Geography Bee

Quick, what's the capital of the United States?  Everyone probably got that one pretty easily.  (Washington, DC, if you had any doubts). 

How about this one:  What empire, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe during its zenith in the 13th century A.D., used the ancient city of Karakorum as its headquarters?  Well, if you were a middle school student participating in the 2010 National Geographic Geography Bee, you might just be expected to identify that empire.  For those of you who don't know, it is the Mongol Empire.  (Don't worry, if I didn't have the answer key I probably wouldn't have known it either.)

Thanks to the efforts of sixth grade social studies teacher Jessica Miller, Woodglen's sixth, seventh and eighth graders have an opportunity to participate in the Geography Bee annually. This year, our students participated in the 22nd annual National Geographic Bee which was sponsored by Google.  The process is quite extensive as students begin with a qualifying test before moving on to the school-wide bee.  Thirty-seven students qualified for the school level bee, a number which included 16 sixth graders.  These students were asked a series of questions to answer orally and the field was narrowed to nine.  The questioning continued until four students earned spots in the semi-finals:  Kaya Cousin, Philip Dacey, Connor Heft and Andrea Jindracek.

What does it take to win the geography bee?  Well, it helps to be able to answer following:

1. In which African country, founded by freed American slaves, is mask-making an art form often related to social status?
2. A North African country, with coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, allocates about 20 percent of its budget to state-sponsored education.  Name this country.
3. Which country is the world's leading producer of silver?
4. Founded as the southern terminus of a railroad line to Chattanooga, Tennessee, what city is now the major transportation center for the Southeast region?
5. What large body of water separates the Delmarva Peninsula from the southern part of New Jersey?

In the end, Woodglen is proud to announce that Andrea Jindracek is the 2010 School Geography Bee Champion.  Our runner-up, who also deserves accolades, is Connor Heft.  Andrea now moves on to take a qualifying test to determine whether or not she moves forward to the State Bee.  Only 100 students state-wide qualify for this level of participation.  Last year, Andrea not only won the school be, but moved on to state-level competition.  State Bee winners then move on to the National Finals, which are held in Washington, DC.

I want to congratulate our four semi-finalists, and wish Andrea the best as she goes forward in the competition.  The staff and students of Woodglen are proud to have such an outstanding representative.

Oh, by the way, in case you were looking for the answers to the questions above, and I know you were,

1. Liberia
2. Morocco
3. Peru
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Delaware Bay (if you said Delaware River, you were incorrect, sorry!)

Link to the National Geography Bee Website

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-The Declaration of Independence

As we get set to enjoy a three day weekend, I want to urge everyone to take a few moments to reflect on why we are off on Monday.

In April, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled to Tennessee where he was shot and killed by an assassin's bullet.  The day before his death, King delivered a prophetic speech, his famous "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1L8y-MX3pg&feature=related). 

Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.  At the age of 15, King enrolled in college.  He earned degrees in sociology and theology and became a pastor in Montgomery, Alabama where he organized a boycott of city buses in response to the treatment of Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger.  The result of this boycott was a US Supreme Court ruling that deemed bus segregation unconstitutional.

In August of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. led the famous March on Washington, where a crowd of more than 250,000 blacks and whites heard his famous "I Have a Dream" speech (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1759663481).

The legacy of Dr. King lives on today, more than four decades after his death.  It is difficult to grasp the fact that in my lifetime there were Americans who were not able to enjoy basic rights in their own country.  It is difficult for me to come to grips with the fact that, while we teach about the abolition of slavery in 1863, over 100 years later, and in my lifetime, there were Americans who were not given the equality granted by the Declaration of Independence.

As a former history teacher, I know that most students look at history as a study of things that happened a long time ago.  Our children look at the mid sixties as "a long time ago."  My guess though is that most of you were alive in the mid 1960's.  Right?  As you think about the work of Dr. King, remember that he led the fight for equality for all Americans during our lifetime.  The Montgomery bus boycott took place in 1955, not 1855.  The "I Have a Dream" speech was not delivered in the time of Abraham Lincoln, it was delivered in the time of you and me. 

We live in a largely homogenous community - a very white, very middle to upper middle class community.  There is nothing wrong with that, my children have grown up in the same environment.  When we live in this type of community, however, it is easy for racism to creep into our lives.  When there is so much "sameness" it is easy for us to be critical, judgmental and scared of "differentness."  I have to say, it is refreshing to see that our students have not fallen prey to the evils of racism.  While that is a credit to their upbringing, I want to remind you that the battle cannot be considered won. 

Our kids are still young - most of them pre-teens.  As they move forward, they will be exposed to a world that is less and less tolerant.  It is true that today, in 2010, we are closer to the "dream" of Martin Luther King, Jr., but, sadly, the dream has not been totally realized.  Hate groups exist.  Racism exists.  Sexism exists.  We constantly hear about people who wield hatred and violence against others based on their religion, their color, or their sexual orientation.  As our kids move forward, we need to equip them with the tools to fight the hatred that exists outside of the protective fortresses that we have created to protect them - our schools, our churches, our homes.

Regardless of your personal morality, I am sure we all share the belief that all human beings, whether they are the same as "us" or different from "us," should be treated with respect and with the rights endowed by our creator.  As Americans, we all have a responsibility to continue to fight for Dr. King's dream that one day our children "will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."  As Americans, we all have a responsibility to leave our children with an America where men and women stand together despite their differences.  As Americans, we all have a responsibility to assure that our country lives out the idea that "all men our created equal."

In a recent interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, who was there when Martin Luther King, Jr. was fatally shot, shared his thoughts on the state of King's dream.

"Each generation must find what it can do to help keep the dream alive," he said.  "As a witness, I can confess that you can kill the dreamer, but you cannot absolutely kill the dream.  The dream is very much alive," he said.

I Have Been to the Mountain Top

I Have a Dream

"Dream is Very Much Alive," Says Friend of Martin Luther King, Jr.

What do we teach our kids?

This past week I read two different articles about high school sports.  They were both interesting and both could teach a lesson.  The two, however, could not have been more different.

On Tuesday night, January 5, Yates High School in Houston, the nation's top high school boys basketball team, posted a 170 - 35 victory over their opponents, Houston (Lee) High.  As if 170 points weren't enough, Yates scored 100 in the first half.  (http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1036676)

"I feel very disrespected right now," Lee coach Jacques Armant told Jenny Dial of The Houston Chronicle. "I don't understand why Yates just kept scoring and pressing when they were up so much. These are kids. It isn't good to do that to other young men."

Yates coach Greg Wise didn't apologize for his team's play.  "We practice running, pressing, trapping every day," he told The Chronicle. "If we get to a game and I tell them not to do what we do in practice, I am not coaching well. I am not leaving my starters in the whole game. We have 15 guys, and all 15 play."

Obviously there is a difference between playing hard and running up the score.  In the end, the embarrassment was too much for Lee.  In the third quarter, one of Lee's players intentionally fouled an opponent that led to a fight on the court.  Approximately 20 players were ejected and both teams had to finish the game with only five players each. 

Whose fault is a brawl like this?  I would say it lies firmly on the shoulders of Wise, Yates' head coach.  This is the kind of thing that is wrong with youth sports.

Contrast this fiasco with the other story I saw this week.

On Monday night, Kirkwood (Missouri) High and Coach Bill Gunn demonstrated the kind of thing that is RIGHT with youth sports.  (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/bryanburwell/story/85971FDCA335EF3C862576A20018DAB0?OpenDocument)

David "Chubbs" Stillman, a four-year team manager and special needs student, took the court as a player.  So many people stepped up to make Monday night a night that "Chubbs" would never forget - Gunn who planned this night nearly two months ago, opposing coach, Chris Wilkerson of Fox High who, along with his team, set the stage for Stillman to end the game with a 3-point shot, Miles Artis, the Kirkwood teammate who gave up his number 23 jersey for the night so that "Chubbs" could wear Michael Jordan's number, Ahmad Hicks, a Kirkwood senior who lobbied the coach to get back in the game in the fourth quarter so that he could pass the ball to David Stillman, and the students and fans of Kirkwood who made the night truly unforgettable with cheers, chants and a storming of the court following the game.

I've attached both stories so that you can read them for yourselves.

The lesson, here, that I learned, is that we as adults have so many opportunities to affect the lives of young people.  Whether it is through athletics, or through our daily lives, parents, teachers, coaches and adults often forget the tremendous power we have in influencing kids.  The story of David Stillman also reminds us that even kids have the chance to make a difference in the lives of others.

Today, and every day, please be mindful of the fact that our kids learn not really from what we say, but what we do.  Kids are much more astute than we give them credit for being and they will pick up on every cue - intentional and unintentional.

The two men in the attached stories taught many lessons to young people.  You and I do that every day as well.  What kind of lessons do you want to be teaching?  We all need to think carefully before we speak, and, more importantly, before we act. 

Yates High School Scores 170-35 Victory Over Opponent

"Special" Is the Right Word at Kirkwood

Special Night for Stillman in Missouri