As I walked around the Graham County Fair this week, I could not help but appreciate the life we live here in rural America. Fair time is perhaps the best time to live in the country. All the simple pleasures we enjoy are put on display. During the fair, we feel safe, safe enough to let our kids run around and safe enough to leave our vehicles unlocked. During the fair we celebrate horseback riding and raising livestock. At the fair, our businesses show off their wares and our crafts are judged, recognized, and honored. Perhaps the greatest aspect of small town life that is so evident at a county fair is the one thing we take for granted each and every day: our friendship with each other.
I must have greeted or been greeted by over a hundred people during the two nights my family and I walked the fair grounds. Of course I saw students and parents, but I also saw many other friends and neighbors. In that respect, our county fair is kind of like a large family reunion. We may not be related by blood, but we are connected in our common choice we made to live in the country.
Whenever I meet someone who, like myself, was not raised in a small town, but rather chose to live here, I always ask, “Why Hill City? Why Graham County? How in the world did you end up living in Northwest Kansas?” I am fascinated with the stories I hear.
Usually, the reasons for settling in this part of the world have to do with employment or with family, the usual reasons for any move. I found myself in Grainfield only because they offered me a job. My wife and I moved back here both because of employment and to be closer to her family in Quinter.
Yet, family and employment will only keep a person in one place for so long. Living far from population centers can take a toll if you don’t truly enjoy the rural lifestyle. Some people who move here don’t stay very long, and often our kids, upon graduating high school, express an interest in living in somewhere else, some place larger and more exciting.
Yet, some do choose to live and work and raise their families here, in love with the quality of life they have discovered. Some of those same kids who moved away chose to return as adults because after seeing what the city had to offer, they decided that the rural life is indeed a better life?
I realize that it is not that simple. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to choose where they call home. Some people are effectively trapped by their job or other circumstances. But I am talking about those, like myself, who did have a choice, and chose to live here more than anywhere else.
A case in point can be found in one of our newest residents, local chiropractor Bruce Anderson. Now Bruce could live just about anywhere. He is a bit of a jack of all trades, with experience as a musician, a photographer, a producer, a sound engineer, and finally a chiropractor. Not only is he a man of many talents, but his previous employment experience put him in great demand in many fields.
I learned all this talking (or rather listening) to Bruce during the fair. One of the best parts of the fair is the time you have to connect with your friends and neighbors. Maybe it is all the sugar and salt and caffeine, but something about the fair just makes everyone a little friendlier, a bit more willing to take a moment to talk.
Bruce talked about how he chose to live and work in a small town because after living in a city for so many years, he longed for a slower pace in a more caring community. He could have found a job anywhere, but he chose to live hear. And at the fair, among all the small town comforts, all the friends and fried foods, well, our lifestyle just seemed to make sense.
And while throughout each year, there are plenty of times where one can only wonder at the logic of living so far from so much, at the fair the choice becomes the right choice. At the fair we are reminded why we came and why we remained.
It is a great feeling. I will carry that feeling with me until next year, when the things I hold dear are again put on display and celebrated at the county fair.
Character Counts (07-27-09)
This week I had the honor of again working with high school students. I met with the FCCLA officers to describe a new character education program and to ask for their help. The program is called “Character Counts” and the district has decided to adopt it across the entire K-12 learning community.
What does that mean? Well, for me it meant meetings, and lots of them. The discussion began early last spring in our steering committee meeting when we examined our character education needs.
The steering committee agreed that we needed a common K-12 program to provide the teachers and staff a common vocabulary to use when addressing students about character. We wanted to become more consistent in the message we got across and more united in our approach.
So we assembled a district leadership team with representatives for every part of school life. Teachers, paras, secretaries, custodians, transportation and administration were all represented. From that meeting, we agreed upon some central things about Character Counts.
First, we wanted to communicate clearly that Character Counts was not an “add-on” but more of a “weave”, meaning that this program was not going to be something that we expected teachers to expressly teach and students to expressly learn. It is not a one year “sit and get” type of thing. We agreed that the “pillars” of the program needed to be emphasized throughout the year so that it would not just be a bunch of colorful posters in the classrooms.
Perhaps the most important decision of the leadership team was to have students talk with other students about good character.
This led to my meeting with the officers of FCCLA. After many discussions with the staff, we determined that both FCCLA and FFA would both be excellent student groups to “kick-off” and introduce the program to the students.
So I explained the program to the kids. It is actually quite simple. Character Counts consists of six pillars: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. If you take the first letter of each pillar, it spells out TRRFCC, which can be pronounced TERRIFIC!
I emphasized to the students that it wasn’t essential for them to memorize these six pillars. There will be ample posters and banners in every room, every hallway, and every bus listing the pillars. Rather, we need these student leaders to explain some basic principles about this program.
First, we are going to emphasize each of the pillars throughout the year. We will focus on Trustworthiness in August and September, Respect in October, Responsibility in November and December, Fairness in January, Caring in February and March, and Citizenship in April and May. One way that we will emphasize these pillars during their allotted time is to have high school students talk with grade school students about the pillar and how it relates to what they are doing at that time of year.
Thus, members of the football team will talk with grade school kids about how important it is Trust their teammates. Members of the basketball team will talk about Fairness. The Communities that Care kids can talk about the importance of Citizenship.
So throughout the year, older students will talk with younger students about what it means to have a pillar of good character. And with any luck, we will be able to keep this going year after year, so that by the time my daughter, who will be a kindergartner next year, graduates from Hill City High School, she will not only know the pillars backwards and forwards, she will practice the pillars as part of who she is.
Character education doesn’t happen overnight. I am excited about how we have decided to approach Character Counts, and I can’t wait to see what our wonderful high school students leaders have to say about character as they kick-off the program and as they visit the grade school throughout the year.
What does that mean? Well, for me it meant meetings, and lots of them. The discussion began early last spring in our steering committee meeting when we examined our character education needs.
The steering committee agreed that we needed a common K-12 program to provide the teachers and staff a common vocabulary to use when addressing students about character. We wanted to become more consistent in the message we got across and more united in our approach.
So we assembled a district leadership team with representatives for every part of school life. Teachers, paras, secretaries, custodians, transportation and administration were all represented. From that meeting, we agreed upon some central things about Character Counts.
First, we wanted to communicate clearly that Character Counts was not an “add-on” but more of a “weave”, meaning that this program was not going to be something that we expected teachers to expressly teach and students to expressly learn. It is not a one year “sit and get” type of thing. We agreed that the “pillars” of the program needed to be emphasized throughout the year so that it would not just be a bunch of colorful posters in the classrooms.
Perhaps the most important decision of the leadership team was to have students talk with other students about good character.
This led to my meeting with the officers of FCCLA. After many discussions with the staff, we determined that both FCCLA and FFA would both be excellent student groups to “kick-off” and introduce the program to the students.
So I explained the program to the kids. It is actually quite simple. Character Counts consists of six pillars: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. If you take the first letter of each pillar, it spells out TRRFCC, which can be pronounced TERRIFIC!
I emphasized to the students that it wasn’t essential for them to memorize these six pillars. There will be ample posters and banners in every room, every hallway, and every bus listing the pillars. Rather, we need these student leaders to explain some basic principles about this program.
First, we are going to emphasize each of the pillars throughout the year. We will focus on Trustworthiness in August and September, Respect in October, Responsibility in November and December, Fairness in January, Caring in February and March, and Citizenship in April and May. One way that we will emphasize these pillars during their allotted time is to have high school students talk with grade school students about the pillar and how it relates to what they are doing at that time of year.
Thus, members of the football team will talk with grade school kids about how important it is Trust their teammates. Members of the basketball team will talk about Fairness. The Communities that Care kids can talk about the importance of Citizenship.
So throughout the year, older students will talk with younger students about what it means to have a pillar of good character. And with any luck, we will be able to keep this going year after year, so that by the time my daughter, who will be a kindergartner next year, graduates from Hill City High School, she will not only know the pillars backwards and forwards, she will practice the pillars as part of who she is.
Character education doesn’t happen overnight. I am excited about how we have decided to approach Character Counts, and I can’t wait to see what our wonderful high school students leaders have to say about character as they kick-off the program and as they visit the grade school throughout the year.
Facing the Blank Screen (07-20-09)
Almost every week for the last three years, I have sat down at my computer and faced the blank screen. (It used to be a blank piece of paper, but I am fortunate to live in the wondrous age of word processing.) Sometimes I approached the task of writing a weekly column gladly, with topic in hand and a line of thought I just couldn’t wait to get out of my head. More often than not, I have approached the task somewhat reluctantly, with only a whiff of an idea of what I would write.
On those occasions, where the writing of this column seemed akin to pulling my own teeth, I would force myself to concentrate and then, just write. Almost always, once the words began to flow I’d find myself with something say after all, and before I knew it, I would have 600-700 words and another column to send to Jim Logback.
So now I am at it again, after the longest absence I’ve had from our local paper. I could give you all sorts of excuses for my time off. During that period, my wife and I produced the community melodrama. My family has also traveled, going to Quinter and Kansas City. Then there was baseball and t-ball which I helped coach. And I’m sure if I really thought about it, I could find other reasons why I was “just too busy” to compose even a single short column the last month.
But that wouldn’t be the entire story. Really, my lack of columns has as much to do with not having anything to say in the last thirty days. I just couldn’t face that blank screen.
You could call it writer’s block. When I first began this project, I hadn’t intended to write every week, but every week I kept thinking of ideas. But when the ideas were thin, I kept going for the readers – all those thoughtful people who said such nice things about my writing. I knew they would be looking for my column in the paper. I didn’t want to disappoint.
But this summer has been different. Even with all the people I know who have missed my columns this last month, I just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm. The entire routine seemed a little stale.
So I surprised myself this evening by sitting at my computer and facing the blank screen. I still don’t have much to write about. I thought about describing last weekend, when we saw our sixteen-year-old nephew perform in a Kansas City Community Theater production of “High School Musical”. He was cast as the lead, the basketball player turned singing sensation Troy Bolton. I knew he could sing, but I hadn’t realized just how handsome he had become, nor how confident, poised, and overall talented he was. I got to see a flock of teenage girls stand in line for his autograph and I cannot tell you how proud we all were at how well he handled the pressure and attention. Way to go Anthony, we’re proud of you
I could write about painting my office, but really how many words does it take to describe yellow plus blue makes green, the three colors I’ve chosen to brighten up the place. I could write about the melodrama, but I’ve spent the last week burning DVD’s and posting the video to the local cable channel and to YouTube (www.youtube.com/tonleee), so it can speak for itself.
So once again, I find myself with not much to say and a column to write. So why have I bothered?
Because this is what I do. I am not particularly skilled at building or gardening or hunting or golf or any of a hundred other hobbies. But I can write, and writing this column has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. No matter how much I may be intimidated by that blank screen, the honest truth is that I enjoy writing. Even when the writing is difficult…especially when the writing is difficult.
I hope next week I’ll have a more interesting topic. As of right now, I got nothing.
On those occasions, where the writing of this column seemed akin to pulling my own teeth, I would force myself to concentrate and then, just write. Almost always, once the words began to flow I’d find myself with something say after all, and before I knew it, I would have 600-700 words and another column to send to Jim Logback.
So now I am at it again, after the longest absence I’ve had from our local paper. I could give you all sorts of excuses for my time off. During that period, my wife and I produced the community melodrama. My family has also traveled, going to Quinter and Kansas City. Then there was baseball and t-ball which I helped coach. And I’m sure if I really thought about it, I could find other reasons why I was “just too busy” to compose even a single short column the last month.
But that wouldn’t be the entire story. Really, my lack of columns has as much to do with not having anything to say in the last thirty days. I just couldn’t face that blank screen.
You could call it writer’s block. When I first began this project, I hadn’t intended to write every week, but every week I kept thinking of ideas. But when the ideas were thin, I kept going for the readers – all those thoughtful people who said such nice things about my writing. I knew they would be looking for my column in the paper. I didn’t want to disappoint.
But this summer has been different. Even with all the people I know who have missed my columns this last month, I just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm. The entire routine seemed a little stale.
So I surprised myself this evening by sitting at my computer and facing the blank screen. I still don’t have much to write about. I thought about describing last weekend, when we saw our sixteen-year-old nephew perform in a Kansas City Community Theater production of “High School Musical”. He was cast as the lead, the basketball player turned singing sensation Troy Bolton. I knew he could sing, but I hadn’t realized just how handsome he had become, nor how confident, poised, and overall talented he was. I got to see a flock of teenage girls stand in line for his autograph and I cannot tell you how proud we all were at how well he handled the pressure and attention. Way to go Anthony, we’re proud of you
I could write about painting my office, but really how many words does it take to describe yellow plus blue makes green, the three colors I’ve chosen to brighten up the place. I could write about the melodrama, but I’ve spent the last week burning DVD’s and posting the video to the local cable channel and to YouTube (www.youtube.com/tonleee), so it can speak for itself.
So once again, I find myself with not much to say and a column to write. So why have I bothered?
Because this is what I do. I am not particularly skilled at building or gardening or hunting or golf or any of a hundred other hobbies. But I can write, and writing this column has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. No matter how much I may be intimidated by that blank screen, the honest truth is that I enjoy writing. Even when the writing is difficult…especially when the writing is difficult.
I hope next week I’ll have a more interesting topic. As of right now, I got nothing.
Great Receipts (06-22-09)
For the last several weeks, my office has resembled a school supply store. Boxes containing a wealth of teaching materials and educational products were stacked neatly against a wall, four feet high and several feet deep. I was thrilled every time I stepped into my office.
These materials had been acquired through the Shurfine Foods Register Tapes for Education Program. Every year, people give us their Shurfine Receipts for our local store. We then have several incredibly wonderful and diligent volunteers process each receipt.
Processing is a time-consuming task. First, each individual receipt has to be examined. If no tobacco or alcohol was purchased, then the sub-total (before tax amount) is circled. If tobacco and/or alcohol were purchased, the amounts for those purchases had to be crossed off the receipt, and the sub-totals had to be recalculated. The new amount is written at the bottom of the receipt and circled.
After several hundred receipts have had their sub-totals or recalculated sub-totals circled, then the volunteer would begin adding up all the amounts, in order to bundle the receipts in stacks of roughly $10,000. The entire process requires a lot of time and patience. We are so lucky to have people who help us with this arduous task.
However, the rewards for the work are great. We get credit for the amounts totaled on the receipts we send in to the company. We then can use the credits to purchase school supplies and teaching materials from a special catalog the company sends us every year.
I don’t know the dollar equivalent of the credit we receive as the merchandize in the catalog is priced in “points” and not in dollars. However, last year, we processed enough receipts to earn over 280,000 points. I don’t how many individual receipts our faithful volunteers processed, but I do know that the volume was staggering. The processing went on every day for months. We are so thankful for all the Shurfine patrons who gave their receipts for the program and we are so blessed for the volunteers who processed the bags and bags filled with the white slips of paper.
So what did we buy? First, we divided the number of points by the number of grade school teachers and let them chose items from the catalog. The teachers worked in pairs, to share points where possible. Through this program they acquired items both big and small.
We got cubbies, and a wireless PA system, a 20-foot parachute, and a “brain building” game. We found talking microscopes and talking telescopes, ant farms and butterfly pavilions, flip charts and flash cards. From the catalog our teachers ordered CD players and digital cameras, pens and file folders, staplers and hole-punches, soccer balls and basketballs. They ordered magnet cars and magnetic alpha-boards, dry erase markers and a 4x8 porcelain white board. Looking over the boxes, I found something called The ReMARKable Spin Wheel and something else called Carnivorous Creations. There were wiggly eyes and remoldable sculpting beads, reading comprehension sets and biomes of North America.
I could go on, but that gives you an idea. The items ranged from pencils to furniture. All in all we received over 120 free items for our school.
To Shurfine Foods, to Ron Radcliffe and our local grocery store, to the volunteers and workers who processed receipts, and to everyone who thoughtfully donated their receipts, I extend heart-felt thanks on behalf of the teachers and students of Hill City Grade School. The thousands of dollars of free materials will only make us better; these materials only make the educational experience richer and more meaningful for our kids. This is an amazing program, and I hope that we will be able to continue to collect, process, and reap the rewards from all those great receipts.
These materials had been acquired through the Shurfine Foods Register Tapes for Education Program. Every year, people give us their Shurfine Receipts for our local store. We then have several incredibly wonderful and diligent volunteers process each receipt.
Processing is a time-consuming task. First, each individual receipt has to be examined. If no tobacco or alcohol was purchased, then the sub-total (before tax amount) is circled. If tobacco and/or alcohol were purchased, the amounts for those purchases had to be crossed off the receipt, and the sub-totals had to be recalculated. The new amount is written at the bottom of the receipt and circled.
After several hundred receipts have had their sub-totals or recalculated sub-totals circled, then the volunteer would begin adding up all the amounts, in order to bundle the receipts in stacks of roughly $10,000. The entire process requires a lot of time and patience. We are so lucky to have people who help us with this arduous task.
However, the rewards for the work are great. We get credit for the amounts totaled on the receipts we send in to the company. We then can use the credits to purchase school supplies and teaching materials from a special catalog the company sends us every year.
I don’t know the dollar equivalent of the credit we receive as the merchandize in the catalog is priced in “points” and not in dollars. However, last year, we processed enough receipts to earn over 280,000 points. I don’t how many individual receipts our faithful volunteers processed, but I do know that the volume was staggering. The processing went on every day for months. We are so thankful for all the Shurfine patrons who gave their receipts for the program and we are so blessed for the volunteers who processed the bags and bags filled with the white slips of paper.
So what did we buy? First, we divided the number of points by the number of grade school teachers and let them chose items from the catalog. The teachers worked in pairs, to share points where possible. Through this program they acquired items both big and small.
We got cubbies, and a wireless PA system, a 20-foot parachute, and a “brain building” game. We found talking microscopes and talking telescopes, ant farms and butterfly pavilions, flip charts and flash cards. From the catalog our teachers ordered CD players and digital cameras, pens and file folders, staplers and hole-punches, soccer balls and basketballs. They ordered magnet cars and magnetic alpha-boards, dry erase markers and a 4x8 porcelain white board. Looking over the boxes, I found something called The ReMARKable Spin Wheel and something else called Carnivorous Creations. There were wiggly eyes and remoldable sculpting beads, reading comprehension sets and biomes of North America.
I could go on, but that gives you an idea. The items ranged from pencils to furniture. All in all we received over 120 free items for our school.
To Shurfine Foods, to Ron Radcliffe and our local grocery store, to the volunteers and workers who processed receipts, and to everyone who thoughtfully donated their receipts, I extend heart-felt thanks on behalf of the teachers and students of Hill City Grade School. The thousands of dollars of free materials will only make us better; these materials only make the educational experience richer and more meaningful for our kids. This is an amazing program, and I hope that we will be able to continue to collect, process, and reap the rewards from all those great receipts.
Small Town Rescue (06-15-09)
Sometimes, living in a small town can produce large results. Such was the case this weekend, when my mother-in-law’s dog ran away.
We were babysitting little Rolo, a brown and white rat terrier of advanced years. Now Rolo, or “Ro” as we call him, is generally a good little dog, and compared to our two dogs, he is a veritable angel. Ro has always been a dog you could trust. If he gets out of the yard at his home in Quinter, he never travels far nor stays away long.
Saturday morning, that little dog snuck out of our house, with such stealth that at first we thought he was just sleeping out of sight somewhere in the house. A thorough search led us to the conclusion that he was out.
So we hit the streets, both in cars and on foot. We looked under bushes and into backyards. We drove for blocks in every direction. We also told everyone we met about the missing dog.
Reports began to come back of a little brown and white dog running hear and there. We were always a step behind. That trusted little dog had turned fugitive and evaded detection like a criminal on the lamb. Hour after hour ticked by, and still no dog. The police were notified. His owner was informed. She drove back from her trip and came to Hill City to join the search. We thought that Ro would come out of hiding once he heard his master’s voice.
Day turned to evening, and still no dog. We began to speculate that perhaps he had, as some dogs have done, gone “cross country” to follow his internal radar and make his way back to Quinter. Maybe he had hitched a ride. Maybe he was just lost, confused, scared, and sheltering close by.
That night I took the kids to see the local movie, and the ticket seller immediately asked me about the dog. It was at that moment that I began to have real hope that the dog would be found. As far as I knew, we hadn’t asked this person about Ro. The information had made its way around town, and I realized that we had a small town network helping us in our search.
The next morning we received a phone call and then another, reporting seeing a little dog running by their homes. My daughter and I pursued on foot, with my wife manning the phones and my mother-in-law in her car. Based on the fresh leads provided by the phone calls, I was finally able to spot the dog.
I beckoned to Ro, expecting the dog to come to me. We were pals, after all. He has known me for years and I have played with him on countless occasions. However, Ro had grown timid, visibly wary of all people, myself included. He ran from me, but I was able to pursue him (through a back yard, I might add) towards the park by our house. There, his owner drove by, and upon stopping the vehicle, jumped out and called for her dog.
Still he ran. In his exhaustion, in his old age, with failing eyesight and suspect hearing, he did not even appear to recognize his own master.
We caught a break when ran toward the high school. Pursuing in her car, my mother-in-law was able to pull up within a couple of feet, just as the dog stopped to catch his breath. She threw open her passenger door and called as she had done some many times before, “Come on, Ro. Let’s go for a ride!”
He either recognized the car or finally heard the all too familiar invitation, because recognition replaced fear. After a few tentative steps, he abandoned all caution and climbed into the passenger seat as fast as his arthritic legs would go.
As I watched the joyful reunion, full of tears and tail wags, followed by a hot bath and a long nap, I was truly thankful to live in a quiet neighborhood in a small town. We cannot thank enough those who kept their eyes open and called us with up-to-the minute sightings. We cannot thank enough the well-wishers and those who prayed for the safe return of this little member of our extended family.
When I called the police to tell them the search was over, the officer who answered the phone exclaimed, “The lost has been found!” Yes, the lost had been found, thanks to the caring citizens who made possible a small town rescue.
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