RIP Manny

One of my students passed away today. Emmanuel "Manny" Stewart had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Manny made my decision to go into the teaching field worth everything. Manny could light up a room. His infectious smile and laugh made everyone around him happy. He loved music, talking about the weather, working on video projects with his boys Mario, Jake, Mike, and Will, and spending lunch time down in the TV control room.
Manny never let his disability interfere with his love of life. When you called his name for attendance he would quickly respond, "here", he was always willing to learn, he was always polite. When he would come down to my area during lunch, he would pull his wheelchair up to a computer and very politely ask me to lift his head so he could sit up. Never a complaint, never disrespectful, always ready to learn.
I am very, very sad tonight.
My deepest sympathy to his family.
RIP Manny, like a streaking meteorite, you shined brightly, but left us all too soon.

The man......

A student of mine could use your prayers tonight. This student is quite ill, but battling like always.
I entered the teaching profession to work with a student like this. Always a smile, always polite, always inquisitive, and always ready to learn.
So when you go to sleep tonight, be thankful for the little things in life. Give your loved ones an extra hug, give the dog an extra treat, and please say a prayer for my student.

Something funny happened on the way.............

Yesterday during my last period I was sitting in my classroom with about half the class. I was discussing school rules with a student, and the discussion turned into a mock trial where I was the prosecutor and she was the defendant. I was trying to make a point about playing by the rules.

The other students' ears perked up and all of a sudden the discussion turned to my long career as a director for the cable network "Court TV". For the next 20 minutes or so, I talked about all the famous trials I had been involved with. Students were mesmerized by this "speech". Questions ranged from how we handled the trials from a technical standpoint to gory details about the crimes. 

You never know when a teaching opportunity pops up. I found it to be one of my most rewarding classes to date. The blending of technical TV talk with real life drama  hopefully will open students minds to the career possibilities that lie before them

Schools In For Summer..........

Day 1 at MHS. Great to see my students.
Lots of great plans for this year.