Never To Feel His Love Again
"Early this morning tragedy struck West High School" Principal Simmons' somber voice echoed over the intercom just after the first period tardy bell on Tuesday, January 7, 1997. The grave tone of his voice immediately got my attention as I sat in Spanish class, and I listened for an explanation, expecting to hear that my World History teacher, who was struggling with cancer, had died. Mr. Simmons continued, "Mr. David Butler was killed in a house fire early this morning." Mr. Simmons still spoke, but I was oblivious to everything except the name "Mr. Butler." In total shock I sat motionless with my mind racing. Suddenly and uncontrollably the tears came. I could not speak. I could not feel. This man changed my life; he gave me a true love of learning. He was my friend, and I never even got a chance to tell him.
I walked into Mr. Butler's class at Piedmont Open Middle School for the first time as a timid eighth grader eager to learn geometry, yet a little wary of the entire class of ninth graders I was joining. From day one, Mr. Butler demonstrated a love of math and an even deeper love of his students. Granted, Mr. Butler was hard on the students giving loads of homework and almost impossible tests, but he was also a friend who joked with us in class and cared about our lives. Respect was a must in his class, and those who crossed Mr. Butler found themselves on the floor listening as he counted out ten push-ups. He wasn't just a math teacher; he was a role model, a father-figure.
Due to his passion for teaching and great love of his students, Mr. Butler decided to take a course over the summer so he could teach ten students, including myself, Algebra II Trig in the ninth grade. During this year our friendship blossomed and my true love of math began. All year long we fought over Duke and Carolina, and since I was such a "psycho-fan" he was the first to tease me those few times that UNC lost at football or basketball. I loved Mr. Butler; I loved his class, and from then on math was my favorite subject and my main focus in school. Mr. Butler instilled this love for math as his own love of the subject sparked mine.
On August 23, 1980 in Conroe, Texas, is 40 miles north of Houston, a 16-year-old girl, Cheryl Fergeson, disappeared while searching for a women’s restroom at Conroe High School (Gores, 1991). Cheryl was the manager of the Bellville High girls’ volleyball team visiting Conroe High School for a preseason scrimmage. Later that day while searching for the girl two janitors, Clarence Brandley who is black, and Henry Peace who is white, found the girl’s body hidden under some scenery flats in the loft above the auditorium stage. Cheryl has been raped and strangled to death. Clarence and Henry were interrogated and made to sign statements. The two janitors were then taken to the hospital and made to give sperm, blood, and hair samples from their head
Since 1972, the issues surrounding the rights of unwed birthfathers have provided America with a highly controversial and morally challenging topic for debate. Prior to 1972, these unwed fathers were given little or no involvement in their child’s adoption proceedings, but because of highly publicized adoption cases in which birthfathers have retained custody of their child many years after their adoption took place, state legislatures have been forced to review their adoption laws regarding birthfathers and create more concrete ones. The laws in Florida regarding birthfathers have changed dramatically over the past several years, with complicating, senseless laws being replaced with more rational and reliable ones. The newest laws, passed in 2003 regarding a Putative father registry provide the most stable and fair support for legal adoption proceedings.
Since the beginning of time, people have been adopting. Whether or not the adoption process is for everybody is a debatable topic. Adoption occurs all over the world and is the cause for an impact on not only the children being adopted, but also an impact on those who adopt. Whether it’s nationally on internationally adoption is everywhere and will continue to grow in popularity as the years go on.
When it comes to education, it is about helping people discover, refine, and develop their gifts, talents, passions and abilities; and then helping them discover how to use those gifts, talents, abilities in ways that benefit others and oneself (Bull, 2015). However, with education, there are many places where this does not happen and learners may fall between the cracks. Schools are heavily measured on testing, student outcomes and student numbers that it has become the main focus to excel the school district—but what about the students? I recall a time where I was sitting in a classroom and the teacher was going over a math lesson. Many students struggled and were having a difficult time following along with the task. The teacher started
First, social-work and mental-health experts have reached a consensus during the last decade that greater openness offers an array of benefits for adoptees—from ongoing information about family medical issues to fulfillment of their innate desire to know about their genetic histories—even if the expanded relationships prove difficult or uncomfortable for some of the participants (Verbrugge). An open adoption is when the natural mother and the adoptive family know the identity of each other and could obtain background or medical history from the biological parent. In an open adoption the parental rights of biological parents are terminated, as it is in a closed adoption, but an open adoptio...
A upon finalization of adoption birth records and court records of any kind are sealed. Most people will tell you that it’s because of the adoptive parents or the birth parents but in light of that it’s not the real reason records are sealed. The main reason that records are sealed is because the government does not want the records to be open to the public and the adoptee find out though the public (that’s if the adoptive parents deiced not to tell the adoptee). (Samuels 3)
The students could hardly sit still during penultimate period the day before the long Columbus Day Weekend. The school was gearing up for the annual pep rally held during the last period of the school day before the Columbus Day Weekend. Lots of Calvary Hill teachers would stick it to the students before long weekends and vacations by giving tests and quizzes, others would give up the instructional time and let the kids watch a movie. Peter didn’t test or let the kids waste time with movies, he structured the time with games of Jeopardy and other fun activities that kept the kids engaged and thinking about the content material, while still having fun. When the final bell rang, the students could hardly believe that the period had flown by. They gathered up their materials and headed for the door.
...pects in the process of adoption. Laws for adoption vary between states (Glotzbach 9). The state laws provide information on who may adopt, how the process should go, and the access to adoption records (Glotzbach 9). Many states keep the records of adoption a secret after the child is adopted (Macmanus 66). This is to protect the child’s information. Some states have extended the right to adopt to gay couples, unmarried couples and singles (Pilgrim).
Adoption is the complete and permanent transfer of parental rights and obligations, usually from one set of legal parents to adoptive parents(Ademec 27). Not until the late 19th century did the U.S. legislative body grant legal status to adoptive parents. This is when children and parents started to gain rights and support from the government. Through the years new laws have been passed and amended to keep the system fair to all adoptive parents. In 1994, Congress passed the Multiethnic Placement Act, making it illegal to delay the placement a child to find a racially matching family. In 1996 the Multiethnic Placement Act was amended to say, “One can not use race as a routine consideration in child placement”(Lewin sec.A). Before 1994, it was difficult to place a black child with white adopters. Last year 5,000 children were adopted from Europe, and 6,000 from Asia, while 183 came from Africa.(Lewin sec. A). The number of out-of-country adoptions are so high because of the requirements and regulations one must follow in the U.S. The requirements include being 21, and include being committed and loving. The home income must be adequate enough to support the family. Passing all of the medical exams and filling out the personal information is mandatory. But the main reason people adopt from overseas is because it is much quicker. A person can adopt a child from another country in a matter of months. In the U.S. the wait can exceed 5 years, which is why some people choose international adoption.
I also learned that mathematics was more than merely an intellectual activity: it was a necessary tool for getting a grip on all sorts of problems in science and engineering. Without mathematics there is no progress. However, mathematics could also show its nasty face during periods in which problems that seemed so simple at first sight refused to be solved for a long time. Every math student will recognize these periods of frustration and helplessness.
As I opened the doors to Lynn Gross Discovery School P.S. 17Q. I felt the butterflies in my stomach. It was the first day of school in America for me and had a bad feeling. My mom, my dad, my sister, Monica and I step inside the school. I looked inside the enormous hallway and the walls covered with artwork and pictures. My dad commanded my sister, Monica and I “I have to go to the office and do something. You two sit down on the benches and wait with your mom.” Monica and I agreed and said, “Okay.’’ I felt the clock ticking by and I wished for the world to stop turning. I waited and waited and waited. Finally, I decided to ask my mom something. “Mom, do you know how to say I don’t know how to speak English in English?” I asked her in Russian. She told me how and I tried to remember. I repeated the words over and over again like a singer trying to memorize the lyrics to a song, until my dad finally came out the office. My dad told us “You are now officially students of P.S.157. Now it time to go to your classrooms” in Russian.
It’s 11:10 at Columbine High School. Two senior boys get out of their cars, each carrying a bulky, black duffel bag over his shoulder. One of the boys with spiky hair innocently waves to a cluster of pretty blonde girls. Nine minutes later gunshot fire pierces the air. A young girl, eating lunch with her friend, dies instantly when one of the killers’ bullets enters her skull. A teacher, after having saved as many students as possible, is reunited with his family and friends. With tears streaming down their faces, they ask him how he could have possibly survived, but it is as if the questions just bounce right off him. He cannot respond and he feels numb to the world around him. He is a victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
With this promise came serious concerns over education taught students ranked 28th in the United States out of 40 other countries in Mathematics and Sciences. 80% of occupations depend on knowledge of Mathematics and Science (Week and Obama 2009). In order to ensure that educators have enough money to fund the endeavor to be more competitive with the rest of the world in Mathematics and Science, President Obama will increase federal spending in education with an additional 18 billion dollars in k-12 classrooms, guaranteeing educators have the teachers, technology, and professional development to attain highly quali...
...re encompassing way, it becomes very clear that everything that we do or encounter in life can be in some way associated with math. Whether it be writing a paper, debating a controversial topic, playing Temple Run, buying Christmas presents, checking final grades on PeopleSoft, packing to go home, or cutting paper snowflakes to decorate the house, many of our daily activities encompass math. What has surprised me the most is that I do not feel that I have been seeking out these relationships between math and other areas of my life, rather the connections just seem more visible to me now that I have a greater appreciation and understanding for the subject. Math is necessary. Math is powerful. Math is important. Math is influential. Math is surprising. Math is found in unexpected places. Math is found in my worldview. Math is everywhere. Math is Beautiful.
In addition to the teacher teaching concepts in a way most students can understand, Burns also claims the best way teachers can prevent and reduce math anxiety is to “immerse children in doing mathematics by involving them in activities, explorations, and experiments in which they use mathematics and, by doing so, learning mathematical concepts and skills” (69). Instead of standing in front of a class lecturing, math teachers could approach teaching with a hands-on approach. For example, a third teacher is teaching her students how to add