This year Christmas was different in 2015. First, it was the first time of spending Christmas at home in Minnesota in about a decade. I don't mind traveling at all, in fact I really enjoy traveling, but traveling at Christmas can really tally up the expenses at time of year when with a higher level of financial requirements. The other main reason being that I took a new job this past fall and I simply don't have the same amount of time off as I once did. That really threw a wrench in things, but it was my choosing when I decided to change jobs.
So, the holidays this year started off with a visit to WWE's Monday Night Raw on Monday, December 21st, 2015. I went with my brother, Chris Savoren, and my cousin, Billy Savoren. It was a lot of fun and I think this tradition will continue as more RAWs come to town.
I, then, was able to take a vacation day in combination with some overage worked from the prior week to go to my mom's house on Wednesday, December 23rd. This was the first Christmas my wife and I attended at my mom's since 2014. Back in early November of this year, shortly after the passing of my late grandfather, people finally came together to sort out some differences. While not all participants were in attendance, the bulk of the issues, at least everything that involved the people in attendance was sorted out. I knew it would come together if people would just make the time to sit down and talk. It really only took about an hour or so to patch up some differences that affected relationships for 13 months. The sad reality with technology of our current era is that everything can get misinterpreted easily and also very quickly. If something is in all CAPS then people think they being yelled at. If someone says one thing, and it is read in a different way from a different viewpoint, then a conflict has started. It is really sad because it can make the world so lonely and conflicted.
This blog did contribute to the issues that occurred this past year within my family. However, I don't regret it and I don't regret it for a couple of reasons. The first being that it brought people together to discuss some very tough issues that have been avoided for over two decades. The second reason is because this blog has allowed me to express my feelings in forum where I was able to do it uninterrupted. Many of the topics that caused the issues, often times were not allowed to be discussed or off the table. Had I not started this blog, all these feelings would've been kept inside still eating at me, which is not healthy.
The lesson here today is that it is okay to sit down and talk about differences. If it is done respectfully and if people keep an open mind, then all viewpoints and opinions can be shared, seen, and heard. I will continue to be honest about my feelings with this blog. I will also continue to do it respectfully. If respect is not maintained, then it is suddenly a behavior. If a behavior is occurring then the reactions of that behavior becomes the focus, instead of the topic at hand.
So, Christmas was a much better version in 2015 than 2014. I reunited with some family, I got to spend a Christmas at home, and some long lasting issues were maybe not totally resolved, but there is a much better understanding on everyone's views.
I love my wife. I love my dogs. I miss and think about my grandma and grandpa everyday since my grandpa, Ellsworth Thomey, passed away in late October. Please watch over me grandma and grandpa.
One last plug. Make sure to check out the Bjorn Jobnson Internet Program podcast as I will be a guest on the podcast in the near future. It was a lot of fun talking with Bjorn and it is a great way to get to know even more about me. If you have an iPhone or iPad, click on the Podcast App, open it, and search the Bjorn Johnson Internet Program. It's easy.
If I didn't get a chance to see you during that holiday season, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I will see you soon.
#merrychristmas
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Thursday, December 10, 2015
*BREAKING NEWS!* Hey No Child Left Behind Act, Please Let The Door Hit You In The Ass On The Way Out!
Hey everyone, today was a pretty big day in the world of education. While in many cases, it didn't make the top story on the local news in Minnesota, the news was most certainly top story newsworthy. Today, our President Of The United States put an end to the very dysfunctional No Child Left Behind Act that was passed back in 2001.
Many that are not in the education field may not feel like celebrating this change, but those who are educators and parents of students, should be celebrating. You see, lately I have been attending a number of trainings for my new job. My career change will be a focus in the future. The constant message in all of these trainings I have been to recently was two things. Connectivity and Relationships. The idiotic idea of expecting every single child to accomplish the same tasks at the same rate is mind blowing. This is not the way to accomplish educational improvement and it certainly took the enjoyment out of education for the students.
The No Child Left Behind Act that President George W. Bush thought was a foolproof plan, took every ounce of individuality out of education. It really was a disrespect to the services of Special Education and also to even acknowledging that there are different learning styles that exist. Our President at that time thought everyone should be able to listen to a lecture, take a test, and recall the facts to show that our students can remember facts. In the meantime, the life skills that were so vital to education were placed on the back burner almost instantly due to the fact that if the students didn't remember those facts, then the teacher was on the chopping block because those test scores were not acceptable. What a lot stress for the teachers, and even more stress for the students. Many of those life skills programs such as physical education, music and arts, and many more electives were eliminated to put the focus on those core subjects that those famous tests featured so our students could be champions in the game of Memory.
I have worked with many types of students in the past 10 years. I have seen advanced students who are in high school that are reading at or above a college level, and I have seen even more students who were severely behind due to a number of circumstances. I worked with a home school student who entered a public school for the first time in 9th grade and was reading at a first grade level. I have also seen students who suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries due to severe abuse by people who were supposed to love and support them. I have even worked with students who were screwed from the get go by being exposed to harmful illegal drugs, like heroin and meth, when they were still in the womb. But by all means, lets expect everyone to be machines and perform at the same ability level and at the same pace. This is foolish and a bigger recipe for disaster.
I really hope with the elimination of the No Child Left Behind Act that the focus returns to connecting with students and building those relationships. It should be almost guaranteed that the amount of instruction time should increase simply because of the time eliminated on all these exams that focus on recalling facts. Memorizing, not learning.
It has been very apparent throughout the years that the all important value known as respect has vanished in this process of putting the focus on taking tests instead of connecting with students. Respect amongst teachers and students has taken a licking badly, as proven in St. Paul, Minnesota this week, where there have been 28 student assaults on teachers in Ramsey County in the first 14 weeks of this academic school year. This is alarming and I am glad to see the St. Paul School faculty taking a stand for higher measures of security and safety. Safety should always be the number one priority, not money, and not memorizing facts and recalling them on a test.
In closing, I don't know what the future holds for the education system now that the No Child Left Behind Act has finally been put out of its misery. I hope the opportunity is taken to reinstall the life skills back into education along with the already existent core subjects. I think if we educate with the mindset that there are different learning styles, different ability levels, the need to respect the Individual Education Plans, and get back to recognizing individuals and educating them that way, then I think we will see even better and more successful results. I think the students will start enjoying education again and stopping stressing that they have to pass this, that, and every single damn test that is thrown at them from grades 3 to 12 just to get a diploma no matter what their GPA is. If done right, the focus could be helping a student become a well-rounded educated adult that is able to function, contribute, and succeed as a productive member of our society.
I know that choices are the responsibility of the people that make them, and I am a strong advocate for appropriate accountability, and that will never go away and nor should it. However, it may be possible that the elimination of this act, that didn't get the attention it should have today, may end up being a key step in starting to eliminate the violence in schools. Don't get me wrong, there are many other pieces that need to be put into place to address the violence happening in schools, but I would go out on a limb to suggest that lowering the student and teacher stress by reducing the number of these stupid ass exams, is a good first step.
#ripnochildleftbehindact
Many that are not in the education field may not feel like celebrating this change, but those who are educators and parents of students, should be celebrating. You see, lately I have been attending a number of trainings for my new job. My career change will be a focus in the future. The constant message in all of these trainings I have been to recently was two things. Connectivity and Relationships. The idiotic idea of expecting every single child to accomplish the same tasks at the same rate is mind blowing. This is not the way to accomplish educational improvement and it certainly took the enjoyment out of education for the students.
The No Child Left Behind Act that President George W. Bush thought was a foolproof plan, took every ounce of individuality out of education. It really was a disrespect to the services of Special Education and also to even acknowledging that there are different learning styles that exist. Our President at that time thought everyone should be able to listen to a lecture, take a test, and recall the facts to show that our students can remember facts. In the meantime, the life skills that were so vital to education were placed on the back burner almost instantly due to the fact that if the students didn't remember those facts, then the teacher was on the chopping block because those test scores were not acceptable. What a lot stress for the teachers, and even more stress for the students. Many of those life skills programs such as physical education, music and arts, and many more electives were eliminated to put the focus on those core subjects that those famous tests featured so our students could be champions in the game of Memory.
I have worked with many types of students in the past 10 years. I have seen advanced students who are in high school that are reading at or above a college level, and I have seen even more students who were severely behind due to a number of circumstances. I worked with a home school student who entered a public school for the first time in 9th grade and was reading at a first grade level. I have also seen students who suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries due to severe abuse by people who were supposed to love and support them. I have even worked with students who were screwed from the get go by being exposed to harmful illegal drugs, like heroin and meth, when they were still in the womb. But by all means, lets expect everyone to be machines and perform at the same ability level and at the same pace. This is foolish and a bigger recipe for disaster.
I really hope with the elimination of the No Child Left Behind Act that the focus returns to connecting with students and building those relationships. It should be almost guaranteed that the amount of instruction time should increase simply because of the time eliminated on all these exams that focus on recalling facts. Memorizing, not learning.
It has been very apparent throughout the years that the all important value known as respect has vanished in this process of putting the focus on taking tests instead of connecting with students. Respect amongst teachers and students has taken a licking badly, as proven in St. Paul, Minnesota this week, where there have been 28 student assaults on teachers in Ramsey County in the first 14 weeks of this academic school year. This is alarming and I am glad to see the St. Paul School faculty taking a stand for higher measures of security and safety. Safety should always be the number one priority, not money, and not memorizing facts and recalling them on a test.
In closing, I don't know what the future holds for the education system now that the No Child Left Behind Act has finally been put out of its misery. I hope the opportunity is taken to reinstall the life skills back into education along with the already existent core subjects. I think if we educate with the mindset that there are different learning styles, different ability levels, the need to respect the Individual Education Plans, and get back to recognizing individuals and educating them that way, then I think we will see even better and more successful results. I think the students will start enjoying education again and stopping stressing that they have to pass this, that, and every single damn test that is thrown at them from grades 3 to 12 just to get a diploma no matter what their GPA is. If done right, the focus could be helping a student become a well-rounded educated adult that is able to function, contribute, and succeed as a productive member of our society.
I know that choices are the responsibility of the people that make them, and I am a strong advocate for appropriate accountability, and that will never go away and nor should it. However, it may be possible that the elimination of this act, that didn't get the attention it should have today, may end up being a key step in starting to eliminate the violence in schools. Don't get me wrong, there are many other pieces that need to be put into place to address the violence happening in schools, but I would go out on a limb to suggest that lowering the student and teacher stress by reducing the number of these stupid ass exams, is a good first step.
#ripnochildleftbehindact
Sunday, December 6, 2015
The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program
Hey everyone. Long time, no talk. I have no excuse for my recent absence from my blogging, other than I procrastinated on it. Today, I visited with a good friend of mine as I was invited to record an episode on his podcast program. The message from today that stuck with me out of all of our conversations is that Bjorn Johnson reminded me that I should keep writing. He pointed out how he enjoyed getting to know me through my blog writings and how he had seen the improvement in my writing in the short amount of time that I have been blogging.
I really have been impressed with Bjorn. While Bjorn has been dealt with some challenging situations in life, he always looks forward. Bjorn was in a position in his life where he could've truly mailed it in and just went through the motions, but he refused to do that. That my friends is much easier said than done and Bjorn made it look easy, even though I know it wasn't.
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to be a guest on Bjorn's podcast called "The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program." The arranged date for the recording was today and when I visited with Bjorn prior to doing the recording today, he explained to me how recent it was that he didn't know anything about podcasting and how quickly he learned. He and I share the same interests by always being intrigued by wanting to do something on the radio, and he made that happen through the internet.
There was two reasons why I was excited about today. For one, it has been far too long since I have had the opportunity to sit down and visit with Bjorn. Second, I was excited to check out his podcasting studio in his home and it was great. The thing I really respect about Bjorn is that he takes things that are important to other people seriously. It doesn't matter how stupid or ridiculous that it may be, he respects those interests.
So my message here today is that I am back. I am making a pledge to get back to blogging on a regular basis. I feel very motivated today and it was good for me to have a reminder on why I chose to start blogging in the first place, which is to share my stories with myself and also with those who care to know more about me. I will never derail from that reasoning. My goal with my blogging is to be personal and honest as the blogging has been a great sense of healing for me and it has allowed me to put closure on some things that I have been battling internally for up to the past two decades. Yes, I said that correctly, two decades. My intentions will never be to go after anyone or to be disrespectful and my goal is not to stir up controversy. With that being said, sometimes the truth is a little harder to hear and accept.
So, with that pledge of being back, I have had a lot of things go on since I had been last in touch. Some of things that I will be touching on is topics such as my grandfather's passing, my recent decision to end my college courses, and my recent career change just to name a few.
I also will be writing more often on my second blog that I started recently called, "Minnesota Sports Scene." My most recent post on that blog was a tribute to Phil "Flip" Saunders, the Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations. Flip was a great man and lost too soon. I also will be publishing my blog postings from both blogs on both Facebook and Twitter. If you are interested in following me on Twitter, my handle is @SARYCHT.
To close this blog post, my episode of The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program that I recorded today will be available either right before or after Christmas. Make sure to check out the official website of The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program at www.norsestar.net to check out his production company and podcasts. Bjorn also has been doing a family Sundin Farmcast podcast as well that can be checked out. Finally, Bjorn has a link to Amazon on his website, and if you access Amazon through his website, the Norse Star Network (Bjorn's podcast company) will receive a little kickback to help with production costs.
Finally, one of the topics covered on today's show was my collecting of Hot Wheels. It was funny, because after I left Bjorn's house, I went to the local Dollar General in Milaca and found a regular Treasure Hunt car that I had not yet found. The timing of it was appropriate.
Have a great day and week everyone. Please remember that we are all human and can only do things one day at a time. Talk to you soon.
#motivated
I really have been impressed with Bjorn. While Bjorn has been dealt with some challenging situations in life, he always looks forward. Bjorn was in a position in his life where he could've truly mailed it in and just went through the motions, but he refused to do that. That my friends is much easier said than done and Bjorn made it look easy, even though I know it wasn't.
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to be a guest on Bjorn's podcast called "The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program." The arranged date for the recording was today and when I visited with Bjorn prior to doing the recording today, he explained to me how recent it was that he didn't know anything about podcasting and how quickly he learned. He and I share the same interests by always being intrigued by wanting to do something on the radio, and he made that happen through the internet.
There was two reasons why I was excited about today. For one, it has been far too long since I have had the opportunity to sit down and visit with Bjorn. Second, I was excited to check out his podcasting studio in his home and it was great. The thing I really respect about Bjorn is that he takes things that are important to other people seriously. It doesn't matter how stupid or ridiculous that it may be, he respects those interests.
So my message here today is that I am back. I am making a pledge to get back to blogging on a regular basis. I feel very motivated today and it was good for me to have a reminder on why I chose to start blogging in the first place, which is to share my stories with myself and also with those who care to know more about me. I will never derail from that reasoning. My goal with my blogging is to be personal and honest as the blogging has been a great sense of healing for me and it has allowed me to put closure on some things that I have been battling internally for up to the past two decades. Yes, I said that correctly, two decades. My intentions will never be to go after anyone or to be disrespectful and my goal is not to stir up controversy. With that being said, sometimes the truth is a little harder to hear and accept.
So, with that pledge of being back, I have had a lot of things go on since I had been last in touch. Some of things that I will be touching on is topics such as my grandfather's passing, my recent decision to end my college courses, and my recent career change just to name a few.
I also will be writing more often on my second blog that I started recently called, "Minnesota Sports Scene." My most recent post on that blog was a tribute to Phil "Flip" Saunders, the Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations. Flip was a great man and lost too soon. I also will be publishing my blog postings from both blogs on both Facebook and Twitter. If you are interested in following me on Twitter, my handle is @SARYCHT.
To close this blog post, my episode of The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program that I recorded today will be available either right before or after Christmas. Make sure to check out the official website of The Bjorn Johnson Internet Program at www.norsestar.net to check out his production company and podcasts. Bjorn also has been doing a family Sundin Farmcast podcast as well that can be checked out. Finally, Bjorn has a link to Amazon on his website, and if you access Amazon through his website, the Norse Star Network (Bjorn's podcast company) will receive a little kickback to help with production costs.
Finally, one of the topics covered on today's show was my collecting of Hot Wheels. It was funny, because after I left Bjorn's house, I went to the local Dollar General in Milaca and found a regular Treasure Hunt car that I had not yet found. The timing of it was appropriate.
Have a great day and week everyone. Please remember that we are all human and can only do things one day at a time. Talk to you soon.
#motivated
Friday, August 21, 2015
A Little Dose of Reality, A Minor Setback, Keep Looking Ahead
Today is the day that summer does officially end for me as I am returning to my college courses starting today. The real topic of this particular blog post, however, is not about me starting another year of college courses. Today's topic is about my employment. As I have talked about in my last couple of blog posts, I worked this summer for the Brainerd School District with the Fun-N-Friends program. By far the best decision I have made in a very long time. As I have mentioned before as well, my time with Fun-N-Friends is not over. Instead, it is on hold for now.
Recently, I applied for a position with the Brainerd School District as a Behavior Management Specialist. I was granted an interview, which I had this past Monday. I was very excited about this interview and confident that I carried the skill set that would have been necessary to lead to a job offer. Unfortunately, I was not offered the position. There were so many positives that would have come for me by landing that job and that is why I was extremely hopeful on getting it. I am not going to lie here, I was very upset when I received the news that I was not going to get it. This was somewhat of a new situation for me as I have been lucky to have a high level of success when interviewing. I also felt this position that I was going for was kind of that type of position that I had been working hard for many years for. I also was a bit frustrated with myself for not getting the job as I tend to be hard on myself when a goal is not reached. This means that I will be returning to Onamia for the 2015-2016 school year at Mille Lacs Academy School.
Yesterday, I met with the new principal of Mille Lacs Academy School. It was a very good conversation. I was honest about my opportunity that I attempted to get and I also informed her that even though I was disappointed about not getting that opportunity with Brainerd, I was coming into the school year more re-energized than I may have ever been since I began my journey with Mille Lacs Academy School.
The message that I want to send in this blog post is that, despite being knocked down by not getting the position I was hoping for with Brainerd Schools, my summer was still fantastic. I learned a lot about myself this summer. I also met some very good people, and even some great people this summer, which made a permanent positive impact on me. That is something that I will not forget. I also am more healthy after this past summer and that has set my sights on continuing to improve my personal goal of being more healthy and more active. I will continue to pursue opportunities that come my way, and I will continue to help and work at Fun-N-Friends during my breaks and off days from Onamia.
#lookforwardstaypositive
Recently, I applied for a position with the Brainerd School District as a Behavior Management Specialist. I was granted an interview, which I had this past Monday. I was very excited about this interview and confident that I carried the skill set that would have been necessary to lead to a job offer. Unfortunately, I was not offered the position. There were so many positives that would have come for me by landing that job and that is why I was extremely hopeful on getting it. I am not going to lie here, I was very upset when I received the news that I was not going to get it. This was somewhat of a new situation for me as I have been lucky to have a high level of success when interviewing. I also felt this position that I was going for was kind of that type of position that I had been working hard for many years for. I also was a bit frustrated with myself for not getting the job as I tend to be hard on myself when a goal is not reached. This means that I will be returning to Onamia for the 2015-2016 school year at Mille Lacs Academy School.
Yesterday, I met with the new principal of Mille Lacs Academy School. It was a very good conversation. I was honest about my opportunity that I attempted to get and I also informed her that even though I was disappointed about not getting that opportunity with Brainerd, I was coming into the school year more re-energized than I may have ever been since I began my journey with Mille Lacs Academy School.
The message that I want to send in this blog post is that, despite being knocked down by not getting the position I was hoping for with Brainerd Schools, my summer was still fantastic. I learned a lot about myself this summer. I also met some very good people, and even some great people this summer, which made a permanent positive impact on me. That is something that I will not forget. I also am more healthy after this past summer and that has set my sights on continuing to improve my personal goal of being more healthy and more active. I will continue to pursue opportunities that come my way, and I will continue to help and work at Fun-N-Friends during my breaks and off days from Onamia.
#lookforwardstaypositive
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Tour Of The Big City
This summer has kept me busy. I chose to end my school year job on June 15th and start my summer job full-time on June 16th. Everyone at my Onamia school site would question why I am not taking any time off between jobs and there are a couple of answers to that question.
First, I would like to think that I am a hard worker. The other night at a staff meeting I attended for my summer job at Fun-N-Friends, we were asked the question of whether or not we are giving 100% at our job. The question appeared to shock all those in attendance, including me. I wanted to speak up right away and admit that I do give 100 percent when I am at my job, but I also don't want to appear arrogant. So I do work hard and give 100 percent, because quality should be uncompromising.
Second, I didn't take time off in-between jobs because of the fact that I care. Despite Brainerd Schools and Fun-N-Friends being a new summer experience, I care a lot about being accepted by my co-workers, earning respect from the children, and being a strong part of the team. That is how I felt in the beginning of this new adventure back in June, but now that I have been there for two months and know the people that I work with and how connected I feel, my care for the program and the people have gone through the roof.
This summer with my job at Fun-N-Friends, I have been lucky enough to be afforded the opportunity to go on many outings in the Brainerd area. The outings have been a solid contributing reason for the high number of steps on my pedometer. I went to the Brainerd Fire Station twice in one day to pack on miles. I was able to walk children to the Brainerd Public Library once a week for the library's story time. I also was able to go to the Wildlife Safari Zoo that I have not been at before. Today was the second time that our program went to Jack's House for bowling. I also got to be part of an outing that went to the Crow Wing County Fair and also to the movies and pizza lunch at Rafferty's.
As you can see, I have been on a tour of Brainerd this summer. It has been a lot of fun and with some great people. If this summer has taught me anything, or at least reminded me of something, it's that things are so much better when you care.
#summerregionaltour
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Welcome To Fun-N-Friends..
Hello everybody. I was just looking at blogging history and I was disappointed in myself to see that I have not had a blog post since March 21st! That is truly troubling. This past year was a busy year as I made the change from St. Cloud State University to Bemidji State University. Between working, driving, and taking college classes at a clip of at least half-time, it has sucked the oxygen of most of my free time. It gets quite frustrating some days, and seeing that I haven't really had the time to blog since March 21st, it kind of enhances that frustration.
Earlier this year, back in about February, the conversation at my work about the upcoming summer school session came up as it does every year. Right now, I am a paraprofessional, and if you know any paraprofessionals, or any school support staff for that fact, you will see that we are always trying to get as many hours as we can. The reason for this is because being a nine month employee with your main employer really doesn't do much for the idea of getting rich. Anyways, for the past seven or eight summers, I have elected to work our summer school session at the school I work at in Onamia. So, in February, it was decided that our summer school session was going to be different this upcoming summer. The short of it is that instead of all 90 students attending summer school, only about 19 students were going to attend this year. It sounds like a cut, but actually I was one of the individuals who was fully supporting this idea. It truly was going to be a more effective educational experience for the 19 who are attending this summer. With some other logistics going into the decision about working the summer school session this summer, I had decided, in February, that I was not going to work this year's summer school session.
I am not sure if many or anyone was surprised, because I like to work. I like my job that I do and I feel that I am good at what I do. I am not wanting to toot my own horn here, because all of my experiences of working with youth has molded me into the employee that I am today. So, with turning down the option of working the summer school session this summer, I was a temporary free agent so to say.
Despite turning down summer school, I still wanted to work. It was kind of a tough spot to be in. I say this because the school year at my school ended on June 15th. I have a family vacation in the middle of August, and right after that, workshop week for the new school year in the fall is upon us. So I was in a position of trying to find work for nine weeks only, and I kept asking myself, "Who is going to hire someone for nine weeks?" Then it came to me...
I decided to utilize a contact that I have known for a long time and had not yet used. I figured it was kind of a long shot because I didn't know if my contact even remembered who I was, because it has been two decades. My first experience in working directly with youth was in 1995, when I was 17 years old, when I helped co-create Youth Action Force, an organization with a focus of getting youth involved in the community. Youth Action Force - click this link to my blog post about Youth Action Force. In 1997, I took another step in working with youth, this time with younger youth, with the School Age Child Care program at Rockford Schools. I was eager, and I felt very passionate to help others. If you know me, you know this about me. During one of the conferences I attended I met my contact from the Brainerd Schools School Age Child Care program. A couple of years later, when I attended Central Lakes College in Brainerd for a year, I worked the after school program for Brainerd Schools. So with that being said, I decided it was time to make that contact and see if that networking from a long time ago still had any life to it. I am happy to say it did.
I made my decision with making this contact that I was going to be getting back into the School Age Child Care game for the first time in about 11 years (I also had a brief stint with Bemidji's School Age Child Care program). I was ready to do this. My contact got back to me and wanted to meet to see if we could work together to figure something out. We did come to an agreement and being half way through the summer, it has been a great change of pace.
Professionally I felt stuck prior to this summer. I won't lie, part of me wanted to take a break from the same thing that I have been doing for the eight years. Nine weeks is a good break. With my job at the school I work at during the academic school year in Onamia, I have taken on a lot of extra roles and wore a lot of extra hats as the years have gone by. Don't get me wrong, this is my own doing and I don't regret any of it. So I am not whining here or looking for sympathy. Instead, I just wanted to step away from it for a bit, and with being a nine month employee, I could do that.
So after my meeting with my contact in Brainerd, we came to terms on an agreement for me to get back into the School Age Child Care game this summer. The program is called Fun-N-Friends. After agreeing to terms in the middle of May sometime, I started to go to Fun-N-Friends everyday to work for about an hour and half after my work day with Onamia Schools. With college on top of this, I had to be careful with making time for everything including my family.
This summer at Fun-N-Friends has been great, because it has been different. On my first full day with Fun-N-Friends this summer, I was offered the opportunity to be promoted to a Supervisor role. This was unexpected and flattering, and I am glad I have had the opportunity to be a Supervisor this summer. This position has allowed me to work and dust off the leadership skills that have been idle for a very long time. It has been great working the the elementary age level students again. With this new summer opportunity, I have been able to join a new team of staff. Some of whom are doing great things with these children. It is nice to have another professional family as an additional resource and to further develop my networking that has also been idle for a while before this summer. There have been some challenges this summer with my new role, but there also has been a lot of positive, and this was an absolute right decision. I want to be able to be effective and do my part in helping Fun-N-Friends continue to be a high quality program for children. This position also will allow me to be a better employee during the school year at Onamia. I say this because my Fun-N-Friends position has allowed me to have a voice, and I have been using it. If you remember my blog post from back in January about Resolutions for 2015, one of them was speaking up more. I have had an opportunity to do that this summer and I think this will help me become a higher quality employee year round. I also feel re-energized for the upcoming school year. The break from Onamia has been a good one professionally. It feels good to step a way for a while and work with children in a different element. I also have been running my ass of this summer :) I usually walk between six and nine miles a day in one day of work at Fun-N-Friends. The nice thing about this is that I have dropped 26 pounds since the first of April and that is also helping me feel better and re-energized. So, lots of positives this summer.
Now the one remaining question that looms from this decision to make a change for the summer. "What happens with me and Fun-N-Friends when the summer is done?" I won't lie. The program wants me to stay and they have made offers. At this time, I will be returning to Onamia this fall. There are several factors that have gone into this decision. However, that does not mean that my time is done at Fun-N-Friends. I have informed them that I would be more than happy to help them out on full day non-school day events when our school calendars cooperate. I don't want to be done with Fun-N-Friends after the summer, I want to continue to be involved with Fun-N-Friends and the Brainerd School District. I live in the boundaries of the Brainerd School District and it has been refreshing being involved in the community that I live in. So, this is the beginning of my Fun-N-Friends journey and I hope it continues for quite a while.
#sacc
Earlier this year, back in about February, the conversation at my work about the upcoming summer school session came up as it does every year. Right now, I am a paraprofessional, and if you know any paraprofessionals, or any school support staff for that fact, you will see that we are always trying to get as many hours as we can. The reason for this is because being a nine month employee with your main employer really doesn't do much for the idea of getting rich. Anyways, for the past seven or eight summers, I have elected to work our summer school session at the school I work at in Onamia. So, in February, it was decided that our summer school session was going to be different this upcoming summer. The short of it is that instead of all 90 students attending summer school, only about 19 students were going to attend this year. It sounds like a cut, but actually I was one of the individuals who was fully supporting this idea. It truly was going to be a more effective educational experience for the 19 who are attending this summer. With some other logistics going into the decision about working the summer school session this summer, I had decided, in February, that I was not going to work this year's summer school session.
I am not sure if many or anyone was surprised, because I like to work. I like my job that I do and I feel that I am good at what I do. I am not wanting to toot my own horn here, because all of my experiences of working with youth has molded me into the employee that I am today. So, with turning down the option of working the summer school session this summer, I was a temporary free agent so to say.
Despite turning down summer school, I still wanted to work. It was kind of a tough spot to be in. I say this because the school year at my school ended on June 15th. I have a family vacation in the middle of August, and right after that, workshop week for the new school year in the fall is upon us. So I was in a position of trying to find work for nine weeks only, and I kept asking myself, "Who is going to hire someone for nine weeks?" Then it came to me...
I decided to utilize a contact that I have known for a long time and had not yet used. I figured it was kind of a long shot because I didn't know if my contact even remembered who I was, because it has been two decades. My first experience in working directly with youth was in 1995, when I was 17 years old, when I helped co-create Youth Action Force, an organization with a focus of getting youth involved in the community. Youth Action Force - click this link to my blog post about Youth Action Force. In 1997, I took another step in working with youth, this time with younger youth, with the School Age Child Care program at Rockford Schools. I was eager, and I felt very passionate to help others. If you know me, you know this about me. During one of the conferences I attended I met my contact from the Brainerd Schools School Age Child Care program. A couple of years later, when I attended Central Lakes College in Brainerd for a year, I worked the after school program for Brainerd Schools. So with that being said, I decided it was time to make that contact and see if that networking from a long time ago still had any life to it. I am happy to say it did.
I made my decision with making this contact that I was going to be getting back into the School Age Child Care game for the first time in about 11 years (I also had a brief stint with Bemidji's School Age Child Care program). I was ready to do this. My contact got back to me and wanted to meet to see if we could work together to figure something out. We did come to an agreement and being half way through the summer, it has been a great change of pace.
Professionally I felt stuck prior to this summer. I won't lie, part of me wanted to take a break from the same thing that I have been doing for the eight years. Nine weeks is a good break. With my job at the school I work at during the academic school year in Onamia, I have taken on a lot of extra roles and wore a lot of extra hats as the years have gone by. Don't get me wrong, this is my own doing and I don't regret any of it. So I am not whining here or looking for sympathy. Instead, I just wanted to step away from it for a bit, and with being a nine month employee, I could do that.
So after my meeting with my contact in Brainerd, we came to terms on an agreement for me to get back into the School Age Child Care game this summer. The program is called Fun-N-Friends. After agreeing to terms in the middle of May sometime, I started to go to Fun-N-Friends everyday to work for about an hour and half after my work day with Onamia Schools. With college on top of this, I had to be careful with making time for everything including my family.
This summer at Fun-N-Friends has been great, because it has been different. On my first full day with Fun-N-Friends this summer, I was offered the opportunity to be promoted to a Supervisor role. This was unexpected and flattering, and I am glad I have had the opportunity to be a Supervisor this summer. This position has allowed me to work and dust off the leadership skills that have been idle for a very long time. It has been great working the the elementary age level students again. With this new summer opportunity, I have been able to join a new team of staff. Some of whom are doing great things with these children. It is nice to have another professional family as an additional resource and to further develop my networking that has also been idle for a while before this summer. There have been some challenges this summer with my new role, but there also has been a lot of positive, and this was an absolute right decision. I want to be able to be effective and do my part in helping Fun-N-Friends continue to be a high quality program for children. This position also will allow me to be a better employee during the school year at Onamia. I say this because my Fun-N-Friends position has allowed me to have a voice, and I have been using it. If you remember my blog post from back in January about Resolutions for 2015, one of them was speaking up more. I have had an opportunity to do that this summer and I think this will help me become a higher quality employee year round. I also feel re-energized for the upcoming school year. The break from Onamia has been a good one professionally. It feels good to step a way for a while and work with children in a different element. I also have been running my ass of this summer :) I usually walk between six and nine miles a day in one day of work at Fun-N-Friends. The nice thing about this is that I have dropped 26 pounds since the first of April and that is also helping me feel better and re-energized. So, lots of positives this summer.
Now the one remaining question that looms from this decision to make a change for the summer. "What happens with me and Fun-N-Friends when the summer is done?" I won't lie. The program wants me to stay and they have made offers. At this time, I will be returning to Onamia this fall. There are several factors that have gone into this decision. However, that does not mean that my time is done at Fun-N-Friends. I have informed them that I would be more than happy to help them out on full day non-school day events when our school calendars cooperate. I don't want to be done with Fun-N-Friends after the summer, I want to continue to be involved with Fun-N-Friends and the Brainerd School District. I live in the boundaries of the Brainerd School District and it has been refreshing being involved in the community that I live in. So, this is the beginning of my Fun-N-Friends journey and I hope it continues for quite a while.
#sacc
Saturday, March 21, 2015
It's Been AWhile...Here is an Update!
So, I looked today, and January 20th was my last blog post. There have been many things that have kept my plate full recently that just did not allow me time to do some serious thinking about topics for a blog. However, I love to blog and I didn't want to just fade to black on the deal, so here I am. I am still plugging away at college. This semester I am taking three classes with Bemidji State University to continue my progress towards a teaching degree. There have moments, as my wife Kari would say, that have been ultra stressful with trying to make everything fit in timely manner. I am continuing to work full-time at my job as a paraprofessional at a school. As I have mentioned in the past, I work with a lot of students who have many behavior and mental health issues. To follow my 2015 New Year's Resolution of speaking up more often, I went to a staff meeting at my school and voiced a concern of not receiving enough mental health training. So, prior to voicing this concern, I did some problem solving to get the ball rolling on my concern. I did some research on the web and discovered that a mental health agency does this big conference in Duluth, MN over the course of three days. I also found out that 36% of the attendees on average work in schools. This excited me. I went to our second of two superintendents and asked permission to attend this workshop. The Superintendent gave approval for two to three staff to go. My wife Kari, who is the Behavior Specialist of the school I work at, is also attending the conference. At a very recent staff meeting, I told the staff that there was another spot available if someone wanted to attend the conference, and no one unfortunately took the spot. So the two of us will be attending, and I intend to create some Prezi presentations to present to our staff on staff development days so I can do my part to help my co-workers be more prepared for the wide variety of craziness that we deal with on a daily basis.
In another piece of exciting news, for the past five years I have coordinated an upcycling program at my school that is called Terracycle. Terracycle is a company that takes trash and upcycles it into new reusable products, thus keeping the trash out of the landfill as a result. The bonus to getting schools involved in this project or movement, is that schools can collect the materials and have it shipped to Terracycle. Terracycle covers the shipping costs and pays each collection of trash a certain amount per piece of trash. This is a great lesson for our students to learn. As a coordinator, it is a ton of work as I jumped into this with both feet, and probably way too fast, but I can go to sleep at night knowing that I am doing my part keeping trash out of the landfills that filling up way too fast. So, a couple of years ago, we received notification that we were one of the top 100 sites for collecting cheese packaging and we got a $10.00 bonus to our fundraising account with Terracycle. About three weeks ago, our school did it again. This time we were one of the top ten Terracycle sites in the nation who participate in the Scotch Tape Brigade. The Scotch Tape Brigade obviously is sponsored by Scotch Tape and we submitted 660 disposable tape dispensers and cores (the things in the middle of the tape roll) in one month. So, I received an email from Terracycle with news about being one of the top ten in the nation and this time we were going to receive a $50.00 bonus to our Terracycle fundraising account. This was pretty good. This happened because of the students and my co-workers being supportive of the program. It was a great team effort. Last Tuesday, I had people coming up to me and telling me that they liked the article in the newspaper. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I needed to find out what they were talking about as my curiosity was at a maximum level. I discovered that there was a small article in the Brainerd Dispatch newspaper and also in the Mille Lacs Messenger newspaper that is more local to the school I work in. After I read both of the articles, I had discovered that Terracycle themselves had done the press releases and I will admit, I was pretty proud. I have put links below to both of the short articles. I encourage you to read them.
Mille Lacs Academy School Wins Recycling Contest
MLA School Wins National Award
Finally, I want to mention that I am going to start another blog. I am a die-hard Minnesota sports fan and it usually drives my wife crazy most days as she is not. Anyways, I want to do something that allows me to do something with my passion for Minnesota sports. So, in the very near future, I plan to launch a second blog that focuses on Minnesota Sports. I think it will be relaxing for me personally talking about a topic that I love. So, look for that very soon. The Blogging Rookie, which is my personal blog, will still be going on as normal. The sports blog is not replacing my personal blog. I will be posting both. As far as my personal blog goes, many of you have been reading my blog posts since the beginning, which was last fall. One of the blog posts entitled, "Even Without A Dad, Things Can Turn Out Right", is so far the most read blog posting of all my blog postings so far. This was a hot button topic for some and it created some sharp reactions that I am still affected by to this present day. I planned on including an update on this in this blog posting, but I think I will wait to the next one. What I learned about this, is that expressing honest feelings respectfully can unfortunately have some painful consequences. I will fill you in more in my next Blogging Rookie post, so look for that soon.
Have a great day and feel free to comment on any of my blogs.
In another piece of exciting news, for the past five years I have coordinated an upcycling program at my school that is called Terracycle. Terracycle is a company that takes trash and upcycles it into new reusable products, thus keeping the trash out of the landfill as a result. The bonus to getting schools involved in this project or movement, is that schools can collect the materials and have it shipped to Terracycle. Terracycle covers the shipping costs and pays each collection of trash a certain amount per piece of trash. This is a great lesson for our students to learn. As a coordinator, it is a ton of work as I jumped into this with both feet, and probably way too fast, but I can go to sleep at night knowing that I am doing my part keeping trash out of the landfills that filling up way too fast. So, a couple of years ago, we received notification that we were one of the top 100 sites for collecting cheese packaging and we got a $10.00 bonus to our fundraising account with Terracycle. About three weeks ago, our school did it again. This time we were one of the top ten Terracycle sites in the nation who participate in the Scotch Tape Brigade. The Scotch Tape Brigade obviously is sponsored by Scotch Tape and we submitted 660 disposable tape dispensers and cores (the things in the middle of the tape roll) in one month. So, I received an email from Terracycle with news about being one of the top ten in the nation and this time we were going to receive a $50.00 bonus to our Terracycle fundraising account. This was pretty good. This happened because of the students and my co-workers being supportive of the program. It was a great team effort. Last Tuesday, I had people coming up to me and telling me that they liked the article in the newspaper. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I needed to find out what they were talking about as my curiosity was at a maximum level. I discovered that there was a small article in the Brainerd Dispatch newspaper and also in the Mille Lacs Messenger newspaper that is more local to the school I work in. After I read both of the articles, I had discovered that Terracycle themselves had done the press releases and I will admit, I was pretty proud. I have put links below to both of the short articles. I encourage you to read them.
Mille Lacs Academy School Wins Recycling Contest
MLA School Wins National Award
Finally, I want to mention that I am going to start another blog. I am a die-hard Minnesota sports fan and it usually drives my wife crazy most days as she is not. Anyways, I want to do something that allows me to do something with my passion for Minnesota sports. So, in the very near future, I plan to launch a second blog that focuses on Minnesota Sports. I think it will be relaxing for me personally talking about a topic that I love. So, look for that very soon. The Blogging Rookie, which is my personal blog, will still be going on as normal. The sports blog is not replacing my personal blog. I will be posting both. As far as my personal blog goes, many of you have been reading my blog posts since the beginning, which was last fall. One of the blog posts entitled, "Even Without A Dad, Things Can Turn Out Right", is so far the most read blog posting of all my blog postings so far. This was a hot button topic for some and it created some sharp reactions that I am still affected by to this present day. I planned on including an update on this in this blog posting, but I think I will wait to the next one. What I learned about this, is that expressing honest feelings respectfully can unfortunately have some painful consequences. I will fill you in more in my next Blogging Rookie post, so look for that soon.
Have a great day and feel free to comment on any of my blogs.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Where Is My Place and Where Do I Fit In?
If you have been following my blog and the postings, you know that one of my resolutions for the new year is to speak up and have a voice. I am going to have a voice right now expressing some personal frustration. For the past four years now, I have been back at college at Bemidji State University. With my job, I feel like I bring some talent to our staff at our school. At least I hope I do. My philosophy at work is to always put in 100% so that way I am needed as Tim and not as a body. I don't want to be that guy that is just filling a role, but at times I feel that way. I have worked at the same place as my wife for the past 10 years. Prior, to meeting her I feel like my experiences and talents have opened all the positions that I have had. My wife was working at our current school and that gave me an "in" when a position opened up. This is the first time that I ever utilized an "in" to get a job. I don't know if I needed so to say, but it was used. For the first time in my professional life, I felt average. Over the past seven years of working at my current school, I feel like I have progressed in a manner to be above average in the role I serve. A lot of what I have taken on, I have created myself in an attempt to mold myself as irreplaceable. Lately, I feel like I have been losing this battle. A few years ago, we had a great principal by the name of Larry Ronglien. There were some staff that really shared the same views as Larry, and there were some that didn't like him at all. He was the leader that introduced the concept of a behavior level system to me. A behavior level system is currently being used in our school and this is the third year of its existence. After that, the school and Special Education Department wanted to put in place an additional step in helping students with their behavioral needs. The administration of our school wanted a behavior room to give student a place to voice their concerns, process their thoughts, and hopefully help return them to a place where they were willing to return to class. This room worked very well in its first year and it reduced the number of students being sent out of school for behavior issues by 81%.
When this behavior room was being designed, the position was posted as someone needing a teaching degree, which I don't have yet. The idea of me (being unlicensed) as the guy running the behavior room was even introduced to our past superintendent, and it was turned down. I was pretty devastated because I knew what I wanted to do with that room. So I wasn't the right guy for the job apparently. So, the position was opened up publicly for a new hire to come in and operate this behavior room. A gentleman from Illinois applied and was granted an interview. He was offered the position, but then later declined it. The school district had gone through the posting, interviewing, and offering cycle in hiring a new person only ending up in him turning it down. Now, the clock was against the school in hiring this position and with the new school year approaching fast, the choices of candidates was slim. So, my wife decided to go for the position. She has a teaching degree and is a Special Education Teacher, so she was given the position. With her hiring, I now was eliminated from even being a para in that room, because we couldn't work in the same classroom, and we shouldn't work in the same classroom.
So, the first year of the behavior room had a para named Dan. The behavior room was a success, but there was a constant battle with consistency being maintained in the behavior room with expectations and rules, and it eventually led to change. This frustrated me because there wasn't anything I could do to help because I couldn't work in that room. I hated the technicality. Don't get me wrong. I was working in the resource room, which was academically assisting students with their school work. I like that just as well as I am still working in the academic resource room today. But I feel I have a lot of leadership skills, but I feel like I can't get noticed because I either don't have the degree (yet), or my wife works in the same school. Don't get me wrong here, it has been a wonderful set of opportunities for her and she is achieving a lot of success because of those opportunities, but I feel like I am missing out and I feel my career is kind of whizzing by me because there isn't really a right spot for me. As far as the behavior room goes, it is now called the Refocus Room. Dan, the original para in the behavior room, was reassigned to a different position in the school. The para position in the newly named Refocus Room was given to a para named Mary. Mary is great at that job on a daily basis and I think she was the best hire the school has made in my seven years of involvement with the school. She is a rock star. Meanwhile, I am the guy that is relied on to take things on, develop new forms, develop new programming, or organize and set up off-campus trips, but yet I am making the same as someone in the district who just has to be a second set of eyes in a classroom. My message here is not stop relying on me for these thing because I like to contribute, be a team player, and help make our school be the best it possibly can be. But I feel like that bench player in sports waiting for my number to be called for the position I am ready for.
I guess my message in this blog posting is that I feel like I am in a shadow and I feel like I am stuck. I am not sure what to do about it. Our new high leadership in the district on paper sees that I am a para and that right there devalues my opinion in some respects. I don't want be the guy that goes through the motions of a job and then gets old some day and settles for that. I still want to do great things despite the many obstacles that I have in play right now. My goals for this year involved having more of a voice, speaking my mind and feelings more often, and making more money. I have been pretty preoccupied that last four weeks and I still have a LONG way to go on the speaking my mind and feelings part. In fact, I feel like I have regressed in a sense and that needs to change. I cannot be worried about how people will react to my feelings and what I say. I just need to do it.
In the short term, I volunteered to be on a leadership team at work. This is a first step with my voice at work. I know that some of my co-workers will label this leadership team as a "club", a "special meeting", or "a secret". This is not how I view this leadership team. I did not volunteer to be on this team for any selfish reasons. I want to help our school improve. There are improvements that need to be made and I want to voice my opinion on those ideas. Like I said, a good first step. I am not sure what I am going to do about this stuck feeling, but I'll take it one day at a time.
#thanksforlistening
When this behavior room was being designed, the position was posted as someone needing a teaching degree, which I don't have yet. The idea of me (being unlicensed) as the guy running the behavior room was even introduced to our past superintendent, and it was turned down. I was pretty devastated because I knew what I wanted to do with that room. So I wasn't the right guy for the job apparently. So, the position was opened up publicly for a new hire to come in and operate this behavior room. A gentleman from Illinois applied and was granted an interview. He was offered the position, but then later declined it. The school district had gone through the posting, interviewing, and offering cycle in hiring a new person only ending up in him turning it down. Now, the clock was against the school in hiring this position and with the new school year approaching fast, the choices of candidates was slim. So, my wife decided to go for the position. She has a teaching degree and is a Special Education Teacher, so she was given the position. With her hiring, I now was eliminated from even being a para in that room, because we couldn't work in the same classroom, and we shouldn't work in the same classroom.
So, the first year of the behavior room had a para named Dan. The behavior room was a success, but there was a constant battle with consistency being maintained in the behavior room with expectations and rules, and it eventually led to change. This frustrated me because there wasn't anything I could do to help because I couldn't work in that room. I hated the technicality. Don't get me wrong. I was working in the resource room, which was academically assisting students with their school work. I like that just as well as I am still working in the academic resource room today. But I feel I have a lot of leadership skills, but I feel like I can't get noticed because I either don't have the degree (yet), or my wife works in the same school. Don't get me wrong here, it has been a wonderful set of opportunities for her and she is achieving a lot of success because of those opportunities, but I feel like I am missing out and I feel my career is kind of whizzing by me because there isn't really a right spot for me. As far as the behavior room goes, it is now called the Refocus Room. Dan, the original para in the behavior room, was reassigned to a different position in the school. The para position in the newly named Refocus Room was given to a para named Mary. Mary is great at that job on a daily basis and I think she was the best hire the school has made in my seven years of involvement with the school. She is a rock star. Meanwhile, I am the guy that is relied on to take things on, develop new forms, develop new programming, or organize and set up off-campus trips, but yet I am making the same as someone in the district who just has to be a second set of eyes in a classroom. My message here is not stop relying on me for these thing because I like to contribute, be a team player, and help make our school be the best it possibly can be. But I feel like that bench player in sports waiting for my number to be called for the position I am ready for.
I guess my message in this blog posting is that I feel like I am in a shadow and I feel like I am stuck. I am not sure what to do about it. Our new high leadership in the district on paper sees that I am a para and that right there devalues my opinion in some respects. I don't want be the guy that goes through the motions of a job and then gets old some day and settles for that. I still want to do great things despite the many obstacles that I have in play right now. My goals for this year involved having more of a voice, speaking my mind and feelings more often, and making more money. I have been pretty preoccupied that last four weeks and I still have a LONG way to go on the speaking my mind and feelings part. In fact, I feel like I have regressed in a sense and that needs to change. I cannot be worried about how people will react to my feelings and what I say. I just need to do it.
In the short term, I volunteered to be on a leadership team at work. This is a first step with my voice at work. I know that some of my co-workers will label this leadership team as a "club", a "special meeting", or "a secret". This is not how I view this leadership team. I did not volunteer to be on this team for any selfish reasons. I want to help our school improve. There are improvements that need to be made and I want to voice my opinion on those ideas. Like I said, a good first step. I am not sure what I am going to do about this stuck feeling, but I'll take it one day at a time.
#thanksforlistening
Monday, January 19, 2015
Perfectionism
I am sure there are times when we all need to feel perfect in our lives. I know I do. The proof of society's expectation to be perfect was pointed out once again. This time it was displayed in this past weekend's NFL NFC Championship game. The game was between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. Now, don't get me wrong here, being a Minnesota Vikings fan, I was overjoyed to see the Green Bay Packers FINALLY get a defeat handed to them in the fashion they did. With five minutes left to go in that game, Green Bay was ahead by a score of 19-7 and I was bitter. I was dreading going to work the next day and have to hear for the next two weeks about how Green Bay was going to yet another Super Bowl and how the team was the greatest thing since the invention of sliced bread. I was also dreading having to listen to how everyone should wanna make love to Aaron Rodgers just like every play-by-play commentator wants to when they are broadcasting one of his games.
Getting back to my original point of this post, what was floating around the media, and perhaps the social networking universe immediately following the game, was that the Green Bay Packers had lost the chance to go to the Super Bowl because of one of the players not coming up with onside kick recovery late in the game. This drives me nuts! When to we stop and realize that these types of accusations are the type that destroys lives....literally. A couple of years ago, there was an NFL referee who was a replacement referee while the regulars were on strike. So, it was Monday Night Football on ESPN and at the end of the game, ironically the Seattle Seahawks versus Green Bay Packers AGAIN, there was a hail mary pass. This play was referred to as Fail Mary because after "the catch" one referee signaled touchdown and the other referee signaled no catch. This call changed the outcome of the game and gave the Green Bay Packers a loss. Fast forward two years to the present day and this referee is now reportedly suffering severe depression, can't sleep, and suffers PTSD from this incident. I am a big sports fan and feel all the emotions of the excitement of sports, but why does it come to the point of someone's life being wrecked. I mean life went on. The regular refs came back and the season went on as scheduled. Now, that game happened over two years ago, and everyone is ok, except that poor ref that went through traumatic experiences immediately following that one call on the field.
This is not the only case of this happening. The famous Steve Bartman incident at Wrigley Field over a decade ago was another case of another man's life being forever wrecked because of a reaction from an incident happening at a sporting event. Steve Bartman was like every other sports fan wanting a game used souvenior by trying to catch a foul ball. Based on where he was sitting and it being the playoffs, it appears he would've paid a pretty penny for the ticket where his seat was located. When Steve Bartman went to catch that foul ball, he was unaware that it was still a ball that could've been caught for the out. As soon as he caught the ball instead of the approaching outfielder, the crowd went nuts on this guy. They didn't get physical with him, but almost immediately security had to escort him out of the arena for his own safety. It didn't stop after he left Wrigley. The next morning his picture and name were on the front of the Chicago area newspapers. In the end, again for his own safety, this guy had to end up moving from where he lived. I am not sure, but I am guessing this also meant he either had to leave his job or even lost his job. And for what? Being a dedicated Chicago Cubs sports fan. I don't get it.
This is two of many incidents where this type of thing happens and I don't know why society has developed such an expectation of perfection. When I work with students at my job, my co-workers and I (well, most of them) do not expectation perfection. There is a few reasons for this. The first being that being perfect carries a very high level of pressure that quite honestly just isn't fair to put on anyone. The second being that everyone makes mistakes and we should be learning from them so we don't make the same mistake again. Finally, the third one being the fact it's ok to make a mistake, it's human nature. Even programmed machinery that is supposed to be flawless makes mistakes and has errors and we accept them. I would never expect perfection from any student I work with and I do not think it is right that society does the same thing to people who are just trying to do their job and make a living for a simple life.
#rememberdifferentperspectives
Getting back to my original point of this post, what was floating around the media, and perhaps the social networking universe immediately following the game, was that the Green Bay Packers had lost the chance to go to the Super Bowl because of one of the players not coming up with onside kick recovery late in the game. This drives me nuts! When to we stop and realize that these types of accusations are the type that destroys lives....literally. A couple of years ago, there was an NFL referee who was a replacement referee while the regulars were on strike. So, it was Monday Night Football on ESPN and at the end of the game, ironically the Seattle Seahawks versus Green Bay Packers AGAIN, there was a hail mary pass. This play was referred to as Fail Mary because after "the catch" one referee signaled touchdown and the other referee signaled no catch. This call changed the outcome of the game and gave the Green Bay Packers a loss. Fast forward two years to the present day and this referee is now reportedly suffering severe depression, can't sleep, and suffers PTSD from this incident. I am a big sports fan and feel all the emotions of the excitement of sports, but why does it come to the point of someone's life being wrecked. I mean life went on. The regular refs came back and the season went on as scheduled. Now, that game happened over two years ago, and everyone is ok, except that poor ref that went through traumatic experiences immediately following that one call on the field.
This is not the only case of this happening. The famous Steve Bartman incident at Wrigley Field over a decade ago was another case of another man's life being forever wrecked because of a reaction from an incident happening at a sporting event. Steve Bartman was like every other sports fan wanting a game used souvenior by trying to catch a foul ball. Based on where he was sitting and it being the playoffs, it appears he would've paid a pretty penny for the ticket where his seat was located. When Steve Bartman went to catch that foul ball, he was unaware that it was still a ball that could've been caught for the out. As soon as he caught the ball instead of the approaching outfielder, the crowd went nuts on this guy. They didn't get physical with him, but almost immediately security had to escort him out of the arena for his own safety. It didn't stop after he left Wrigley. The next morning his picture and name were on the front of the Chicago area newspapers. In the end, again for his own safety, this guy had to end up moving from where he lived. I am not sure, but I am guessing this also meant he either had to leave his job or even lost his job. And for what? Being a dedicated Chicago Cubs sports fan. I don't get it.
This is two of many incidents where this type of thing happens and I don't know why society has developed such an expectation of perfection. When I work with students at my job, my co-workers and I (well, most of them) do not expectation perfection. There is a few reasons for this. The first being that being perfect carries a very high level of pressure that quite honestly just isn't fair to put on anyone. The second being that everyone makes mistakes and we should be learning from them so we don't make the same mistake again. Finally, the third one being the fact it's ok to make a mistake, it's human nature. Even programmed machinery that is supposed to be flawless makes mistakes and has errors and we accept them. I would never expect perfection from any student I work with and I do not think it is right that society does the same thing to people who are just trying to do their job and make a living for a simple life.
#rememberdifferentperspectives
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
The Interview and the Golden Globes
For those of you who know me, I tend to prefer comedies when I go and see movies. So I bought into the hype a bit. I went and saw the movie "The Interview". For the most part, I don't mind Seth Rogen movies. I liked "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and I didn't mind "Knocked Up". I did not care for the film "Pineapple Express", but for the most part I am ok with Seth Rogen films. So I went and saw "The Interview" and it was terrible. There were two thoughts that came to my mind after viewing this film. The first was that this was one of the worst films I have ever seen and I regret paying movie theater pricing to see it. The second thought being that I don't know why North Korea got so upset with this movie. I didn't get it. I have seen much worse films for United States theaters that were far worse by targeting the White House and going after our President. Now I am not a person who buys into conspiracy theories, but, was Sony accurate in the threats they received from North Korea. I mean, did I really have to worry about North Korea leveling us because of this pile of crap thing that was supposed to be entertaining. I am wondering if Sony was behind creating the hype to get people into the theaters to see this movie because they knew it was going to bomb on its own because of the lack of quality in this film. Seth Rogen has really taken some chances that I think have paid off by being big hits. Those films include "Superbad", "Zack and Miri Make A Porno", and even "Neighbors" (barely). Movies like the previously mentioned "Pineapple Express", "Observe and Report", and now "The Interview" makes Seth Rogen a hit or a miss. I was disappointed in the most recent film and will rethink seeing future Seth Rogen films, even though I probably will.
The Golden Globe awards were on the other night, and I usually tune it to them to at least see if any intoxicated celebrities will make any foolish mistakes that their P.R. team will have to fix the next morning. I did not watch the popular award show this year, but I am aware that Tiny Fey and Amy Pohler again were hosting. This was their third and final time hosting the show, and there is a reason why they were asked back multiple times. They like to push the envelope. Amy and Tina didn't hesitate to shy away from the "those" topics that are not supposed to be mentioned, they instead took aim on those topics. Ricky Gervais also took aim on the celebrities that were supposed to be off limits the couple of years that he hosted. I love this formula for success. The reason why it is successful is because the rulebook is thrown out the window. I, myself, tend to use this type of formula (when appropriate). I like to push the envelope when it needs to be pushed. At times in life when you get into those moments where you feel that "you shouldn't do or say something" tempts me to speak up and face that topic head on. Now there is one thing to remember here. Maybe the celebrities at the Golden Globes are more tolerant because of the alcohol flowing. I know when I tend to push the envelope, it is when my audience has had a few and it tends to take place after a long work week or story-filled school year.
#carefulwithsoberaudiences
The Golden Globe awards were on the other night, and I usually tune it to them to at least see if any intoxicated celebrities will make any foolish mistakes that their P.R. team will have to fix the next morning. I did not watch the popular award show this year, but I am aware that Tiny Fey and Amy Pohler again were hosting. This was their third and final time hosting the show, and there is a reason why they were asked back multiple times. They like to push the envelope. Amy and Tina didn't hesitate to shy away from the "those" topics that are not supposed to be mentioned, they instead took aim on those topics. Ricky Gervais also took aim on the celebrities that were supposed to be off limits the couple of years that he hosted. I love this formula for success. The reason why it is successful is because the rulebook is thrown out the window. I, myself, tend to use this type of formula (when appropriate). I like to push the envelope when it needs to be pushed. At times in life when you get into those moments where you feel that "you shouldn't do or say something" tempts me to speak up and face that topic head on. Now there is one thing to remember here. Maybe the celebrities at the Golden Globes are more tolerant because of the alcohol flowing. I know when I tend to push the envelope, it is when my audience has had a few and it tends to take place after a long work week or story-filled school year.
#carefulwithsoberaudiences
Thursday, January 8, 2015
KidNation Childcare & Preschool
About 11 year ago, when I was still trying to figure out life, I wanted to continue with working with kids. At that time, my experience included working a lot of hours with the School Age Childcare Program at Rockford Schools. I drove by a new childcare center that was in the process being built and it had a great big sign in the front of it stating that they were hiring and one of the positions open was a school age childcare position. I thought this was right up my alley. So I applied and and was granted an interview. The interview took place at the home of the business owner where she was operating a home daycare. I was offered the position as school age childcare teacher and at this point I didn't realize what a life experience this was going to be.
This business owner was doing the obvious by expanding her home daycare into a commercial childcare setting. She was seeing dollar signs. If you are not familiar with the difference between a childcare center and a home daycare, there are many. Both obviously have to be licensed, but the differences are numerous. The required ratios are different and the requirements of a center are pretty detailed. Anyways, KidNation was a built to be a quality childcare facility and it was. To the perspective customers' eye, it was beautiful and it was the Cadillac of childcare facilities. The beauty of the facility drew in the customers. It hit capacity and had nearly 100 clients immediately without even advertising. The business did not even need to run an ad in the phone book (remember those!). It was crazy. Another nice feature of the center is that each parent had their own code to get in the front door to drop off and pick up their child. It was very secure.
So I was working the school age childcare room....by myself. Which was fine, except the ratio of staff to children in a school age childcare room with the Department of Human Services for the State of Minnesota was 15 children to one employee. I started to get alarmed when I was up to 19 children and hearing that there was no conversation of bringing in any additional staff. With the kids going to school during the day, this meant that I was going to be helping out in other areas throughout the center which was fine. What was not discussed was having me do all the cooking for center. Some people who know me know my Dinty Moore Beef Stew issue. All of a sudden I was cooking for almost 100 children. Heck, I was living alone at the time. This was quite an adjustment for me, but I did it. The food situation was interesting. The owner, Kristal Zimmerman, decided that she was only going to buy food from Reinhardt Food Service for some things and then have her husband go to Cub Foods to buy the rest of the food, including the milk. I wasn't the owner so I wasn't going to say anything.
Kristal Zimmerman was enjoying her new found financial success. She was buying a new GMC Yukon Denali with personalized license plates and taking many expensive trips during my tenure at the center. Again, that was her business, but it really was coming off in a manner where it was starting to come off that Kristal was more in it for the money than working with kids.
So one day I was serving lunch, probably that shitty beef stew, in the preschool room. As I got done serving the food, I stayed in the room to help watch the preschoolers during lunch time. This is the point when everything changed. I saw Kristal, the owner, sitting with a preschool child who did not like the food being served. This was unacceptable to Kristal and she grabbed that child's mouth and pushed the cheeks to open the child's mouth and force fed this child. While she was doing this, she stating that the food costs her a lot of money and none of it was going to go to waste. This shook me up literally. I couldn't believe what I saw and I wasn't the only one on staff that noticed these actions. I didn't know what to do. I was young, I needed the job, and I had never been in this situation before. Everyone who saw it knew it was wrong, but we didn't really know how to handle this because it was the OWNER who was doing it. Usually when you see some issue with a co-worker, you go to your boss or supervisor and report it. She was the boss and nobody knew what to do. For the next week, it continued, and then she was starting to yell at the children when it was nap time and they were not going to sleep right away. There were 21 people on staff working for Kristal Zimmerman, and 17 of them decided to report her to the Department of Human Services...including me.
So the next thing I know, I go to work one day, and there is an investigator from Hennepin County at the center and I was to be interviewed to follow up on what I reported. Things really started getting strange when the interview was being conducted in our employee break room where there was an intercom system that was linked to Kristal personal office. To show the true lack of intelligence of Kristal Zimmerman, there would be a light that would come on when she turned on the intercom from her office. The light was not a dim one, and the investigator caught her every time she activated that intercom. It got to a point during my interview with DHS, that the investigator got out of her seat and went up to the intercom and said, "I know you are listening and if you continue to do this, I will take your employees off the property to interview them." This was that "oh shit" moment when you knew that it was hitting the fan.
I reported the force feeding, and I also reported the ratio concerns I had. After the interviews were completed with all the employees, the Department of Human Services had determined that it was time to get the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department involved and open an official investigation. What this meant for the short term was that Kristal Zimmerman was not allowed to be on her business property during operating hours during the course of the investigation. If you are familiar with how the state and counties operate, it isn't exactly fast. So this investigation went on for months. The sad thing about this is that it gave Kristal the opportunity to spend more of her money by taking many trips. When they were in town, she would send her husband to the center with groceries or her mother to check on things. It was awkward to say the least.
So what about the parents of the children? Well, the employees didn't want to quit, because at this point if you were to quit you would be admitting to Kristal that you were one of the whistle blowers, so everyone stayed working there through the investigation, which DHS actually advised us to do. I don't remember what their reasoning was, but it was advised. The parents were absolutely disgusted with Kristal Zimmerman, but they loved the staff that cared for their children. The one holiday season I had working there was like the best Christmas I ever had as far as gifts go. I ended up with like $500.00 in gift cards, it was ridiculous. The parents were OK with having their children go to the center because they knew Kristal was not allowed on the premises and they trusted the staff, especially after they knew the staff had the courage to report the actions of Kristal Zimmerman.
So for a while, things kind of died down. Operations were going as normal as they could've gone, and one day during the late afternoon when the majority of parents were picking up their children, the doorbell rang. The doorbell usually only rang when there was a perspective new client wanting to enroll their child(ren) or it was a relative picking up a child that did not have a code to get into the building. When the doorbell rang, a staff had to physically go to the front door and let that person into the building. So this time when the doorbell rang, I was closest to the front door and I went to go answer it and I didn't expect who had arrived. It was a KSTP Channel 5 news reporter. I opened the door and asked if I could help her and she asked for Kristal Zimmerman. I said she is not here and I got an interesting response. This was just after 4:30 p.m. when this reporter showed up and she informed me that she was going live at 5:00 p.m. and this was going to be the top story on their newscast. I just about dropped logs. I went and informed our staff member who was "managing" the center. Of course, the newscaster wanted interviews from staff and everyone was afraid to go on the news and talk. So they stood on the property line and interviewed many parents as they drove in to pick up their children. A couple of days later, I was getting calls on my personal cell phone from FOX 9 News out of Minneapolis wanting an interview about the investigation. This was crazy and it was out of control.
One of the parents that spoke to the news reporter lived across the street from the center, two days later all four of her tires were flattened. And this was a paying active client. One night after work, I went out with my friends and I left my car at the center for a couple of hours. The next day when I was driving through the town I lived in, my entire front wheel came off my car (rim and all) and shredded my front fender. When I got the vehicle back to my home, I checked the other tires and three of the five lug nuts were loosened on every tire. This was just the first tire that happened to come off. After this had happened, I was in panic mode. I didn't know how this was going to turn out and I didn't see how it could've had a good ending. Whatever the hell a good ending to this mess was.
When the report from the Department of Human Services was released. All the employee names were not identified in the report for protection to the employees. However, what hung me out to dry was when the report said that the school age child care teacher reported numerous out-of-ratio violations and I was the only school age child care teacher on staff, even Kristal Zimmerman could put two and two together on that one. So in the State of Minnesota, an employee is protected as a whistle blower for 90 days. On the 91st day after I reported her, I was working at the center like normal. Then all of a sudden these two big men in suits came in through a back door and approached me. They were Kristal Zimmerman's lawyers. I don't think I have ever felt as intimidated in my life as I did that very moment. The started to ask me questions and I began to answer. As they continued to ask me questions, I got very scared as I had never been through anything like this. I told them that I had to go to the bathroom. Instead I went into our break room and called my aunt who was working for an employment attorney at the time. She informed me that I should not answer any of their questions and they may tell me that I am being insubordinate by refusing the questions. So I went back into the room where the her lawyers were and sat back down at the table. They asked me the next question and I informed them that I was not going to answer anymore of their questions. The lawyers did tell me that I was being insubordinate and they were going to have to call Kristal to see how she wanted to handle it. They called her, talked with her briefly, and then gave me the phone. She told me to talk to her lawyers and I told her that I was not going to and she followed it up with this, "You are now being insubordinate and you need to get off my property immediately." So that was that.
In the end, there was another childcare about eight miles away that was struggling, but wanted me to come in and help get the center back on track. I knew as soon as the parents at KidNation knew I was gone and only eight miles away, they would start pulling their kids from KidNation. I played this move very carefully and made sure I talked to nobody about pulling their kids from KidNation. With all the other events that took place, including the purposeful actions towards my car, I figured she would do anything to me in response to me talking to me. At that time, I was even afraid of her showing up at my home after she slashed the tires on one of her own client's car. The story concludes with the other employees finding out where I went to and were interested in joining me at the new location. Two other employees that I worked with, along with myself and the parent whose tires were slashed actually purchased the center that I moved onto in a four way partnership. About two weeks after assuming ownership of the new center that was eight miles away from KidNation, Kristal Zimmerman sued me and the other three partners citing that we were violating a no-competition clause. I had signed nothing mentioning a non-compete clause and she was suing for in excess of $50,000. Again my mind was blown. We seeked legal advice, which my share cost a couple of thousand dollars. We went to court and the judge basically laughed at her. She continued to try legal action until she could no longer afford to pay her attorneys. The timing of the ownership was not right, however, as I just financially wasn't prepared to do this. I ended up with this result after what started with my just wanting a job at a childcare center as a school age child care teacher. After six months at the new center, I took a month leave of absence to help move some relatives up to Minnesota from Louisiana. When I returned, I chose to leave the business and sold back my share of the business to the others.
As far as the final result of the investigation from the Department of Human Services and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office. She was found guilty to the maltreatment of minors. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, whose investigator often referred to her as KidNazi, gave her two options. The first was to continue to own KidNation Childcare Center and face criminal charges or sell the center and their will be no criminal charges with the condition that she could no longer work with children again. A few years later, her oldest child was killed by being struck by lightning in the front yard of her home. She then went on to move to Stillwater, Minnesota and starting a business featuring fetishes and fantasies where she referred to herself as a "Taboo Goddess". The city of Stillwater thought it was prostitution and cited her with a crime. Despite the money it cost me, and the experience I went through, the payoff was knowing that she could never work with children again and traumatize any more children.
To see the WCCO story about her Stillwater, Minnesota incident you can click this link: Stillwater 'Taboo Goddess' Charged
#justiceserved
This business owner was doing the obvious by expanding her home daycare into a commercial childcare setting. She was seeing dollar signs. If you are not familiar with the difference between a childcare center and a home daycare, there are many. Both obviously have to be licensed, but the differences are numerous. The required ratios are different and the requirements of a center are pretty detailed. Anyways, KidNation was a built to be a quality childcare facility and it was. To the perspective customers' eye, it was beautiful and it was the Cadillac of childcare facilities. The beauty of the facility drew in the customers. It hit capacity and had nearly 100 clients immediately without even advertising. The business did not even need to run an ad in the phone book (remember those!). It was crazy. Another nice feature of the center is that each parent had their own code to get in the front door to drop off and pick up their child. It was very secure.
So I was working the school age childcare room....by myself. Which was fine, except the ratio of staff to children in a school age childcare room with the Department of Human Services for the State of Minnesota was 15 children to one employee. I started to get alarmed when I was up to 19 children and hearing that there was no conversation of bringing in any additional staff. With the kids going to school during the day, this meant that I was going to be helping out in other areas throughout the center which was fine. What was not discussed was having me do all the cooking for center. Some people who know me know my Dinty Moore Beef Stew issue. All of a sudden I was cooking for almost 100 children. Heck, I was living alone at the time. This was quite an adjustment for me, but I did it. The food situation was interesting. The owner, Kristal Zimmerman, decided that she was only going to buy food from Reinhardt Food Service for some things and then have her husband go to Cub Foods to buy the rest of the food, including the milk. I wasn't the owner so I wasn't going to say anything.
Kristal Zimmerman was enjoying her new found financial success. She was buying a new GMC Yukon Denali with personalized license plates and taking many expensive trips during my tenure at the center. Again, that was her business, but it really was coming off in a manner where it was starting to come off that Kristal was more in it for the money than working with kids.
So one day I was serving lunch, probably that shitty beef stew, in the preschool room. As I got done serving the food, I stayed in the room to help watch the preschoolers during lunch time. This is the point when everything changed. I saw Kristal, the owner, sitting with a preschool child who did not like the food being served. This was unacceptable to Kristal and she grabbed that child's mouth and pushed the cheeks to open the child's mouth and force fed this child. While she was doing this, she stating that the food costs her a lot of money and none of it was going to go to waste. This shook me up literally. I couldn't believe what I saw and I wasn't the only one on staff that noticed these actions. I didn't know what to do. I was young, I needed the job, and I had never been in this situation before. Everyone who saw it knew it was wrong, but we didn't really know how to handle this because it was the OWNER who was doing it. Usually when you see some issue with a co-worker, you go to your boss or supervisor and report it. She was the boss and nobody knew what to do. For the next week, it continued, and then she was starting to yell at the children when it was nap time and they were not going to sleep right away. There were 21 people on staff working for Kristal Zimmerman, and 17 of them decided to report her to the Department of Human Services...including me.
So the next thing I know, I go to work one day, and there is an investigator from Hennepin County at the center and I was to be interviewed to follow up on what I reported. Things really started getting strange when the interview was being conducted in our employee break room where there was an intercom system that was linked to Kristal personal office. To show the true lack of intelligence of Kristal Zimmerman, there would be a light that would come on when she turned on the intercom from her office. The light was not a dim one, and the investigator caught her every time she activated that intercom. It got to a point during my interview with DHS, that the investigator got out of her seat and went up to the intercom and said, "I know you are listening and if you continue to do this, I will take your employees off the property to interview them." This was that "oh shit" moment when you knew that it was hitting the fan.
I reported the force feeding, and I also reported the ratio concerns I had. After the interviews were completed with all the employees, the Department of Human Services had determined that it was time to get the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department involved and open an official investigation. What this meant for the short term was that Kristal Zimmerman was not allowed to be on her business property during operating hours during the course of the investigation. If you are familiar with how the state and counties operate, it isn't exactly fast. So this investigation went on for months. The sad thing about this is that it gave Kristal the opportunity to spend more of her money by taking many trips. When they were in town, she would send her husband to the center with groceries or her mother to check on things. It was awkward to say the least.
So what about the parents of the children? Well, the employees didn't want to quit, because at this point if you were to quit you would be admitting to Kristal that you were one of the whistle blowers, so everyone stayed working there through the investigation, which DHS actually advised us to do. I don't remember what their reasoning was, but it was advised. The parents were absolutely disgusted with Kristal Zimmerman, but they loved the staff that cared for their children. The one holiday season I had working there was like the best Christmas I ever had as far as gifts go. I ended up with like $500.00 in gift cards, it was ridiculous. The parents were OK with having their children go to the center because they knew Kristal was not allowed on the premises and they trusted the staff, especially after they knew the staff had the courage to report the actions of Kristal Zimmerman.
So for a while, things kind of died down. Operations were going as normal as they could've gone, and one day during the late afternoon when the majority of parents were picking up their children, the doorbell rang. The doorbell usually only rang when there was a perspective new client wanting to enroll their child(ren) or it was a relative picking up a child that did not have a code to get into the building. When the doorbell rang, a staff had to physically go to the front door and let that person into the building. So this time when the doorbell rang, I was closest to the front door and I went to go answer it and I didn't expect who had arrived. It was a KSTP Channel 5 news reporter. I opened the door and asked if I could help her and she asked for Kristal Zimmerman. I said she is not here and I got an interesting response. This was just after 4:30 p.m. when this reporter showed up and she informed me that she was going live at 5:00 p.m. and this was going to be the top story on their newscast. I just about dropped logs. I went and informed our staff member who was "managing" the center. Of course, the newscaster wanted interviews from staff and everyone was afraid to go on the news and talk. So they stood on the property line and interviewed many parents as they drove in to pick up their children. A couple of days later, I was getting calls on my personal cell phone from FOX 9 News out of Minneapolis wanting an interview about the investigation. This was crazy and it was out of control.
One of the parents that spoke to the news reporter lived across the street from the center, two days later all four of her tires were flattened. And this was a paying active client. One night after work, I went out with my friends and I left my car at the center for a couple of hours. The next day when I was driving through the town I lived in, my entire front wheel came off my car (rim and all) and shredded my front fender. When I got the vehicle back to my home, I checked the other tires and three of the five lug nuts were loosened on every tire. This was just the first tire that happened to come off. After this had happened, I was in panic mode. I didn't know how this was going to turn out and I didn't see how it could've had a good ending. Whatever the hell a good ending to this mess was.
When the report from the Department of Human Services was released. All the employee names were not identified in the report for protection to the employees. However, what hung me out to dry was when the report said that the school age child care teacher reported numerous out-of-ratio violations and I was the only school age child care teacher on staff, even Kristal Zimmerman could put two and two together on that one. So in the State of Minnesota, an employee is protected as a whistle blower for 90 days. On the 91st day after I reported her, I was working at the center like normal. Then all of a sudden these two big men in suits came in through a back door and approached me. They were Kristal Zimmerman's lawyers. I don't think I have ever felt as intimidated in my life as I did that very moment. The started to ask me questions and I began to answer. As they continued to ask me questions, I got very scared as I had never been through anything like this. I told them that I had to go to the bathroom. Instead I went into our break room and called my aunt who was working for an employment attorney at the time. She informed me that I should not answer any of their questions and they may tell me that I am being insubordinate by refusing the questions. So I went back into the room where the her lawyers were and sat back down at the table. They asked me the next question and I informed them that I was not going to answer anymore of their questions. The lawyers did tell me that I was being insubordinate and they were going to have to call Kristal to see how she wanted to handle it. They called her, talked with her briefly, and then gave me the phone. She told me to talk to her lawyers and I told her that I was not going to and she followed it up with this, "You are now being insubordinate and you need to get off my property immediately." So that was that.
In the end, there was another childcare about eight miles away that was struggling, but wanted me to come in and help get the center back on track. I knew as soon as the parents at KidNation knew I was gone and only eight miles away, they would start pulling their kids from KidNation. I played this move very carefully and made sure I talked to nobody about pulling their kids from KidNation. With all the other events that took place, including the purposeful actions towards my car, I figured she would do anything to me in response to me talking to me. At that time, I was even afraid of her showing up at my home after she slashed the tires on one of her own client's car. The story concludes with the other employees finding out where I went to and were interested in joining me at the new location. Two other employees that I worked with, along with myself and the parent whose tires were slashed actually purchased the center that I moved onto in a four way partnership. About two weeks after assuming ownership of the new center that was eight miles away from KidNation, Kristal Zimmerman sued me and the other three partners citing that we were violating a no-competition clause. I had signed nothing mentioning a non-compete clause and she was suing for in excess of $50,000. Again my mind was blown. We seeked legal advice, which my share cost a couple of thousand dollars. We went to court and the judge basically laughed at her. She continued to try legal action until she could no longer afford to pay her attorneys. The timing of the ownership was not right, however, as I just financially wasn't prepared to do this. I ended up with this result after what started with my just wanting a job at a childcare center as a school age child care teacher. After six months at the new center, I took a month leave of absence to help move some relatives up to Minnesota from Louisiana. When I returned, I chose to leave the business and sold back my share of the business to the others.
As far as the final result of the investigation from the Department of Human Services and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office. She was found guilty to the maltreatment of minors. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, whose investigator often referred to her as KidNazi, gave her two options. The first was to continue to own KidNation Childcare Center and face criminal charges or sell the center and their will be no criminal charges with the condition that she could no longer work with children again. A few years later, her oldest child was killed by being struck by lightning in the front yard of her home. She then went on to move to Stillwater, Minnesota and starting a business featuring fetishes and fantasies where she referred to herself as a "Taboo Goddess". The city of Stillwater thought it was prostitution and cited her with a crime. Despite the money it cost me, and the experience I went through, the payoff was knowing that she could never work with children again and traumatize any more children.
To see the WCCO story about her Stillwater, Minnesota incident you can click this link: Stillwater 'Taboo Goddess' Charged
#justiceserved
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Resolutions 2015
This is a new year of 2015 and it has started off in a shaky manner. That is the best way I can put it. This year I feel is going to be a year of change. In 2014, I started the change. I started this blog and I started to open up with some feelings that I have been carrying for many, many years. 2015 will feature more opening up. I am in a place in my life where I want those who are close to me to know me. I have said this before, and in 2015 I mean it. Resolutions 2015 will also feature a Tim that will be speaking up more. I am the type of guy that has never been one to rock the boat because I don't want to be that guy that is a big pain in the ass to be around. I will continue to not rock the boat, but I will be more vocal. I also do not want to be that guy that always has problems going on because that simply isn't true. Right now in my life, things are not looking so positive and I will get through it because I always do. I just don't know how much time this one is going to take to get through. I will be more forward and assertive because I, now more than ever, want my voice to be heard. I want this to start immediately. This will eventually become more evident at work because I don't want to be the guy that will just take care of things and do them because that is all I am good for. I feel that in some ways that is the role I have slipped into at my job in some aspects. I may not be a certified teacher, but I have worked hard to develop my role and position at my job and I feel I need to not be so afraid of the crowd reaction, but instead make sure that I am being heard. This change will occur sooner than later.
Another resolution that I have for 2015 is to make more money. I struggle with amount of money I make for the job I do. I feel this way for all of my support staff co-workers who bust their ass at their jobs. If I had to live on my own, my job would not pay me enough to survive. I would be living in poverty and that is a scary thought. I don't know how I am going to go about this, but I can tell you it will be done legally. I want 2015 to be the year where I start to not worry so much about financial stuff.
Resolutions 2015 will also feature a healthier lifestyle. My goal this year (when I can afford it) is to join the Brainerd YMCA. I want to start working out on a regular basis. With the wonderful world of technology and podcasts, this will help me accomplish this goal. If I can have something that interests me to listen to, it will help kick ass in exercising.
My final resolution for 2015 is a big one and it may be the most difficult challenge for me this year. I want to figure out who my friends are. My goal for doing this is because I have been slapped in the face with a lot of negativity in the past six weeks by many in my family. I don't feel like I have much family left. There are a few left who are talking to me, but that list is short. This is a lonely feeling. This negativity that I have been going through has been dominating my time, thoughts, and reactions. It is time for me to analyze the people I know and figure out who my friends are. I feel like I have a lot of acquaintances and that is a good thing, but I feel like I don't have many I can call my friends. This is all my fault and I want to fix it for 2015. I need to figure this out so I can expand my support system for the times when I need friends, times like now. Happy New Year!!!
#plentyofworktodo
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