Happy Halloween
Grace, The Elvis Vampire, and Peter, The Toxic Mad Scientist
Thanks to Meg for the Photo.
Elementary School Lockdown
At 2:12 this afternoon, I received the following email from my children’s school:
Around 11:45, the police department informed us of a report that a person was seen on Hwy 54 headed west who appeared to have a weapon. The police department was immediately on campus to monitor and we went into lockdown mode for our campus to maintain the safety of all students, staff, and parents.The lockdown lasted until 1:00pm and we resumed lunch schedule and necessary movement to and from classes. We did not access the outside areas (playground and others) to maintain a safe environment for our population. The local police continued to monitor and patrol the area. We were notified at 1:50pm that two suspects were picked up by law enforcement related to this incident. Thanks to all who patiently, cooperated with us during this process. Our students, staff, and parents did a great job! Thanks and have a great evening.
According to a news report, “Police said officers later picked up two youths with a BB gun.”
Peter’s Lockdown Report: He was in the nurse’s office with a headache, and he and the 3 other kids had a tea party with crackers, pretzels, raisins and water. The water was pretend kool-aid for the boys and pretend tea for the girls. Peter thought it was a Lockdown Drill, not a real Lockdown.
Grace’s Lockdown Report: She was in the Science Lab and they had to cram into the closet, where she was smushed in the back corner. She told me that during a Lockdown, you lock the doors, close the blinds or put paper over the windows. When I asked her why, she said so that someone with a weapon can’t see into the room. Grace also thought it was just a Drill.
A Vision of Students Today
A short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today – how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.
Peter at the Eno River
Social Bookmark Link Creator
I have been messing around with social media tools lately, and I found a tool to generate a batch of bookmarks that can go at the bottom of a blog post. Click here to create social bookmarks.
Finally on Twitter
I just signed up for a Twitter account. This micro-blogging tool allows friends and voyeurs to keep up with your every move, provided you constantly message away your every move.
The New York Times calls Twitter “one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” TIME Magazine says, “Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app,” and Newsweek noted that “Suddenly, it seems as though all the world’s a-twitter.”
Carrboro Alderman Apologizes for Park Incident
Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman issued a public apology Thursday to an athletic event volunteer he hit with his car last month while trying to get his son to baseball practice.
The son in question was on Grace’s baseball team, the Blue Rocks.
Edwards’ Campaign Against UNC Student Video
A UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor said John Edwards’ presidential campaign tried to kill a student’s video story about his campaign headquarters.
Grace’s Chin
Tonight Grace was running on a slick tile sidewalk (it finally rained), slipped and split open her chin. Much screaming and much blood. We stopped the screaming and stopped the bleeding. And before I headed to the ER, I called the doctor’s office. We lucked out as they we still seeing patients under urgent care hours.
Rather than use stitches, the doctor used the medical version of super glue to seal the wound shut. It will flake off in a few days, and skin should be closed. He also prescribed an antibiotic to keep any infections at bay. The pills were too big for Grace, but they were capsules so we opened them into applesauce.
Advanced Rock Paper Scissors
I recently heard about a 25 move version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Here’s a link to all the moves. Some of the gestures are very clever (see Woman and Man), as are some of the explanations (Monkey Infuriates Alien). The kids are excited about playing this, but we haven’t gotten to it yet.