So my mother-in-law’s grandchild #6 just arrived (no, it wasn’t my doing) and his name is something pretentious and French. Did you know Sacha is short for Alexandre? I didn’t either. Anyway the kid was born precisely on time, thus setting a precedent he will have to live up to. Much in the same way as I write this column every Friday. Not that I resent it, mind you, but I am feeling sort of blase about the whole thing today. Which is why it’s a good thing that I have so many links about our favorite subject, the world of education, after a long summer drought. It practically writes itself!
Sex Ed: I know teachers aren’t paid enough, but turning to prostitution isn’t the answer. And, speaking of sex crimes which is pretty much all the educational news is these days, this teacher was accused of raping a couple of little boys, later found innocent, and the prosecutor based at least part of her arguments on the fact that he owned “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” movies, which she considered “non-erotic pornography.” Wait, what? Then there’s the professor who gained YouTube fame for mooning his opponent in a debate.
Liberal Arts: My eyes got a little dusty when I read this article about a second grade class that fell in love with John Coltrane and have now started a crusade to save his house on Long Island. It made me feel better after reading this one about Australia’s new “child protection curriculum,” which requires teachers to give safety messages after reading fairytales–just in case kids get eaten by a wolf, I guess.
Last weeks of summer: Just to round this out with a dubious tie-in, what reflects summer more than the ubiquitous lemonade stand? They aren’t quite as small-time as they used to be. They’ve been used to raise money for cancer. And they can also teach kids a lesson about the perils of bureaucracy and the squashing of hope. Or, alternatively, that farm-fresh produce is bad.
Well, that’s it. It’s not always weird, and sometimes it’s only tangentially about the workplace, but at least it passes the time. Email us at survivingtheworkday at gmail dot com if you have anything geniuinely weird to pass along.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I did know Sasha is short for Alexander or Alexandra. Not French, I know, but not so odd, I’d think.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Yeah, I’m afraid I knew too….something from a Russian novel that I once read.
But I like all the links, and especially this quote about the produce stand:
Clayton Mayor Gregg Manning disagrees. And wonders what Katie and Sabrina might do with that produce stand if the zoning laws weren’t enforced.
“They may start out with a little card-table and selling a couple of things, but then who is to say what else they have. Is all the produce made there, do they make it themselves? Are they going to have eggs and chickens for sale next,” said Manning.
Yes, it’s a very slippery slope.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Sacha is short for Alexander (or Alexandre as is the case with our European nephew), and Sasha for Alexandra. I fail to see how one is derived from the other, but whatever…
Yes, today, vegetables, tomorrow? OMG chickens. And then what, mad cows I guess.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Can you imagine the horror of children selling chickens?
It seems that Sasha is the Russian diminuitive of Alexander (and of course these are all spelled sort of wrong as I don’t know Russian), and I know about this from Russian history and Czar Alexander or something like that.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:29 am
And yet the kid is French and Portuguese and American. And his full name is something I don’t remember because I can’t pronounce. So, Sacha it is. And forever I will think of Borat.