A State-Championship, A Dragon, and Noah Webster

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! There are a few lose ends to tie up from last week.

THE DRAGONS WON!

On Friday, I mentioned we were gearing up to see our hometown football team play in the state championship on Saturday. The game was played on the home field of the Detroit Lions, so it was an exciting venue. It was also a great game and, by our standards, a great ending!

In our school district, every elementary, middle, and high school has the same mascot…the Dragon. So, my first-grade son will head off to school in his Dragon-wear, feeling just as victorious as the high school seniors. The shared mascot does wonders to bring this community together!

The Power Of Connections

After reading the post last week about teaching students in Sierra Leone about connections, my mom replied with this story:

On the subject of connections: I remember a little girl, about 5 years old, who had absolutely no interest in Greenfield Village (an “outdoor museum” founded by Henry Ford). All day long she begged, “When are we going home?” and moaned about being hot, bored, and hungry. We toured exciting places such as Edison’s laboratory, the Wright Brothers home, and others; she complained the whole time. Finally, towards the end of the day, I explained we were at the home of Noah Webster. Suddenly, the complaining stopped and she took off with excitement, darting towards the house. I wanted to take a picture outside but she would not wait for me. I couldn’t figure out why she would want to see the Noah Webster home!

On the way inside, she exclaimed, “Momma we read about him, remember?!”

For the life of me I had no idea what she was talking about. “I don’t remember reading about him,” I said.

She replied, “Yes, we did. Don’t you remember? He built the arc!”

All it took was a simple little connection to transform her attitude and interest in “Noah.” Too bad she had the wrong one!

Mom

And, yes, that obnoxious little 5-year-old girl was me. I still remember being horribly hot, bored, and hungry on that trip. I also remember being really confused, wondering how they managed to salvage Noah’s house from the flood.

-Susan Kruger

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