Saturday, December 22, 2012

Catching Up With the 8 Days of Cringe-mas

OK...so SP-EYE took a little break to deal with Draco (who came up with that?), preparing for the possibility that the Mayans knew something, and snowblower issues.

For the 4th day of Cringe-mas, Caren Diedrich's name came out of the hat.  Caren's big gift is her very on ant farm.  An an farm can  provide hours of fun watching how things really should work.  Plus, Caren has the tools to make life interesting for some of the ants.  We now KNOW that Caren is running for election...again.  If she's re-elected, she will have been on the board since Sun Prairie was truly a small community.  Not quite since the streets were cobblestones...but close.

Not being mean here, but it's time for Caren to find something else to do with her time...volunteer more  in the schools, perhaps run for City Council....or play with the ants.  The board has changed but she has not changed with it.  Like John Whalen, she fully supports anything Tim Culver does.  The flip side of that is more important, however; by blindly supporting Dr. Culver, Caren fully supports what Culver is NOT doing.  There are cracks in the foundation and they need to be repaired before they cause more significant structural issues.

Along those lines, Santa is leaving her a copy of the article, "Life Beyond Superintendency".  Tim Culver is planning for retirement an Caren needs to plan for life beyond the school board.  The days of MaryEllen, Cheryl, and Caren piloting this ship are done.

Last but not least, a stocking stuffer:  a button declaring "Think Before You Speak".   Ms. Diedrich has been increasingly unleashing comment that are even to the left of bizarre.  As long as she remains on the board, Caren needs to put a little thought in before opening her mouth.

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On the 5th day of Cringe-mas, Santa SP-EYE pulled the name of the other lady on the school board: Jill Camber-Davidson.

Santa's big gift for Jill is the meal that the Wizard of Oz gave to the Cowardly Lion.  NOT that we're suggesting that Jill is cowardly.  Far from it.  But she's on a board now full of strong voices, and she is more reserved.  But Santa thinks Jill ha a lot of good comments and questions in her and sometimes she may hold back.  This medal will hopefully remind her that she IS a valued member of this board and she should feel courageous enough to speak out.

Santa also has two other gifts for Jill as a reminder of where she is taking this  district.  Jill rightfully championed nixing the Pepsi contract a while back.  Santa found a vending machine which dispenses only fruits and veggies.  If kids are jonesing for a sack, this could and should be their choice.  We could even have these turned on during school hours.

Lastly we have a book about using a school wellness program to battle childhood obesity.  That is indeed a serious problem, and one we think Jill could really help us pave a path to at least some local solutions.