From homeless child to star student

Robert Samuels
"From homeless child to star student"
Washington Post
April 1, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/from_homeless_child_to_star_student/2011/04/01/AF7IiFKC_story.html?wprss=rss_educationTopic: Educational Success

In a depressing sea of whining and complaining from all sides, it was a nice breath of fresh air to read a story of success and achievement.

Key Points: “Life is analogous to a wrestling match,’’ reflected Michael, a three-sport athlete, trombonist, student government president and straight-A student at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring. “Everything you do is based on preparation. What the outcome will be is based on hard work. . . . A lot of your success is determined by heart.’’

Success is not something the government can mandate or guarantee artificially. You don’t need a government program in order to work hard and succeed. My worry is that we have too many entitlement programs which actually encourage people to just “stay on the dole” and never reach beyond what they think is possible. I like this story; it’s an example of what makes our country great.
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Relevance: Successful educational programs have to acknowledge the responsibility of students to seek a quality education and work hard rather than expect their education to just happen automatically. Students play a key role, if not the most important role in education. Attitude.

Kentlake High School teacher charged with having sex with student

“Kentlake High School teacher charged with having sex with student” by Jennifer Sullivan The Seattle Times Published 3/22/11 Retrieved 3/30/11 Complete URL: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014571754_teacher23m.html Intended Audience: general public, parents, teachers Summary: A high school teacher has been arrested for having sex with one of her students. The sophomore, a transfer student, had been undergoing personal problems and sought council with the teacher. They then exchanged phone numbers to continue their conversation and in less than a month had exchanged over 800 text messages. The two met up one night and performed sex acts in the student’s car. The scandal was uncovered when the student revealed their actions to his uncle. Key Points: • A high school teacher had sex with one of her students • The teacher is married and has two children • It is illegal for a minor to have sex with someone who is a position of power over them • The teacher faces up to one year in prison if convicted Relevance: This is a good reminder to not only refrain from the obvious, but to pay close attention to student-teacher relationships in all modes of social communication, including extracurricular conversations, texting, and social media.