27 kids in the 5th and 6th grade class tonight at church. Amazing. And we had our class change. So the old 4th graders moved up and the old 6th graders were out of there. Half the class was a new set of kids. David kept control of the class. The topic: Proverbs.
When I’m not teaching, it is rare that I make comments in class. Mostly I’m scrounging up Bibles for those without, and this time, extra chairs since the class was extremely full. Most of the time I don’t feel as studious about the topic in order to make a intelligent comment on it. So I stay silent. Better to stay silent than to look stupid.
The good part about going to camp is that you tend to get to know the kids better. For example I actually had a conversation with a certain kid after church tonight. Whereas before camp, he hardly said a word to me. Now he must think I’m cool or something. So that’s good.
I like to tell the kids who are at West Wilson Middle School (formerly Mt. Juliet Junior High) that I was in the first class with mini-schools. Way back in 1988. After I wait for the initial shock to wear off, I shock them again with the ability to name off the minischools which were around when I was at the Junior High. Minischools make it where the student body is divided up into separate groups and have the same set of teachers throughout the day. It helps kids not to feel so lost in what otherwise would be a huge school. Teachers get to know the students better and vice versa. Then again if your best friend is in a different mini-school, you might never get to see them at all throughout the day. My consolidation was that most of my friends were in band and therefore we all had band at the same time and were in the same minischool together. So no worries.
I think the minischool concept worked well. I went through in 7th grade without minischools. Felt lost in the gigantic world of the junior high. Then in 8th grade minischools were instituted, mainly because the junior high’s bad reputation….People were calling it “the zoo.” Minischools improved things. I’m not sure if it was a teacher or administrator’s idea to institute it…or it was due to some parents’ complaints. I think the latter. For some reason I feel as though things have become softer throughout the years. Parents aren’t going to stand for the slightest bit of inconvenience anymore. I remember parents complaining at the elementary school because their 2nd graders had to live in an outdoor portable classroom, yet at the same time I (being a 6th grader) was in a portable classroom myself. Yet no one was complaining that their 6th grader was in a portable. I guess they figured that we could take the chill of the January wind easier than their 2nd grader.
Now we get cafeteria pizza and plenty of more lunchroom choices because little Johnny won’t eat the school food. Here’s a hint: Kids aren’t eating the food anyways. Most of the time it was not unusual at all to see kids skipping lunch in high school.
Now you look at dress codes….which is sorta like spoon feeding parents into making sure their kid dresses appropriately for school. Don’t give them a choice. Make it to where everything is already decided for you. Solid colors for all shirts. So instead of actual learning that is taking place, you are disrupting learning by making a huge deal that Johnny doesn’t have a belt and has to call home or get in-school-suspension.
I’m done with this now.

I visited West Elementary to take more pictures for their webpage, which I’m designing. The older kids were hams about it, wanting to have their picture made. I saw Mrs. Orange, an old teacher of my sister’s. She remembered me, or at least acted like she did.
The kids were busy earlier with their TCAP tests….which must be the equivalent of Achivement tests we had when I was in school. Archivement tests were meant to tell you how smart (or dumb) you were. It was fairly grueling for kids and was only a taste of what we’d have to go through with ACT tests in our high school years. Tests are supposed to standardize things. The problem is that people who write the tests are pretty ignorant of how things really are. Someone judged to be an idiot might just be doing fairly well in school and doesn’t need a Standard Achievement test to tell them how stupid they are. Remember kids, fill in the circles with a number 2 pencil.
I suspect West Elementary School had the same architect/builder as Lakeview Elementary (my alma mater). I was told that West was built years before Lakeview. Yet the same setup is there…the lettering on the outside of the building; the color of the tiles on the bathroom; the whole setup. It was all very familiar, yet different. In any case both schools are at least 25 years old, if not older.
I kinda got antsy when I got home and found a really good picture of some West kids…yet had one kid doing the ole pinky finger in the corner of his mouth pose. I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of naughty sign, so I asked a friend of mine hip to culture. It’s a Dr. Evil (Austin Powers) reference. Haven’t not seen the movie, I wasn’t sure what the pinky thing was. But it’s all clean, you know. Or as clean as a PG movie can be.
I have to be careful about this type of stuff. In 1983 one kid flashed the bird during a class picture of my sister’s 6th grade class. The yearbook staff didn’t realize it and it showed up in the yearbook. So the kid got in big trouble about it and the annual staff was left cleaning egg off their faces.

While watching a Tony Hawk “documentary” on MTV….(the term documentary is used loosely here…it was actually “The Diary of Tony Hawk”)….it occured to me: When did skateboarding become cool? It’s all the rage now.
This was not the case in 1987…Mt. Juliet Junior High. I was in 7th grade. Suddenly there was a clash of ideologies. It was the mainstream against the “skaters.” “Skaters?” Who are they? Were they talking about roller skaters. Nope. Skateboarders. The metal heads…. Freaks…. Popular people in the “In Crowd.” All these people were against the skaters. I can remember some girl in my history class saying she liked some guy…but that he was a skater….and she wasn’t sure how the rest of us would feel about it.
Skaters went against the grain. Listened to music like INXS. Wore their hair all different. Skateboarded. Totally a different group unto themselves.
But then somehow their behavior….fashion…whatever…became mainstream as 1991 peaked and grunge came into effect.
You see, Metalheads died figuratively way before this Great White incident. It was when heavy metal became mainstream is when it became uncool. Remember 1988? Pretty soon everybody was wearing those silly black t-shirts advertising the latest hair band. Guns ‘N Roses. Poison for the ladies. Stryper for those people who wanted to be counted as some type of righteous Christian metalhead. It was at that point when everyone was wearing those shirts and listening to that music, was when it became uncool.
So let’s recap. Metalheads: Old and busted. Skaters: New coolness. Or so I’m told. Maybe skaters aren’t so new after all. What is the next big thing? The new black? Somebody please tell me because I’d hate to loose touch with what’s hot.
While we are on the subject of heavy metal, there’s a bit of confusion on my part. While doing research for this, I got Slayer and Stryper mixed up. While Stryper is decidedly pro-Christian…with its Isaiah 53:5 enblasioned on all their T-shirts….on the other hand Slayer is very much anti-Christian. Slayer’s song lyrics are predictable and laughable at times. Very little intellect on their part. Their latest album title “God Hates Us All,” is simple and elementary. I wonder how long it took them to think of that title. Its almost a worn out cliche these days: Heavy Metal hates God.

Growing up during my early elementary years, there were 3 shows that were somewhat of a trinity on PBS. Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Now that neighborhood is a little bit more empty. Mr. Rogers died overnight.
I remember Mr. Rogers well. He showed us how crayons and pencils are made. He had Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk) on his show to talk about how monsters aren’t real.
Then there was the Land of Make Believe. King Friday, Prince Tuesday, X the Owl, Daniel Striped Tiger, Lady Elaine, Henrietta Pussycat. Do any of these names ring a bell? Did you know Mr. Rogers did the voice of almost all of the above characters?
What Mr. Rogers will be remembered for is teaching multiple generations of children that they are individually special in their own unique way.

“If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”
-Mister Rogers

Someone recently posed the question on Slashdot discussion forum. “What advice would you give to your 12 year old self?”
Most of the answers consisted of the nerdy “Register microsoft.com.” To the entrepreneurial “Buy stock, then sell in Jan. 2000….”
Me? I like to go philsophical. Even enduring….

• Have fun, kid. You only live once. Make the next few years the best. They’re the best years of your life.
• Don’t be in a hurry to grow up.
• Don’t be afraid of what people think of you. It’s something you can’t control.
• Live each day as a gift from God. Your life could be taken away in an instant.
• Pay more attention to old people. Especially your grandparents.
• Study, but don’t be too prude to have fun every once and a while.

More than likely I probably wouldn’t have listened. Some 27 year old guy who sorta looks like me – giving me advice. Yep. Where’s the nutty professor mumbling something about a Deloreon and 88 miles an hour?
Ok this is starting to sound like Baz Luhrman’s “Sunscreen” song…..

So I photoshopped Phil into a Bill Cosby ad. Phil laughed at it. It’s good to know we’re on the same humor frequency. What one person will find offensive, others will find humorous. Vice versa. You never can tell these days.
On the other hand, some people find the movie “Vice Versa” offensive because of the bad acting in it. I find the movie ok. It’s kinda like a remake of “Freaky Friday.” I was subjected to watch that movie during my elementary school years. In the days before VCRs, the whole school (K-6) would watch a movie in the school gym. Big screen and projector was setup. We’d watch Disney movies like “Herbie,” “Where the Red Fern Grows,” “The Watcher in the Woods…” You’d get the picture. Our librarian, Mrs. Johnson, would patiently thread the film in the projector and change it out every 30 minutes. This was a big thing back then. Everyone looked forward to movie day. It was usually on a Friday afternoon. We’d all pay a dollar to see the movie. Obviously it was some kind of money making thing for the school. I think we got to see a movie every two months or so. Someone always got in trouble for talking or acting goofy.
Watching projector movies seems so antiquated these days. Kids these days wouldn’t understand it. I remember seeing a VCR for the first time over at my cousin’s house….circa 1984. Watching “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The VCR was huge. Big ugly knobs on it. I had no idea what it was exactly. I just knew that Willy Wonka was playing and I hadn’t seen it before. The scene where the girl blows up into a big blueberry was horrific to me back then. Could this actually happen? My 9 year old mind was racing.
Then we got our first VCR around in the late 80s. My sister tried to record “Growing Pains” while we were at church Wednesday night, but all she got was snow. She was quite upset about it at the time. Not that Growing Pains was all that funny.

Growing Up Church of Christ means never going to Christmas Eve services at church. No tinsel or Christmas trees at church. No living nativity scenes. For me Christmas is more of a national holiday, although I realize it is a holiday celebrated worldwide. There’s nothing in the Bible indicating Jesus was born on December 25th. Although if it helps someone think of Jesus more on one particular day of the year, then its a good thing. As far as I’m concerned, I try to think of Jesus 365 days a year, not just on supposed special occasions like Christmas and Easter.
Birthday cakes for Jesus – This was pretty much foreign to me. I had always heard of people doing this, but had never seen it done before.
I can remember one time in 4th or 5th grade, our class sponsored a needy family during Christmas time. We made ceramic Christmas ornaments for them. We bought toys for the children and clothes for the parents. Later on the whole class went over to the family’s home to deliver the gifts. I can remember that family having a very sparse amount of furniture. The PTA room mothers and our teacher wanted us to see that not everyone has the luxuries that we have. It was an awkward time. But obviously the point the adults were trying to make, worked since I still remember it even today.
I’m sure they’ll have plenty of people helping at the soup kitchens tomorrow. People tend to become very aware of needy people’s problems during this time of year…then forget it the rest of the year.
When was the last time I truly believed in Santa? 5th grade maybe. I realize that might be a little old these days. Rumors of Santa’s non-existance persisted in elementary school. But I never believed them.
On Christmas morning my sister and I would wake up (I’d usually be first to wake up) and run into the living room where the Christmas tree was. Santa would leave our gifts stacked up in 2 piles. It wasn’t difficult to tell who’s was who’s. We’d spend much of the morning putting together the toys labeled “Some assembly required.”
I was notorious about trying to figure out my gifts. I would try to peak underneath the wrapping paper. A few times I managed to find out. There was always an ongoing conflict with my mom to see who could outsmart who. Usually she would win by wrapping my presents in a 2nd box.

Supposedly it snowed this morning. But I can’t see anything from where I’m sitting. Is it a case of the emperor’s new clothes? Yeah, I’ve seen the pictures of Clarksville’s snowfall. Looks white. But seemlingly whenever Bill Hall mentions flurries, everyone runs to Kroger and buys a dozen gallons of milk. People, calm down!
I remember one time it snowed early on a Sunday morning. The local TV stations were barraged with calls from every little rural church out there hoping to get their announcement out that their services had been cancelled or postponed. Those Snow Bird reports went on for forever. So now the TV stations just say call your pastor/minister and find out if your services will happen. They don’t accept announcements about church closings anymore. Probably a good idea.
My aunt lives at the bottom of a hill on a Cul-De-Sac just a few blocks from my house. When I was in elementary schoo, every time it would snow significantly, I’d drag my sled through yards in order to get to the hill. I can remember sledding down that hill numerous times….trying to get out of the way when my cousin would yell “car.” Sometimes while sledding I’d loose control of the sled and go off into the ditch into a bunch of bushes. I’d get scraped up, but tried to get back up and go sledding again. We used real sleds. None of this plastic-garbage-lid-looking junk. A real sled with bades.
Sometimes we’d get a really big snow and we’d be able to sled 3 sometims 4 days at a time. But those days are long gone. I haven’t seen a good snow in a while.

From what I understand, many people use Thanksgiving as an alternative Christmas. Visit the inlaws on Thanksgiving; visit the other side of the family for Christmas…or vice versa. While half of America is busying driving and flying around the country, Thanksgiving was never a big deal in my family. Many times we’d have our grandparents over who live just 20 minutes away. And that was it. Mom always goes shopping on the Friday afterwards. I choose to always stay home, not because of Buy Nothing Day. It’s because I don’t like crowds. Any sale which might save me a few dollars is not worth the hassel caused by actually trying to get to the retail establishment.
They were actually giving parking lot traffic reports on NewsChannel 5 today. Telling people where to park at the local malls.
The 2 digital pictures I took of the family’s thankgiving meal didn’t turn out that great, so I won’t be posting them here. I was disappointed too.
Why is White Bluff Church of Christ linking to the Drudge Report?