Skip to main content

It's A Long Story

This summer I thought a lot about what it means for my daughter to be a student in the GT program at school. I get the feeling that kids think: they test you, you're smart, so that's your designation. If the work gets tough for you, they may throw you out, because it means you're not smart enough. That's what comes from having so much of your childhood determined by tests.

I wanted to give my daughter a different perspective. So I developed the Grit and Determination concept. GT doesn't stand for Gifted and Talented, I told her. It stands for Grit and Determination: the qualities that GT students are willing to use when the work gets tough. I worked it all out in my head; I was very excited.

Of course, my GT student immediately saw through my plan. "Doesn't Determination begin with a D?" she asked, helpfully. Yes, well...

Today I present you with the result of Grit and Determination:

Oakland Mills Village Manager, Sandy Cederbaum, has been working to get a new sign for our Village Center for a long, long time. How long? Well, the old sign is mentioned in the Master Plan as being almost seven years old. And that was in 2007. So, the sign which was put up as a temporary sign during the Village Center construction--the sign which was old and worn in 2007--was still sitting there in 2013. Until yesterday.

Sandy has been working, negotiating, sending emails, making phone calls, and following up on all of this to get a new, permanent sign for our center. This has involved years of work with Cedar Properties. She never gave up. I can't imagine how frustrating this was. I'm not sure that I would have had the tenacity that she has shown as she worked steadily towards her goal.

So, a giant-sized HoCo Holler! today to Sandy Cederbaum, the extremely gifted and talented Village Manager in Oakland Mills. Her grit and determination are a sign of what I love about our community.

hocoblogs@@@

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more