Safer Schools: A teacher's prospective

After what happened on Friday I was overloaded with thoughts and emotions as any other human being would be. Especially as a teacher I was really affected and saddened by what happened. I was surprised as the weekend went by that my emotions quickly changed to feelings of annoyance and anger. As I watched what was a time or mourning turn into more debates and hatred toward one another over guns and safety and all other debates you can image. In a month from now this will all die down and everyone will move on with this expect our schools, the schools will all still be in the situation they are in and that is what really frustrates me.

A school shooting is honestly a one in a million chance if not way more than that. When you think about how many schools are in the U.S. and how many shootings there are the statistics are low. What is high are many other troubling situations that can sometimes lead up to these shootings. The chances of a school having a school fight, a kid bullied, a suicide, a kid get discriminated against, a student or teacher getting threatened, or anything like that are very high. In fact those things are happening in schools everyday. The media posts all kinds of things on bullying and suicide but what about gangs, fights, and all other types of violence. Those are things happening everyday as well. Not to undermine school shootings but there are very few things we can do about that one in a million chance and a lot of things we can do about these things happening everyday.

The truth is everyday students out number teachers. They always will, in fact, every school has more students than they do teachers. So therefore the people determining whether or not a school is safe are those students. Everyday, each student comes to school and makes decisions on how they will contribute to their school, and if that school will be safe or not. Will they choose to bully, fight, argue or will they do the opposite.

This is where I reach out to you parents for your help and all adults that have in any influence on any child. If there is one thing I know as a teacher it is that most of what students choose to do comes from what they see at home and this is what angers me most. There are so many parents complaining about school safety, but then let their kids watch violent shows, play violent video games, or worse make angry, racist, intolerable comments about other people in front of their kids. Then wonder why their kids go to school the next day and repeat the same words or beat up the kid in their class.

If people really want safe schools here is how you do it, you create safe students. At home, at church, in your neighborhood, on the internet, we are all constant examples to kids and will either create safe smart kids or violent ignorant kids. So please as a teacher this is my plea, ask yourself, am I an adult helping to create safe children in this community or am I sitting back expecting something or someone else to do it for me. I'm sorry but no weapon, no political leader, no one can influence a child as much as the love of a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, an aunt/uncle, a church leader, and we as those people will help to create these safe kids and safe schools we all dream of.

Lastly, adults out there don't be discouraged. Even though this incident this weekend was an adult, most of the time it is not, and frankly he was a very young adult. I had this entire conversation today with 160 8th graders, and as I looked into their eyes I could see they all felt the same concerns I did.  I promise you there are still many, many good kids out there. With the same concerns as us, who want to feel safe, who are full of life, love, and joy, and I feel blessed everyday to be a part of their lives. As long as we never forget that this generation we are raising are our future adults, our future leaders, then we can be confident that we will have done all we could and I am confident that they will astonish us all.

One Year Anniversary

I'm way late (almost 3 months) on this post but it's still worth writing about. Kyle and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary in July. People always say that the first year or marriage is the hardest and I have to say if that's true than we're set ;) . Our first year was definitely not easy. We faced lots of challenges that most shouldn't have to so early in marriage but we also grew very close and were blessed with so many blessing. Many of you know Kyle was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in January after experiencing some numbness for a couple months. It was one of the hardest but most strengthening experiences we've had. It truly taught me how to appreciate how much I love Kyle and how thankful I was for our marriage. After lots of fasting and praying Kyle is now feeling good and is very healthy. Things are great and we know the disease can hit at anytime but right now the Lord is definitely blessing us with health and great health insurance :) You can press on the MS picture below for more info on MS. 

For our anniversary we went to one of our favorite restaurant, Snake Creek Grill. It was a nice peaceful dinner and exactly what we needed. We also ate our wedding cake which wasn't half bad (thanks Sweet Tooth Fairy). 

We also bought a HOME! Pictures to come in a post soon!!! Just a little about our home. It's in Orem by Orem center street and about a mile from the Riverwoods. It's a great family neighborhood. The home is a 5 bed 2 bath built in 1975. It was renovated so it doesn't need a ton of work just a little painting here and there and possibly a master bedroom in the future :). We love the home and are settling in well but it is a lot of work! Especially when you  move in the first week of school. Slowly we are making some great progress and hopefully I will post some pictures soon. Along with the new home Chiquita (my dog of 10 years) has part time moved in. It would be full time but she gets bored a lot when we're at work and likes to spend most of the week at Grandma and Grandpas. Here is a cute picture of her after she followed Kyle around while he was mowing the lawn. 

Kyle made me this jewelry holder for the room I get ready in which I like to call my "girly" room. He also just painted it a beautiful blue color for me. He's so adorable. 

We also celebrated Kyle's 29th birthday on 9/11. The pictures blurry but it was a really fun night. Oh ya and here's a sneak peak of our kitchen! lol 

Summer 2012

It's been a really long time since I've posted anything new. You would think having the whole summer off of work I would have had time to blog but I was busy laying on the couch watching T.V. and gaining my sanity back for the next school year. :) Anyway LOTS of fun and exciting things happened this year. First off we did some small traveling. We went to bear lake and did some canyonering down in Zions National Park. I repelled off a 100 foot cliff with my eyes closed! Not because I'm an expert but because I was so terrified :). Here are some pictures

The Views were AMAZING

That little person at the top is me! This is the last cliff we went down and the longest. I've never been so terrified. Half way through I literally started to have a panic attack and just started shooting down. It burnt my hands a little but was an amazing experience. Kyle didn't wear gloves and totally burnt his hands till they were black. Here are some pictures from Bear Lake. 

Such gorgeous views

Best food in town

We love road trips

We also got to do some fun things with friends and family. Here are some pictures: 

Boating with friends

Us at the fair

Utah State Fair

Me and a giant french fry

Boating with the ladies

 Completed by 3rd half marathon with my dad. Still improving my time with each race. Love running with my dad he's the best, sadly he beat me this time. 

My beautiful niece Charlotte was born in August. Here is a picture of her making her cute little sleeping baby face and her brother Carter. 

Graduation

I've finally graduated!!! Technically I was done with school last year but since I'm doing a teaching internship I had to wait till the end of the school year to graduate. It was such a fun experience. I loved seeing my classmates and my professors again. I'm glad school is over but I know I will miss it. I told my students yesterday I was graduating and they all clapped for me it was sweet. One of them said she couldn't believe I was only a first year teacher which was the best compliment ever :). 

 Waiting. We were busy talking and forget to get in line so we got sent to the back. 

 Everyone got an autographed copy of The Freedom Writers

 Me with my parents

 My sister and Carter

 Me and Kyle

St. George Airshow

Back in March we went to an airshow in St. George. I'm not the biggest fan of planes and stuff but I have to say this was one of the coolest things I've ever been to. The Blue Angels were there and I couldn't believe the things they could do. 

 This pictures actually from when we were in Park City but I thought I'd add it in because it looks cool. 

 P51 & F22 Raptor 

 Blue Angels