My Complete Unedited Eulogy To My Hero, My Grandfather, Ellsworth George Thomey

Today is the one year anniversary of my grandfather's passing and it truly took a part of me when he passed.  At his funeral, which took place on November 6th, 2015, I was honored to deliver his eulogy.  The unfortunate part was that I had to edit it and trim it down to fit some time frames.  I was not given a heads up by the church about the limitations.  So in honor of my grandfather, and to celebrate the first anniversary of his passing, out of much respect, I give you the complete, full, unedited version of my eulogy.  The edited one put me to tears, so here is the expanded and complete version.  I love you grandma and grandpa.  I think about you everyday.

Eulogy for Ellsworth George Thomey

Service Date:  Friday, November 6th, 2015

Good morning.  Today we are here to celebrate Ellsworth Thomey. To me, he was known as grandpa.  You may here grandpa a lot today in this eulogy.  I was very close to both my grandpa and grandma and I am honored to be able to share my knowledge today with all of you about this great man.  Besides all the times I spent with grandpa, I was lucky enough to be able to talk with him back in October, of 2012, to learn his complete life story.  Some of what you hear today will be things that I learned during that interview.  The interview was done for a college class assignment, but I got so much more out that experience than just a completed assignment.  I was lucky for that opportunity.

Grandpa was born on April 21st, 1921.  He was the youngest child and really his parents were rooting for a second daughter instead of another boy.  So, my grandpa’s dad worked on the railroad and had a grueling schedule, which meant that grandpa decided to enter the world at time when his father was not home because he was working.  So, when my great grandmother went into labor with grandpa, the neighbor gave her a ride to the hospital.  That neighbor’s name was Ellsworth.  So, they named grandpa after the neighbor that gave his mom a ride to the hospital.  The reason for this, is because they were counting on a girl and hadn’t settled on a boy name.  Grandpa told me that if the neighbor wasn’t around, then he would’ve been named John, which was a common family name.  Ironically, many years later, many knew my grandpa by his nickname of John.

Grandpa grew up in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis and he told me two things that he remembered about his childhood home.  The first being a mural that was painted in the dining room by Claude Elert, and second, was the crib that he slept in as a baby.  He said that he specifically remembered how the knobs looked like a lion’s head.

On the weekends growing up, grandpa and his siblings would get up in the morning and play all day in the neighborhood.  They would play softball, football, and skiing.  On days when they had to stay indoors, he and his siblings would play hockey in the basement and they would use oatmeal boxes for shin guards.

Grandpa’s main duty in the house he grew up in was hauling ashes from the coal furnace.  Before they could go out and play on Saturdays, everyone had to participate in clothes washing day, this was something my grandpa hated doing as a child.

Grandpa also told me that when he was young, if he was lucky enough to have 10 cents, he would go to a double header movie and have cereal for a snack.  Grandpa’s favorite subject in school was math until he reached geometry, and then it became his worst subject.  This experience was very similar for me.

After grandpa’s eighth grade graduation, his ball coach really wanted grandpa to go to the Minneapolis Millers Baseball Training Camp to try out for minor league professional baseball.  Grandpa thought about it, but declined the opportunity to further his education, which he did by attending vocational school.

Grandpa did not finish vocational school because some time between 1937 and 1939, grandpa and his brothers acquired The Thomey Brothers Market, which was located on Cedar Lake Road and Oliver in Minneapolis.

My grandpa once told me a Thomey Brothers Market story.  He told me that a representative from a new cola company came into the store one day and offered my grandpa the opportunity to purchase shares of stock for the new cola company at 25 cents a share.  He opted not to take the risk and he said that honestly they couldn’t afford it anyways.  By the way, the new cola company’s name was Pepsi.

My grandpa remembered that many of the films shown when he was young were westerns.  Grandpa continued to love westerns throughout his life as he loved reading Louis L’Amour books.

Grandpa’s favorite musical artist was Frank Sinatra.  He told me that every week, when he was young, he and his siblings would rush home from playing outside so they could watch the Frank Sinatra Hit of the Week.

Things got interesting for grandpa in the year 1940.  My grandfather took a date to a dance out at Lake Minnetonka.  His future wife, Leone, was also at that dance.  They both had different dates, but ended up riding home in the same car.  On Christmas Eve of 1940, my grandpa gave my grandma an engagement ring to marry my grandma for a marriage that lasted over 70 years.

In 1951, grandpa followed his dad’s footsteps and joined the railroad as a locomotive engineer.  Although he was past the maximum hiring age, it was his dad’s seniority that afforded my grandpa the opportunity.

My grandparents lived in many places.  They lived in New York and California and then decided to live in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.  Eventually, they relocated to New Hope for more space in their home and grandpa retired from the railroad in 1975.  In 1978, the sold their New Hope home and relocated to Garrison, Minnesota.   Their lake home in Garrison was a place many of us here today connected to.  For me personally, it wasn’t just a connection, it was special.

I was lucky.  I got to spend a lot of time with grandpa.  Many summers, when the school year was complete, I got to live with them in Garrison.  I watched Sesame Street as a young boy as it was one of only three channels they could get.  My grandpa also taught me how to fish and golf.  My grandpa always took the time to be patient with me and teach me the skills I would need in life.

My grandpa taught me the importance of honesty and trust.  He also taught me the importance of responsibility.  My grandpa also helped me get my first job at the age of 15, which was at the Garrison Dairy Queen that no longer exists.

My pure excitement of going to lake and spending time with my grandparents was the main influence for me living north today.  When I was up at the lake, it was a big deal to go to the big city of Brainerd.  That is where I went with my grandparents to help them with all their shopping.  There was no Baxter, just Brainerd.

The railroad must be in our blood.  I say this because one of the exciting things for me about going to Brainerd was hoping to see a train going through town while we were there.  There was one particular street in Brainerd that had railroad tracks going right down the middle of the street, and this fascinated me.  It wasn’t until I was about 23 years old and driving to Brainerd with my grandma, Leone (Stevie), when I finally saw a train going down the middle of that street.  I was giddy like a seven year old boy seeing that.  

My grandfather was very particular with the games he played.  He loved the game of cribbage.  Again, he took the time and had the patience to teach me the game of cribbage.  I would not know that game today had he not taught it to me.  He loved to play the board game of Aggravation with his friends and Garrison neighbors Gordy Henderson and Bud Cochrane.  I remember time and time again, grandpa playing Aggravation with Bud Cochrane.  First he had to get a bathroom towel and set it up on the dining room table so the dice could roll cleanly but yet stay on the table.  Second, the box top of the board game was propped against the chair at the end of the dining room table and that is what they used to throw the dice against.  On occasion, the dice would not land cleanly, even on the bathroom towel, and then the brief argument ensued about which number was facing up, because every move counted because there was a dollar riding on the game.

I also remember grandpa and grandma playing Skip-Bo as their game of choice.  Let me tell you, if there was one thing that tested their 70 years of marriage, it was Skip-Bo.  You see, Skip-Bo was a game that they played often, mainly due to the fact that my grandma had macular degeneration in her eyes and the Skip-Bo cards had numbers big enough to read.  Now, there was no bathroom towel needed for Skip-Bo because there was no dice, and this game didn’t have to be played at the dining room table like the big leagues of Aggravation.  I was lucky enough to be able to play in many of these Skip-Bo games with my grandparents, and all I can say is that it was pure entertainment and that had nothing to do with the fact that it was a card game.  They played so much that they made their own rules.  Those rules being that you had to use a natural one and seven, which meant wild cards could not be used for those numbers, and you could not play two wild cards consecutively.  If you got to witness this madness, pure entertainment.

Finally, I loved my grandpa.  I already miss him so much.  He was my last grandparent to be alive.  My grandpa always believed in me and cared and listened to what I had to say.  That mattered so much to me.  My grandpa was a big family man.  He loved having a crowd of people visiting their lake home in Garrison, especially if it was family.  No matter how many there would be, they always would make room, make you feel welcome, and never looked at it as burden.  Instead, they always were excited about family coming to see them.  That was my grandpa’s world, the way it should be.

My grandfather, Ellsworth George Thomey, will always be one of my biggest inspirations and will always influence the choices that I make in life.  He taught me so much and I would have been lost without those experiences.  At the end of my interview with him in October of 2012, one of my questions for him was, “How do you want to be remembered?”  He responded by saying, “I want to be remembered for being a good father and husband.”  I want grandpa to know today, as he is with us today, that not only did do that with great success, but he also impacted so many more in a positive way.

Grandpa, I love you.  I already miss you so much.  Please take it easy on grandma when you play your first game of Skip-Bo with her up there.  

Thank you.

ALICE Training Institute

I am passionate about many things.  Those of you who know me, know that I am passionate about fundraising, recycling, upcycling, and energy efficiency.  I have been involved in programs such as Schools For Energy Efficiency (SEE Program),  Box Tops For Education, Teracycle, Project 4 Teens, and even co-created "Youth Action Force", a community organization aimed at getting the youth more involved in the community.  So, when I buy in, I buy in big and give full effort into something that I am passionate about.  I just was introduced and trained in something that wasn't even on my radar a few months ago.

For many, many years, the school I worked at participated in five stated mandated school lockdown drills, as every Minnesota school is required to do by state law.  At the school I was at, it was called a Code Red drill.  So, like we were trained year after year, we supported the traditional lockdown scenario of locking the door, turning off the lights, and getting the students and staff into a corner that was out of sight of the windows of the hallway and just sit.  And by sit, I mean... sit, and sit, and sit, and sit.  Granted our drills were only a few minutes long, waiting and anticipating for a law enforcement officer to come shake our door handle to make sure it was locked, was pretty stressful.  It increased your heart rate, and made your anxiety get to new heights.  The foolish thing about this drill was expecting a room full of students to be absolutely silent.  In fact, law enforcement would tell us that if this was a real lockdown scenario, then we would be sitting in silence for possibly hours.  That should've been my first red flag in realizing that this method of practice was simply not realistic.

One of the first Code Red drills I participated in was in a class that included a student that was very angry at everything in life, including the school staff that was attempting to help him.  I was worried that this particular student was going to purposely make noise during the drill to alert law enforcement that there were students in that room, which in turn would alert a real active shooter that there were students in this particular room.  As time went on during the drill (we were several minutes into the drill), everyone was doing a great job being quiet and was successfully participating in the drill.  Just as the anticipation of our classroom door knob being checked, a student next to me opened and shut a cabinet door loudly.  It was not the student that I was concerned about during the drill, instead it was a student who was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome and just simply could no longer handle the task of being absolutely silent.  That was only after just a few minutes.  The funny thing is that the student that I was most concerned about, was the only student to quietly tell the student who had opened and shut the cabinet to be quiet, and he did it respectfully.  This should've been my second red flag, the fact that there are many special needs students who are a part of an inclusive environment that may not be able to handle this model of practice.  It wasn't until an alternative was introduced to me that finally caused me to see those red flags and realize that we had been practicing for many years, was simply ineffective and not the solution we were looking for.

A few months ago, the school resource officer for the district that I worked for, introduced the lockdown procedures that the local law enforcement was endorsing.  I was intrigued.  It was a brief one hour summary session to the key people in the school I was working in.  At first, the ideas of the ALICE Training Institute seemed far fetched for me.  After all, I spent nearly 10 years learning the traditional system, but I kept an open mind.  After the one hour session, I wanted to hear more.

I was presented the opportunity to go to a two day training to become a certified instructor for the ALICE Training Institute and I was the first on my team to become trained.  I will tell you that I had some reservations about going through with the training because it was considered a "reality based training".  For this training, by registering, I was agreeing to a waiver of liability and and also a waiver of injury and death.  That is not something that comes up very often when you go to an educational training.  The email I received from the instructor of the course informed me to wear a heavy sweatshirt or jacket to the first day of training to avoid injury during the artillery portion of the training that was going to include real life scenarios.  This was the part I was literally nervous about, but I told myself to buck up and deal with it.  It was too important to back out of.

So, ALICE, came into existence in 2001 and didn't arrive in Minnesota until 2013.  The purpose of ALICE is to give people, especially educators, options in an active shooter situation.  ALICE is an acronym that stands for Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate.  It gives a person options no matter what type of active shooter situation that may occur.  After my 16 hour training to become certified, I quickly created a 50 slide presentation where I can educate people on how to save as many lives as possible in an active shooter situation.  I am totally sold on ALICE and I am passionate about it.  There were a half a dozen law enforcement officers in the training that I participated in and it was really cool to see that, because it tells me that communities and schools are working together to keep their environments safe.

I did my first very brief introduction to the staff I currently work with about a week ago, and it was only 20 minutes long and barely scratched the surface of the program.  After that 20 minutes, I had several staff that approached me asking for the two to four hour program that I am instructed to teach.  The interest was there and people want to be informed.  I didn't expect that reaction after just a 20 minute intro, but it showed me that I was effective in sharing my newest passion, which is helping people save lives.

After looking at Columbine High School in Colorado, Red Lake School in Minnesota, Chardon High School in Ohio, Virginia Tech College, and Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, it shows that this can happen anywhere and happen at anytime.  In my very brief research, there have been 178 school shootings since the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999.  Now think about all the active shooting situations that don't take place at schools, such as the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, the workplace shootings at Accent Signage in Minneapolis or in Kansas at the lawn mower factory.  Don't forget about the shootings that have also occurred in retail stores, shopping malls, and restaurants and fast food places.  The ALICE program can be used in all of these scenarios and really is the teaching of a newer life skill.

I am excited to continue to educate people on this program that I was just certified to instruct this past May.  It really changed my perspective on a lot of things, and I have a new found higher level of respect for the victims of such an awful act.  I hope I never have to ever encounter a real life situation with an active shooter, but I feel better today knowing that I am better prepared and have more options if I do.

#ALICE

Open Letter To The Sarych Family

Hello everyone.  I miss my other side of my family.  For the past twenty years, I have essentially been estranged from my father's side of the family.  This really isn't much by my choosing, but instead it was more forced on me than anything.

I had a falling out with my father when I was just eighteen years old.  When I graduated high school, I really was a lost graduate.  My parents went through an ugly divorce, which I was put in the middle of often, and no one had any money saved for me to attend college.  My parents were both making enough money financially where I was unable to qualify for any type of financial aid.  Being 18 years old and having the stress of college cost placed on you is daunting.

I attempted to make best of the situation.  I decided to start my college life by attending a cheaper option of North Hennepin Community College, and I was fine with that.  I talked with my dad about being able to work for him at his auto body shop around my college classes.  This was agreed on and this plan actually went into action.  Everything was going well, and I was young and willing to help.  It was also exposing me to the auto body industry to see if this was an interest I had for the future.  After a couple of months of employment at my dad's shop, his detailer was no longer employed at the shop and my dad looked to me to handle the responsibility of detailing the cars right before they went back to the customer.  I was ok with this and it was a skill I was willing to learn.

Then there was one day when I was out back behind the shop on a slower business day helping my dad with some of his personal belongings that he had stored on the property.  One of the things that we were moving on this day was that big giant satellite dish that he used to have in the yard of his Maple Grove home that was on Rice Lake.  It was obsolete and he was getting rid of it.  It was huge, it was heavy, and I was caught off guard at how heavy it was.  While I was standing on the trailer that was connected to his truck or whatever he was using to pull the trailer.  While I was lifting this heavy thing of metal, my dad pulled the truck slightly ahead.  This caused me to lose my grip of this heavy satellite dish, and forced me to act quick so this thing didn't land on top of me.  After the satellite dish was secure, I got off the trailer and was in sudden pain as I took my first step.  I knew something wasn't right, and I don't like going to the doctor.  The pain persisted so I had to go to the doctor to see what had happened.  In your hip you have a bursa sac that protects the hip joint and I had a diagnosis of tearing my right bursa sac.  The treatment required for this injury was to participate in physical therapy for two or three times a week for 8 to 12 weeks.  If you know me, I am not one to baby myself or cry foul at any little injury.  After the diagnosis and treatment suggestions, I went back to my dad and told him what I needed to do.  He was unwilling to work with me and simply told me that it wasn't going to work because he needed a detailer.  So, that was the end of my employment with his business and there was no follow up attempt to talk about things or fix things.

I won't lie, I was hurt and angry and I was 18 years old and didn't understand why my own dad didn't want to see if I was ok or why he didn't want this fixed.  I moved on in life and just accepted the cards that had been dealt to me.  Prior to this, I feel I had a strong relationship with everyone on the Sarych side of the family, and everyone treated me with respect and I missed that.

I went through many years of being lost and not having much of a support system and that was hard.  At the time when I went through it, I didn't realize how much it was affecting me or how truly lost I had become because of it.

Then there was my sister Molly.  I knew that she was too young to understand what was going on and I hated the fact that I lost my relationship with my sister because of these actions.

In my communications with my dad in the last five years that we were in communication, he was very good about not accepting responsibility for his part.  I admit it, I was 18 years old... I was a young, dumb kid that probably had a big ego and probably acted like I knew everything, just like many 18 year olds do.  So, I didn't try to fix it, because I knew the stance my dad was going to take, which blaming me for what had went down.  Instead of blowing it out of proportion and "making a scene", I just let it go.  At the time, I felt I didn't have many options.  I wish my dad had been more willing to give me more options.

I got married in the 2006.  I hadn't sent out any invitations to the Sarych Family because of where things currently stood.  I honestly felt like my dad had given his version of the story to everyone in the family and that is the story that was going to be believed.  I felt that if I took an attempt to tell my side... I felt like I wouldn't have been heard, because I felt like I didn't have a voice and that people wouldn't care.  So, a couple of weeks prior to my wedding, my wife Kari wanted me to reach out to my dad because she felt that it was important to invite him and give him the choice to be at his son's wedding.  So, I did.  It is hard to reconnect with someone after so many years, especially when there hadn't been one attempt to contact me.  I was hurt, but I respected my wife's wishes and I got a hold of my dad to meet prior to the wedding.  We met at Maynard's Restaurant in Rogers, MN and it didn't go well.  My dad was upset with me, blaming me for the falling out, and blaming me for the affect that the falling out had on Molly.  This is not what I wanted to address at this meeting as this was the first time my dad was meeting my wife.  At one point, it got so heated that I had to get up and walk out of the restaurant.  I was pissed off.  I didn't understand why this had to continue on.  I didn't understand why my dad wanted to battle with me.  I didn't know if it was a carry over from the ugly divorce with my mom, I just didn't know.  My wife ended up telling my dad that she was the one that wanted to meet him prior to us getting married and that I made the effort to contact him and try to make this a go and a positive experience and also to try and move forward from the past.  It didn't go that way.

I still invited him to the wedding and I was especially excited to see my Uncle Joe, Uncle David, and Aunt Frosty at my wedding.  I really missed them and was thrilled to have them all the way up in Baudette, Minnesota (six hours north of the Twin Cities) to celebrate my big day with me.  I remember that I spent most of one night sitting in the hotel room visiting with the Sarych's.  I missed that.

It has been almost 10 years since my wedding day and there still has been no progress in improving my relationship with my dad.  I have basically written off the opportunity to fix it and that is sad.  I work with kids everyday and I see how important a dad is and I often ask myself why I never got to have that after I was 18.   There were a few encounters where I ran into my dad at places.  There was an encounter at a local bar and grill just north of Milaca in 2011.  The bar and grill was just about a mile from our new home that we purchased in 2010.  When I saw him, I said hello and invited him to come down the road to see our first new home.  My dad responded with, "maybe some other time" and left.  I was hurt.

I most recently ran into my dad last fall at Broadway Pizza in Garrison, Minnesota and I was notified by my wife that he was sitting on the other side of the wall in the restaurant.  I could have very easily avoided my dad, but I chose not to.  I said hello, I shook his hand, and I was respectful. We did small talk about life, but several times he asked me how many years it had been since we talked.  I could tell by the conversation that this was an attempt to continue the disastrous conversation that took place at Maynard's 10 years ago, and I wasn't going to engage in that.  In the 10 years since that conversation, I worked with youth in a treatment setting that went through very abusive and unhealthy home situations and I was exposed to the treatment practices that were necessary for these youth to become healthy.  Unfortunately, I could relate with some of the situations these youth were going through with the poor relationships with their parents.  I learned the ability to identify the art of manipulation, playing a victim role, the responsibility of accountability, and the unhealthy approaches to correcting an unhealthy relationship.  So, I wasn't going to engage in the argument again.  I didn't have it in me, and I wasn't going to just accept the blame for the past twenty years.  There were times where I wanted my dad to be the parent and contact me, but that never happened.  I have always been willing to talk, but more importantly to take accountability for my choices that could've been better.  However, I wasn't going to take accountability for everything that occurred, because it takes two to disagree.

I write this today, because I miss having the other side of my family.  My last name is Sarych and I feel so disconnected from this family name.  I miss everyone in the Sarych family and I have much respect for all of you.  I would like to reopen my relationships with this side of the family, I just don't know where I stand with all of you.  I don't know what my dad has told you and how much blame was placed on me.  I am at a point in my life where I know how to be appropriate and respectful, and I also know how to hold people accountable for their choices, including my own.  If you knew me, you would know that I don't have time for drama.  Our society is so full of drama and people tend to get hung up on it and that is just not me.  I am one who looks forward and understands that what has occurred in the past can't be undone.  I wish it was different.  I can only hope that from this moment on and moving forward that my family on the Sarych side wants to interact with me again.  Like I mentioned at the beginning of this, I miss my family on the Sarych side.  I cannot promise that I will ever have a relationship with my dad ever again, because there needs to be accountability on both sides, but I guess I am wondering if anyone, that I am reaching out to, is still interested in reconnecting with me?  I would like to know.  I am Facebook friends with Debbie, Karen, and Jeff and they will receive this first.  I hope they pass it on to everyone else in the Sarych Family who knows me.  I have wanted to do this for sometime, but I had to be in the right frame of mind to talk about this, some of which is very uncomfortable.  I look forward to hearing from all of you and I hope all is well

Tim Sarych

#family

Project 4 Teens

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Christmas Was A Little More Merry This Year

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

*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

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