After School

As a teacher, I can not stress the value of after school programs. They keep our students off the streets and keep them learning. They also ease the burden of many working parents across the nation. I urge you to support after school programs. I grew up with two working parents who instilled a strong sense of pride in education. However, they couldn't be home everyday after school. When my family's financial situation no longer afforded the luxury of private childcare, we relied on after school programs. During those after school programs, I participated in all sorts of character-building activities. I'd like to point out that I turned out pretty well....okay, I don't have too many weird quirks!

Here are some key points from Mom's Rising:

School hasn't started yet, but... it's already time to start getting our collective ducks in a row about afterschool programs. Did you know that each school day 40,000 kindergartners are home alone after school, and a total of more than 14 million children don't have any place to go after the final school bell rings?TAKE ACTION FOR AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS: For the first time in years, Congress is considering a needed increase in federal funding for the afterschool programs that keep kids safe, help working families, and inspire students to learn.
*Click here to email a letter in support of these programs to your Congressperson today: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=390681531&url_num=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.democracyinaction.org%2Fdia%2ForganizationsORG%2Fmomsrising%2Fcampaign.jsp%3Fcampaign_KEY%3D12204

THE LOWDOWN: The majority of modern families have both parents in the labor force, and three-quarters of mothers are in the labor force these days. Yet afterschool care and programs haven't caught up with the modern reality of working families. High quality afterschool programs are critical for thriving kids, and for our economic future.
Providing afterschool care not only benefits kids, but also the community coffers. A study of the effects of the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002 found that every $1.00 spent on an at-risk youth in an afterschool program brings a return of up to $13.00, mainly due to the amount saved by channeling the at-risk youth away from a life of crime (the juvenile crime rate is highest in the hours after school). Providing afterschool programs to non-risk youth also brings a hefty return (up to $4.00 for every $1.00 spent) due to, in part, improved school performance and graduation rates.
HELP SUPPORT AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS NOW: Your emailed letter to Congress will help support the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative which provides grants to communities to run quality afterschool programs. The program, which serves 1 million children nationwide, has suffered funding freezes and small cuts over the past six years. The House and Senate need to hear from us that greater investment is needed in these afterschool programs. Showing strong support for increasing afterschool funding will be critical if we are to realize any increase this year. CONTACT CONGRESS TODAY: Ask your leaders to support increased funding for the 21st CCLC program in the fiscal year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill.
*To take action, just go to: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=390681531&url_num=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.democracyinaction.org%2Fdia%2ForganizationsORG%2Fmomsrising%2Fcampaign.jsp%3Fcampaign_KEY%3D12204
Please forward this email to your friends and family so they can take action as well.
Hope you are enjoying the summer! - The MomsRising Team
p.s. A special thank you to the Afterschool Alliance for their excellent work on behalf of these issues, and for working with us to pull together this message.

Whatever Oprah wants....

she gets.

Even though it's been over a year since the whole James Frey and Oprah feud began, it still bothers me.

Interestingly enough, some Oprah-business happened here in the great state of Texas. This past weekend the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest took place in Grapevine, Texas. In attendance were Joyce Carol Oates and Nan Talese of Doubleday Publishing. Doubleday publishes the works of many well-known authors, including James Frey. During the conference, Talese commented on the situation that occured with Frey and Oprah, saying that Ms. Winfrey ambushed the author when inviting him on her show for the second time. The show was originally going to be about telling the truth and would include a panel of guests, but before the show began Talese and Frey learned that it would be "The James Frey Controversy."

Now we can't go assuming that Oprah ambushed him because we haven't heard her side of the story. But, frankly, who cares? Not me! Even if she is innocent of ambushing Frey, her treatment of him was less than god-like, and in this country we treat her as if she were a god.

I'm not excusing what Frey did, but I think we're all guilty of "publishing" lies. It could be at work when telling a funny story to co-workers. While the anecdote you're telling may have happened to a friend, you cast your self as the main character. Think about it. You probably just did that before reading this. It's the same with writing. Let's face it, a memoir of your life, even if you are an addict, may not be that exciting. Joyce Carol Oates even says, "the tradition of personal memoir has always been highly 'fictionalized' — colored with an individual's own 'emotional truth' "

Oprah could've approached the whole situation differently. She needs compassion. She preaches it, but she rarely practices it. Memoirs help readers to deal with problems. It helps us to know that someone else may be in our situation or that maybe our situation isn't that bad after all. If we keep fact-checking, we may not have writers willing to reveal their struggles to society. In fact, Oates writes fiction for that reason. "She says that she has never read Frey's book and that she chooses to write fiction because memoirs today 'strain credulity.'"

I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't cite my sources. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1648140,00.html?cnn=yes

Keep Literature Alive!

For My Dad

My dad, in his excitement over my new blog, suggested I post the picture of our debut in the Dallas Morning News. I'm sure many of you have already seen the article, or maybe you just don't care. Here is a copy of the newspaper I scanned. We appeared in the paper on July 8th, 2007, over a year after we met.

I'm very lucky to have Murad in my life. While we have many obstacles, our relationship is one of great ease. I never feel as though the work we do is work! I hope our relationship can be half as good as my parents' marriage!!!

Maybe we'll be in the Dallas Morning News in fifty years for another true romance story!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/lifetravel/stories/DN-NSL_romance_0708liv.ART.State.Edition1.15fb754.html

Katie's Visit

One of my good friends came to visit this weekend from Wichita. Our weekend revolved around one of our favorite passtimes, FOOD! Okay, maybe it didn't revolve around food, but it was a big part of our weekend. The first day Katie was here we hit up our favorite little cafe and bakery called Sweet Temptations. Sweet Temptations is in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas and is a favorite among teachers in Richardson. We both dined on Angel Hair Pasta with Pecan-Crusted Chicken.

That evening we ate some Pizza Hut a favorite of both of us. Katie's husband is not a big fan of Pizza Hut, so Katie used her vacation time wisely by suggesting we order a pizza!

The next day we bypassed lunch for Baskin-Robbins ice cream. Katie's parents used to own Baskin-Robbins in Wichita, and both of us worked there during high school. I ate three kid's scoops of Baseball Nut, World Class Chocolate and Peanut Butter & Chocolate. Katie had Strawberry Cheesecake, Peanut Butter & Chocolate and Pralines N' Cream. Yummy!

For the conclusion of our world tour of Dallas eateries, we dined at Central Market today. We both had the chicken tacos and loved it!!! I love going to Central Market and picking out food from their wonderful selection!

Besides the food, Katie and I had a blast!! We did tons of shopping and we saw the new Simpsons movie!!!! I suggest seeing this movie, especially if you love the show. It's hilarious. I'll try not to give away the details, but remember, "you can't kill a pig in people clothes!"

Sweet Temptations http://www.stcafe.com/index.html

Central Market http://www.centralmarket.com/cm/index.jsp

Baskin-Robbins http://www.baskinrobbins.com/

Katie's Blog http://www.glitteringquicksilver.blogspot.com/

Dallas World Aquarium

I just wanted to include some of my thoughts on the Dallas World Aquarium. I've been there twice now and I love it! It's a little overpriced, but it's a great day for the family. The Dallas World Aquarium has wildlife from all over the world. While the majority of their exhibits are underwater, they have some great animals such as a sloth and a beautiful, ebony panther.

Murad and I also had the pleasure of seeing the mating process of two turtles. We couldn't get a good photo of this because the stingray provided a shield from our camera!

Anyways, if you're in Dallas, the Dallas World Aquarium is a great way to spend the afternoon.

A Pale September is upon us....

Hello

Well, I decided to take my Oprah ramblings and life updates and turn them into a blog. No more mass email updates! Besides being an annoying, impersonal way to update friends and family, they made me feel self-absorbed. Now, if you want to know about my life, you can read my blog and if not, you don't have to read it!! I will no longer force you to learn about my wonderful life through mass emails!

The explanation for my blog title.

As many of you know my favorite singer is Fiona Apple. So it would only be fitting to have one of her songs as my title. Pale September is from her first album, Tidal. I feel like the song effectively conveys my experience with love. I also feel as though, it works well because being a teacher my year pretty much starts in September. Although that year is anything but pale, I still think the name works. I've enclosed the lyrics:

Pale september, I wore the time like a dress that year

The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on my skin

But as the embers of the summer lost their breath and disappeared

My heart went cold and only hollow rhythms resounded from within

But then he rose, brilliant as the moon in fullAnd sank in the burrows of my keep

And all my armour falling down, in a pile at my feet

And my winter giving way to warm, as Im singing him to sleep

He goes along just as a water lily

Gentle on the surface of his thoughts his body floats

Unweighted down by passion or intensity

Yet unaware of the depth upon which he coasts

And he finds a home in me

For what misfortune sows, he knows my touch will reap

And all my armour failing down, in a pile at my feet

And my winter giving way to warm, as Im singing him to sleep

All my armour falling down, in a pile at my feet

And my winter giving way to warm, as Im singing him to sleep