit nearly $1 per issue. If you do not currently receive the newsletter by email and would like to do so, please send an email to Nanci at ntn@skybest.com with your name and email address in the body of your message. Use the same address if you would like to contribute to The Red Pencil.
AND, AND, AND, here’s a reminder that the web address for our Watauga County NCRSP blog is http://wcrsp.blogspot.com. Put that address in your Favorites column and keep up with the activities of our unit, including a copy of The Red Pencil and photos from meetings, courtesy of our webmaster, Lee Stroupe.
For your contact information file, please note that our vice-president, Bill Winkler, has a new email address. You can find him at winklerbr@gmail.com.
While you’re working at your computer, try this music for every taste from AARP:
http://www.aarp.org/etc/aarp/statics/global/html/slacker-player.html
Please be a good internet friend and don't forward, leave, or include unnecessary addresses anywhere in messages to people who don't need it or don't know each other. *Respect individual privacy. *ALWAYS use Bcc when sending to multiple addresses. *Judiciously choose forwards, deleting sender and all prior email addresses from them. *Remember to copy and paste into an entirely new email to send Bcc. *Do not forward emails as attachments. *Do not forward a story or dire warning until you check www.snopes.com.
Thanks for helping to make the internet safer for all of us.
Volunteering is Easy – We Do It All the Time!
Have you noticed how quickly these seven and a half weeks of the new year have slipped away from us? Have you looked to see how many times you have written- and circled- some hours of volunteer service on your new calendar? I find that keeping them on the calendar serves two purposes: first, reminding you to DO those helpful things that you wish to do and might otherwise forget, and, second, serving as a record when you begin to compile your report of volunteer hours.
Today I came across a note in handwriting that I don't recognize. It is about Helen Trexler, one of our members, having done 18,000 hours of volunteer service over 27 years !! I called her to confirm these numbers and she denied their accuracy. Together, we decided that the report I had simply transposed some of the numbers – BUT, I quizzed her and found that she had volunteered in the hospital gift shop for 27 years and usually worked six hours each Monday. According to my arithmetic prowess, that would come to about 8424 hours in that one place of service! What if the hospital had had to pay her for all those hours!! This is just one example of the importance of our volunteer work.
We need to let our representatives in Raleigh know what we are doing for our community when they begin to talk about teachers and retirees being overpaid.
We are all so involved in our community that we probably volunteer hours and hours a week without even realizing it. Take a few minutes to consider your time and you’ll see. You’ll find a volunteer hours reporting form in this issue of the Red Pencil as well as a list of all the activities for which you may count your time. Please use it.
Eula Mae Fox, chr., Community Service Comm.
The elderly customer calling the newspaper office loudly demanding to know where her Sunday edition was.
"Madam", said the newspaper employee, "today is Saturday. The Sunday paper is not delivered until tomorrow, on SUNDAY.”
There was quite a long pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a spark of recognition as old lady was heard to mutter, ..
..."Well, fudge. That explains why no one was at church either.”
What’s New that You Need to Know:
The State NCRSP Convention is happening in Winston-Salem March 21-22. Representing our unit will be LaVerne Franklin, Eula Mae Fox, Nanci Tolbert Nance, and Bill Winkler.
Our unit currently has 121 members. Every single member is important, yet we obviously need to grow. If you are aware of current members of the education community who are nearing retirement, please begin now to explain the value of their membership in NC Retired School Personnel.
Post in a prominent spot and check regularly. We recommend a calendar on which your record activities. Circle them if they qualify as volunteer time.
NCRSP Community Participation Volunteer Hours 2012
Name ______________________ Unit Watauga County District 3
Category Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Education
Other
*Total Hours in All Categories ________
*Volunteer hours for the “Other” category include the following activities. Please note that activities for which you are paid (honoraria/stipends) and activities performed in caring for grandchildren, elderly parents, or other family members DO NOT COUNT toward your volunteer hours.
• Political
• Governmental
• Civic
• Hospital
• Companion to shut-in
• Non-profit group
• Healthcare/Red Cross
• Church/religious work
• Schools
• Athletics
• Transportation
• Mentoring/tutoring
• NCRSP
• Libraries
• Social services
• Habitat for Humanity
Preserving Your Membership in NCRSP – Nothing Is More Important
Four of our members have already “flipped” their membership dues payments online. You should have received email instructions for doing so, but if you did not or if you’ve misplaced them, please let Nanci know at ntn@skybest.com. If you choose to “flip” online, please notify Dot at 264-3621 or at dot24@bellsouth.net.
You may have received a form in the mail to change your method of payment. WE WILL TAKE TIME AT OUR MARCH MEETING TO COMPLETE THESE FORMS. We will have your membership number and the other information you’ll need, but you MUST BRING A VOIDED CHECK.
You may still choose to join by cash and a membership form. Ask Dot at the March meeting or give her a call.
Any action you take to change your dues payment take effect in September, just as it always has.
If you have an immediate question about “flipping” your payment method, please call Dot Barker at 264-3621 or email Nanci at ntn@skybest.com.
Our legislature has overridden the governor’s veto of the bill to strip our right to payroll deduction, and the only way we have to fight back and preserve both NCAE and NCRSP is through this “flip” process. Membership in our professional organizations is much too important to let it slip away.
Watauga County NCRSP
451 Poplar Hill Dr.
Boone NC 28607
The Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel
Vol.XIV,
No.4,
March 2012
Nanci Tolbert Nance, editor
_ntn1066@hotmail.com 963-8892
March Meeting Noon, Thursday, March 15, 2012
Deerfield Methodist Church
Cost per meal is $10, check payable to Watauga Unit, NCRSP
Program:
A local attorney will be speaking to us on “things we really need to know but didn’t know to ask.” This program is one you will not want to miss.
Also, we will be spending time helping you to “flip” your method of payment for your NCRSP membership. PLEASE come, and PLEASE, PLEASE read this newsletter carefully for important information you will need before you come.
Bring as much non-perishable food as you can manage for the Hunger Coalition. Powdered milk, cans of soup, oatmeal and pasta products, canned fruit and vegetables, ANYTHING non-perishable, will be acceptable. Remember those empty medicine bottles, too; each one of them saves the Hunger Coalition at least a nickel. And plastic bags. And Box Tops for Education. And individual servings of food such as crackers or fruit or mac and cheese for the backpacks our county’s hungry children take home over the weekends.
And yourself, of course.
With the coins in Sue Aldridge’s sock and the coins in Ann Millsaps’ coffee can, plus the coins you put in the little watering cans on the tables, we collected $107.49 for the scholarship program at our December meeting. Thank goodness for the coin-counting machine at the State Employees Credit Unit!
Very important note: If your caller has not phoned you by the 11st of March, call your caller if you plan to attend. If you change your mind at the last minute about attending, call Margaret Sigmon at 264-2036 immediately and come ahead! As usual, Margaret thanks her team of callers who generously volunteer their time doing important work for our organization.
AND remember: 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! Let one of your officers know as quickly as you can at the meeting so that your meal will be ready for you to take home.
President’s Message
None of us can be aware of all the individual contributions our fellow NCRSP unit members make to our community, but I want to thank you for your collective efforts on behalf of the unit and remind us of what we accomplish. Our unit has supplied food and money to the Hunger Coalition, donated food for the backpacks our elementary students take home over the weekend, saved and delivered hundreds of aluminum tabs to the American Legion to help with the expenses of Ronald McDonald houses and thousands of medicine bottles for DSS to use to fulfill their clients’ medical prescriptions, gathered carload after carload of supplies for our schools and Box Tops for Education to purchase school equipment, and raised enough money to award $1,000 scholarships each May.
Most recently, we supplied one of the baskets for the Watauga County NCAE group to raffle fortheir scholarship this spring.
Now, please take aminute each day to record YOUR INDIVIDUAL donations of time and energy to ourcommunity. You’ll make us all look good.
La Verne Franklin
In Memoriam
The Watauga Unit of NCRSP extends its sympathy to the families and friends of Elizabeth Elliott, who died on August 14, 2011, and Mary Moore, who died on September 21, 2011. In their memory, we have made contributions to the Watauga Unit Scholarship Fund.
The ways by which we communicate are changing. Don’t be left behind!
We hope you aren’t tiring of hearing this message, because we can’t tire of saying it: every member of our unit who receives The Red Pencil by email saves the unit nearly $1 per issue. If you do not currently receive the newsletter by email and would like to do so, please send an email to Nanci at ntn@skybest.com with your name and email address in the body of your message. Use the same address if you would like to contribute to The Red Pencil.
AND, AND, AND, here’s a reminder that the web address for our Watauga County NCRSP blog is http://wcrsp.blogspot.com. Put that address in your Favorites column and keep up with the activities of our unit, including a copy of The Red Pencil and photos from meetings, courtesy of our webmaster, Lee Stroupe.
For your contact information file, please note that our vice-president, Bill Winkler, has a new email address. You can find him at winklerbr@gmail.com.
While you’re working at your computer, try this music for every taste from AARP:
http://www.aarp.org/etc/aarp/statics/global/html/slacker-player.html
Please be a good internet friend and don't forward, leave, or include unnecessary addresses anywhere in messages to people who don't need it or don't know each other. *Respect individual privacy. *ALWAYS use Bcc when sending to multiple addresses. *Judiciously choose forwards, deleting sender and all prior email addresses from them. *Remember to copy and paste into an entirely new email to send Bcc. *Do not forward emails as attachments. *Do not forward a story or dire warning until you check www.snopes.com.
Thanks for helping to make the internet safer for all of us.
Volunteering is Easy – We Do It All the Time!
Have you noticed how quickly these seven and a half weeks of the new year have slipped away from us? Have you looked to see how many times you have written- and circled- some hours of volunteer service on your new calendar? I find that keeping them on the calendar serves two purposes: first, reminding you to DO those helpful things that you wish to do and might otherwise forget, and, second, serving as a record when you begin to compile your report of volunteer hours.
Today I came across a note in handwriting that I don't recognize. It is about Helen Trexler, one of our members, having done 18,000 hours of volunteer service over 27 years !! I called her to confirm these numbers and she denied their accuracy. Together, we decided that the report I had simply transposed some of the numbers – BUT, I quizzed her and found that she had volunteered in the hospital gift shop for 27 years and usually worked six hours each Monday. According to my arithmetic prowess, that would come to about 8424 hours in that one place of service! What if the hospital had had to pay her for all those hours!! This is just one example of the importance of our volunteer work.
We need to let our representatives in Raleigh know what we are doing for our community when they begin to talk about teachers and retirees being overpaid.
We are all so involved in our community that we probably volunteer hours and hours a week without even realizing it. Take a few minutes to consider your time and you’ll see. You’ll find a volunteer hours reporting form in this issue of the Red Pencil as well as a list of all the activities for which you may count your time. Please use it.
Eula Mae Fox, chr., Community Service Comm.
The elderly customer calling the newspaper office loudly demanding to know where her Sunday edition was.
"Madam", said the newspaper employee, "today is Saturday. The Sunday paper is not delivered until tomorrow, on SUNDAY.”
There was quite a long pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a spark of recognition as old lady was heard to mutter, ..
..."Well, fudge. That explains why no one was at church either.”
What’s New that You Need to Know:
The State NCRSP Convention is happening in Winston-Salem March 21-22. Representing our unit will be LaVerne Franklin, Eula Mae Fox, Nanci Tolbert Nance, and Bill Winkler.
Our unit currently has 121 members. Every single member is important, yet we obviously need to grow. If you are aware of current members of the education community who are nearing retirement, please begin now to explain the value of their membership in NC Retired School Personnel.
Post in a prominent spot and check regularly. We recommend a calendar on which your record activities. Circle them if they qualify as volunteer time.
NCRSP Community Participation Volunteer Hours 2012
Name ______________________ Unit Watauga County District 3
Category Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Education
Other
*Total Hours in All Categories ________
*Volunteer hours for the “Other” category include the following activities. Please note that activities for which you are paid (honoraria/stipends) and activities performed in caring for grandchildren, elderly parents, or other family members DO NOT COUNT toward your volunteer hours.
• Political
• Governmental
• Civic
• Hospital
• Companion to shut-in
• Non-profit group
• Healthcare/Red Cross
• Church/religious work
• Schools
• Athletics
• Transportation
• Mentoring/tutoring
• NCRSP
• Libraries
• Social services
• Habitat for Humanity
Preserving Your Membership in NCRSP – Nothing Is More Important
Four of our members have already “flipped” their membership dues payments online. You should have received email instructions for doing so, but if you did not or if you’ve misplaced them, please let Nanci know at ntn@skybest.com. If you choose to “flip” online, please notify Dot at 264-3621 or at dot24@bellsouth.net.
You may have received a form in the mail to change your method of payment. WE WILL TAKE TIME AT OUR MARCH MEETING TO COMPLETE THESE FORMS. We will have your membership number and the other information you’ll need, but you MUST BRING A VOIDED CHECK.
You may still choose to join by cash and a membership form. Ask Dot at the March meeting or give her a call.
Any action you take to change your dues payment take effect in September, just as it always has.
If you have an immediate question about “flipping” your payment method, please call Dot Barker at 264-3621 or email Nanci at ntn@skybest.com.
Our legislature has overridden the governor’s veto of the bill to strip our right to payroll deduction, and the only way we have to fight back and preserve both NCAE and NCRSP is through this “flip” process. Membership in our professional organizations is much too important to let it slip away.
Watauga County NCRSP
451 Poplar Hill Dr.
Boone NC 28607
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Like Our Blog Posts from Teaching Tolerance? Here Are Some of 2011's Best.
Like Our Blog Posts from Teaching Tolerance? Here Are Some of 2011's Best.
Blog posts generate a variety of reactions. Sometimes readers agree. Sometimes they challenge us. Here are a few of the top Teaching Tolerance blogs from 2011. Laura Sofen discussed the challenges of teaching young men in "The Boys in My Study Hall." Ted Palenski explained how he has dealt with gender issues among young students in "Make Room for Pirate Girls, Princess Boys." Jill E. Thomas pondered the difficulties of dealing with hateful Internet comments in "Online Hate: Unfriend or Speak Up." Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello showed how old forms of prejudice come back again in "Alabama's Immigration Law: The New Jim Crow." New Media Content Manager Annah Lauren Kelley explained how the body mass index is being misused to "help" some students in "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Student." And H. Roy Kaplan showed that the greatest challenge in fighting bigotry often starts at home in "The Case of the Black Barbie Doll."The Unholy Bond of Race and Marriage
The Unholy Bond of Race and Marriage
In 1958, Virginia police arrested Richard and Mildred Loving. The charge: Interracial marriage. This absurd arrest led nine years later to the Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down anti-miscegenation laws throughout the United States. An upcoming documentary to be aired on HBO, The Loving Story, tells the beautiful story behind this case. Watch for the teaching guide, created by Teaching Tolerance, to help educators bring this into the classroom.
Teaching With Religious Diversity In Mind
Next summer, from July 16 to Aug. 3, the Interfaith Center of New York and Union Theological Seminary will hold a three-week institute for teachers designed to help them understand religious diversity in everyday life. Applications are due in the spring. Go here for more information or contact Henry Goldschmidt at info@religiousworldsnyc.org or (212) 870-3514.
Special Offer from Teaching Tolerance
We have available to teachers hardback copies of Rhinos & Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades, a literature-based teaching kit (click here for a sample lesson). Also available are classroom sets of A Place at the Table: Struggles for Equality in America, a book of brief, kid-friendly stories about efforts to overcome discrimination in U.S. history (1 box of 30 copies). Ordering limit is one per teacher as long as quantities last.
What's Ahead: New Teaching Tolerance Lessons
Plan ahead for the next four weeks:
· Jan. 4: Family Tapestry: My Family is the Same. My Family is Different (3 of 4)
· Jan. 9: Family Tapestry: Stitching It Together (4 of 4)
· Jan. 17: Issues of Poverty: What is Poverty? (1 of 4)
· Jan. 23: Issues of Poverty: A Structural Problem (2 of 4)
Start the Year Right—Tell Your Friends About Us
If you like what you read at Teaching Tolerance, then forward this newsletter to your colleagues. If a friend sent this to you, sign up for your own FREE e-newsletter here.
Blog posts generate a variety of reactions. Sometimes readers agree. Sometimes they challenge us. Here are a few of the top Teaching Tolerance blogs from 2011. Laura Sofen discussed the challenges of teaching young men in "The Boys in My Study Hall." Ted Palenski explained how he has dealt with gender issues among young students in "Make Room for Pirate Girls, Princess Boys." Jill E. Thomas pondered the difficulties of dealing with hateful Internet comments in "Online Hate: Unfriend or Speak Up." Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello showed how old forms of prejudice come back again in "Alabama's Immigration Law: The New Jim Crow." New Media Content Manager Annah Lauren Kelley explained how the body mass index is being misused to "help" some students in "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Student." And H. Roy Kaplan showed that the greatest challenge in fighting bigotry often starts at home in "The Case of the Black Barbie Doll."The Unholy Bond of Race and Marriage
The Unholy Bond of Race and Marriage
In 1958, Virginia police arrested Richard and Mildred Loving. The charge: Interracial marriage. This absurd arrest led nine years later to the Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down anti-miscegenation laws throughout the United States. An upcoming documentary to be aired on HBO, The Loving Story, tells the beautiful story behind this case. Watch for the teaching guide, created by Teaching Tolerance, to help educators bring this into the classroom.
Teaching With Religious Diversity In Mind
Next summer, from July 16 to Aug. 3, the Interfaith Center of New York and Union Theological Seminary will hold a three-week institute for teachers designed to help them understand religious diversity in everyday life. Applications are due in the spring. Go here for more information or contact Henry Goldschmidt at info@religiousworldsnyc.org or (212) 870-3514.
Special Offer from Teaching Tolerance
We have available to teachers hardback copies of Rhinos & Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades, a literature-based teaching kit (click here for a sample lesson). Also available are classroom sets of A Place at the Table: Struggles for Equality in America, a book of brief, kid-friendly stories about efforts to overcome discrimination in U.S. history (1 box of 30 copies). Ordering limit is one per teacher as long as quantities last.
What's Ahead: New Teaching Tolerance Lessons
Plan ahead for the next four weeks:
· Jan. 4: Family Tapestry: My Family is the Same. My Family is Different (3 of 4)
· Jan. 9: Family Tapestry: Stitching It Together (4 of 4)
· Jan. 17: Issues of Poverty: What is Poverty? (1 of 4)
· Jan. 23: Issues of Poverty: A Structural Problem (2 of 4)
Start the Year Right—Tell Your Friends About Us
If you like what you read at Teaching Tolerance, then forward this newsletter to your colleagues. If a friend sent this to you, sign up for your own FREE e-newsletter here.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Red PenciL
Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School
Personnel Vol.IX, No.3
December 2011_ntn1066@hotmail.com
December Meeting: Noon, Thursday, December 15,
Where: 2011 Deerfield Methodist Church
Cost per meal is $10, payable to Watauga Unit, NCRSP
Program: Music – lovely, seasonal music
To make your reservation: Just let your caller know that you will attend. IF YOUR CALLER HASN’T CALLED BY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, PLEASE PHONE MARGARET AT 264-2036.” SHE MUST REPORT BY THE 12TH 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. If you have SMALL medicine bottles, bring them, too. The Department of Social Services must stuff the larger containers with cotton after filling a prescription and the cost of the cotton stuffing offsets any saving from large donated bottles.
Bring small bottles ONLY, please.
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 haven’t been making that lovely jingling noise quite so loudly at our recent meetings, and the Scholarship Fund is showing the effects. Sue Aldridge will be leading us in a group CLANK and you’ll want to participate. By the way, Sue is a dedicated change-contributor with a unique method of collecting her spare nickels and dimes for our scholarship. She keeps an old sock in the console of her car, and when she receives change from any purchase, she keeps the quarters for herself and drops everything else into the sock. Over an unbelievably brief time, she has a healthy contribution to the Scholarship Fund. Whatever method you use, please bring your collection to the meeting in December.
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!
President's Message
I am hoping for a mild winter and good health for each of you. For you snowbirds who travel south for the winter, I hope you have an easy journey and come back to us safely. This year, let’s all agree to pretend that steps aren’t getting steeper and sounds aren’t becoming just a little less distinguishable from noise and we aren’t just a little more tired at the end of each day. Instead, let us approach the Christmas season with a child’s heart and all the youthful enthusiasm it contains. I am grateful to each of you for being part of my life. Be blessed, loved, and protected, La Verne Franklin, President
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Matters:Carolyn Moore, with whom many of us taught at Watauga High School and Hardin Park Elementary School, is recovering from very serious surgery. Her current address is Brian Center, Room 310, 220 13th Ave. PL NW, Hickory NC 28601. If you know of others in our professional community who are in need of a little cheer, please send a note to Nanci, ntn@skybest.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Step in our Anti-Bullying Campaign
At the request of a counselor, our unit has purchased a video for use with middle school students on handling cyberbullies. It will be used first at Hardin Park and then will be available to all counselors in all our county schools. This step is our first one in our campaign to help the Watauga County Schools combat bullying.
A Christmas or Anytime Treat:
Chocolate Chess Pie
by Lera Randall
1 unbaked deep dish pie shell
1 stick margarine or butter
¼ cp cocoa
¼ cp milk
1 ½ cps sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt
Melt butter on low heat and stir in cocoa and milk. Mix sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt until well blended and add to cocoa mixture. Pour into unbaked deep dish pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the middle doesn’t shake.
Computer Talk
ü Our fabulous and informative Watauga County NCRSP blogspot is http://wataugacountyretiredpersonnel.blogspot.com/. Lee Stroupe updates this site often with new photographs and copies of The Red Pencil and other goodies you’ll want to read.
ü For NCRSP, the website address is www.ncrsp.org. If you are trying to reach Pam or Dave Deardorff, their numbers in Raleigh are 800-662-7924, extension 244 for Pam and 242 for Dave.
ü NCAE now has its own, updatable app for all the information you need about our organization. Downloading it is easy. If you own an Android phone, go to the Android Market and search for NCAE. If you have an iPhone, check out the App Store; however, if you use a Blackberry, you will need to use the following links to download the app to your phone. Currently the app contains information only about NCAE, but we’re hoping that NCRSP will have its own link soon.
BlackBerry: http://www.buildanapp.com/dld/queHs1B3NSw/NCAE.jad
BlackBerry 4.5: http://www.buildanapp.com/dld/BCRjJSBNBVQ/NCAE45.jad
BlackBerry 4.7 (Storm or later models): http://www.buildanapp.com/dld/T3szcQooi8c/NCAE47.jad
Membership Matters!
Membership is a topic that just won’t go away, and it shouldn’t. We need every single member we can attract and we need new and present members to be aware of the benefits of their membership and participation. At present, we have 132 members in our unit, 85 of whom are on payroll deduction. Please remember that NEW members only, not present or past members, may join NCRSP on a pro-rated basis if they are on payroll deduction. If you have colleagues who have been thinking of joining us but did not come to the August or October meetings, please let them know that they can join now or at any time during our year by paying the pro-rated sum. Call Dot Barker, 254-3621, for specific details.
Business:
At our December meeting we will have our really good pens for sale for $2 each and our cell phone trappers for $10. Think stocking stuffers for all the folks on your list!
Community Participation
Eula Mae FoxLast year our state officers set three goals for our local units to achieve in community participation. They called their project "Gold Star Locals Program." We may be close to achieving two of the goals. A year ago, when I was tallying our volunteer hours for 2010, I was impressed by the increased number of hours done in educational activities compared to previous years. I saw that we were close to reaching the goal of 25% of our hours being in educational efforts. Bravos and Huzzas to you for these numbers!
A second goal was for each unit to have a group project in a school or community endeavor. Our officers chose to focus on the bullying in Watauga schools and on seeing what we can do to help eradicate that problem. Since our October program by Clarissa Schmal on bullying in Watauga, we have purchased a video which will be used throughout the county as needed. We will continue to focus on this problem through 2012.
A third goal is for at least 50% of our members to report their volunteer hours. Last year only about 30% of us turned in a record of our volunteer hours. I want to encourage ALL of you who did good deeds (for others, not your own family) to spend a few minutes and get that report to me by early January. I really believe our unit deserves a Gold Star! Bring your completed form to the December meeting or mail it to Eula Mae Fox, 199 Watauga Dr., Boone NC 28607, by December 31.
Book Nook:
I recently read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and then I got her Committed, which picks up where Eat, Pray ,Love ends. Now I find out that Gilbert is the same person who wrote The Last American Man , about our own Watauga citizen, Eustace Conway of Turtle Island. Now I plan to reread Last American Man so I can connect that young Elizabeth with the one in Committed. Mary Hazel Mast
Important Scheduling Notice
If our December meeting is snowed out, as it was last year, we will meet on the third Thursday in February. That’s the 16th of February. YOU WILL RECEIVE LOTS OF REMINDERS.
The Watauga County Schools are looking for After-School Group Leaders (starting at $7.50 an hour) and an After-School Site Director(beginning salary: $10.65 per hour), beginning in January 2012. If either of these positions interests you or someone you know, you can find the full advertisements on our blogspot, http://wcrsp.blogspot.com, or you can call Marshall Gasperson at the Watauga County Schools office, 828.264-7190.
CARDS, CARDS, CARDSØ Our NCAE discount cards are here and will be distributed at the December meeting. If you are interested in working with a small group to get more local businesses to participate in offering discounts to retired school personnel, please notify LaVerne Franklin.Ø Our NCRSP membership cards are being mailed to each of us by Pam Deardorff in Raleigh. Yours should arrive soon.
Looking for a unique and simple way to make a difference to education? Go to www.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 your heart, and remember how you felt when you provided your own books, pencils, bulletin board materials, videos, recordings, and on and on and on.
Click here to Reply or Forward
Nanci Tolbert Nance
ntn@skybest.com
Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School
Personnel Vol.IX, No.3
December 2011_ntn1066@hotmail.com
December Meeting: Noon, Thursday, December 15,
Where: 2011 Deerfield Methodist Church
Cost per meal is $10, payable to Watauga Unit, NCRSP
Program: Music – lovely, seasonal music
To make your reservation: Just let your caller know that you will attend. IF YOUR CALLER HASN’T CALLED BY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, PLEASE PHONE MARGARET AT 264-2036.” SHE MUST REPORT BY THE 12TH 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. If you have SMALL medicine bottles, bring them, too. The Department of Social Services must stuff the larger containers with cotton after filling a prescription and the cost of the cotton stuffing offsets any saving from large donated bottles.
Bring small bottles ONLY, please.
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 haven’t been making that lovely jingling noise quite so loudly at our recent meetings, and the Scholarship Fund is showing the effects. Sue Aldridge will be leading us in a group CLANK and you’ll want to participate. By the way, Sue is a dedicated change-contributor with a unique method of collecting her spare nickels and dimes for our scholarship. She keeps an old sock in the console of her car, and when she receives change from any purchase, she keeps the quarters for herself and drops everything else into the sock. Over an unbelievably brief time, she has a healthy contribution to the Scholarship Fund. Whatever method you use, please bring your collection to the meeting in December.
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!
President's Message
I am hoping for a mild winter and good health for each of you. For you snowbirds who travel south for the winter, I hope you have an easy journey and come back to us safely. This year, let’s all agree to pretend that steps aren’t getting steeper and sounds aren’t becoming just a little less distinguishable from noise and we aren’t just a little more tired at the end of each day. Instead, let us approach the Christmas season with a child’s heart and all the youthful enthusiasm it contains. I am grateful to each of you for being part of my life. Be blessed, loved, and protected, La Verne Franklin, President
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Matters:Carolyn Moore, with whom many of us taught at Watauga High School and Hardin Park Elementary School, is recovering from very serious surgery. Her current address is Brian Center, Room 310, 220 13th Ave. PL NW, Hickory NC 28601. If you know of others in our professional community who are in need of a little cheer, please send a note to Nanci, ntn@skybest.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Step in our Anti-Bullying Campaign
At the request of a counselor, our unit has purchased a video for use with middle school students on handling cyberbullies. It will be used first at Hardin Park and then will be available to all counselors in all our county schools. This step is our first one in our campaign to help the Watauga County Schools combat bullying.
A Christmas or Anytime Treat:
Chocolate Chess Pie
by Lera Randall
1 unbaked deep dish pie shell
1 stick margarine or butter
¼ cp cocoa
¼ cp milk
1 ½ cps sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt
Melt butter on low heat and stir in cocoa and milk. Mix sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt until well blended and add to cocoa mixture. Pour into unbaked deep dish pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the middle doesn’t shake.
Computer Talk
ü Our fabulous and informative Watauga County NCRSP blogspot is http://wataugacountyretiredpersonnel.blogspot.com/. Lee Stroupe updates this site often with new photographs and copies of The Red Pencil and other goodies you’ll want to read.
ü For NCRSP, the website address is www.ncrsp.org. If you are trying to reach Pam or Dave Deardorff, their numbers in Raleigh are 800-662-7924, extension 244 for Pam and 242 for Dave.
ü NCAE now has its own, updatable app for all the information you need about our organization. Downloading it is easy. If you own an Android phone, go to the Android Market and search for NCAE. If you have an iPhone, check out the App Store; however, if you use a Blackberry, you will need to use the following links to download the app to your phone. Currently the app contains information only about NCAE, but we’re hoping that NCRSP will have its own link soon.
BlackBerry: http://www.buildanapp.com/dld/queHs1B3NSw/NCAE.jad
BlackBerry 4.5: http://www.buildanapp.com/dld/BCRjJSBNBVQ/NCAE45.jad
BlackBerry 4.7 (Storm or later models): http://www.buildanapp.com/dld/T3szcQooi8c/NCAE47.jad
Membership Matters!
Membership is a topic that just won’t go away, and it shouldn’t. We need every single member we can attract and we need new and present members to be aware of the benefits of their membership and participation. At present, we have 132 members in our unit, 85 of whom are on payroll deduction. Please remember that NEW members only, not present or past members, may join NCRSP on a pro-rated basis if they are on payroll deduction. If you have colleagues who have been thinking of joining us but did not come to the August or October meetings, please let them know that they can join now or at any time during our year by paying the pro-rated sum. Call Dot Barker, 254-3621, for specific details.
Business:
At our December meeting we will have our really good pens for sale for $2 each and our cell phone trappers for $10. Think stocking stuffers for all the folks on your list!
Community Participation
Eula Mae FoxLast year our state officers set three goals for our local units to achieve in community participation. They called their project "Gold Star Locals Program." We may be close to achieving two of the goals. A year ago, when I was tallying our volunteer hours for 2010, I was impressed by the increased number of hours done in educational activities compared to previous years. I saw that we were close to reaching the goal of 25% of our hours being in educational efforts. Bravos and Huzzas to you for these numbers!
A second goal was for each unit to have a group project in a school or community endeavor. Our officers chose to focus on the bullying in Watauga schools and on seeing what we can do to help eradicate that problem. Since our October program by Clarissa Schmal on bullying in Watauga, we have purchased a video which will be used throughout the county as needed. We will continue to focus on this problem through 2012.
A third goal is for at least 50% of our members to report their volunteer hours. Last year only about 30% of us turned in a record of our volunteer hours. I want to encourage ALL of you who did good deeds (for others, not your own family) to spend a few minutes and get that report to me by early January. I really believe our unit deserves a Gold Star! Bring your completed form to the December meeting or mail it to Eula Mae Fox, 199 Watauga Dr., Boone NC 28607, by December 31.
Book Nook:
I recently read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and then I got her Committed, which picks up where Eat, Pray ,Love ends. Now I find out that Gilbert is the same person who wrote The Last American Man , about our own Watauga citizen, Eustace Conway of Turtle Island. Now I plan to reread Last American Man so I can connect that young Elizabeth with the one in Committed. Mary Hazel Mast
Important Scheduling Notice
If our December meeting is snowed out, as it was last year, we will meet on the third Thursday in February. That’s the 16th of February. YOU WILL RECEIVE LOTS OF REMINDERS.
The Watauga County Schools are looking for After-School Group Leaders (starting at $7.50 an hour) and an After-School Site Director(beginning salary: $10.65 per hour), beginning in January 2012. If either of these positions interests you or someone you know, you can find the full advertisements on our blogspot, http://wcrsp.blogspot.com, or you can call Marshall Gasperson at the Watauga County Schools office, 828.264-7190.
CARDS, CARDS, CARDSØ Our NCAE discount cards are here and will be distributed at the December meeting. If you are interested in working with a small group to get more local businesses to participate in offering discounts to retired school personnel, please notify LaVerne Franklin.Ø Our NCRSP membership cards are being mailed to each of us by Pam Deardorff in Raleigh. Yours should arrive soon.
Looking for a unique and simple way to make a difference to education? Go to www.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 your heart, and remember how you felt when you provided your own books, pencils, bulletin board materials, videos, recordings, and on and on and on.
Click here to Reply or Forward
Nanci Tolbert Nance
ntn@skybest.com
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
WCRSP takes it to the bank in an effort to "Supports the Troops!"
Watauga Retired School Personnel send food items, toiletries , Medicine/First Aid, clothing, and entertainment items to the local SECU branch to support the troops.
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