The Anecdotal Life Part. 97
The Easter egg roll is scheduled to be on the White House lawn again this year and one of my best friends, Cheryl, earned free tickets for it, which included her grandson, granddaughter and daughter. Her school received a Title One award and 128 tickets. She really earned it , hands down. I know what working in Prince George's schools means. It is one of the largest and toughest counties in the country. Cheryl and I both loved working with the kids, partly because, you know darn well these kids really need you. She's tops when it comes to bringing them up to speed at the wonderful age of four in all the areas they are so obviously behind in when they enter. And, THEY WILL READ, by God, if they can see straight at all when they leave that class.
When she called and told me, I remembered the family story about a trip to the White House told to me by my oldest sister, Diane. Don, her husband, my brother in law, was Superintendent of Schools up in Empire, Michigan at the time. The senior class of the high school was due for it's trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate their graduation. They saved for four years and it was a huge dream for them all. Fate stepped in and crushed that dream when they found out that one of the students of their class had leukemia. The parents had no money for the treatment. Taking a collective deep breath they gave everything they had saved to the family. It was in the town's paper and apparently one of the senators or representatives for Michigan told the House and Senate in Washington, all of whom voted to put each and every student on a special train all the way to D.C. Don and Diane were invited, too, as a matter of course. Hotels and food were thrown in. Everyone was hearing about this train of kids and whatever junction the train went through, people came out to wave and cheer them along their way all across the country. They were invited by the President to the White House Rose Garden and given a autographed papers and a plaque. "No", he said, when asked, "Mrs. Kennedy cannot be here with us today. She was needed in Virginia." Then President Kennedy shook their hands and congratulated them. A great conclusion, but better than that, the fellow student survived as well.
When she called and told me, I remembered the family story about a trip to the White House told to me by my oldest sister, Diane. Don, her husband, my brother in law, was Superintendent of Schools up in Empire, Michigan at the time. The senior class of the high school was due for it's trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate their graduation. They saved for four years and it was a huge dream for them all. Fate stepped in and crushed that dream when they found out that one of the students of their class had leukemia. The parents had no money for the treatment. Taking a collective deep breath they gave everything they had saved to the family. It was in the town's paper and apparently one of the senators or representatives for Michigan told the House and Senate in Washington, all of whom voted to put each and every student on a special train all the way to D.C. Don and Diane were invited, too, as a matter of course. Hotels and food were thrown in. Everyone was hearing about this train of kids and whatever junction the train went through, people came out to wave and cheer them along their way all across the country. They were invited by the President to the White House Rose Garden and given a autographed papers and a plaque. "No", he said, when asked, "Mrs. Kennedy cannot be here with us today. She was needed in Virginia." Then President Kennedy shook their hands and congratulated them. A great conclusion, but better than that, the fellow student survived as well.
posted by The Anecdotal Life at 9:48 AM
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