Columns & Editorials

It was 1965 and our family had moved from Hondo, Texas to Floresville. I was a new kid in a new school. I didn’t know very many people, but what I did know is that whatever the pecking order was, I was starting out on the bottom of it.

Parents are paying closer attention to education options for their children. The pandemic has forced communities to not reinvent the wheel, but rather invent different types of wheels to meet the academic needs of a socially and academically diverse student body. This is one of the few positive outcomes of COVID19. Regardless of the academic option one chooses, information and data are necessary to make informed decisions for one’s children.

Opening new buildings for students’ extracurricular activities is always an exciting event. And this school year, Forney ISD has enhanced the school experience for students involved in Agriculture, Culinary Arts, and Welding and Fabrication. The CTE students have been doing great things with FISD’s resources, proving that talent and skill will bring rewards in the form of a business that brings profits back to the welding program enabling even better learning and future career prospects.

I may say that I am ready for Jesus to come for His Church of which I am a member, but deep down I sure enjoy my comfort zone. I am not so sure I am ready to face my judgment before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. I know it will be far better after my judgment is over. I heard this story once and it started me to thinking. We have a natural fear of death but GOD gives us the grace to die.

Dear Aunt B,

Believers, gather round. We are about to observe, or not, it turns out, maybe the least known of all Christian holidays. It is mentioned in the pages of Luke and Leviticus. Purifications and offerings of lambs and dove were referenced. It centers around the Abrahamic covenant of the religious rite of circumcision. 40 days after birth, and, based on a passage in Genesis referencing circumcision on the 8th day, 32 days after that rite, infant boys – some text say infant girls, as well – were presented to the temple. Calculating the celebration of Jesus’ birth on December 25th brings us to February 2nd. Biblical passages, including one in Isaiah, mention processions of lights (a light for revelation to the Gentiles), thus the use of candles in many Christian religions. It is time to celebrate Candlemas, or Candlemass, the holy day honoring the presentation of Jesus. But, wait, Dina, you’re actually writing a religious column on the religious page? Well sure, sort of. I keep my eye on the prize all of the time. I pray. I meditate on lovely, beautiful thoughts toward mankind. I do everything I can to move toward love, toward understanding, toward light, and toward God. But, just like the birth of Jesus morphed into Santa Claus – ok, there was a Christian bishop named Nicholas who helped the needy, was promoted to sainthood, and was eventually touted Santa Claus – Candlemas, too, was modernized and “improved” by way of Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, that is.

THERE’S AN OLD OAK TREE

Holy moly. Today, I had the pleasure of taking part in an hour-long Zoom class. The facilitator was an accomplished professional and entrepreneur. The participants were authors, business owners, creatives and professionals taking part in a vibrant collaboration of thoughts and ideas for the growth and development of all involved. The class was bustling, but orderly. I was honored and thrilled to be part of it.

Dear Aunt B,

I realized, very young, that my family did things a little, well, differently. We didn’t burn bridges. We didn’t even close doors that well. Take houses, for instance – actually don’t take them, just repurpose them. Once my father bought the old church in Pleasant Grove, right down from Charco Broilers, where the big bull was up on the roof of the building, and moved it out to the no man’s land between Seagoville and Combine (to use as a house), we didn’t get rid of the single wide trailer home with the bronze appliances and the midcentmod linoleum. We just used it for “stuff.” If Daddy was looking for his professional bacon slicer, ‘cause who doesn’t prefer their bacon in whole hog form, he needn’t look any further than the trailer. When Momma’s portable/ inflatable hair dryer bonnet went on the fritz, meaning I was a 6 year old child with a wet head full of brush rollers, she just summoned for her official beauty shop hair dryer chair with the huge plastic pull down dome and the brown naugahyde seat. After all, it was just in the trailer. Similarly, I recall my Aunt Johnnie’s house, but not her real house, mind you, just her first house – the one with all her stuff. I can’t remember what we were searching for that day, but I was haunted by all the antique furniture draped in white sheets. “DD, watch out for that floorboard over there. See the one that’s bucklin’ up? It’ll give way if you step on it.” Yes, there were actual holes in the floor of Aunt Johnnie’s “stuff” house. I was convinced hobgoblins were lying in wait, their gnarly knuckled twisted hands reaching out for the ankles of yummy tasting children. Yet, I wasn’t as scared as I was mesmerized by what those places held: stories, emotions, pleas born of the fear of being forgotten. Thus began a lifelong addiction to all things old & decrepit, objects with chippy peely paint, once loved things left to decay in dark corners, and, most especially, falling down and often abandoned houses. In the 80’s, during one of my failed community college stints aimed at becoming the next Frank Lloyd Wright, I found both kinship with like minds and a 70’s documentary with a cult following. Welcome to Grey Gardens.

Five Forney Mentors that deserve to be remembered.

Hunting enthusiasts anxiously look forward to the first day of hunting season, a date chosen after local gaming authorities carefully consider a host of factors. Conservation of both game and the hobby hunters love so much are two of the driving forces that determine when hunting seasons begin. Local gaming authorities want to protect wildlife from overhunting, and they also want to ensure hunters won’t have to confront dwindling animal populations that will affect their hunting. Estimates of local animal populations are one of the main factors gaming authorities consider when trying to figure out the best time to start a hunting season. If local authorities deem that the animal population is too large, thereby adversely affecting local residents, they will time hunting season in such a way as to give hunters an advantage. This can help control local wildlife populations and make communities safer. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if population estimates are especially low, authorities will time hunting season so fewer animals are likely to be killed. These efforts at managing local animal populations can benefit hunters, animals and even local residents who don’t participate when hunting season begins.

Student misbehavior is a part of every classroom. However, there are times when student misbehavior is so volatile, violent students need to be separated from the rest of the class for their own sake and the sake of other learners. Students who are this volatile are often placed in classrooms for students who have difficulty managing their behavior or who may have one or more disabilities that manifest in anger or aggression. Within these classrooms there may be a much smaller room, perhaps the size of a large walk-in closet, designated as a “cool down” area for students who need a place to pull themselves together after an angry outburst.