In the past twelve months, we've spent seven of them in Colorado. We lived two months last fall on the 'back range' in Fraser, a tiny alpine town of 1168 people. This year we spent five months on the 'front range' in Colorado Springs, a big town of 600,000. Every state I've been to, and I think it's up to 46 now, has some element of natural beauty. However, Colorado got more than its share when gorgeous was passed out.
I decided rather than write, write, write about my impressions of living here, I'd let my pictures do the talking.
https://goo.gl/photos/EhfTAxGgQNSYExcFA
We leave Colorado Springs next week, and we're going on vacation. (OK, laugh, I know you want to.) We're visiting the Black Canyon at Gunnison National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, the Grand Staircase Escalante, and Zion National Park. We've even rented a jeep at the Grand Staircase since the roads are mostly dirt or just 'tracks'. Then, we will be in Prescott, Arizona for the month of October.
This is one place I'm sad to leave. I'd like to stay and see the aspens turn yellow and the snow fall.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Saturday, September 10, 2016
The Castle in Manitou Springs
Manitou Springs was founded by the railway magnate, William Jackson Palmer, and his partner, William Abraham Bell. They brought the railroad to Colorado Springs. In post Civil War America of the 1870's and 1880's, a health craze was sweeping the country. Palmer and Bell thought Manitou Springs, a site nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain front range, and an area known for hundreds of years for the naturally carbonated springs which flow up through the granite, was a natural site for a town based on attracting people for 'water cures'. To ensure the town's success, they even built a railroad spur directly into Manitou Springs. Thus, Manitou Springs, just a scant 10 miles from the heart of Colorado Springs downtown, has always been a tourist town.
With today's medical knowledge, the idea you could recover from tuberculosis or other ailments by drinking carbonated water seems silly. However, during a time in which medical care was mostly about trying to do no harm to the patient, the fresh mountain air and a water cure certainly couldn't hurt them. People came by the droves from the time of the town's founding in 1872 until the 1920's. Some came to find cures for ailments while others came to vacation in a charming town which developed more and more tourist attractions many based on the spectacular scenery of the location. Middle class people in post civil war America had disposable income to indulge in the vacationing - a new possibility in the 1880's.
One of the people who came to recover his health was a Catholic priest by the name of Jean Baptiste Francolon, a French aristocrat
who followed another aristocratic French Catholic Bishop to New Mexico in 1878. By the early 1890's Francolon was suffering from a digestive malady which would not go away. There are unsubstantiated rumors he was being slowly poisoned by his New Mexican parishioners. In any case, he was transferred by the New Mexican Bishop to Manitou Springs to recover his health.
With the backing of his mother's wealth, he immediately began designing a magnificent home in Manitou Springs. This became known as Miramont Castle. It originally contained 14 rooms, numerous open air porches and a conservatory.
Upon its completion Father Franolon immediately sent for his mother. She arrived with a gigantic four poster bed which was too large for the bedroom Francolon had designed for her use. A quick remodel ensued, and his French speaking mother was accommodated. The castle was completed in 1892 mostly of 'greenstone', a type of granite which today has been quarried out of existence.
The interior woodwork, except for Madame Francolon's bedroom, was of lowly pine, but the carpenters and woodworkers led by the pictured Gillis brothers knew their business.
Madame Francolon's re-designed bedroom was huge, and her woodwork was fashioned out of oak.
Her son's bedroom was much more modest in keeping with his clerical vows. However, he didn't seem to have much of a problem reconciling his clerical vows of poverty by living in a mansion which was certainly extravagant for the small town of Manitou Springs. As a French aristocrat, he must have viewed his housing in Manitou Springs as barely adequate.
During the Francolons' occupancy, there were several open air porches which were used during the summertime. Interestingly, one of the main porches didn't have a 'rail', but rather the outer perimeter of the porch was set with granite slabs of stone about 4" high, just enough to stub your toe and warn you of the edge of the second story porch.
Miramont is two connected French words which basically mean 'look at the mountain'. The eight sided conservatory with the 18' ceiling, which was also glass in Francolon's design, would have been an interior green house to take in the mountain view during the winter months.
Father Francolon and his mother only lived in his castle for 8 years. Her health failed, and he returned with her to France where she died. He was then sent to New York for his final posting. Father Francolon left Manitou Springs and his castle behind, but the grounds and building were purchased for $1300 by the Sisters of Mercy, a convent of nursing nuns, who transformed Miramont into a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. They enclosed porches, and partioned the large rooms into smaller patient bedrooms.
To get the patients out into the 'beneficial air' during the summer, they also built 'tuberculosis huts' where patients slept in the summertime. This is the only one left on the property. The Sisters ran the sanatorium into the 1920s.
With today's medical knowledge, the idea you could recover from tuberculosis or other ailments by drinking carbonated water seems silly. However, during a time in which medical care was mostly about trying to do no harm to the patient, the fresh mountain air and a water cure certainly couldn't hurt them. People came by the droves from the time of the town's founding in 1872 until the 1920's. Some came to find cures for ailments while others came to vacation in a charming town which developed more and more tourist attractions many based on the spectacular scenery of the location. Middle class people in post civil war America had disposable income to indulge in the vacationing - a new possibility in the 1880's.
One of the people who came to recover his health was a Catholic priest by the name of Jean Baptiste Francolon, a French aristocrat
With the backing of his mother's wealth, he immediately began designing a magnificent home in Manitou Springs. This became known as Miramont Castle. It originally contained 14 rooms, numerous open air porches and a conservatory.
Upon its completion Father Franolon immediately sent for his mother. She arrived with a gigantic four poster bed which was too large for the bedroom Francolon had designed for her use. A quick remodel ensued, and his French speaking mother was accommodated. The castle was completed in 1892 mostly of 'greenstone', a type of granite which today has been quarried out of existence.
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| Grand Staircase of Miramont Castle |
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| One-half of Madame Francolon's bedroom |
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| 1890's period Catholic vestaments |
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| The Miramont Castle View |
However, from the 1930's until the restoration of the building began in the 1980's, Miramont dwindled into a shabbier and shabbier structure. By 1947 it had devolved into small apartments for returning GI's. There's only one piece of original furniture in the house, and it's a built in bench at the top of the grand staircase on the landing.
The Manitou Springs Historical Society over the years has diligently returned Miramont Castle to it's 1890's beauty with money and labor provided by the service clubs and citizens of Manitou Springs. This restoration has taken them decades. Their accomplishment is impressive when considering the town only has a permanent population of 5,000 people. Today Miramont is a National Historical Site, a tourist attraction, and a local tea room.
The furnishings were all mostly forgettable as are so many in restored houses. In lieu of pieces of furniture and other decorative items original to the house, these types of places are furnished with 'period pieces' which are historically accurate but lack any cohesive decorative scheme. Miramont definitely falls into this catagory, and to make up for the lack of original furnishings, several rooms are set up as mini-museums. One such room is the re-created study of the head Judge of the World War II Nuremberg Trials who was from Colorado Springs. Another current exhibit is about firefighters of Manitou Springs. None of these added much interest to the house itself.
In this house's defense, in all my tours, I've only seen ONE house which is completely furnished with all original pieces. Most restorations, like Miramont Castle, have to peel away decades of alternative use. When that happens, all original decorative pieces are long gone, and members of the restoration committee pour over every available period photograph or painting to try and determine what each room originally looked like.
As always, to see more pictures of the house, click on the link:
Friday, September 9, 2016
Are you Labor or Management?
The Labor Day holiday got me to thinking... Labor Day was born in the 1890's to acknowledge the contribution of labor (workers) to the industrial revolution which transformed the American economy in the 1800's. By the end of the 19th century, wealth distribution could be described as between the 'robber barrons' and the hordes who labored in their factories.
In 1880 the workday in those factories was 10 hours a day, six days a week. There was no safety net for workers. If you got hurt in those factories, and they were ALL incredibly dangerous and hazardous, then you were just fired. Your pay was whatever the factory owner decided, and, for instance, if all the steel mill owners got together to decide what they would pay in their factories as well as blackball any 'agitators' or 'troublemakers' trying to organize their laborers, well that was just good business.
If the working conditions weren't bad enough, up to 40% of the industrial workers made less than a minimum wage necessary to feed and clothe their families. These desperate conditions gave rise to the labor movement which was about safety first, second a reduction of working hours to the eight hour day, and finally, to be able to bargain as a group to set their wages. This was a fight to gain acknowledgement of the workers' contribution to the industrial production as well as gain a portion of the incredible wealth the production generated. And, trust me, it was a fight. There were laws outlawing unions, striking for better working conditions, as well as gaining that slice of the wealth. Police as well as the rest of the judicial system was in the pockets of the owners.
Old news, right? What does all this history have to do with you today? Well, look around. We are in the midst of another revolution. Our entire society and economy is being remade by the Electronic Revolution just as surely as life in the USA was remade by the Industrial Revolution. Today, we have the increasing gulf between the few and the many. What is the 99% movement if not a nascent labor movement?
The means of production these days in America is shifting away from the strong back, and the manufacturing base of the traditional labor union. Instead, as the Electronic Revolution continues to roar forward, isn't it increasingly obvious the means of production are brains not backs?
The wealthy have learned a few things since 1880. Their factories are clean, upbeat environments with breakfast bars, free food for lunch, well lighted, air conditioned and heated with company gyms, and lots and lots of other perks for their workers.
However, all those trivial trappings aside, if you work in one of these places, believe me when I tell you that you are labor. You can be fired without cause at the whim of the Board of Directors whenever there's a company downturn, however slight or temporary. Your job can be at risk every three months.
You are being trained to work seven days a week, twelve or fifteen hours a day. Your company is keeping you working those hours through that marvel of the electronic age: the smart phone. Balk at those hours? No problem. You'll just be 'laid off', that new euphenism for being fired. Object to your pay? Beware, your name just moved to the top of the list to be 'laid off' in the next round of cut-backs.
Get to be 50+ and have worked hard and faithfully to get to the top of the wage list? Congratulations. Your name also just moved to to the top of the cut back list. Why pay you for your expertise and knowledge, when a new hire thirty years younger can be had for half of your wage. Are you working the equivalent of two jobs because your company has laid off so many people?
Wages throughout the economy are stagnant; there are few pay wage increases because company's don't recognize the contributions of labor to their profitability. However, the gap between what the upper echolons of companies are being paid (or paying themelves) is huge compared to their employees' wages and steadily growing. And the stock markets, the measure of American business profitability just keeps going up. Yes, sir, the wealthy robber barrons have learned a few things since 1880.
I think it's time for a new labor movement. Just because you don't get dirty, or sit at a keyboard, or walk around with a hand held computer when you work doesn't make you management. It's time to take some lessons from those organizers of the late 19th and early 20th century. There, of course, would be crucial differences this time in how to obtain a slice of the economic wealth of this country, but collective bargaining would certainly be a step forward in wealth redistribution just as it was 100 years ago.
In 1880 the workday in those factories was 10 hours a day, six days a week. There was no safety net for workers. If you got hurt in those factories, and they were ALL incredibly dangerous and hazardous, then you were just fired. Your pay was whatever the factory owner decided, and, for instance, if all the steel mill owners got together to decide what they would pay in their factories as well as blackball any 'agitators' or 'troublemakers' trying to organize their laborers, well that was just good business.
If the working conditions weren't bad enough, up to 40% of the industrial workers made less than a minimum wage necessary to feed and clothe their families. These desperate conditions gave rise to the labor movement which was about safety first, second a reduction of working hours to the eight hour day, and finally, to be able to bargain as a group to set their wages. This was a fight to gain acknowledgement of the workers' contribution to the industrial production as well as gain a portion of the incredible wealth the production generated. And, trust me, it was a fight. There were laws outlawing unions, striking for better working conditions, as well as gaining that slice of the wealth. Police as well as the rest of the judicial system was in the pockets of the owners.
Old news, right? What does all this history have to do with you today? Well, look around. We are in the midst of another revolution. Our entire society and economy is being remade by the Electronic Revolution just as surely as life in the USA was remade by the Industrial Revolution. Today, we have the increasing gulf between the few and the many. What is the 99% movement if not a nascent labor movement?
The means of production these days in America is shifting away from the strong back, and the manufacturing base of the traditional labor union. Instead, as the Electronic Revolution continues to roar forward, isn't it increasingly obvious the means of production are brains not backs?
The wealthy have learned a few things since 1880. Their factories are clean, upbeat environments with breakfast bars, free food for lunch, well lighted, air conditioned and heated with company gyms, and lots and lots of other perks for their workers.
However, all those trivial trappings aside, if you work in one of these places, believe me when I tell you that you are labor. You can be fired without cause at the whim of the Board of Directors whenever there's a company downturn, however slight or temporary. Your job can be at risk every three months.
You are being trained to work seven days a week, twelve or fifteen hours a day. Your company is keeping you working those hours through that marvel of the electronic age: the smart phone. Balk at those hours? No problem. You'll just be 'laid off', that new euphenism for being fired. Object to your pay? Beware, your name just moved to the top of the list to be 'laid off' in the next round of cut-backs.
Get to be 50+ and have worked hard and faithfully to get to the top of the wage list? Congratulations. Your name also just moved to to the top of the cut back list. Why pay you for your expertise and knowledge, when a new hire thirty years younger can be had for half of your wage. Are you working the equivalent of two jobs because your company has laid off so many people?
Wages throughout the economy are stagnant; there are few pay wage increases because company's don't recognize the contributions of labor to their profitability. However, the gap between what the upper echolons of companies are being paid (or paying themelves) is huge compared to their employees' wages and steadily growing. And the stock markets, the measure of American business profitability just keeps going up. Yes, sir, the wealthy robber barrons have learned a few things since 1880.
I think it's time for a new labor movement. Just because you don't get dirty, or sit at a keyboard, or walk around with a hand held computer when you work doesn't make you management. It's time to take some lessons from those organizers of the late 19th and early 20th century. There, of course, would be crucial differences this time in how to obtain a slice of the economic wealth of this country, but collective bargaining would certainly be a step forward in wealth redistribution just as it was 100 years ago.
Friday, September 2, 2016
It's State Fair Time
I was thinking the other day about agricultural fairs. There are county fairs, which are usually very small, with limited exhibits since they are only from one county, and then all the counties contribute to the state fair. Some state fairs are in the top ten across the country year after year. The Minnesota State Fair and the Iowa State Fair are always in the top five. The Texas State Fair usually makes the top ten, and as Texans know, it's huge, lasts for weeks, and has a big college football game as part of it.
Colorado is one of those states which is schizoid. Half the state is rolling plains dotted with small towns while you can see the ranch and farm land shrinking as the state urbanizes. It's dry ranching (non-irrigated) and farming, but mostly ranching. Right at the eastern edge of Colorado is where you find corn, wheat, and don't forget, marijuana cultivation. The Rocky Mountains explode right down the center of the state, and there's no agriculture in the mountainous terrain. West of the Rockies once you leave the back range foothills tends to be more desert in character, but the very southwestern corner raises dairy cows.
We went to the El Paso County Fair a few weeks ago (see blog), and this past week we decided to take in the Colorado State Fair. This was not a top ten fair. We were hard pressed to find five hours of entertainment. As always, what we were interested in were the 4H kids showing their animals. While the El Paso County Fair offerred the first annual Cat Show, the state fair stuck with more traditional animals. We checked out the heifer show as well as the ewe show. This is my favorite picture from that day
No fair is complete without quilts, and the Colorado State Fair had some dandies. However, I really enjoyed visiting with this quilter who was exhibiting her skills for the enjoyment of the fair goers.
We did see the weirdest couple of dudes at the Colorado State Fair. They were guys wearing horse costumes. No, it's not the guy INSIDE the horse costume; it's two guys riding horse costumes. Anyway, here's the picture - one picture, 1000 words, well, you know.
Colorado is one of those states which is schizoid. Half the state is rolling plains dotted with small towns while you can see the ranch and farm land shrinking as the state urbanizes. It's dry ranching (non-irrigated) and farming, but mostly ranching. Right at the eastern edge of Colorado is where you find corn, wheat, and don't forget, marijuana cultivation. The Rocky Mountains explode right down the center of the state, and there's no agriculture in the mountainous terrain. West of the Rockies once you leave the back range foothills tends to be more desert in character, but the very southwestern corner raises dairy cows.
We went to the El Paso County Fair a few weeks ago (see blog), and this past week we decided to take in the Colorado State Fair. This was not a top ten fair. We were hard pressed to find five hours of entertainment. As always, what we were interested in were the 4H kids showing their animals. While the El Paso County Fair offerred the first annual Cat Show, the state fair stuck with more traditional animals. We checked out the heifer show as well as the ewe show. This is my favorite picture from that day
We also took in the Creative Arts Pavillion as well as the Fine Arts Pavillion. Ironically, we just went to an art gallery in Colorado Springs which had a couple of artists displaying at the Colorado State Fair. Here's one of them.
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| The 'Beehive' by Julia Masterson |
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| She quilts 10 stitches to the inch, and she was great offerring ideas about assembling the crazy quilt I've been working on for three years |
I interviewed this pair, and it turns out these guys are frustrated actors (home base California) who wear their 'horses', wander around fairgrounds, take pictures with people, and have a 'horseback' stand up routine. It turns out State Fair committees contract with these guys, fly them in to the fair locale, pay for hotel rooms and meals, as well as a 'fee'. These guys follow the 'fair circuit' the same way cowboys follow the 'rodeo circuit'. What I couldn't figure out was how they took a 'comfort break'. Do you hitch up your horse and open your fly or what?
It was a superfun day, and I finally figured out why I love fairs. It was an activity of my family, and included one of the three annual opportunitie in my childhood to eat sugar. I always went first for the biggest cotton candy I could get, followed by a sugar daddy. My mother didn't believe children should eat sugar. There were only a few times a year she relaxed about sugar consumption: Easter, Halloween, and the Tulsa County Fair.
When I hit my teens, the fair was prime teen territory. I'm looking at the inch long scar I got after a couple of my jokster 'friends' forced me on to that horrible, horrible ride where they put you in a cage which spins independently while it's being rocketed around in a vertical circle. Oh, I can still remember leaping out of that cage screaming at those two idiots while waving my bloody hand in their faces. I was so terrified during that carnival ride a metal 'burr' dug into my hand the entire time. it's a wonder I didn't develop lockjaw. Considering, I still have the scar 50 years later, it was not a trivial cut. On a better note, my high school steady (not part of the aforementioned group), and I always rode the ferris wheel hoping to get stuck at the top so we could indulge in a little necking action. Yes, indeed, fair time was prime date time.
So, here are the pictures if you want to see more kids showing animals.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
The Royal Gorge
Ever been to an attraction you thought should be a national park or national monument? Well, there are two such offerings in this neck of Colorado. One is the Garden of the Gods which attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year and is, in actuality, a park owned by the city of Colorado Springs.
The other attraction which I was surprised wasn't a National Monument was the Royal Gorge. This is a canyon cut by the Arkansas River just outside of Cañon City, Colorado. Like the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, it turns out the Royal Gorge is actually a city park owned by Cañon City.
As this part of the country became settled by Europeans, the Arkansas River gorge was an engineering problem, not a tourist attraction. How to build railroad track at the bottom of the gorage as well as some kind of bridge that could be anchored to the cliff walls and would be high enough for railway engines and cars to pass under.
The railroad was just a vital in 19th century Colorado as it was everywhere else. In 1879 an engineer from St. Louis came out to Colorado to supervise the building of the bridge as well as the laying of the railroad track. The 'hanging bridge' cost $12,000 to build; that's the equivalent of $1 million today. Today, there's only a portion of 274 foot bridge left, mostly a tourist attraction and part of the steam engine rail trip you can buy at the old railway station in Cañon City. The old fashioned steam engine pulling a couple of cars will chug from Cañon City, through the gorge and back to the town.
Today, there are many bridges that span the Arkansas River, but the hanging suspension bridge over the river is a pedestrian walkway and a big part the Royal Gorge tourist attraction. Every time a golf cart rumbled across the suspension bridge, it swayed and vibrated. There are two other ways to cross the Arkansas River in the Royal Gorge 'Park': One is by gondola, and the other is by zip-line. To give the suspension bridge an extra pizzaz, the flags of all fifty states fly in reverse alphabetical order as you walk back across the bridge after the gondola ride.
It was actually more fun to see the gondola from the bridge than the actual ride itself since the goldola took less than one minute to cross the gorge. This is not the Grand Canyon, but don't get me wrong, the Royal Gorge is impressive. The gondola was a slow poke compared to the zip line which took less than 30 seconds, and seemed to involve lots of screaming.
As we were ambing across the suspension bridge, Drake noticed you could look down between the planks and see the tracks and river.
I think this excursion would have been a bit disappointing except for two things: First, Cañon City was founded in 1860, and it has some really impressive 19th century buildings which line Main Street for several blocks. Second, we found a two mile hike, completely deserted, along the canyon rim with amazing rocks and which culminated in a unique view of the gorge above the park.
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| I took this picture of the Garden of the Gods from the mid-point up Cheyenne Mountain from the top of the Will Rogers Shrine which sits above the zoo |
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The Arkansas River and the Denver, Rio Grande Railway
are at the bottom of the gorge
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The railroad was just a vital in 19th century Colorado as it was everywhere else. In 1879 an engineer from St. Louis came out to Colorado to supervise the building of the bridge as well as the laying of the railroad track. The 'hanging bridge' cost $12,000 to build; that's the equivalent of $1 million today. Today, there's only a portion of 274 foot bridge left, mostly a tourist attraction and part of the steam engine rail trip you can buy at the old railway station in Cañon City. The old fashioned steam engine pulling a couple of cars will chug from Cañon City, through the gorge and back to the town.
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| And there's the third way to see the gorge: river rafting. (I'm shooting this picture hanging over the edge of the swaying suspension bridge,) |
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| In a nod to our New Yorkers, Drake is showing that flag, and you can see the suspension bridge in the background |
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| While the gondola ride was less than exciting, the rocks in this canyon and the entire area were amazing. |
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| Of course, I couldn't resist trying to take a picture. Obviously, the blurry part are the two planks, and the water is about 1000 feet below us. |
As always, if you want to see more pictures, click on the link:
Monday, August 22, 2016
The Royalty of Colorado Springs
Spencer Penrose graduated last in his class at Harvard, and was the black sheep of a prominent Philadelphia family. He left the East to seek his fortune in the West, specifically, the gold fields of Cripple Creek, Colorado. Together with his friend, Charles Tutt, he invested in a series of gold mines which struck paydirt. However, after only a few years, they sold their gold mines and invested in ore processing in Colorado Springs. Ore processing was very lucrative. Penrose coming 'down the mountain' to Colorado Springs was the most fortuitous occurence for both the man and the town. Penrose became a multi-millionaire and turned his attention to making Colorado Springs the tourist destination it is today. He and his wife, Julie, became the premier philanthropists of the city.
The biggest footprint in Colorado Springs the Penrose's left behind is the Broadmoor Resort. Penrose decided if he was going to attract visitors to the 'Springs', he needed first class accommodations for them. The hotel and resort opened in 1918, and it's still there today. The Penrose Heritage Museum which is part of the Broadmoor complex today houses Spencer Penrose's carriage collection as well as his memorabilia of the Pike's Peak Race to the Clouds. He founded and sponsored the timed automobile race up Pike's Peak. It's still being run today.Spencer died in 1939, but Julie lived until 1957. Julie was very interested in the arts and she was the founder of the Broadmoor Art Academy, which institution was the beginning of the Colorado Fine Arts Museum. She was also instrumental in getting the first performance hall in Colorado Springs built. After Spencer's death, she continued his philanthropic foundation. Today, The Pomar Foundation, serves as the biggest funder and booster of Colorado Springs.
For pictures of the carriages, the race cars, as well as Penrose's Oglala Souix costume presented to him by Iron Horse, Chief of the Souix, click on the link
https://goo.gl/photos/3u2LUCyS5Y9b7wxS9
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
How I Met This Teacher
If you've been reading me for awhile, you all know what a big supporter I am of Donor's Choose. This is a site which allows you to help teachers with projects. The projects are all vetted, and all your donation goes to what teachers need, not 'overhead'. Well, school's about to start, and here's a teacher who needs a project funded. We don't need too many $$ for this one: only $202. And, even better, if you use the term LIFTOFF when asked if you have a promo code, IT'S MATCHED!!!!
I know this teacher up close and personal. I met Bailee in Logan, Utah at Utah State University when I took the creative writing class. Gradually, over the summer session, she became my friend. When I met her and heard her first personal essay, I realized this really cute little 22 year old blond already had a commitment to developmentally challenged kiddos that just floored me.
Then, she made the decision to go into public education. As a brand new teacher, she was hired to teach a young challenged population which would have had me running out of the school building, screaming, and waving my hands in the air at the end of the first day. Now, her upcoming class is pre-k in a high poverty area of her school district, and is the first special education class for this group in her school. If that's not enough, she's currently training a dog to be a therapy animal in her classroom. She's in an amazing position to make a huge impact on these 40 kids.
Naturally, I want everyone who reads to donate. Remember: ANY AMOUNT YOU DONATE in the next few days, WILL BE DOUBLED. IT'S MATCHED! Here's the link. I'd really, really, really like to raise this $202, and I don't care if your donated amount is the cost of one Starbucks cup of coffee. This is such an easy way to send a blessing to someone.
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/lego-love/2136695/?challengeid=20815918&givingCartId=4822623
I know this teacher up close and personal. I met Bailee in Logan, Utah at Utah State University when I took the creative writing class. Gradually, over the summer session, she became my friend. When I met her and heard her first personal essay, I realized this really cute little 22 year old blond already had a commitment to developmentally challenged kiddos that just floored me.
Then, she made the decision to go into public education. As a brand new teacher, she was hired to teach a young challenged population which would have had me running out of the school building, screaming, and waving my hands in the air at the end of the first day. Now, her upcoming class is pre-k in a high poverty area of her school district, and is the first special education class for this group in her school. If that's not enough, she's currently training a dog to be a therapy animal in her classroom. She's in an amazing position to make a huge impact on these 40 kids.
Naturally, I want everyone who reads to donate. Remember: ANY AMOUNT YOU DONATE in the next few days, WILL BE DOUBLED. IT'S MATCHED! Here's the link. I'd really, really, really like to raise this $202, and I don't care if your donated amount is the cost of one Starbucks cup of coffee. This is such an easy way to send a blessing to someone.
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/lego-love/2136695/?challengeid=20815918&givingCartId=4822623
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