A writer's Random ramblings
If colleges and universities put physical education and health topics in the same course, why can’t high school? Time is not the answer here, especially for a semester-based class. Students can learn both sets of topics in on term when the useful topics occupy time rather than sports and games they likely won’t play again. After all, how often do many of us have access to enough people to field one team for a sport, let alone two teams in a pick-up game?
Since many find individual activities easier to engage in, focus on those during the physical education aspect. Teach students to use fitness apps and devices as they walk, run, or jog. During these units, and perhaps swimming if a pool is available, teach safety and injury prevention as they learn each routine. If students come to the class engaged in marching band or a sport, great! Have them log down time spent practicing much as they would service hours for that component of high school. Everyone in class can learn to log any time spent in activity outside class so precious time need not be spent on it during school once safe principles of exercise are learned. If time permits, teach basic rules of some team sports or dance techniques in classes that pupils can carry over later in life. Health education would do well to cover basic nutrition, sexual and substance education, and disease prevention. Everyone needs to learn where to find essential nutrients. Also, lessons on best preparation of those foods to bring out the nutrients and how to balance the foods with beverages containing hydration and nutrients would help students grow up healthier and happier. Sexual education can lead into units on preventing diseases both reproductively and otherwise. Family planning needs to be taught to all, including uses of and statistics about various methods people use and their side effects. For example, hormonal methods of family planning may make some users sick, while allergies to materials can arise or condoms can break. Tying the effects of teen pregnancy on both mother and child, physically and socioeconomically, can lead to better understanding of bodily function, money, and social ties. Treatment of genetic as well as communicable diseases and the differences among the categories need to be studied to prevent stigmas and increase understanding of how they happen and can be treated or cured where science allows. Both the physical and health education components of the course could lead into discussions on how to take everything in moderation. Living a moderate lifestyle within one’s means as discussed in the financial literacy unit generally leads to more happiness. This theme plays into a final mental health unit to teach people symptoms of the related conditions. That then gives the class a chance to discuss treatment options and coping techniques for milder conditions or life’s everyday stresses. Music, art, writing, and physical activity can all be studied under this heading. Even the modern concept of work-life balance as related to time management falls into the moderation category so people learn to turn off work after hours and relax to enjoy life. Since physical education and health relate so much, schools need to teach them as one. This would allow more time for students to take classes of interest or for college and career preparation more easily. The better systems balance the structure of education, the more students will eventually learn to balance their own lives later.
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Are you a local in Hagerstown, Maryland who likes new places to eat? A “tourist just passing through?” Either way, you’ll enjoy Foster’s on the Point, a newly renovated and opened bar and restaurant.
Foster’s features a prime location, shortly off Interstate 81 on Salem Avenue. It is easily accessible from both main roads, and barely a mile from the nearest gas station and shopping center for those who may also need to accomplish those missions. The building, although the windows have been tinted to remove glare during the day, reminds the visitor of a house. Mike Foster, the owner, and his staff, welcome the visitor into a homey atmosphere. Sitting at one of the tables or the bar, the patron can view the kitchen through a window and watch food being freshly made. A porch out front and stone wall resembling a fireplace across the back of the restaurant add to this atmosphere. On our first visit, my family chose an afternoon snack of the nacho platter. This version differs from any we had ever seen in terms of freshness. Tortillas are cut and fried in triangle shapes rather than the typical chips taken from a bag. All the condiments -- pico, guacamole, and sour cream, tasted fresher than any in a restaurant. Mr. Foster mentioned the guacamole being made in house, as it was creamier and more flavorful than any we could recall when we chatted with him. The theme of freshness resounds throughout a menu teeming with new dishes and local ingredients. Although we were not hungry enough to need a full lunch at the time, our server, Holly, mentioned a daily special featuring Hoffman’s sausage sourced from barely 2 miles up the road, piled into a bun with grilled peppers and onions. For the thirsty adult, Foster’s offers local beer and wine. This gave my husband and myself a chance to finally try the Antietam Brewery 1605 Red beer we had heard about on our local news. This was a full bodied, Irish-style red ale with perfect flavors to match the nacho platter, especially the guacamole. The beers arrive to the table in Antietam Brewery pint glasses, while sodas come in Mason jars, adding to the homey atmosphere. Thus, locals looking for new places to try and travelers trying to stay away from corporate eateries do well checking out Foster’s on the Point. This establishment warrants multiple visits for those who find it feasible with its appropriately sized menu and something for everyone style. This Father’s Day, take a moment to share
Thoughts of how much you care With a special man Who showed you what you can And deserve to Be, have, and do. Whether biology, Adoption, or simple community Makes the connection To give those involved a direction, It matters not the name of the man, Father, dad, husband, Even uncle, neighbor, or friend, Into family all can blend, Especially those who help raise children Into responsible young ladies and gentlemen During the time we take to celebrate What makes father figures so great! Approximately 2 lbs of ground beef, beef cubes, pork, chicken or turkey
2 15 oz cans kidney beans 6 small bell peppers, diced (or other peppers/onions as available) 1 packet Campbell’s beef and cheddar skillet sauce 12 oz dry red wine (Merlot or Cabernet), stock or water 16 oz sweet corn frozen ¼ cup cheddar or Mexican blend cheese Approximately 3 cups rice (or cubed potatoes) ¼ taco sauce or salsa Any seasonings you like, to taste 1. Saute protein of choice in bottom of 12 quart stock pot. 2. Add other ingredients, simmer on medium-low 3. Stir occasionally until rice is tender. 4. Freeze any leftovers in containers. Hope Clark continues as author of the Edisto Island mystery series to follow main character Callie Morgan’s psychological development in Edisto Stranger. With every case Callie solves, she comes to learn more about herself and those around her. Edisto Stranger presents this development using the themes of morality and duality in character and how these feed into seeing oneself through the lens of others. The themes eventually intertwine to show a picture of how understanding oneself leads to better comprehension of people and society.
From the first chapter, Callie questions herself as chief of the Edisto Island police department. She wonders if she only got the job because of her former boss, Mike Seabrook, who died in the previous installment of the series, Echoes of Edisto. Concern for her now college student son, Jeb, keeps her second-guessing her ideals in taking the job. Can she protect him as he has protected her through most of their lives on the island? Should she do this, given Jeb has technically reached adult age? She works through the family versus job question in many ways throughout Edisto Stranger, learning in the process to come to some semblance of work-life balance through the ways she involves various people in her life. In the end, only the case at hand in this book brings back her heart for the job and her town once she discovers what matters most to her. The division of power in society and learning to see humanity as both good and evil simultaneously feed the plot of Edisto Stranger. From the outset, Chief Morgan comes head to head with a city council member many times over the course of the story. He continually tries to charge her with murder in the deaths of the two officers in Echoes of Edisto and then works to break apart the case she seeks to solve in Edisto Stranger. Through this, the audience wonders along with Chief Morgan whether the councilman may simply be sexist enough to try to fire her for being a woman in a man’s world. Chief Morgan already had enough difficulty through the Edisto Island mystery series figuring out what people to trust with what information. Between the councilman, her past, and some secrets that get out before their time to become gossip, she struggles with whether withholding information from people has a basis in morality. In the second half of Edisto Stranger, Chief Morgan comes face to face with her own past personal demons. Many question her drinking habits and let that get around town. Jeb faces off with her about what a young man of nineteen can and cannot do. Eventually, she comes to trust the FBI agent who helped her on the case. Throughout the case, she confronts her past through the lens of other folks and comes to understand herself better. The kidnapping at the center of the case reminds her of her daughter lost to SIDS, the killing in the case of losing her fellow officers, and the confrontation of drinking the major force behind what she thought kept her going through tragedy. Once the agent on the case opens up to her, she learns to do the same with him, and they come to see themselves and their vices better through each other. Thus, even literary fiction can teach the reader important lessons. Through Edisto Stranger, one can study human psychological development. Seeing how this does not stop at adulthood helps us explain better how humanity operates. Once people learn this, whether in school or through fiction’s lens, we can begin creating a better society. |
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