Short stories and photos shared with humor and love
If you want to know what really makes America the Beautiful, listen to those words sung by a second and third grade choir. Watch their proud little faces beam as, eyes trained on their music teacher, they find the notes that give those words lift. "America! America! God shed his grace on thee. And crown [...]
The Appleton Area School District needs money and I can give you 33 years worth of reasons I think we taxpayers should give it to them. That's how long I've been sending students to Appleton Public schools -- including hundreds of parent teacher conferences, book reports, math assignments, science projects, concerts and athletic events. In [...]
Two little boys huddled on the cement outside the school door Saturday morning. I spotted them as we drove past and I briefly wondered what they were up to. Then, I realized they were accessing the school's Wi-Fi. Maybe they were doing homework, but, on that sunny Saturday, probably not. Still, the district's Wi-Fi , [...]
The book my daughter Katherine and her friend Hillary wrote arrived on the first day of school for the Appleton Area School District, perfect timing for two young ladies who spent their entire childhood guided and encourage by AASD teachers. The book's illustrator, Hannah Ribbens, is also a product of the AASD, and what a [...]
Beauty sometimes comes hard to proud, old neighborhoods like mine. Stubborn bricks stand porously and reject fresh paint outright, cracked mortar dares art to bloom. Thankfully, artists like Irineo Medina know how to coax brilliance from cranky walls and to lift whole communities with a paintbrush’s stroke. Irineo has painted 16 murals to date, three [...]