August 11, 2008

Sunset on the Beach 2008

Sunset on the Beach has come to the Waianae Coast again. It’s a festival of family fun, food, entertainment and community services. It all came together at Maile Beach Park on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Sunset on the Beach is a fund-raiser for Valley of Rainbows, a wonderful organization that benefits out local keiki (kids.) They’ve brought together a wonderland of rides and attractions for the keiki, foods, crafts, entertainment and community services. I wandered the midway and tents for a couple of hours. I bought tee shirts and made contributions to support the Valley of Rainbows and Life Foundation (education and support organization focusing on HIV/AIDS in Hawaii and the Pacific,) talked with health, community support, children and family services, alternative transportation and housing services representatives and marveled at how many family and keiki support groups are available right here on our coast. I collected so much swag that the handles of my goodie bag were cutting into my hand before the day was over.

Two stages provided continuous entertainment, from local musicians and dancers to keiki watermelon-eating and pie-eating contests. Excess watermelon was loaded on platters and passed out to the crowd and to workers in the community services tent. The aroma of smoking meats lured me to the food booths, where all of the local favorites were being served up. Some booths offered free samples. I had to buy a bottle of Pelekunu’s grilling sauce/marinade after tasting several varieties, but ended up buying a catfish dinner from my pal Ceecee of Mom’s Soul Food for my take-home meal.

Much of the focus of Sunset on the Beach is on providing a good time for the keiki, but you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy the experience. The carnival atmosphere encouraged friendly attitudes and spirit of fun in everyone I met. I made a few new friends today and had a pleasant afternoon, even though I only stayed a few hours. Folks who stayed late were rewarded with a movie shortly after sunset (tonight it was The Bucket List.) The evening wrapped up with a fireworks show that was visible and resoundingly audible from my home as I sat down to start this post.

Technorati Tags: community celebrations, community services, family fun, festivals, Hawaii, Maile, photos, Sunset on the Beach, Waianae Coast

August 1, 2008

School memories

Do you remember your very first day of school? I remember being really excited about getting to go every day with the “big kids” instead of hanging around the house with my baby brother. We had just moved to the New Orleans area from the little Texas town where I was born and I didn’t have many friends yet, so I was excited about the possible expansion of my social circle, too. My mother made all of our clothes back then and I loved the dress she picked out for my first day. It had a fully-gathered, charcoal gray skirt, a white bodice and a red pleated cumberbund (that was when I learned the word cumberbund.) I thought the word and the dress were terribly grown-up and sophisticated. Oh, and the shoes matched everything, too! Red leather strappy things with the little stenciled-looking cut-outs. I had a red plaid school bag. This was in “the old days,” of course, so we didn’t have knapsacks. My bag was more like a flat satchel and had a rubberized lining that never lost its smell but eventually peeled off in little bits. I still think of that bag when I smell new sneakers (the rubber soles!) or go into a tire store. I had my very own fat crayons and pencils that I wouldn’t have to share with siblings and was going to be riding the school bus with the twins - my older borther and sister. I think Mom and Dad must have taken me to the school sometime during the summer or maybe for registration, because I remember knowing exactly where my classroom was on the huge campus. It was Kenner Junior High School which, for reasons that escape me now, also served as an elementary school. My brother and sister had probably been told to watch out for me since Mom didn’t drive and couldn’t come with us, but I managed to get lost anyway. I could see my classroom, but couldn’t find a way to get into the building. Mrs. Munson must have seen me through the windows and known that I was one of “hers” because someone came out and brought me in. The only other things I remember about that first day is that we learned “Good Morning to You” and the Pledge of Allegiance and there were holes in the desks for ink bottles that no one used anymore!

Things have certainly changed a lot since those days. Would your kids accept a home-sewn wardrobe - and be excited about it? Do little girls ever wear dresses to school anymore, or is it always shorts and jeans? At least my dresses were “all new.” I think the ones Mom wore were probably made from flour sacks and other “found” fabrics. I tried to find my “first day of school” picture this morning, but it seems to be lost along with all of my school pictures. I’m sure I put them somewhere “safe” when I was decluttering and they’ll turn up eventually. Since I can’t show you that, I’ve parked Mom right over there. She’s ten in the photo and looks like she was having a bad day, don’t you think? She’s probably lost her book bag and is surly because her books are cutting into her arm. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed - kids losing things. Arrrrrrrgh! I was the worst! There were so many more important things in life than keeping track of crayons and notebooks that I guess I couldn’t be bothered. How many times did poor Mom have to get a neighbor to bring her up to the school because I’d lost my lunch kit and would have absolutely starved if she hadn’t come to the rescue? How many times did she have to remind me to put my pencils back in my pencil box and my pencil box back in my book bag? It’s the way of kids, of course. My son was pretty good about keeping up with his things, but maybe that was because I put Color labels on everything he walked out of the door with. I always spent the last week before school cutting out and taping little home-made labels to all of his supplies and ironing those scratchy old fabric ones into his clothes. It always paid off, though, the first time I got a call from some mom saying her son came home with a coat that had my son’s name in it. Those of you who have kids in school don’t know how easy you have it! All you need is a Dymo label maker and half of your work is already done for you. I was in line behind a woman buying one last week. True conversation: “Mom, if it makes you happy to put my name in my underwear, okay, but please, please, please don’t put it on my pencils this year. That’s so not cool!” Ah, some things never change!

Technorati Tags: back to school, education, labels, memories, school, school supplies

July 21, 2008

School talk

I know that quite a few of my regular readers have children in school and that a few of your are in education. You’ll be doing your school or school district a favor when you recommend that they consider VoIP Services from one of the largest providers of telephoney services for schools in the country. Trillion will provide design, installation and day-to-day management of your secure broadband Wide Area Network (WAN) and Voice over IP (VoIP) services through Priority One E-Rate funding, allowing your school to free up more tax and tuition dollars for classroom needs. That seems like a sensible plan to me. Check out the link, then forward it to your purchasing officer. Your kids may even thank you for that some day!

Technorati Tags: communications, education, school services, VoIP, WAN

June 7, 2008

Hawaii’s brightest kids

I wasn’t a big fan of science fairs when I was a kid. We were required to submit a project each year, but mine were always embarrassingly simple creations compared to the stuff some of my peers were doing. I remember distilling a tiny flask of grain alcohol one year from a massive quantity of ingredients. Science was never my best subject. It still isn’t, but I find myself looking on in admiration now whenever I find news about science fair winners. Today’s kids aren’t making pin-hole cameras and ping pong ball models of the solar system. They’re finding practical applications for some very sophisticated, very advanced science.

Lisa Mocz, of Mililani High School, will be paying her own way through college thanks to the scholarships she’s won at local, state and national science fairs the last few years. Her project this year in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta is “A New Model of See-through Vision: Image Reconstruction in Scattering Media from Quantum Exit Probabilities for Aerial, Terrestrial and Underwater Robot Inspection.” Could someone explain to me what that means? The words are all familiar. Put together that way, though, they don’t quite track for me. I understand it has something to do with robotics. But See-through vision? Scattering media? Quantum Exit Probabilities? I confess total ignorance. Some of her scholarships are from the Office of Naval Research and the Department of Homeland Security. I do know what that means. It means that Lisa Mocz is shaping your future and mine. She’s applying her talents, education and intelligence towards building a better world.

Two young men from Hawaii who accompanied Lisa to Atlanta are both contributing to our store of knowlege about medicine and diseases. Nolan Kamitaki, a sophomore from Hilo, took a second place award for “Programming a Network Approach to Contain the Spread of Epidemics, Second Year Study.” A sophomore! At - what? - probably fifteen years old? - Nolan is creating the science that may help us control future epidemics. Micah Maetani, a Honolulu senior, contributed “Growth Inhibition of Metastatic Prostate Cancer: Effect of Methanolic Extracts from Various Nuts.” I understand that just fine. This young man may be helping to create a cure for prostate cancer from natural ingredients.

Are you impressed? I’m totally blown away by what these kids are doing. Congratulation Lisa, Nolan, and Micah, and mahalo. Mahalo nui loa for applying your gifts and your hard work towards improving life on this big blue marble for all of us.

Technorati Tags: education, Hawaii students, science fairs

March 25, 2008

Need a tutor?

Are you looking for an after-school tutoring program for you child? Club Z can provide tutoring in your home, where your child is comfortable and distractions can be minimized. Whether the student needs help with one particular subject, overall academic performance or prepping for standardized tests, a Club Z tutor can help. They can come to the school, too, or some other location - whatever works for your student and your situation. Check out Club Z - with over 400 locations worldwide there’s probably one near you!

Technorati Tags: after-school tutoring, tutoring, tutors

Have you considered Co-Op Education?

Were you prepared for the real world when you completed your education? If you’re a student now, are you getting any practical experience in your chosen field? Do you have anything more impressive than “Dishwasher - Student Union Cafeteria” on your resume? There is a better way, you know. A handful of schools around the US offer solid programs integrating hands-on experience with their academic curriculum. Among those elite few, Kettering University has consistently ranked as one of the best in the country.

Their engineering co-op programs have been recognized for providing exemplary learning experiences. The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering program has been ranked #1 for eight years in a row in America’s Best College Guide from U.S. News and World Report. Kettering’s Mechanical Engineering Department consistently ranks in the top ten and currently holds the #3 ranking. Their current overall ranking (for the entire University) is #11, and they’re one of only fourteen in the nation listed in “Programs to Look For: Internships.”

The Internship Programs place students in a three-month rotation with some of the top employers in industrial engineering today, including GM, Walt Disney World and even the CIA. You’ll be leagues ahead of the competition when you enter the job market with those experiences under your belt. Generous scholarships are available to help you realize your dreams of a top-notch education. Check out Kettering University and see what they can do for you!

colleges, co-op education, education, engineering degrees, Kettering University[/tags]

March 4, 2008

It’s National Grammar Day

I aspire to membership in the Grammar Police. There! My dirty little secret is out! Poor word usage and faulty sentence construction make me cringe, sometimes make me laugh and sometimes make me feel superior to the offenders. I’m working on controlling those reactions. I don’t publicly correct the mistakes that I stumble across while cruising around the blogosphere or visiting message boards. I may tune you out, but I don’t embarrass you when your conversation grates on my nerves as it mulilates my ears. After all, I’m not a member of the Grammar Police and have no official status as a corrector of others’ mistakes. While I find the slaughter of our language offensive, I don’t envision myself as having the right to chastise those who perpetrate and perpetuate the crime. There are many flaws in my own character, so who am I to place myself above others who engage in a practice that our society finds at least tacitly acceptable? I content myself instead with a mental blue-peniciling of offending material. This is apparently an autonomic function of my brain, one that I find abhorent but have not been able to overcome. I also place repeat offenders into my “ignore” file. I just cannot make myself take seriously a writer who egregiously abuses the English language, nor do I find such abuse amusing or entertaining. No, strike that. It’s not entirely true. The errors I behold do sometimes make me laugh, but said laughter is akin to an inappropriate fit of giggles during a funeral. As I stated above, I’m trying to control it. I fully understand that online writing may adhere to less rigorous standards than, say, an English textbook or my daily newspaper. Understanding and acceptance are two different things. Regardless of the wisdom or entertainment value a site might offer, I cannot routinely subject myself to the laborious task of trying to find the wheat among the chaff. Your blog is not on my list of sites to re-visit if you make my eyeballs bleed. Your advice posted on a message board becomes invisible to me when it’s obscured by horrific mangling of the language. I acknowledge that such an attitude of moral superiority is unbecoming. I shall continue to seek the wisdom to accept the things I cannot change.

That calm acceptance has not yet enveloped me, so today I salute some of my heroes. It’s National Grammar Day, an appropriate occasion to celebrate the contributions of the true Grammar Police, those with the bona fide right to address the shameless butchery of grammar, syntax and spelling. Their job description entitles them to poke, prod, admonish and belittle those who would place their faulty phrasing before public scrutiny. Surely their labor must sometimes seem a thankless task that, on the best of days, carries with it a sense of futility. Those who care about language usage seek their knowledge and defer to their judgements, while those who would most benefit from their intervention continue blithely on their way. Several generations of young people have moved through our crippled public education system since it abandoned English proficiency as a requirement for graduation. It is now possible to obtain a masters degree by submitting a thesis fraught with grammatical errors. It’s even possible to teach English while having no command of the rules that govern its use. Like begetting like, the young mis-taught miscreants of today are even now breeding succeeding generations of scofflaws. I sometimes believe that the damage cannot be undone, but our professional grammarians offer hope that coherence and sensibility may yet someday be re-established in the written and spoken word. Toil on, you noble warriors, though the rewards may be few. I want to believe that you can accomplish your goals. Kudos to SPOGG, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, for establishing this national day of recongition. You almost persuade me that that our language can be saved. You almost persuade me abandon reticence to go public with my red pen.

While some of the above is conveyed with tongue firmly in cheek, I realize that publishing this post will, figuratively, paint a bullseye on my back. Fire away! I will try to accept all corrections to my own errors with good grace and warm gratitude for your concern.

National Grammar Day logo shamelessly stolen from SPOGG.org.

Technorati Tags: disgrace, education, educators, English, English grammar, National Grammar Day

February 14, 2008

Creative teaching

Have you ever had occasion to interview any high school grads for a job opening? It’s been a few years since I’ve done it, but the results were dismal. Most of the applicants were barely literate and none of them knew how to properly fill out an application form. I know that a few of them were planning on going college and it’s likely that some of them got in. We’ve lowered our standards to the lowest common denominator instead of expecting our schools to challenge students and encourage them to grow and stretch. Many of our best teachers have walked away in frustration at the systems that wouldn’t let them teach or the pay levels that kept them living near poverty levels. There are still great teachers and excellent schools out there, but the days are gone when both were expected to meet those superlatives. I’m excited today about a teacher who raises the bar for his peers.

Cory Bennett doesn’t just teach. He inspires and challenges his eighth-grade algebra students at Ilima Intermediate School. He does it by making math fun and showing his students how it connects to their lives. His Valentine’s Day projects take his creative approach to an even higher level. Who knew that math could quantify and define your love? Ah, Mr. Bennet did!

Kudos to Cory Bennet for doing it right, and congratulations to all of the students lucky enough to get assigned to Mr. Bennet’s classes. Your enthusiasm shows and will serve you well as you continue your education and move on to whatever follows. Keep that flame burning!

Photo credit: Craig T. Kojima, Honolulu Star Bulletin

Technorati Tags: education, exceptional teachers, Hawaii education

October 20, 2007

Discounts on authentic Microsoft software

I was very fortunate when I bought my last computer. My dear friend is a teacher and she gifted me with the Microsoft software that I needed. Did you know that students, teachers, school staffs, libraries and research labs can get deep discounts on genuine Microsoft software? Those of you who homeschool qualify, too. Microsoft Office software retails for up to $599.99, but at www.CostCaptain.com you’ll pay as little as $129, or you can purchase a Vista Upgrade from $89. These are substantial savings and well worth checking out before you buy. You’ll just need to provide proof of academic eligibility and then you’ll be good to go. Wouldn’t you love to give 100% Authentic Microsoft products at academic discounts this year for Christmas? You can even give in the form of gift certificates so your recipients can pick out just what they need. Now aren’t you glad you stopped in to visit me today?

Technorati Tags: academic discounts, CostCaptain.com, Microsoft software

October 12, 2007

Business Christmas cards

The Gallery Collection is a publisher of premium quality personalized Christmas, holiday, and all occasion greeting cards. Sending out business christmas cards is an affordable way for even a very small business like mine to create customer goodwill. Living in Hawaii with its diverse cultures, I prefer to select cards with a generic greeting instead of those that contain references to a particular holiday. I’ve found one that I really like for this year. The calendar with my business imprint will remain with my clients long after the holiday season has passed.

Greeting cards for years to come have yet to be designed, and the one I select for next year may well be created by one of the young artists who enter the scholarship contest being sponsored by The Gallery Collection. US high school and college students are invited to submit photos, artwork or computer graphics appropriate for a holiday card, birthday card or all-occasion greeting card. The winner will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship. Entries will be judged on:

1. Overall aesthetic appeal
2. Quality of execution
3. Creativity and Originality
4. Successful incorporation of design elements
5. Appropriateness for use as a greeting card
6. Attractiveness to The Gallery Collection’s corporate and consumer customers
7. Suitability as a design in Prudent’s Gallery Collection greeting card line
(see www.gallerycollection.com website for current designs)

The contest opened on October 1st and entries will be accepted until January 15, 2008. Check out the contest rules for compete details. This is a great opportunity for students to use their skills and creativity to help defray the costs of their education. Get those creative juices flowing and start on your entry soon - and good luck to all the scholars!

Technorati Tags: art, business greeting cards, greeting cards, scholarship contest