One of my first memories of Coach Murphy actually came at a Home Depot in Winston-Salem. I had on a West Forsyth t-shirt. Murph had on West Forsyth garb as well. He recognized me and came straight up and told me that the football team was going to Asheville the next Friday for a game … Continue reading When I Grow Up, I Want to Be Like Coach Murphy, The Titan of Titans

I spent the better part of a seven hour drive today thinking about how I would talk about the events of Charlottesville to my own children. One is a rising sophomore where I teach and she's bright and perceptive and has a great sense of self. It took about ten minutes to finish that mental … Continue reading Addressing Charlottesville In Class If School Met Tomorrow

In less than two weeks, my high school will play its first football game. In fact, before students even take a class, two games will have been played and put in the record books. And the band will be there with them. There is a tradition at the end of each game in which the … Continue reading In Praise of the High School Band – Again

Earlier today, Mark Johnson tweeted the following self-promoting plug that touts the past to explain his lack of action on the present and lack of vision for the future.  It doesn't take much to realize that there is nothing  Johnson has done that has provided any "change" to the status quo. In fact, he has … Continue reading He Speaks! But Says Nothing – Mark Johnson’s Interview With Carolina Journal

Allowing Tom Hofeller to redraw legislative maps for our gerrymandered state is like letting an arsonist loose in a drought-ridden forest and giving him matches to play with. Take a read : http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article166115407.html. Fifty thousand dollars is above the salary of a highly qualified veteran public school teacher who raises student achievement consistently in a poverty-stricken … Continue reading That’s Worth 50K? Really It’s More Money That Could Be Spent on Public Education

Below is the transcript of an open letter I wrote to Mark Johnson almost a year ago when he was running for the office of state superintendent. I revisit it to compare what he has done in office in these seven months on the job to what he claimed he was going to do. Judge … Continue reading Revisiting That Open Letter to Mark Johnson, Candidate for State Supertintendent, Concerning Remarks on Poverty and Student Preparedness