Usually on Wednesday nights I have choir practice at my church, but tonight the choir decided to visit a sick church friend at his home so we could sing to him and cheer him up a bit. His name is Mr. Tufts, and he and his wife are just wonderful people. There are special people that touch your life --- and they are two of those people to me. They have gone to my church ever since I can remember and have been an integral part of the church for a long time.
Now, Mr. Tufts is dying of cancer, and so tonight, we showed our love and support to him by singing several hymns for him. It was great to see him doing remarkably well for his condition. Although he is very thin and frail now because of the chemo treatment, his spirits were high--especially after the visit from the choir. He was very happy that we were there, and we were all happy to be there.
I go to a very loving church. We are a family of believers, and that is one of the things that makes my church so special to me. For those of you who don't already know, I go to the First United Methodist Church of Pine Hills. (Check out our website!--at http://www.geocities.com/fumcpinehills) We don't have a lot of people in our congregation, but the faith and friendliness of the people make up for the few in number. I have been going there for about 14 years or so (ever since I was about 7 years old), and it has been a blessing in my life to be a part of such a good place of Christian fellowship.
Having a church family who loves and supports me in my spiritual life (and life in general) is important and special to me. God has truly blessed me.
Extreme Education
Posted by
Kristy Zabel's Blog
comments (2)
Here are some websites with background info from which I took my talking (or blogging) points:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297542,00.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0411280298nov28,1,4893220.story?coll=chi_news_custom_religion_util&ctrack=1&cset=true
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9767809
The first of the three articles listed above talks about some high schools in the state of Oregon adopting curriculum from the Mexican education system in order to aid Spanish speaking students in the language acquisition process. The people who support this move say that it will benefit students because they will improve upon their native language, which will improve their ability to learn English. Through numerous classes I have taken on the subject, I have seen that the improvement of one’s own language does help with learning English, but why do we feel the need to adopt Mexico’s curriculum? It would seem to me that Oregon would want to create their own blended curriculum based on what they know about teaching English to speakers of other languages. I could understand doing research and maybe taking note of some of the things Mexico does and doesn't do, but using Mexico's curriculum when it doesn’t even successfully teach its own children? That doesn’t make sense.
In the Chicago Tribune article, the author talks about children who are taught extremist views in the classroom. Terrorism is supported in textbooks used by schools (like in Pakistan), and they encourage students to become martyrs. The anti-American and anti-Western “rhetoric” is what the children are bombarded with daily. It’s a scary thought that the future leaders of regions such as Pakistan are being totally brainwashed into thinking that we (Westerners) are their enemy. Just imagine the implications stemming from what those children are being taught!
The last article in the list above talks about Middle Eastern history & culture and the Arabic language being taught in New York schools. According to the article, many have said that the inclusion of these things could result in terrorist “breeding grounds.” I once heard on the news that a public school in New York gave children 3 hours during the school day to allow prayer. First of all, how is that separation of church and state? Second, how come in grade school, I only got a “moment of silence” to say a prayer if I wanted to?—and it only lasted 30 seconds IF I was lucky and IF could concentrate in spite of the noise of my classmates??? If you’re going to give 3 hours of praying time—fine—build your own religious school, but to have tax payers pay for that when students should be there to get an education? Uhh.....no.
So, after reading these articles, I ask—what is with education in some places today? I strongly support diversity and acceptance, but advocating terrorism in Pakistani schools, adopting Mexico’s curriculum in Oregon, and praying 3 hours during the school day in a New York public school are all really extreme examples of education gone waaaaay wrong.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297542,00.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0411280298nov28,1,4893220.story?coll=chi_news_custom_religion_util&ctrack=1&cset=true
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9767809
The first of the three articles listed above talks about some high schools in the state of Oregon adopting curriculum from the Mexican education system in order to aid Spanish speaking students in the language acquisition process. The people who support this move say that it will benefit students because they will improve upon their native language, which will improve their ability to learn English. Through numerous classes I have taken on the subject, I have seen that the improvement of one’s own language does help with learning English, but why do we feel the need to adopt Mexico’s curriculum? It would seem to me that Oregon would want to create their own blended curriculum based on what they know about teaching English to speakers of other languages. I could understand doing research and maybe taking note of some of the things Mexico does and doesn't do, but using Mexico's curriculum when it doesn’t even successfully teach its own children? That doesn’t make sense.
In the Chicago Tribune article, the author talks about children who are taught extremist views in the classroom. Terrorism is supported in textbooks used by schools (like in Pakistan), and they encourage students to become martyrs. The anti-American and anti-Western “rhetoric” is what the children are bombarded with daily. It’s a scary thought that the future leaders of regions such as Pakistan are being totally brainwashed into thinking that we (Westerners) are their enemy. Just imagine the implications stemming from what those children are being taught!
The last article in the list above talks about Middle Eastern history & culture and the Arabic language being taught in New York schools. According to the article, many have said that the inclusion of these things could result in terrorist “breeding grounds.” I once heard on the news that a public school in New York gave children 3 hours during the school day to allow prayer. First of all, how is that separation of church and state? Second, how come in grade school, I only got a “moment of silence” to say a prayer if I wanted to?—and it only lasted 30 seconds IF I was lucky and IF could concentrate in spite of the noise of my classmates??? If you’re going to give 3 hours of praying time—fine—build your own religious school, but to have tax payers pay for that when students should be there to get an education? Uhh.....no.
So, after reading these articles, I ask—what is with education in some places today? I strongly support diversity and acceptance, but advocating terrorism in Pakistani schools, adopting Mexico’s curriculum in Oregon, and praying 3 hours during the school day in a New York public school are all really extreme examples of education gone waaaaay wrong.
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