Whether they served in the jungles of Vietnam, the mountains of Afghanistan, or the sands of Iraq, when our veterans signed up to serve our country, there wasn’t a waiting line. When they return home from duty and need a job, education, housing, or health care, there should never be a waiting ...

It’s interesting how often we say something that doesn’t reflect how we really feel. For instance... When you’ve been asked how things are going, how many times have you replied, “Oh, I’m fine!”? If you’re anything like me, that reply is just a reactive statement that does not ...

A lady named Marla, who lives at Cherokee, Iowa recently mailed me an antique artifact. I know that it’s antique because it’s a little bit older than me. The relic in question is a chapbook that was published by Iowa State College in September of 1954. The 70-year-old booklet contains a ...

Easter is unique among holidays in that it skips around on the calendar. It depends on the vernal equinox and a full moon. Regardless, it comes in spring. Which is perfect. New life, resurrection, birth, greening of nature: all of a piece. There was one Easter morning in history. But we ...

We continue to implement Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) at Southview, the Middle School, and at the High School. I’m impressed at the simple, but effective, strategies BARR brings to the table to help us look at some new protocols to use data we have. This helps us to have a better ...

Last week I had a volunteer opportunity, one that was well suited to my work with the printed word. I helped to judge the local Rotary International essay contest for sixth graders from Marshall Middle School. I’ve judged it several times in the past five years, and each time I’ve been ...