Educational Excellence

Happy Friday, Folks!

And if you leave it up to me, we’re going to all join in with a hearty T.G.I.F.!! Do as you wish, though!

I know many of us have childhood stories … some more different than others … depending on where you grew up … and WHEN! Many of us have seen the stories, social media posts even, mentioning how ” … kids grew up drinking water from the same hose used to water the lawn; kids went biking without helmets (not recommending this!); how kids made go-carts from shopping cart wheels, etcetera; kids fell off of said bicycle or go-cart with scraped knees and elbows, brushed it off and kept on riding!” It’s all relative.

For me, I grew up cherishing the opportunity to play outside. My biggest punishment was that I could NOT go outside until I finished my homework. We played marbles in the dirt, swung on swings, had relay races around “The Big Circle” of the Winbrook Housing Project in White Plains between the three buildings – 11 Fisher … 135 South Lex … and 33 Fisher, and even had tackle football games with no equipment on!! How many times did kids hit that tree trying to tackle me!!

“What brought this on?” you may ask!? Well, the story of the kid near Pittsburgh going to school with two kitchen knives to cut people up. I mean, we had switch blades and hunting knives but I never used one on any of my peers. My dad even had a .22 calibre rifle for me … bolt action … but I never got it out of the LOCKED closet in the living room where he kept his other rifles … and never ever wanted to take it to school!! 22 kids were injured before several people, including one student, a security guard and the assistant principal tackled (also getting sliced or stabbed!) and disarmed the seemingly regular teen-ager. They said he had no arrest record, no drug abuse incidents and no issues with mental illness … so what went wrong? The investigation into motive continues.

How about the former youth pastor here in Broward County that like 10 boys accused of sexually molesting them?! Now, even I … when I heard the number “10” assumed when there are “10 smoking guns” there must be some truth to it! Yet, the jurors … and I mean more than one … said that they could see through the young boys theatrics, conflicting and changed stories. The pastor was found “not guilty” by the jury though there remains the other half of that “terrible 10” who have also accused the pastor of sexual abuse. The pastor’s family was elated, they screamed in the courthouse hallways, he wept and stated that these boys were all thrown out of his residence around the same time!!! This sounds similar to the “Salem Witch Hunt” type stories or even “Lord of the Flies” where kids stranded on a remote island began behaving with a group mentality, seeking to attack and punish the weakest member(s)of their group! Well … I hope it remains true that the pastor is indeed innocent of the pending sexual abuse charges by the remaining 5 young men!! Believe it … or not!

This is why I make sure at some point during each week or every couple of days that I have some fun, and, as a yoga teacher Marya often says, “Smile while you’re doing the asanas! It makes them easier … and … it keeps you young!” Try some “smile therapy!”

Have a great Friday, and a wonderful weekend. I may be joining the Brahma Kumaris World Peace Meditation in Hollywood’s Arts Park on Sunday evening! A special shout out and thanks to Dr. Diane Tillman of “Living Values” for your feedback on my “Peace Post” last week; a fond “hola” to my ACORN organizer brother “Don Rafa” Raphael Ventura Rosa who often replies; and to Roz Reich of the Hollywood Brahma Kumaris group! Y’all keep me writing! Thanks for reading, too.

What will you do to keep yourself happy?! Smile while you’re doing it, okay?! Namaste

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director