On Tue 13 Jan 2009 04:47:05p, Kathleen told us...

> Dan Abel wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> Kathleen > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>On Tue 13 Jan 2009 01:56:22p, Kathleen told us...
>>
>>
>>>>>My daughter didn't want a traditional high school class ring so I'm
>>>>>going to have a white gold and diamond ring left to her by her
>>>>>grandmother re-cast, with a pair of emeralds from earrings her father
>>>>>gave me added in, into something she'd be happy to wear. Her dad
>>>>>approves and I'm sure her grandmother would be thrilled.
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm thinking of a horse's head in profile, and a dog's head in
>>>>>profile, noses touching, with the emeralds for eyes and the diamond
>>>>>balanced just above their brows. The jeweler I'm working with was
>>>>>excited by the project so I can't wait to see his sketches.
>>
>>
>>>>Quite honestly I think it sounds really strange for a "class ring". I
>>>>mean, class rings are all about tradition.
>>>
>>>And she despised high school and everything it stood for.
>>>Nevertheless, she put her head down, leaned into the harness and
>>>graduated a semester early with a 4.3 GPA and a great big Kiss My Ass.
>>
>>
>>>Those colors, those symbols, those metals and those gems and the people
>>>they came from, they mean something to her, something far more real
>>>than, "Rah, Rah, Francis Howell Central! Conform or be cast out!
>>>Yay!"
>>>
>>>A ring specific to her, born of the gifts of her own family as a
>>>celebration of her individuality, of her survival of the trial by fire,
>>>means more to her than anything I could order from Josten's.
>>>
>>>
>>>>No
>>>>criticism meant.
>>>
>>>None taken. Just understand that high school isn't a golden time for
>>>all of us.
>>
>>
>> That's why I don't understand the "class ring" deal. I never wanted a
>> class ring from either high school or college. High school was just
>> something to get through, to put in the time. Sort of like going to
>> jail. Why would I want a ring to "celebrate" that?
>
> I got a high school class ring. Not sure why. I put it aside as soon
> as I started college. When the time comes to commemorate my son's
> achievements I'll have it melted down. He likes yellow gold. I've got
> a pigeon's blood ruby for him, given to me by my aunt, but will probably
> hold onto that to be given to his bride or even his daughter, later, if
> he thinks it would suit.
>
> It's a tradition in our family to remake what's old into new forms.

I can totally understand that. I am an only child. In my mother's last 5-
6 years of life she could no longer wear her engagement or wedding rings.
In her last year of life, she absolutely insisted that we go to a jeweler
and use the gold and diamonds towards having a ring designed for me. I was
reluctant because I didn't want her to give up her rings, but her sincerity
and insistence was overwhelming. I now have a beautiful remembrance of
her. I don't wear the ring often, but I do look at it often. It means a
lot.

>> All of my three kids had trouble with high school. The oldest
>> graduated from the local high school, with a 2.73 GPA. The second
>> dropped out. He has no high school diploma. He is two classes short
>> of an AA, and has been for over a year. I think it'll happen. The
>> youngest transferred to an alternative school, and did graduate, a few
>> months early.
>>
>> Like Wayne, no criticism here, just a lack of understanding.
>
> There are times when I strongly regret not pulling my kids out of public
> school and home schooling them. I substitute teach and I have an
> excellent perspective on the process. Wanna witness your round peg
> being bludgeoned into a square hole? Send 'em to public school.
>
> "No child left behind?!" How about "all children left behind" as
> teachers and schools spend ever increasing blocks of time teaching not
> those things that matter, not those things neccessary for higher level
> education, but instead, how to take the goddamned test.
>
> And then there's the huge block of time teachers have to spend not
> teaching, but simply dealing with the behaviors of the young wolverines
> dumped on them by negligent parents. Why do home-schooled children's
> test scores kick ass? Because their instructors, although not certified
> teachers, don't have to spend fully *50%* of their time coping with
> little assholes.
>
> I allowed my gifted daughter to pull out a semester early and start
> college (catching us flat-footed financially) because she was miserable.
> Her boyfriend graduated from our district's alternative high school
> and is an apprentice in a skilled trade and owns his own home.
>
> I have yet to make a decision about my son's educational future.
>
> The system is broken.
>
>



--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
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Date: Tuesday, 01(I)/13(XIII)/09(MMIX)
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Countdown till Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
5dys 5hrs 42mins
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I don't like spreading rumors, but what else can you do with them?
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