The Thurvey questions for the week have arrived. Join the chorus of Thurvey responders (more like a quartet, a family quartet at that. Thanks for your support guys. On the other hand, I have a huge family. . .wait till I see the rest of you at the reunion. But I regress.) RSVP:
#1 The Alabama legislature has enacted legislation requiring that the summer vacation break for public schools begin no later than a week prior to Memorial Day and end no earlier than two weeks prior to Labor Day. Under that law school will start no earlier than August 20 next school year and end no later than May 24. The reasoning behind the legislation was the idea that assuring a longer summer break would mean more vacations at the beach for Alabama families, boosting the tourist industry, the economy, and tax revenues. Local school boards will have no discretion. Governor Bentley has said he has some reservations about the legislation and is going to review it carefully before signing it into law. What would you tell the Governor Bentley (another cousin who has not responded to the Thurvey) if he asked you your opinion about the law? Feel free to be technical, for you education wonks, or wax poetic about good summer break times, for you waxy types.
#2 There has been interesting conversation in the political arena this week about the appropriate or inappropriate statements by the President about the killing of Osama Bin Laden in the course of political campaigning. Other things have also been questioned as appropriate . . . families, religion, choice of salad components (arugula scandal of 2008) and pet care (transportation vs. menu item). What should be tabu? If you were put on a committee to make some rules of conduct for candidates (and super PAC's if they were subject to any rules) what would you require?
#3 Anything Goes, a competition for teams from the high schools in Blount County, will be held at the Agribusiness Center in Oneonta tonight at 7:00 p.m. It is a fundraiser for the Danny Hicks Scholarship fund and quite a hilarious and ultimately heated competition, featuring events like the egg toss, the dizzy bat relay, and other Olympic quality events. You've got nothing better to do on a Thursday night. Come on out. Or just send your money. If we could stage an Anything Goes for the Alabama Legislature, or for Presidential candidates, what events would you propose and why?
#4 It is the season for gifts, graduation and wedding. Some of us may be a bit out of the loop when it comes to choosing useful gifts for such events. Any suggestions? Or perhaps more importantly, what is not a good gift for such occasions?
#5 What question do you want answered this week?
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#1 - Our generation doesn't seem to be lacking for starting school after Labor Day and having it end at Memorial Day. Too many wasted days now with kids just doing "busy work" while the school board/government have teachers in meetings or doing standardized test preps. My son's teacher actually said this week that the majority of April was spent doing testing requirements, therefore she didn't have enough assignments to record students' grades on progress reports this week.
ReplyDelete1. The statistics are clear. Alabama are not excelling under the current calendar. The only recourse is to cancel all vacations until they get that C up to a B plus.
ReplyDelete2. Nothing should be tabu. And when the functionaries for both parties finally run out of money and impetus to dissect the minutest details of their opposition's candidates' lives, maybe they'll be forced to return to addressing issues and public policy.
3.That Wipeout show on ABC is purity funny. And putting both candidates on that would take a lot less time than any series of boring debates.
4. The perfect gift for any graduate this year is a job.
5. Where exactly does Goober fit in the pantheon of The Andy Griffith Show immortals?