Please leave our teachers alone
and let them teach.
Here's a math story problem for you.
How many hands does it take to show this year's $77 billion budget for
the U.S. Department of Education (DOE)? After spending trillions of
dollars since its inception,
hamstringing teachers with No Child Left Behind constraints, and
ballyhooing phony test scores while forcing teachers to teach to the
test, the DOE has given us the state of education in America captured
in this photo.
If that $77 billion were block-granted
to local school districts instead of being poured down that federal
bureaucracy rathole, every district would receive between five and 15
million dollars each year, depending on district size, to apply to true
education — which takes place in the classroom, not in Washington, DC.
I've worked with students and teachersacross our nation
and I've heard so many teachers say, "Just leave us a alone and let us
teach." When I ask why they don't speak up against the dysfunctional
system, they invariably reply that they fear for their jobs. That's why
I just have to say something here on their behalf.
What kind of people are we?
What kind of people are we becoming?
I was driving on a city street listening to eulogies
of Martin Luther King Jr. on my car radio. When the traffic light
turned yellow at a busy intersection, I prepared to stop. Moments later
a car sped past me in the center lane and ran through the red light. At
one time, running red lights was a rare occurrence. Now I see it happen
so often I've made it a habit to look both ways before I enter an
intersection even though I have the green light.
I was considering how and when and why that change took place
in our culture when I passed a billboard advertising "The College of
Me." I know the sign referred to a school adapting its programs to
individual students, but it conjured up the image of self-absorbed
boors endlessly whining, "Me. Mine. Me first," and howling, "I want
what I want when I want it."
The reckless driver and 'The College of Me" image
echoed the answer a 90 year old man gave when he was asked at his
birthday party to cite the biggest change he had seen in his lifetime.
Technology was the expected answer — cell phones, computers, GPS's and
iPads, space travel and so on. Instead he said the biggest change he
has noticed is declining civility: "People don't show respect for each
other anymore." The Me, Mine, Me First mindset suggested by "The
College of Me" billboard could account for that decline.
The reckless driver and "The College of Me" image
were in sharp contrast with the eulogies of Martin Luther King Jr. and
words from one of his last sermons: "I want you to be first in love. I
want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in
generosity. If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be
great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall
be your servant."
Veterans are
those who, at one point in their lives, wrote a blank check payable to
the United States of America for an amount up to and including their
lives. That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer remember that fact. Share this with others if you
are a veteran, know a veteran, love a veteran or support our troops.
A salute to all veterans from a comrade-in-arms:
I remember the day I found out I got into West Point.
My mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited
for me to get out of class. She was bawling her eyes out and
apologizing that she had opened up my admission letter. She wasn't
crying because it had been her dream for me to go there. She was crying
because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in, how much I wanted to
attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry officer. I was going to
get that opportunity.
That same day, two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me
the following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the
military. You should go to college instead.
I could easily write a tome defending West Point and the military as I
did that day, explaining that West Point is an elite institution, that
it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than
it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a
challenge and an honor that all able-bodied youth should at least
consider for a host of reasons, but I won't.
What I will say is that when a young American is being told that
attending West Point is going to be bad for his future, then there is a
dangerous disconnect in our country.
Too many Americans have no idea what kinds of burdens our military is bearing today: — In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years. — In Vietnam, 4.3% served in 12 years. — Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.
Over time, fewer and fewer people are shouldering more and more of the
burden, and it is getting worse. Our troops are sent to war by leaders
who've never served. Only about ten percent of members of Congress are
veterans.
Taxes have not been increased to pay for current wars. War bonds were
not sold. Gas was not rationed. In fact, the average citizen was asked
to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have
chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts. The only people who have
sacrificed are the veterans and their families, the volunteers, the
people who swore an oath to defend this nation, to defend you, your
life, your liberty, your rights.
Our military serve in deployment after deployment and fight on — for
you. They've lost relationships, spent years of their lives in extreme
conditions, years they'll never get back apart from their kids, and
they've conditioned their bodies in a way that even professional
athletes can't understand — for you.
Then they come home to a soft nation that doesn't understand sacrifice
and suffering, a soft nation that doesn't even understand that bad
people exist. When they come home, many sit in college classrooms
with political science teachers who discount their opinions on Iraq and
Afghanistan even though they were there and know more from direct
experience than the teachers will ever know from their textbooks.
TV shows portray every vet as having post traumatic stress syndrome,
and the violent strain at that. Congress is debating their benefits,
their retirement, and their pay, while asking them to do more.
But the amazing thing about those who serve is that they all know this.
They know their country will never pay back what they've given up. They
know that many Americans will never truly understand or appreciate what
they have done for them. They know that, in some circles, they even
will be disdained for having worn the uniform. But they do it anyway.
They do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since
1775 — they serve. That alone makes them part of an elite group
without whose courage and commitment our liberty and our nation would
cease to exist.
God bless our nation and all who serve.
A salute from a Marine chaplain:
It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag who allows protesters to burn
the flag.
A classic salute:
What is a vet? You can't tell a vet just by looking.
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in the Middle East
sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers
didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth whose frat-boy behavior is outweighed in
the cosmic scales by four hours of unparalleled bravery near the 38th
Parallel in Korea.
She is the nurse who fought against futility in Da Nang and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another.
He is the drill instructor who has never seen combat but has saved
countless lives by turning lazy loafers into soldiers and Marines and
teaching them to watch each others' backs.
He is the parade-riding legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the white-haired guy driving too slowly who helped liberate a Nazi death camp.
A vet is an ordinary and extraordinary human being— someone who
offered his life in the service of his country. He is a soldier and a
savior, a light against the darkness and a sword against evil — and
nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the
finest, greatest nation ever known.
Students In Northern Illinois Are Invited
To Enter A Fall Essay Writing Contest
Offering Prizes For Winning Entries
That Answer The Question
"How and why do I show respect
for the people and places in my life?"
Visitors to beautiful Lockwood Park on Safford Road
just north of Rockford, Illinois, this fall will find a unique addition
to the Children's Farm and Trailside Horseback Riding Centre:
storytelling hayrides through the woods with bigger-than-life art
displays inspired by award-winning artist Tom Heflin's illustrations in
The First Forest.
In honor of the Lockwood Park "Locktoberfest" celebration taking place
every weekend in October, an essay writing contest is under way now
through November 10, 2011, for third through sixth grade students in
Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, and Stephenson Counties. Prizes will be awarded
to students submitting winning entries in two grade-level divisions:
third-fourth grade and fifth-sixth grade.
Winners will be announced on Thanksgiving Day.
The contest expands on The First Forest storytelling hayride and draws on
the author's note in the book: "Briefly stated, what I want children
and adult readers to come away with is a more generous, trusting,
sharing spirit. The First Forest
reminds us that greed and selfishness are harmful and that peace and
harmony flow from an attitude of grateful appreciation for the gifts we
receive and a respect for the need and right of others to share in
those gifts, also." In 100 to 300 words, students are to answer the
question, "How and why do I show respect for the people and places in
my life?"
Prizes are still coming in from area businesses, organizations, and individuals including:
• An MP3 player donated by Lockwood Committee members Dave and Carol Tanner for winner in grade 5-6 division.
• Tour the World free tasting tour of Noodles & Company menu for
4-6 friends (expires 12/15/11) for winner in grade 4-5 division.
• Barnes & Noble Family Fun Packs for winners in both the 4-5 grade level and the 5-6 grade level divisions.
• Rockford Park District coupons for free admissions to Magic Waters, golf courses, etc.
• Evergreen trees to be planted at the winners' schools for both grade level divisions.
• Wagon/pony passes for 2012 at Lockwood Park for the classes of
winners in both the 4-5 grade level and the 5-6 grade level divisions. •
Don Carter Lanes is presenting free bowling passes to all students who
enter and grand prizes of family bowling parties with pizza for both
grade level division winners.
• Complimentary copies of The First Forest will be given to all the students in the schools of both the 4-5 grade level and 5-6 grade level winners.
• Free writing workshops (click here for description) at schools of both grade level winners. •
Stockholm Inn is providing gift certificates for a free short stack of
Swedish Pancakes for winners and runners up in both grade levels.
More prizes are being added and will be included here as they are received.
Entries must be submitted by mail to Essay
Writing Contest, 1710 N. Main St., Rockford, IL 61103, and must be
postmarked no later than November 10, 2011, or may be deposited in Essay
Writing Contest drop boxes at participating area businesses, including
Don Carter Lanes, 4007 E. State St., Rockford; Lockwood Park Trailside
Centre, 5201 Safford Rd., Rockford; and Just-A-Second, 1710 N. Main
St., Rockford, until closing time, November 10, 2011.
A 9/11 Salute To My Soldier Son
And His Courageous Comrades-in-Arms
"Let us live
to make all free . . ."
You and the brave men and women
with whom you serve are why I and many others believe our nation's best days lie ahead.
Your selfless service, paralleling service rendered by your forebears,
tells the world anew that Americans have come too far in freedom, have paid
too high a price, and owe too much to too many of our forebears to allow any adversary —
or adversity — to deter us from pursuing our nation's ideals and destiny.
America is a nation without "good old days" because
all of us know in our heart of hearts that one person's "good
old days" were "bad old days" for others. Our national experiment in
self-government is essentially about creating better new days
for everyone, about realizing the often recited ideals of liberty and
justice for all. If "liberty and justice for all" is to be more than an
empty slogan, we need the qualities of character you and the brave men
and women with whom you serve have demonstrated for us most powerfully:
concern for others and courage in meeting our duties, obligations,
commitments, and responsibilities.
You and the brave men and women
with whom you serve have given me and many others reason to believe that we need not fear defeat by
terrorists or by an invading horde. Your courageous service has proven that we are too
strong and too resolved to allow that to happen. Your courageous service also has given me
and many others reason to believe that our nation's best days lie ahead. I salute you, all of you, for all you do.
Movies that matter . . .
"Like Dandelion Dust" opens minds and hearts to what matters most
Back-to-School Night
messages for parents . . .
Are now posted in chronological order
for your printer-friendly convenience
and to welcome your comments at johngilejournal.blogspot.com
Busy in Writing Workshop — Come again
In the meantime, here's food for thought:
"Education should not
be looked upon as something to end with youth, but as a key to open
many doors of thought and knowledge. Education ought to be a guide to
the reading of a lifetime. Those who have profited from education have
a wide choice. They need never be idle or bored. They are free from
that vice of the modern age which requires something new not only every
day, but every two or three hours of the day. The first duty of
educators is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we
do not want a world of engineers." — My Writing Workshop adaptation of
Winston Churchill's Sept. 19, 1950, speech to the House of Commons
Busy in Writing Workshop — Come again
In the meantime, here's food for thought:
• The top five percent of students read 144 times more than the bottom five.
• Private schools practice reading 67 percent more than public school students.
• Higher performing National Assessment of Education Progress students
engage in 59 percent more reading practice than those in the bottom 25
percent. — Among my Writing Workshop citations from the National
Assessment of Education Progress
In Friday's list of easy ways for busy parents to help their children read and write better, I omitted an important idea in the section on watching television.
Whenever you watch a movie together, be sure to turn on the subtitles.
Other nations — including India, China, and Finland — use this
technique to foster literacy at low cost or practically no cost per
person. In some countries, subtitles are included with every program on
national TV.
Parents at your Back-to-School Night may leave with a greater sense of urgency and a stronger commitment
to making their homes reader friendly if you let them know how many
countries have surged ahead of the United States in literacy recently.
They include Georgia, Cuba, Estonia, Latvia, Barbados, Slovenia,
Belarus, Lithuania,
Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan,
Russia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, and Tonga. If reading
and writing skills are fundamental to all learning and are reliable
predictors of future success, there is a great deal at stake for all of
us in our personal and national reading challenge.
Achievements, personal and national, flow from reading, as What Is That Thing? Whose Stuff Is This?
reminds us: "Words give us power to learn and to grow. They spread
knowledge all over the place. With words, we've learned how to build
cars, to make planes, and put rockets in outer space." Tomorrow's
leaders are today's readers.
Parents at your Back-to-School Night may
want some specific suggestions for helping their children develop
reading power. Because so many parents are so busy trying to make ends
meet, here are some easy steps to follow even during the most hectic
times: 1. First, limit TV time or
turn off the TV entirely during the school week. The National
Assessment of Education Progress has confirmed that reading scores are
inversely proportional to the amount of time children spend watching
TV. The more time a child spends watching TV, the lower the child's
reading fluency and comprehension. Too much TV is one of the primary
causes of what some now call the dumbing down of America.
To alert parents to the damage done
by too much time watching TV, I borrowed Homeland Security's terrorist
warning chart and created a warning chart parents can tape to their
TV's as a reminder of the "terrorist" in their homes. A secondary
benefit of time spent reading to and with their children is that it
cuts down on TV time and increases the amount of language interaction
children have with parents —
which is their primary preparation for learning. At the same time,
reading to and with their children builds vocabulary power: in the
world of the spoken word, the vocabulary is much smaller than it is in
the world of writing.
When you do watch TV
with the children, cultivate their critical thinking skills by talking
with them about what you watch. Ask them what they think the author's
message is in a program or ad. Ask them what the world would be like if
everyone behaved the way the actors behave in the story or ad. Ask them
if that's the kind of world they want. Ask them if that's the kind of
you they want. Children who are encouraged to think critically, another
gift that comes with reading and writing, are less susceptible to
passively accepting any antisocial messages embedded in programs and
ads.
2. Be a reader yourself. What children see the adults in their lives doing, they will do.
3. Give books and magazine subscriptions as gifts. Read them to and with the children and talk about the stories and articles with them.
4. Though digital materials are popular today and can be useful, too, have more easily and readily accessible print publications — books, magazines, and daily or weekly newspapers — in convenient spots throughout your home to make it easy for reading to fill even brief spare moments.
5. Combine dinner preparation or house project times with reading. Listening to the children read while you complete other tasks multiplies reading time.
6. Clip from print publications or print out from
you computer articles of interest to you and your children and share
them at mealtime or have the children read them to you while you are
driving.
It's important to encourage parents
at your Back-to-School Night with examples and concrete images to
illustrate the impact they have when they read to and with their
children. In my programs with students, I like to illustrate the power
of reading by citing some of my reading heroes. In programs with
parents, I prefer to cite the people behind my reading heroes.
One of my favorite examples is Thomas Edison's mother. In Milan, Ohio, Thomas Edison's birthplace, there's a beautiful park
in the middle of town just a short stroll from the house where Edison
was born. The park is across the street from the cozy Invention Family
Restaurant where locals and visitors gather and is surrounded by
wonderful antique stores. In the middle of the park is a bronze statue
of Mrs. Edison reading to young Thomas.
Mrs. Edison knew her
son was having trouble in school, but she also knew he was a bright and
creative youngster. By reading to him, she overcame his problems in
school and opened for him the world of ideas. By reading to and
with her son, she set him on a course of exploring and discovering and
creating that literally altered the course of human history. The statue
is a permanent reminder of the powers that are unleashed when children
and parents open books together and enter the wonderful world of
reading. When I visit Milan and see the bronze statue, I find myself
wishing there were a statue conveying the same message to every parent
in every city in America.
I also would share with parents at
your Back-to-School Night what happened when I was the guest on a radio
talk show in Alabama. The host was concerned about the decline in our
children's reading proficiency and asked me to join him for a 30-minute
discussion. Callers made it such a broad-ranging discussion that I
ended up being on the program for an hour and a half. By the end of the
program, the host and I realized that virtually every social problem in
America has a literacy dimension. Reading failure fosters future
failures in life, and reading success leads to future successes.
One caller, a teacher who focused on ways to help children read and write better, said, "I have an answer for children who ask
me, 'Why read?' I tell them to put their 'y' at the end of the word
read and see what you get. You get the word 'ready.' When you can read,
you are ready for anything and everything." That's why reading with
your children at home is so important. It helps them get ready for
anything and everything in their lives.
Reading to and with your children
helps them get ready for writing, too. A National Assessment of
Education Progress (NAEP) reported that seventy-five percent of our
children lack writing skills. That followed an NAEP report that said
only thirty percent of our children are reading at the proficient
level, meaning they can understand what they read and respond
intelligently. Reading is the gateway to writing. And good writing is
just good thinking. So reading to your children helps them have better,
stronger critical and creative thinking skills. It helps them be better
problem solvers and problem preventers and empowers them to have
happier, richer lives.
I also would remind parents
at your Back-to-School Night how important their personal attention is
and how much better it is to share a book with their children than it
is to give them a DVD to watch. Giving your child a DVD says, "Don't
bother me." Your warm, personal interaction with a book says, "Please
bother me. You're important to me."
I also would tell parents at
your Back-to-School Night that reading with your children at home is
important because it provides you with opportunities to stop trouble
before it begins. Twenty-five percent of our children arrive at school
with reading disabilities, according to one Midwestern study. Reading
with your children at home enables you to notice if there are any
problems and take corrective action early.
Because seventy-five percent
of our children in remedial reading programs are boys, I would
especially want to thank fathers and grandfathers who show their
support by taking the time to attend your Back-to-School Night. Fathers
and grandfathers spend a lot of time teaching their sons and grandsons
how to play sports, but it's even more important for fathers and
grandfathers to teach their sons and grandsons how important reading is
by reading with them and by being readers themselves. Their influence is not limited by gender, of course, as Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters (ISBN: 9781596980129) by Dr. Margaret J. Meeker reminds us.
Children imitate what they see
their parents doing. When they see their parents living the couch
potato life and spending their time watching TV, children become couch
potatoes and spend their time watching TV. If they see their parents
reading, children become readers. Computers can be useful and helpful,
but they also can be just another addictive
video attraction not too different from TV. Having magazines,
newspapers, and books readily available at home and talking about
articles and stories with the children are simple ways to strengthen
your own and your children's reading and listening skills, hallmarks of
success.
I also would tell parents at
your Back-to-School Night how easy it is for teachers to recognize
children who are read to at home. They have greater attention spans and
larger vocabularies. They have a deeper appreciation for books and
become better readers themselves. Their larger vocabularies make them
more creative and help them do better throughout their entire academic
careers.
And children who are read to at home
benefit from the bonding experience by becoming more self-confident.
Time that parents invest in reading to their children at home pays
lifelong dividends far out of proportion to the time invested. Taking
even a few minutes from your busy schedule to read with them tells them
reading is important. And taking time from your busy schedule to read
with them is a powerful way you say, "I love you."
More will follow as publishing commitments allow tomorrow.
To emphasize how important parents are in helping their children succeed in school, I would read this note I wrote to parents in another book (What Is That Thing? Whose Stuff Is This?) to foster reading:
"Children with parents actively involved in
their children's education scored 28 points above average in reading
while children with low parental involvement scored 46 points below
average in national testing cited by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
That 74 point spread is about one third of the average score. Those
results remind us that helping children develop reading power and all
the powers which flow out of reading is a team effort. Parents have
about a third of the responsibility, teachers have about a third of the
responsibility, and the children themselves have about a third of the
responsibility. Each of us has a vital role to play, a contribution to
make."
More encouragement and some specific tips for fostering reading skills will follow in the days ahead. (Publishing commitments temporarily limit both updates and programs until I finish research, writing, and release of new work now in progress.)
Over the next few days,
I will provide some help here for teachers and principals who are
preparing for presentations at their schools' Back-to-School Night for
parents. What follows stems from a request I received in the following
note from a teacher in New Jersey:
Dear Mr. Gile,
I am on the national panel for Teacher's Choice Awards and have the privilege of now owning one of your books. I plan to read Oh, How I Wished I Could Read! to
parents at Back-To-School Night. Their children are in my class because
I am a Basic Skills/Remedial Reading teacher, which of course means
that these families are already struggling with their child's reading
skills.
Do you have any words of encouragement I
might pass on to these parents to give them the incentive to stress the
importance of reading at home? Looking forward to sharing your book
with my students. — Robin A.
The first thing I would want to say
to parents at your Back-to-School Night, Robin, is, "Thank you for
being here. I have traveled the equivalent of four trips around the
planet earth and have worked with more than half a million students,
teachers, and parents throughout the United States, in Europe, and in
New Zealand. No matter what school circumstances I encounter or what
system is being used, I find two constant factors present whenever I
see great success. Those two constant factors are caring teachers and
supportive parents. So thank you for showing your support for your
students by showing up. Your children notice what you do. You are
sending two important messages to your children by being here. You are
telling them they are important, and you are telling them school is
important."
More encouragement and some specific tips for fostering reading skills will follow tomorrow.
The greatest books have not been written yet.
The greatest inventions are yet to come.
The best ideas are in your head.
One of my greatest pleasures in
teaching writing to children and adults is seeing the light come on as
they realize writing is not just an academic or professional skill. It
is a way to unleash life-enriching powers that we use every waking
moment. Here is a program handout I distribute as a reminder:
Looking for an entertaining
and inspirational movie? Here's a
preview of one you may want to rent:
"One day a student asked me,
'Why do you dress so fancy?'"
I enjoy ending my
school assembly programs and classroom workshops with a question and
answer period. Though the programs center on reading and writing,
elementary school students sometimes ask me personal questions that are
far off topic. When that happens, I try to add a writing-skill
connection to my answer.
One day a student asked me,
"Why do you dress so fancy?" I wear a tie and blazer to elementary
schools, but there's absolutely nothing fancy or formal about me or my
attire or my programs. I often
find myself kneeling on the floor or standing on chairs during
sessions. The question caught me by surprise, but I started to answer.
"Well, people who think about and
write about the things we do tell us there are four reasons why we
dress. One reason is to protect ourselves from the weather. A second
reason is for modesty. A third reason is for decoration. And a fourth
reason is to show respect for ourselves and for the people we meet.
That's why I dress this way, to show that I respect you."
The student and I smiled at each other as
his face lit up with an "I never thought of it that way" expression. I
let the answer sink in for a few moments, then said, "And that's why
reading and writing are so important. They give us knowledge and power
to think about the things we do and to understand why we do them. Then
we can have more respect for ourselves and show more respect to others."
His "I never thought of it that way" expression was priceless. It confirmed that he was growing. And growing is what writing is all about. — (To be continued.)
"The new manufacturing" wave
will create millions of jobs
The Vision: An Idea Whose Time Has Come The Beginning: First Steps In A New Direction The Future: Will Our Nation Lead Or Follow?
Every two weeks more
than a quarter of a million perish from preventable hunger and related
diseases. It doesn't have to be that way. Modern technology has made it
possible for us to create agri-facilities that produce food and
drinking water far in excess of conventional production methods without
pesticide and chemical pollution, without crop failure from drought and
other weather problems, and without burning fossil fuels that create
devastating climate changes around the world — and create millions of permanent, well-paying jobs in the process.
Based on the most modest statistics from
world health monitoring agencies, about 16,000 children alone die of
hunger and related suffering each day. That is one child dying every
five seconds. Imagine placing the emaciated bodies of each child in a
normal hearse. In a little over a month, we would create a bumper to
bumper funeral procession extending all the way from New York to San
Francisco. That doesn't include adult victims and doesn't portray the
misery of those living with the consequences of malnutrition — lost
human potential, including mental retardation and other maldevelopment
— all of which we have the power to end if we so choose, while
simultaneously generating unprecedented job creation here and abroad.
Just as America created millions of jobs when it retooled to wage war
against tyranny in the middle of the last century, retooling to wage
war against hunger can create millions of jobs now.
The estimated cost of facilities capable
of providing food and drinking water for 50,000 is less than twenty
percent of the cost of one B-52 bomber. During media coverage of the
earthquake response, I heard a Haitian who was receiving help from an
American say, "I love America. God bless America." Protecting our
national security is important, of course, but is it possible that a
new national focus on increasing food and drinking water production
here and around the world would strengthen our national security in a
way whole squadrons of bombers could never do?
It's a win-win effort: a
national commitment to meeting this most basic human need would both
help end human suffering from hunger and help end human suffering from
unemployment and underemployment by creating millions of well-paying
and meaningful jobs, a major concern of leaders at all levels of
government. Because jobs flow from serving human needs, it is not
enough to be asking, “How can we create jobs?” — as though jobs are
created by magic. Instead, the important question to ask is, “What are
humankind's most urgent needs?” Meeting those needs will create jobs.
First and foremost among those urgent needs is the need for food and
water for parched and starving children and adults.
Elements for creating multistory
crop production farms taking up a city block and capable of feeding and
providing water for at least 50,000 people already exist. Greenhouses are not new. Hydroponic farming is not new. Irrigation systems are not
new. Solar energy is not new. Controlled lighting, temperature, and
humidity are not new. Recycling and purifying water are not new. Indoor
planting beds and fields are not new. Multistory buildings are not new.
What is new is simply the combination of those elements, even in urban
settings where 80 percent of the world's population is projected to
live by 2050.
Cost estimates for
construction of a multistory crop production farm range from $85
million to $200 million, depending on size and scope. Even at the $200
million figure, the cost of a multistory crop production farm is less
than we have been spending on the Iraq war every week. Our expenditures
alone for war, for foreign oil, and for global entertainment and media
over five years would build enough multistory crop production farms to
feed more than half the population of the entire world.
Beyond that, billions
of dollars, private and public, are projected to be invested in
multistory crop production farm technology and development as the need
intensifies. Investment interest in multistory crop production
farm technology and development is driven by studies showing that the
world's population growth during the next four decades will require
almost 60 percent more food production at a time when tillable land
availability is shrinking.
Multistory crop production farms
create hundreds of thousands of jobs in manufacturing and construction
here for workers who create and assemble millions of valves, light
panels, microswitches, computer control systems and panels, solar
energy panels, desalinization and recycling systems, hundreds of
thousands of tons of steel and reinforced concrete, millions of miles
of electrical cable, hundreds of thousands of miles of pipe, hundreds
of thousands of panes of glass, millions of fasteners, and thousands of
planting and harvesting devices and maintenance machines for the farms.
Multistory farm developments
also create thousands of computer programming and technological
research jobs, hundreds of thousands of jobs in transportation of
supplies and materials, and, of course, thousands of jobs processing
crops and maintaining the farms themselves. If providing water
and food for parched and starving children and adults is not sufficient
motivation for focusing on meeting this most basic of human needs,
perhaps the employment benefits inherent in the vision can provide the
necessary impetus.
Our national leaders might
want to consider what happened to our nation when JFK committed us to
landing a man on the moon within a decade. With his articulation
of that vision, our languishing economy came alive with a sense of
purpose. Jobs were created. Educational excellence
blossomed. And enduring life enhancements for all humanity flowed
from it. Too often today we hear talk of creating jobs, but
without vision, without any sense of purpose. Jobs doing
what? Building unnecessary gadgets or, worse, instruments of
death while others starve and the crisis comes closer and closer to
home?
Imagine what might happen if
our president said, "I am today committing the full resources of the
United States of America to eliminating hunger from the face of the
earth within the next decade by harnessing modern technology and
helping all humankind realize the full promise of safe and
environmentally sound multistory farming." Just imagine.
Resourcefulness directed toward worthy endeavors that
feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and educate
every man, woman, and child to live healthier, happier, and more fully
human lives is the essence of strong economic development that endures.
Let us begin. — John Gile(Related item: click here to read "The day the president shocked the world.")
Wall Street Retires Bell. New York Stock Exchange adopts roulette wheel as new symbol.
The familiar "ding, ding, ding, ding" that has
opened and closed New York Stock Exchange sessions since 1903 will be
replaced by the "whir-r-r-r-r, click, click, click" of a spinning
roulette wheel and ball falling into a lucky number when the market opens for trading next Monday.
NYSE directors voted for the change after
returning from a retreat in LasVegas where casino owner Alan Greenspan
gave his annual assessment of the U.S. economy.
"American businesses and investors today are
governed by the laws of casino ethics," Greenspan said. "They're
looking for a good time and a quick buck, just like many of my
customers here on the strip."
He warned the directors, "You face a large
scale diversion of investment capital to state lottery tickets unless
you change your image to accommodate the need for instant
gratification."
One dissenting director voted against the
roulette wheel and proposed returning to the Chinese Gong that was used
from the 1870's until 1903. Directors voted to save the Chinese Gong
until Wal-Mart executives and Peking leaders order them to use it after
the 2012 election is wrapped up.
From the video:
"You will find the strength to get back up."
"There are some times
in life when you fall down and you feel you don't have the strength to
get back up. I have no arms, no legs. It should be impossible for me to
get back up, but it's not.
"I will try 100 times
to get up, and if I fail 100 times, if I fail 100 times, if I fail and
I give up, do you think I will ever get up? No. But if I fail, I try
again and again and again.
"It's not the end. It matters how you are going to finish. Are you going to finish strong?'— Nick Vujicic
Giving our children what they need most
I received a photo
showing one of my grandchildren sitting on the grass in the foreground
with her parents in soft focus holding hands in the background. It says
something to me about the unfolding of life, how each child is growing
in his or her own world while parents recede into the background, less
and less in focus but always present and always having an influence.
Our granddaughter's obvious sense of security as she examines the world
around her with her parents present to her but apart from her also
reminds me of the expression that the best thing parents can do to help
their children grow is to love each other.
Somehow the photo
also is a reminder of how important it is for husbands and wives to
focus on their marriage relationship, which is ultimately most
important not only because it gives the children a sense of security
while exploring the multifarious universe in comfortable curiosity, but
also because the day comes when the children move on in life and the
parents are left alone with each other — and a lifetime of memories.
Beyond all that,
I see in the the photo's focus field an encapsulation of the circle of
life, a reminder that the day comes when children and parents are
separated from each other for a period by the veil between time and
eternity, yet are always and ever present to each other. We are richly
blessed in our children and our children's children, and I am grateful.
— John Gile
Building Bridges To The Future
A roadside rest area
on a country road between the cities of Rockford and Durand in north
central Illinois invites weary travelers to pause and be refreshed by
the peaceful retreat. A boulder by benches overlooking a scenic view
there bears a plaque in memory of Rockford construction czar Bill
Howard.
The plaque paraphrases
a poem by eighteenth century writer Will Allen Dromgoole and tells the
story of "an old man, going a lone highway," who "came in the evening,
cold and gray, to a chasm, vast and deep and wide...
"The old man crossed
in the twilight dim, the sullen stream had no fears for him, but he
stopped when safe on the other side and built a bridge to span the
tide."
A puzzled and cynical
fellow traveler chides the old man for wasting his time building the
bridge: "You never again will pass this way. You've crossed the chasm,
deep and wide, why build you this bridge at evening tide?
"...The builder lifted his
old gray head: 'Good friend, in the path I have come,' he said, 'there
follows after me today a youth whose feet must pass this way.
"This chasm,
which has been as naught to me, to that fair-haired youth might a
pitfall be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim. Good friend, I am
building the bridge for him.'"
Another reason why I love Sophia Loren . . .
"There is a fountain of youth.
It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and
the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source,
you will truly have defeated age." —Sophia Loren
Through the years I've
believed that Sophia Loren set a standard of feminine pulchritude
matched by few and exceeded by none. When I read her reflection on
growing older, it struck me that her outer beauty is matched by a
profound inner beauty and wisdom. Her name, Sophia, means wisdom, and
it's clear she's aptly named. (With due deference to and respect for
another exemplar of beauty and wisdom in my life, my wife Renie — JG)
GILE without GUILE™ Speaking of (to) Renie . . .
Dear Renie, I walked home
from the office for lunch today. You were out running errands, so I
fixed myself a sandwich and ate alone in the kitchen. You came back
just as I finished, and we sat talking at the kitchen table.
Though I was in
familiar surroundings the entire time, it wasn't until you walked into
the room that I really felt at home. The experience reminded me of what
Twain wrote in his Diary of Adam and Eve: "Wherever she went, there was
paradise." You make ordinary things extraordinary.
I love you,
John
The day the president
shocked the world
Stunned silence greeted
President Barack Obama as he entered the General Assembly of the United
Nations and approached the podium cradling in his arms the emaciated
and lifeless body of a small child.
He did not speak
when he reached the podium. Instead he stood grim-faced, glaring
at the shocked ambassadors. He fixed his penetrating stare
particularly on the representatives of warring nations.
"I came here today
to speak of challenges to global peace and prosperity, but the child I
hold in my arms, one of more than 175,000 dying from war and hunger
each week, speaks more forcefully than anything I can say.
"In this child, behold
the insanity gripping member nations of this organization who pay lip
service to peace and human development, but spend trillions upon
trillions of dollars each year to make more destructive bombs and more
deadly bullets.
"In this child, behold
our collective guilt. Hear the questions asked by this child, by
this child's parents, and by thousands of others who die each day of
hunger and its consequences: 'Why? Why does anyone die of
hunger when technology has given us the power to end hunger everywhere
on the planet today?'
"In this child, hear the plea from millions of other children around the world: 'No more war; no more hunger.'
"Nothing new is needed
to heed their plea except the vision and resolve in our individual
nations and in our joint policies to change perverted priorities that
contribute to hunger and spawn wars over food and water in many parts
of the world. Consider the savagery of wars over food and water
that will erupt if we cling to those perverted priorities as the world
population grows from six billion today to nine billion by 2050.
"Today's global insanity
threatens to engulf all of us in global suicide. In this child,
we behold the question, 'Why? Why persist in choosing death over
life?'
"Technology available to us today
in multistory crop production and other developments can provide food
and drinking water far in excess of conventional production methods
without pesticide and chemical pollution, without crop failure from
drought and other weather problems, and without burning fossil fuels
that create devastating climate changes around the world. Nothing
new is needed except the vision and resolve to choose life over death,
to choose bread and butter over bombs and bullets."
Pausing, he bent forward
and gently kissed the child's forehead. Lifting the child above
the podium, he repeated the plea, "No more war. No more hunger."
No sound was heard as he turned and carried the child from the Assembly Hall. Dazed ambassadors sat in silence with heads bowed. — John Gile
hamstringing teachers with No Child Left Behind constraints, and
ballyhooing phony test scores while forcing teachers to teach to the
test, the DOE has given us the state of education in America captured
in this photo. 
Visitors to beautiful Lockwood Park on Safford Road
just north of Rockford, Illinois, this fall will find a unique addition
to the Children's Farm and Trailside Horseback Riding Centre:
storytelling hayrides through the woods with bigger-than-life art
displays inspired by award-winning artist Tom Heflin's illustrations in
The contest expands on 
•
Don Carter Lanes is presenting free bowling passes to all students who
enter and grand prizes of family bowling parties with pizza for both
grade level division winners.
•
Stockholm Inn is providing gift certificates for a free short stack of
Swedish Pancakes for winners and runners up in both grade levels.
park
in the middle of town just a short stroll from the house where Edison
was born. The park is across the street from the cozy Invention Family
Restaurant where locals and visitors gather and is surrounded by
wonderful antique stores. In the middle of the park is a bronze statue
of Mrs. Edison reading to young Thomas.
o
parents at Back-To-School Night. Their children are in my class because
I am a Basic Skills/Remedial Reading teacher, which of course means
that these families are already struggling with their child's reading
skills.
n
find myself kneeling on the floor or standing on chairs during
sessions. The question caught me by surprise, but I started to answer.
falling into a lucky number when the market opens for trading next Monday.
