“Legendary” Teachers

At one time when I thought of legendary teachers, I thought of someone like Friedrich Froebel (the guy who started the first kindergarten), or, on a more personal level, Ruth Ann Gaines of Des Moines’ East High School. Recent “news” events however, have me thinking along entirely different lines.

Before I get into that, I should tell you that I worked in the Des Moines Public School system for eleven years, most of those as a library associate. I was fortunate enough to work with some outstanding teachers. I understand the amount of effort they put into their jobs. I “get” that they don’t really have summers off. I support teachers, and appreciate their hard work and commitment to students. In other words, after you’ve read this please don’t accuse me of being anti-teacher because that couldn’t be further from the truth.

What I am about to write about is a bit of a hot-button issue in Des Moines at the moment, but I have to wonder. Why?

On Monday, February 15, a group of Des Moines teachers, on break from an in-service, had lunch at Legends American Grill on Court Avenue. Insert hair-in-salad, and the story begins. What we do know:

There was the offensive hair.

The waitress did not react appropriately.

Legends’ owner Mark Rogers acted like a pompous ass, telling them to get out, saying teachers weren’t wanted in his establishment.

Rogers apologized.

The teacher who ordered the salad with the unfortunate extra topping had her meal comped.

This should have been then end of it, but it wasn’t. Another teacher started a Facebook page, asking others to boycott Legends because of Roger’s anti-teacher attitude. I’m pretty sure that, even faced with a table full of bankers, Roger’s reaction would have been much the same. Obviously, it just wasn’t his day. I’m certainly not excusing Mark Roger’s deplorable behavior, but I am questioning the outcome.

Around 48-hours after the Facebook page’s creation all admins had disappeared; Elvis has left the building. No one was willing to deal with what they’d started. Suddenly, that hair in the salad and Mark Rogers became a bit less important. With no moderators, you can imagine what’s become of the Facebook page. It’s an insult-flinging free-for-all. As I read the posts, I can’t help but see comparisons to the way battles are fought on the elementary school playground. Maybe this particular group of teachers needs more adult time?

My point is, a teacher is, by definition, “a person who teaches or instructs, esp. as a profession; instructor” (www.dictionary.com). What are we being taught with the Legends’ incident and the ensuing result? Real advocacy could have started in the classroom. The teachers could have shared their experience with students and discussed constructive ways to resolve the situation. Instead, these teachers resorted to the favorite medium of their students to bring their “cause” to light.

It’s not too late to turn this into a learning experience for all. Any teachers willing to take it on? I’d love to hear about it.

http://dmjuice.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100221/NEWS03/2210336

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/02/17/the-legendsschool-teacher-brouhaha/

Keep Legend’s American Grill “Teacher (and Customer!) Free”

You Art What You Eat

Is it food blog? Is it an art blog? It’s both. It’s neither. That’s the Beauty of the Blog.

I had an amazingly creative day yesterday. After two trips to K-Mart (don’t ask) I came home, willed myself to forget about the wet laundry awaiting the dryer, and set about pulling together a new collage. I’d been sorting through images for weeks but nothing sparked my interest. Over the weekend however, I happened upon some new material in the form of historical old newspapers from 1968-2001. Shazaam! In other words, I hit the jackpot. After a couple of hours trying different combinations (it’s  like putting a puzzle together without the jigsaw effect) I came up with this.

Because I liked the way they went together, nothing more.

The bottom layer is the front page of the Des Moines Register, the day after Robert Kennedy’s 1968 assassination. Sirhan Sirhan is pictured in the middle. Of note (or not), the extent of Kennedy’s wounds were unknown at this time. The middle layer is from a photo portfolio of a palace in France that I found in an old magazine (coincidentally, also from 1968). The man on the right is Robert Kennedy. The man on the stairs was on the streets of NYC shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center. He’s covered in ash and has an American flag in his right hand. The boy on the stairs is in the palace photo and the other guy just looks awesome.

I can’t wait for the next inspiration.