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Sunday, May 25, 2014

10 Skills Teens Need

1. Basic cooking skills. Make sure your child can prepare a few simple, healthy, economical dishes and understands how the high cost of dining out can destroy a budget and a waistline.
 
2. Budgeting and money management skills. Make sure your child knows how to live within a budget, and understands the pitfalls of using credit irresponsibly.
 
3. Personal healthcare knowledge. Ensure that your child knows how to self-diagnose simple illnesses, knows how to check his or her own temperature, and knows which over-the-counter medications to take for which symptoms.
 
4. Good social skills and manners. Knowing how to carry on a conversation with adults will help your child with college instructors and potential employers. Basic manners, such as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ will help your child make a good first impression with new acquaintances.
 

Memorial Day


William Allen with younger brother, Ben.
On Memorial Day, we need to remember all of the soldiers gave up their dreams for us. William Allen was a Knox grad, Galesburg HS English teacher, and my wife, Amy's uncle. William Allen was killed in WW2. He wrote this in a letter to his family, after finding a friend killed in action in April of 1945:

“I shall never forget late one afternoon when I discovered dead near his gun position the man whom I respected above all others as a soldier. I calmly reported the fact and got a good night’s sleep. It was not until several days later that his body slouched in his hole began to haunt me and I realized that I had lost my friend. He was every muscle a hero, and he should have died a hero’s death as he stormed an enemy emplacement.”

“He had displayed his ability and his guts often enough before. But he was far behind the lines when the artillery shell with his number on it landed in his hole. That’s another shocking thing about this war- a hero, contrary to fiction and Hollywood, seldom dies a hero’s death. It’s just an unlucky hit which gets him when he doesn’t even have a chance to fight back.”

William Allen was killed a little over a month later when his jeep ran over an Allied land mine designed to protect U.S. troops. It was just weeks before the end of WWII.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Boydstun 6th Place

Streaks guard, Kailyn Boydstun advanced to the finals of the 4x200 relay at the State Track Meet. Her relay team finished in 6th place! Congratulations!!