April Paddle

For April we took a 3-day trip on the Jack's Fork River from the South Prong bridge to Alley Spring.  River maps and outfitters show this as a 31-mile stretch. 

Zack and I headed out at 5am on Friday morning to meet Kelly and Carson at Harvey's Canoe Rental near Alley Spring.  I've used Harvey's for shuttles before.  After moving their gear to the truck and settling up we headed out for the Prongs to start our trip.

We put in at the South Prong access.  Within 200 yards there was a tree blocking the entire river.  The boys pulled the kayaks over the bank while Kelly and I lined the canoes under the tree.

We couldn't have asked for a much better day.  We saw one other person before lunch.  Carson took a leap from a nice cliff right before lunch.  Two couples were putting in for a quick afternoon trip at the Highway 17 bridge.  We passed a group of women just below the bridge.  We settled for the night around the 85 mile marker on the generic park service map.

Blue Spring is a popular stop for folks. 

The boys gathered up wood and got a nice campfire going.

The meal for the night was tacos.  We stayed in my big tent together.  I fell asleep shortly after 8pm. 

Saturday morning we were out of camp around 9am.

Loaded down.

Kelly had some issues on Saturday.  Somehow he hit a rock that got him enough off balance to tip.  After grabbing some initial gear floating down, Zack and I raced downstream to catch the rest.  A few hours later he was wet again.

Saturday night we camped across the river from the Bay Creek primitive camping area.  It was the first night under the stars for both Carson and Zack.

Sunday was up and out early to head for the truck.

This was the first time I'd been on the stretch from the Prongs to Highway 17.  It is an enjoyable float, but losing a few inches of water would result in a lot of dragging.


Can't beat days like this.

 

 

April 8

April 8 is a special day for me.  Some years ago our friends and family gathered to celebrate Debbie and I getting married.  In 2014 we received an interesting anniversary gift.

As the school privatization movement seeks to gain steam in Missouri the money that flows with it has led to a Legislature that is increasingly critical of Missouri's public schools.  Representatives and Senators seem to no longer care about the views of teachers and administrators.  Some have become downright hostile toward educators.

While the Missouri House of Representatives was passing legislation to study education standards (anti Common Core) and the House Education Committee was debating transfer legislation not supported by public schools, we learned once again that all politics is local.

On April 8 we found out here here and here that Missouri communities support their local public schools.  The list of successful bond issues and tax levies goes beyond the linked articles to cover all parts of Missouri.  And we're not talking about issues barely passing.  Many passed by huge margins.

It is clear that communities support their local schools, but sad that many of those serving in the Missouri Legislature no longer do. 

The education community rallied together in support of sustaining the veto of HB253 last summer.  It's time we stand again to show members of the Missouri Legislature that Missouri's public schools have the support of their communities.

On Friday lets unleash the power of #Lovemyschoolday

March on the water

The 3rd weekend in March is the annual Missouri Whitewater Championships held at Millstream Gardens on the St. Francis River.  Zack and I went down Friday after school and camped at Johnson Shut-Ins State Park.  It was the first time I had stayed in the new campground and I believe we'll be going back.

We got up early on Saturday to do some walking through the shut-ins, but had to wait at the gate for a ranger to open up. 

 

 

After a walk around the shut-ins it was off to Ironton for some chocolate milk and onto Millstream Gardens to watch the races.

 

 

 

Watching the races is fun, but watching other people paddle just makes me want to paddle.  So two weeks later Bob and I spent a late after noon with a relaxing paddle on Creve Coeur Lake while Debbie and Zack rode on the bike trail.





February Paddle

The plan was to hit the water Sunday morning, but with sickness in the house on Saturday evening I cancelled.  But on Sunday morning there was no more sickness.

Zack and I loaded up 2 kayaks somewhat quickly and headed to Creve Coeur Lake for a relaxing paddle...at least I thought it would be.

We were surprised at the volume of ice still on the lake after 5 days above freezing - several above 50 degrees.  Regardless, there was open water along the shore and we saw a path through the ice to an area that would be out of the wind.  The windchill was around 24.

We took off through the open water path with Zack in the lead.  Nearing the far end of the path and open water he hit ice.  It was about 2 inches thick.  We backed up and I took the lead to bust through.

I rode up on the ice and rocked to bust up about 3 feet.  That was just enough to let the wind shift the other end of the path and start closing it off.  The next bust caused the path to narrow.  At that point I slid up onto the ice as much as possible, put my paddle on the deck, and used my hands to scoot the kayak across the ice to open water - busting ice as I went.

Zack saw what I was doing and did the same, but he was on the other end of the path.  I circled around near the shore and bused through a little bit to get him with me.  We didn't go far though and ice was right to the bank.

We turned around and stayed along the open shore after that.

This is not the first time we've paddled in ice, but there was more of it this time.
 

Take Back the Narrative

While at the 2014 National Conference on Education I heard a recurring theme of the need to push back against efforts to privatize education.  The message was not a surprising one.  For some time public education has been the whipping boy of everything wrong in society and seems to have intensified recently.

Can we fight back and what will it take?  I believe we can, but it will take a concerted effort by all of us who support public education. 

If we examine the reform movement we now see what appears to be a coordinated social media effort to recycle the same stories over and over.  Take a look at their Twitter accounts.  These folks follow each other and retweet "think tank" releases and news stories.  If something is happening in one state it will make its way across the nation via Twitter.

That isn't normally the case with great news in public education. 

Surveys on the support of public education routinely show strong support for local schools.  That support drops when asked about the nation's schools.  That is a perception we can, and must, change.  It's time we started showing support for other schools across the country.  The media isn't going to do it.  Only we can.

Let's commit to passing along the great things going on in schools across the country and take back the narrative about public education.

Where is the love?

If you were watching those in the education reform world, politicians, and some media last week you know that it was school choice week.  It got a fair bit of press and several school choice legislative proposals were introduced.

What received much less press was the fact than it was also school board recognition week in Missouri.  There are some 3,500 elected school board members in Missouri who volunteer their time to represent their community.

Where was the legislative love for these public servants?  If there was any, I missed it.

Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion

I was able to catch the last half of both NFL conference championship games yesterday.  Good games...yes, but also a lesson in representing your organization.

The widely seen live interview of Richard Sherman at the conclusion of the Seahawks win may become a training video in how to represent your organization. 

Most folks know the Miranda rights statement -- "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."  In today's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube world everyone has the ability to brand themselves more than ever.  This idea has me broadening the Miranda state to what you say will be used against you in the court of public opinion.

Mr. Sherman's comments have been all over sports, and other, news.  What he said, and the manner in which he said it, is being judged by sports pundits, website comments, and bloggers everywhere.  The trouble is Mr. Sherman's comments reflect on the Seahawk organization as well.

If what your employees say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion, how do the daily conversations of your employees reflect upon your organization?