Politics with Julia

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that the kids and I have a lot of political discussions.  The most recent one was a perfect example of how literal Julia really is.

Katie and I were discussing how terrible it would be for this country if Donald Trump was elected.  It started off as a real discussion about real issues but then Katie jokingly said, "The most awful thing would be if he enacted a law that said we must all wear our hair like he does."  We laughed...and went on with the conversation.

Fast forward to a few days later when Julia comes into my office and says to me, "Mom, if Donald Trump is elected, can we please move to England?"  When I asked her why she didn't like the idea of Trump being president, she said, "Because of the hair thing.  He has awful hair!  If he makes that stupid rule we will need to leave immediately."  She was dead serious.  She thought the rule could become reality despite it being a ridiculous and, she completely missed the "social que" (laughter indicating the humor).

I mean honestly, as long as she is on board with Trump as President being a bad idea, the reasoning really doesn't matter, right?  And let's face it...his hair is awful!

Vote For Allin Frawley On April 2nd

What follows is a letter to the editor of the Middleboro Gazette that unfortunately did not make this weeks edition.  I fully support Allin and ask that you join with me in bringing a positive change to Middleboro by voting for him on April 2nd.

I am writing to voice my support for Board of Selectman candidate Allin Frawley.  Allin will bring to the board the dedication, common sense approach and drive needed to make a difference in Middleboro. 

In many ways, Allin has already shown a commitment to the town of Middleboro.  Through his past and present service on various town committees including the Charter Review/Change Committee, the Conservation Committee, the Open Space Planning Committee, the EMS Committee, the Community Preservation Act Bylaw Committee and the Zoning Recodification Task Force, Allin has demonstrated his desire to take an active role in the town.  Allin also attends Board of Selectmen meetings on a regular basis.  

More than that, Allin has proven to be accessible to the citizens of this town.  Recognizing that there has never been an easier or more effective way to stay in immediate and direct contact with his supporters, Allin has developed a website as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts.  In addition, he has opened a campaign headquarters downtown where voters can stop in, meet Allin, ask questions and share their concerns.  His willingness to listen and respond to voters will make him, if elected, a true representative of the people.

I ask you to join me in voting for Allin on April 2^nd.  As a selectman, Allin will represent Middleboro honorably and will make sure that our voices are heard.

DC Update

What follows is the letter I sent to the PTA membership shortly after I got back from DC.

The PTA's mission is to be a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for the education and well-being of every child.  This mission has never been more clear to me than it was at the National PTA Federal Legislative Conference held in Washington, DC last week.  As a representative of the Massachusetts PTA Delegation (which also included President Mary Ann Stewart and President-Elect, Erik Champy) I had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with PTA leaders from all over the country and Europe.  This experience gave me an inspired and new perspective on how far reaching and influential the PTA can truly be.  The PTA is not just about fundraising.  It's about parents taking action, creating community partnerships, and empowering parents to become engaged and involved.

While in DC, I was able to participate in various trainings which were informative and interesting. I learned an incredible amount of information that I look forward to applying to my "job" as President of the Middleborough Elementary PTA.

Perhaps the most exciting and empowering part of my experience took place when the PTA "stormed" Capitol Hill.  On Thursday, March 10th conference attendees from all over the country met with their states Congressmen and Senators, sharing the PTA message, "Every Child, One Voice."  The Massachusetts PTA met directly with Congressman Barney Frank and with the offices of Congressman Ed Markey, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, and Senators Kerry and Brown.  Though he did not meet directly with us, Senator Brown stopped by to say hello.  During our meetings we discussed the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act-No Child Left Behind, the importance of family engagement in education and the current budget crisis.  We were well received and could tell that our representatives and senators truly appreciate hearing from their constituents.  Below is a picture of the Massachusetts PTA with Congressman Barney Frank.  

I have always been passionate about the PTA and advocating on behalf of children.  This experience allowed me the opportunity to develop that passion even further.  It truly was an inspiring and exciting event.

Capitol Hill: Here I Come!

 I leave tomorrow with the Massachusetts State PTA Delegation for Washington, DC.  While in DC, I will have the opportunity to take part in many trainings including,  21st Century Voices: Using Social Media to Persuade and Inform, Education and the Federal Budget, and Taking It To The Hill: PTA's 2011 Public Policy Agenda.  Representing the State of Massachusetts  will be President of the Massachusetts PTA, Mary Ann Stewart, President-Elect, Erik Champy and myself (State Advocacy Chair/Federal Legislative Chair).  On Thursday, March 10th, we have confirmed meetings with Massachusetts State Senators Kerry and Brown,  Congressmen Barney Frank and Ed Markey and Congresswoman, Niki Tsongas.  We will be discussing the Re-Authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act-No Child Left Behind (ESEA-NCLB), the soon to be introduced Family Engagement In Education Bill, as well as the Federal Education Budget.  I am very excited to have this opportunity and look forward to sharing my experiences when I return.  In the meantime, I plan to provide regular updates from the Hill via a new Twitter handle I just set up.  I will use this new account after I return as well, to promote my interest in education, advocacy, and political and social activism.  You can follow me at @sharonmellis1.

*Cross posted at http://mepta.blogspot.com*

Back To Life

It was back to "real life" today for the Ellis Family and I think the kids were actually excited to get back in to a schedule.  Other than having company for the latter half of the week, we didn't really do anything all that exciting.  I think the kids wish we had, but for me, a nice relaxing week of nothing was needed and well deserved.  Only Julia was slightly hesitant about heading back to school but this is normal for her.  It has always been a bit of an adjustment for her to get back in to the swing of things after a break.

Reality for me means that I am very busy.  As luck would have it, this week is fairly low key with meetings (only two which must be some sort of record).  I was planning on going to the BOS meeting tonight but I think I am going to watch this one from home.  I have a lot to do before my trip to DC next week and since I will be gone for three days, I want to be home with the family as much as possible before then.  Tomorrow night I have the third of four planned Strategic Planning meetings for the School Department and Wednesday I will be at PTSA at the middle school.  The kids have a few things going on (a basketball practice, playoff basketball game and a doctor's appointment for Katherine and Scouts, PTSA and a cookie sale for Emily).  My lack of meetings will make this week easier, but certainly no less busy when you throw in the kids schedules.

My plans for the remainder of the afternoon are trip related.  I need to figure out and arrange for transportation to and from the airport and the hotel as well as figure out exactly what I will need to bring for money (most expenses are paid for by the National PTA but there are a few things I will need to take care of). I need to make phone calls to confirm meetings with Senators Kerry and Brown as well as Congressman Frank.   I am also going to finish putting together my binder with all of the information I need to have with me so that will be all set.  After that, the OCD part of me will be making a complete listing of everything Ryun  needs to know while I am gone.  I wouldn't consider my self to be controlling or a control freak but when it comes to the kids, their schedules and routines, yes, I am slightly obsessed.  That aside, there are certain things that I just always do...things like go through their school materials when they get home, make sure homework gets done etc.  It has always just been my job and while I have every confidence that Ryun knows what to do and is more than capable of doing it, it will make me feel better to have it in writing.  Even re-reading this I realize how crazy this sounds but, um, it won't stop me from doing it.  I am just going to embrace the crazy...it is what it is, right?

Anyway, off to it.  There are only a couple of hours left before the kids get home!

Confirmed

I am happy to report that I will be attending the National PTA Federal Legislative Conference in March.  I will have the opportunity to meet with Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown as well as Middleborough's Representative, Barney Frank and spread the PTA message (which can be found here).

In other related news, I am now officially serving a dual role on the MA PTA Board.  I am both the State Advocacy Chair and the Federal Legislative Chair.

Who knew that when I joined the PTA six years ago it would lead to all of this?

And This Is Just Today's Agenda.

-condensing PTA Committee Reports and the newsletter
-updating the funds available reports for the Principals
-paying a few PTA bills
-printing the PTA Public Policy Agenda for 2011
-gathering responses to see if we will have a rescheduled School Council meeting Wednesday and emailing Mrs. L to let her know
-updating the new PTA treasurer with the details of what is what
-responding to PTA emails, writing a summary of the Federal Legislative call from last month
-continuing the development of the PTA website
-deciding if I can be available tomorrow nights PTA federal Legislative call
-printing and updating calendars for the bulletin board
-looking in to scheduling the PTA SHARP program at Nichols this summer (instead of HBB due to reconfiguration)
-emailing the PTA about up and coming volunteer opportunities
-typing up the notes for last weeks MKG/HBB School Council meeting
-planning for a meeting with Kate's teacher tomorrow
-rescheduling an appointment for Emily

I have a feeling all of this will go well in to the evening hours.  Had I not made the decision to limit my intake I might have been asking for caffeine on an IV drip. It's a good thing I love every minute of all of this otherwise this list might look a bit more...daunting. 

Break time is officially over.  Back to it I go!

PTA Update

During a MA PTA Board Meeting via conference call yesterday, I found out I may have the opportunity to attend the Federal Legislative Conference in DC this March.  To help put this in to perspective a bit regarding how excited I am about this possibility, last years guest speaker was Michelle Obama. I am not sure who it will be this year.

The first day of the conference is workshops.  I have already picked the workshops that I would like to participate in (Taking It To The Hill: PTA's 2011 Public Policy Agenda, 21st Century Voices: Using the Power Of Social Media to Persuade and Inform, Education and the Federal Budget, and Using Family Engagement to Drive Student Achievement).  The next day is visits to Capitol Hill to meet with our MA senators and representatives to bring forth our PTA message and the Public Policy Agenda. 

If this all works out, I couldn't even begin to tell you how excited I would be to do this. 

We also started planning our visit to Beacon Hill to discuss the budget with our local and state representatives.  We have a room reserved that hold 50 people (100 if we are standing).  It will be sent out to PTA members statewide to attend and we (or me being he advocacy chair) will present our thoughts and concerns regarding the state budget and how it relates to children.  I am pretty excited about this too (except for the part that involves driving or otherwise commuting to Boston).

Over the next few weeks I plan to do a lot of homework.  I am going to review all of my information about advocacy, how a bill becomes a law, when bills are brought forth, deadlines, the re-authorization of ESEA, and the just released 2011 Public Policy Agenda.  I want to make sure I am 100% confident and ready (even though at this point I have committed a lot of this to memory already).

What Part About This Is Funny Again?

This is one of the reasons we are where we are in this country. When people don't even know who their elected/appointed officials are, or how many their are how will it be possible to change anything? The part that gets to me most is that these people, who clearly do not educate themselves about the goings on in this country are probably same people who somehow feel like they have a right to complain. That right is earned...by voting and voting intelligently (and by intelligently I mean by educating yourself and knowing who and what you are voting for).

Check it out.

And no, this is not a hallucination...I did update twice in an hours time.

More On The Election

As mentioned in the previous post, I find election calls to be an annoying waste of my time. I don't need a phone call to help me make my decision regarding who to vote for. However, in most cases, I try to at least listen to what the person on the other end has to say and maybe even have an educated discussion with them. If I get more than one phone call from a specific candidate though (read: Charlie Baker) it is considered by me to be rude and somewhat intrusive. This is what I was referring to in the last post when I interrupted the person on the other end of the line before they had a chance to talk. More annoying than the call itself? It's the bleeping pre-recorded messages that I keep getting from Senator Brown asking me to support Baker. These calls lack pretty much everything that could potentially influence my decisions on election day; personal connection, ability to have a conversation if I so desire etc.

And no, I wasn't planning on voting for Baker anyway, but pre-recorded messages from Senator Brown (who I also didn't vote for) certainly wouldn't sway me.

Influence

I felt only slightly bad last night cutting off someone calling for my vote during the election by saying, "I made my decision regarding who to vote for before your call, and it wasn't for your candidate" before the speaker even had a chance to say anything.

I don't know why really, but political calls annoy me. I understand why they are made (mostly for polling purposes I assume) but I wonder how much influence they have on how someone votes. I know for me if you call me asking for my vote I am just going to be aggravated by it. Maybe it is because I am someone who actually researches and educates myself about the candidates and I don't need a phone call to help make my decision. I wonder the same thing about lawn signs. Do these signs actually influence or change the way someone votes? I guess it might make a difference to someone who doesn't do the research and votes solely on the basis of who signs they have seen the most of. Is this any way to vote though? I suppose the candidates don't care, as long as they are elected. It is just a major turn off for me when someone doesn't educate themselves about who will represent them and clearly, someone who votes based solely on signs, is not making a well informed decision.

It isn't all that shocking that every political call I have gotten in this election year has been from a Republican candidate. It makes sense in the current political climate. I am registered as an independent (or is it called undeclared now?) but I honestly don't think I have ever voted for a Republican. I just wanted the option. I truly do vote for the person, not the party. It just so happens that I have always liked more what the Democratic candidate had to say.

History...Part Two

What follows is the blog entry I wrote on September 11th, 2002.

One year. The days have passed so quickly. Some days were filled with fear, others with grief, and some just seemed like regular days.

Life has gone on. Not to downplay or undermine the fear or the grief but, we had to go on. We as Americans as difficult as it has been and may continue to be, had to show the world that we will not cower to acts of terrorism. The pride, the commitment, the American dream whatever you may perceive that to be, has never been stronger. The terrorists successfully knocked down two American landmarks and damaged another. The one thing they will never succeed in doing is knocking down or harming in any way American pride. It has always been here and it always will. Nobody will ever take that away, nobody ever could.

When I think of September 11th, I can't help but think of the children whose parents were taken away from them so abruptly. I think of the first group of Americans to declare a war on terrorism...the brave passengers of flight 93 who valiantly and successfully prevented the potential loss of many more lives. I think of the heroes, the men and women who thought nothing of their own lives to save the lives of others. Is there anything more noble or admirable than that? I don't think so.

I have the privilege and honor of living in a country where freedom prevails. I have a wonderful family and friends and the two most precious children in the world. During life's hard times, if I remember all of that, I will be much better off than a lot of people in this world.

In honor and tribute to the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001...with gratitude beyond words for the brave men and women serving our country today... may we never forget their sacrifices, may we never forget how fortunate we are.

History

In the days that followed September 11th, 2001 Ryun and I gathered and saved virtually everything we could get our hands on regarding the terror attacks. From newspapers, to news reports, to magazines, to yes, even comic books, we managed to gather a good number of things. Our plan was to save it, and show it to our children when they got older and could better understand what had happened, why it happened, and how dramatically it changed the world as we knew it. About a year later, near the first anniversary of the attacks, I sat down and went through it all. I compiled a scrapbook of the articles and pictures we had saved. I organized and labeled the video tapes. I looked through and documented the magazines and books. Then, I boxed everything up and put it away.

It was back in 2006 when I took this collection out for the first time. I wanted to wait until I thought Emily was old enough to at least have some understanding of what happened. Before that it was too hard to look at, and, even now, years later, it's still not easy. I will take it out again though. Katherine is old enough to see it now, and I am sure both Emily and Katherine will most likely have some discussion about it in school. I took pictures of the collection when I took it out back in 2006. Click on each picture to see a larger version.

The whole collection.

Some of the headlines I cut from newspapers and magazines, creating a two page layout in the scrapbook.

Land of the free, home of the brave.

The Heroes of 9/11/2001. Included on this page are the Firefighter and Policeman's prayers.

A close up of some of the books and tapes on which we recorded numerous 9/11 news reports.

Another close up of some of the magazines etc. To the far left is the aforementioned comic book entitled, "Heroes" put out by Marvel Comics.

This is the front page of the Boston Herald, one year later. Although it is hard to see in the picture, the small black print you see there, lists the names of every victim of the terror attacks.

My message...

...to the Middleboro BOS:

"If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

Note I did not say:

"If you can't take the heat, tell the public to shut their collective mouths."

Just for clarification.

Parent and Community Involvement In Education

Here is an interesting article about how crucial parent involvement in education is, and how powerful the PTA can and should be in the movement to increase parent involvement and effectiveness in school.

I found this piece very interesting: "Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial," University of New Hampshire economist Karen Conway recently reported. "We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement." Could parent involvement be the key to reigning in the budget a bit requiring fewer layoffs and other budget cuts? It certainly is something to think about.

At a recent PTA training, I took part in a workshop that focused heavily on touting a PTA as a community rather than school based organization. This article touches on that a bit and I couldn't agree more. One of the reasons I signed on and was elected as my local unit President for an additional two year term was so that I could help reshape and rework the image of PTA on a local, state, and national level. It is becoming increasingly clear that our work needs to extend beyond the bake sale and in to the community. With parent involvement, community support and the continued work of our teachers and administrators, our students are sure to succeed!