A Nickelodeon classic: Make the Grade

[VIDEO] When my folks first got cable it was the first time I saw Chicago Blackhawks hockey. Quickly I also became interested in this network called Nickelodeon. Alas I have more adult tastes than this network provides these days.

Still, Make the Grade is an example of one show I would like to see produced again today. The vid above is from 1989 hosted by Lew Schneider. Unfortunately seeing the broadcast history of this and other game shows produced for children, they seem to have a very short life.

I was a fan of Double Dare (DD) back in the day. It's safe to say that DD was the most popular of all those children's game shows. But Make the Grade is one should that hopefully would encourage our young people to do well in school. At least so I'd hope!

Got a glimpse of those old WPA Murals

I don't know if this lunchroom contained all the WPA murals at Bennett School that I had found out about close to two years ago. There are more pictures that I had taken at this month's LSC meeting which was held in the school's student lunchroom. This picture I posted because of the American flag. :P

Through exotic produce, Chicago schoolkids learn to eat healthy - Chicago Sun-Times

Through exotic produce, Chicago schoolkids learn to eat healthy - Chicago Sun-Times

I still believe our young people should be exposed to those foods that are healthier for them. Of course that doesn't mean that we keep our young people from bringing a lunch from home.

Rutabaga. Star fruit. Jicama. Uglifruit. A lot of adults would have a hard time even identifying any of these in a fruit-and-vegetable lineup.

But not Louis Martinez, even though the first time he held a star fruit, he didn’t know what to make of it.

“It made me laugh,” said Louis, a 10-year-old third-grader at John Hay Elementary Community Academy, a Chicago public school in Austin, a neighborhood not known for having exotic supermarket produce sections. “It’s shaped like a star.”

Laughing’s OK with Wayne Williams, the principal at John Hay. It’s one of 14 Chicago schools where a federal grant is bringing produce to the kids. But at John Hay, the principal and third-grade teacher Jorie Schneider amped things up a bit. They’re mixing the mysterious with the mundane.

Looking for artifacts from the year I graduated from Bennett School.

Been digging some items out. Even found one artifact, a receipt from my school librarian for some graduation fees. Was really looking for some graduation tickets from the year I graduated. Will look for more and then scan the results for posting onto this blog. Alas, the artifacts will show my age. :(

Chicago elementary principal Reason's "Nanny of the Month"

[VIDEO] The Principal at Chicago's Little Village Academy is Reason's Nanny of the Month. The critique is over her attempt to protect students from unhealthy food choices. Mainly banning lunches brought to school from home and forcing students to eat food provided by the cafeteria. Of course that does no good if students refuse to eat the food provided by the school's lunchroom anyway. :/

Public School Bans Homemade Lunches

[VIDEO] This video is out of Chicago's Little Village Academy where the principal wants to protect her students from unhealthy food choices. Doing so means preventing children from bringing to school their own lunch and forcing them to eat whatever is in the school's cafeteria. Even though as reported in this video from FOX News, the students may well not like the food and choose to throw it in the trash.

At least it's not CPS policy to do so and that the Principal made the call on this. I would be highly upset about this especially if I know to give my child a healthy sandwich, a juice, or even a piece of fruit. Who is this person to say that I as a parent (not a parent yet, personally) don't know how to make healthy food choices?

UPDATED 6:00 PM District 299 has other related links to this story.

CPS proposes school consolidation...

This post from Chicagoist talks about how CPS wants to deal with a $270 million deficit this year. Two ways amongst others to deal with deficit, tackle labor costs especially teacher pay or consolidate those schools with low enrollment.

Consolidation was mentioned at the last Bennett-Shedd LSC meeting. A teacher was concerned about Bennett-Shedd being consolidated thankfully someone at the meeting noted that they're not on the consolidation list. I had found a list from Chicago Public Radio of those schools who may be consolidated. Have to find it.

Found a list!