It's not often that I read a story like this one and just cannot shake it out of my head.
The St. Petersburg Times told the story of teachers who work with students who are hospitalized or sick at home. I don't know why it has never occurred to me that in our county at any given time, there are 250 students in hospitals or in home care. Teachers are assigned to work with those students who might be in chemotherapy, critical care or a burn ward. The story, by Lane DeGregory, said that the teachers' presence is a powerful reminder to the student that there will be life beyond illness.
The homework can be a factor in helping them to look beyond the present moment.
The students have to take the standardized state achievement tests, even while in the hospital.
Take a look at this story and localize it. It will tell your public a story they do not know, it will show the courage of these students and it will hold up these teachers who must have remarkable dedication and heart.
Polka Grammy
The Grammy awards will be handed out on Sunday and for the first time in four years the winner of Category 73 (out of 107 award categories) will not be Jimmy Sturr. He has won 14 Grammy Awards for Polka Album of the Year and has been nominated every year for the last 18 years, except this year. That record is unequaled in Grammy history. (See the list of past winners.)
Since Sturr is not nominated, the door is open for a polka group from Chicago, Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones. The Versatones have been nominated 16 times and won only once -- and even then it was a tie. In 1986, the Versatones tied with Sturr. Blazonczyk told The Times Herald Record that calls his band the "Susan Lucci of the Grammys."
(See the December story in the Grand Rapids Press for background.)
This is a story idea that you could easily localize and have fun with this weekend with a trip to a local dance hall, music school or weekend festival. Check with local radio stations that play polka music. Specialized record stores might be a place to go.
(See the resources links below for some help getting started. Here is a list of some associations that might help too.) Music stores that sell or repair or teach the accordion might also be interesting. I bet Saturday is the biggest day for music lessons.
Before you dismiss this idea as being a little too "old fashioned" for your or your audience's taste, you better get with it. Polka is cool and young people are discovering it. Cell phone users now have polka ringtones and polka musicians are adapting rock and country tunes.
Besides the Versatones, the nominees are two Canadians, Walter Ostanek -- a veteran bandleader from St. Catharines, Ont.,relative newcomer John Gora from Burlington, Ont. and a couple of other American acts: Brave Combo and Henry & the Versa J's.
The Canadian Press said:
"It's really not peasant music anymore," said Gora, 45, who immigrated to Canada from Poland in 1974, and has been leading bands for 25 years.
"Bands are composing original songs as well as turning popular rock and country songs into polkas."
His version of Phil Collins' Follow You Follow Me earned him a Grammy nomination in 1999. And Pangora's Box has a lively cover of Still, by country singer Jason McCoy.
"Do not associate polka with She's Too Fat For Me," insists Gora, referring to the classic ditty.
"Polka is very modernized. It has very intricate arrangements. Everything is done live... Once people go to one polka dance, they get hooked."
Just ask any of the university students who count Ostanek the highlight of the annual Oktoberfest parties in Kitchener, Ont.
Mexican Hat Polka -- an Ostanek classic -- was even turned into a ringtone last year.
Polka has its roots in mid-1800s as a Bohemian peasant dance. It later became a ballroom fixture in central Europe.
"Those third generation people in the U.S., that's what they know as their ethnic music," said Gora. "In Canada we're a younger country . . . the biggest wave of immigration was after the war. They are the tango generation."
While polka is never going to reclaim the crown it held in the early 1900s, several hundred bands contribute to a healthy market, explain the players.
In places like Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin, polka fests attract thousands of revelers. Wisconsin has actually certified the polka as the official state dance. Gora spent the first week of February headlining the Ultimate Polka Cruise, a seven-day jaunt to the Caribbean.
Here are some resources from Yahoo Entertainment.
Bosses Who Blog
Fast Company has an interesting story about big bosses who blog. They feature the head of
Sun Microsystems Jonathan Schwartz (very smart stuff) and
Craig Newmark, the founder of red hot Craig's List. It would be cool to have governors, mayors and Members of Congress blogging. I would not be interested in partisan junk, but in the real day to day struggles of serving a state, city or congressional district. I bet, if done routinely and honestly, it would become required daily reading. Wouldn't it be interesting if news directors and editors wrote regular blogs about why and how they chose to cover what they covered each day. (Here's
a news director who blogs and
an editor who does, too.)
Journalism and blogging can be a tougher combination for newsies because of the risk of becoming opinion writers rather than reporters.
The Health of Medical Professions
U.S. News and World Report has a special Web section that is worth browsing. It contains several sections, from doctor burnout to the rising role of pharmacists and nurses in patient care.
Intro: A growing gap separates doctors and patients
Doctors: Pulling back from patient care
Burnout: Even physicians get the blues
Medical School: The next generation
Turf Wars: Specialists are pushing for more power
Healthcare: Nurses are stepping to the forefront
Nurses: The shortage that won't quit
On Health: Medical practice has become a group effort
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts, and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.
My wife was a homeschool teacher about 10 years ago...
