Parents ‘n Schools

Your money does not stay in banks because they lock the doors at night.
It stays where you want it to stay (or gets directed where you want it directed) because of the fiduciary duties and professional duties of trust and good faith that your bank and its employees accept when they accept your money into […]

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I attended a talk this week presented by Dr. Mark Mullins, Executive Director of the Fraser Institute, examining the past 300 years of financial crises (a timely discussion that drew a very full house). The bottom line of Dr. Mullins’ talk, as I interpreted it, was “this too shall pass”. And, in his view, pass […]

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On page 14 of the recently released Calgary’s Child magazine (Nov-Dec ‘08 issue found by clicking <here) you will find a tale that will move you to the very core of your being, and that shines a beacon of light into a corner of life that otherwise remains darkened in our society.
My life, that is, […]

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At the risk of beating this “Beating Heart” thing just a little too hard, allow me to try to articulate why I believe the notion of “PD for Parents” has enormous potential.
In the course of committee work I was involved with on a particular “R&D-type” program of spending — which program by that point had […]

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So did you draw those circles from that last post… the “Beating Heart” that, I suppose, could be sub-titled “So Much Time… So Little Money”?
I first drew them for myself a few years back, in the course of preparing a powerpoint presentation that I gave to my fellow neighbours and parents at a school council […]

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A new book that I ordered just arrived in the mail from Amazon. It is called “The Back of the Napkin” by Dan Roam. It’s all about solving problems and selling ideas with pictures (on the back of a napkin or on a whiteboard).
Let’s give it a try.
Grab a piece of scrap paper. Just postcard […]

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Wal-Mart’s maybe going into banking.
They’re already well into groceries.
They partnered with McDonalds on the fast food thing.
If Wal-Mart got into schooling, what would it look like?
What hours would it be open? How labour intensive might it be? How long might it take to “get one” in your community? Would quality go up (or down)? Would […]

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A number of years back during my volunteer work in our provincial education system, I had occasion to review and comment upon a draft “principal’s guide” regarding working with school councils and parents in general that the system was producing. I can’t recall now the details of what was presented in that guide (other than […]

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I like McDonalds on weekday mornings.
It makes me feel young.
McDonalds, it appears, is welcoming the “older crowd” into its restaurants at times when they like to gather and have a coffee or a breakfast muffin. They are even redesigning the look of their restaurants away from the “Ronald McDonald” look and feel toward a more […]

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Sales champion and author Jeffrey Gitomer (www.buygitomer.com) writes in his “Sales Caffeine” last week a few things about change:
Change is refinement.
Change is growth.
Change is movement.
Change is acquiring.
Change is upgrading.
Change is opportunity.
With these thoughts in mind, why has government schooling seen so little change in the past century, while society itself has seen more positive change […]

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