Thursday, May 21, 2009
Teacher of the Year!!
Today at noon my wife and I went to a luncheon hosted by the local Rotary Club to honor the Teachers of the Year in our school district. We were invited as guests of Edna Meeks, who was being honored as the best teacher in one of the five high schools in our district. It was conducted at the South Shore Resort & Convention Center, a very nice venue.
There are thirty nine campuses in our district, and each was represented at the fete. Edna was one of three finalists to be Secondary Teacher of the Year for the entire district. She was not the ultimate winner, but she will receive a signed proclamation from the Governor and a $500 bonus check. But I happen to know that Edna does not excel as a teacher for the kind of recognition she received today. She is so selfless and absolutely loves the role she plays in the lives of young people. She counts it a privilege to be a teacher.
The event caused me to think back about some of the teachers that meant so much to me. My all time favorite, Edna Earle Tucker, was my fifth grade teacher. I think she would like Edna Meeks!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Conspiracy Theory Challenge
In shocking news from the African Continent, a conspiracy of grand magnitude has been revealed. What had been considered a romantic story of the Circle of Life is now shown to be one of savage treachery.
Documents discovered in the residence of mystic baboon, Rafiki, have been translated into English. Among the contents of the find were communications between Rafiki and the think tank, “Nants Ingonyama”, which translates as “Triumph in the Pride Lands”. The documents reveal that co-conspirators in the plot included, Zazu, the chief of staff for Mufasa; and Nala, the young lioness in love with the Prince of Lions, Simba. Though his name had been redacted on the think tank’s website, strong evidence points to the fact that Simba himself was also in on the scheme.
Rafiki was the initiator of the plan, and he was able to utilize young Simba’s ambition and impatience to his advantage. The shaman baboon knew that the prince could not wait to be king. He devised a wicked construct that would actually leave the baboon with unprecedented clout within the framework of Simba’s reign.
First on the agenda was the need to be rid of the reigning king, Mufasa. Rafiki tantalized Mufasa’s brother, Scar, with the possibilities of ruling the pride lands. Scar bought into the plan, not knowing that he was actually a pawn in the devious plans of Rafiki and the conspirators. They did not just want Simba to be king, but also the hero of the Pride.
The plan was to get Scar to do the actual killing of his royal brother. He was manipulated by the shaman into thinking he was to trick Simba into leaving in shame over his part in the death of his father. But Simba was only feigning guilt. His banishment was simply to allow the situation in the pride lands to diminish to the point of extremely dire. Much of this part of the plan was accomplished by Zazu, from his administrative position.
When the circumstances reached the dismal stages, Nala was sent to fetch Simba to return to overthrow the ineffectual Scar and take his place, not only as King of the pride lands, but its adored savior!