Saturday Linkety-Links

Better than Friday Links, it's Saturday Linkety-Links! Well, not really making any claims of superiority, of course. I have been intrigued this week by amazing connections popping up between news stories. So much so that it brought on a case of advertisement nostalgia.

So, without further introduction, stories that taste great when you link them together:

Stu dy shows SAT's not helpful in predicting college success. Followed quite soon after by announcement of significant overhaul of SAT's.

Frank Gehry comes out of the woodwork to denounce Inner Arbor Plan for Symphony Woods. Some members of CA Board who talk a lot like Frank Gehry want more control of Inner Arbor Board. See also local reactions.

A rather lovely trio: HCPSS has Spelling Bee. Howard County Library System supports Spelling Bee. Sara Toth of the Sun live-tweets Spelling Bee. @SaraAToth: (It's like watching the Super Bowl, guys, you seriously want to watch it.) #HCLSBee

A little commentary here. In reference to the SAT's, three cheers for the timely self-interest of the Educational Testing Service. Testing is a huge industry--their industry--and they can't possibly run the risk of people thinking they are unnecessary. Even if they are.

On the Inner Arbor news, I have little to say except for this: a concerted effort should be made to find out who solicited (wrote?) the Frank Gehry letter. If that person or persons should turn out to be on the CA Board, then I suggest they should be permanently disqualified from appointment to the Inner Arbor Board. Might take a look at local architects, too. (Self-interest?)

On the Spelling Bee--first, I was unable to find a link on the HCPSS Website, sorry. But it's clearly a school activity as all preliminary rounds happen in the school building during instructional time. Second, the Howard County Library System yet again shows why it is an award-winning library system in this prime example of putting itself right at the heart of educational events and initiatives. This is enlightened self-interest all around at its best. A special tip of the hat to Sara Toth who endured my suggestion that the word "algorism" had something to do with global warming.

I'd love to make Linkety-Links a regular weekend thing, so if you see any, let me know.

Posted with Blogsy

Comments

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...

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...

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...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog