Kids LOVE a good countdown, especially to one’s own graduation. These two pictured above are a long way away from a milestone like the one our seniors counted down with balloons, popping one a day for the last couple of weeks. Yesterday, you strolled in your caps and gowns down through your elementary and middle… Continue reading For all you Graduates Today: Tear Jerkin’, Balloon Poppin’ Pomp ‘n Circumstance
On June 6-7, please consider NH Gives, a day of giving for NH non profit organizations. We all have many causes which are near and dear to our hearts. Adapt (www.adaptnh.org) is just one of mine. So please mark your calendars and check out the following link for more information: https://www.nhgives.org/organizations/adapt-703a3b1d-fe40-4a6d-876c-9450a2a99a62 Adapt is a… Continue reading Adapt: Setting a Course for the Future
Believe it or not, this is me, yesterday, busting out The Worm in front of a school wide assembly with a rock concert designed to make students (and apparently staff alike) think about the choices we make in life. Yes, this was a dance off, and, clearly, when one is willing to throw down the… Continue reading Dancing is Our Jam
Dear Caryn, When I think about the role you have played in my history as a teacher here at Lin-Wood, along with that of our many colleagues, I am truly humbled by your wealth of experience, fortitude, and compassion. You have been a highly educated and dedicated mother hen to more than just your students. … Continue reading For the Love of Learning: Thank You Caryn Shamey for Your Lin-Wood Years
Today, I was kindly and undramatically shot down by a literary agent while attending a writing conference in Boston. Surrounded by literally hundreds of teachers and writers from around the world in the swanky Park Plaza hotel ballroom, I momentarily felt a “what the hell am I doing here” kind of moment, the one where… Continue reading What We Learn From Rejection
Friends sometimes ask what is the best way to appreciate a teacher. But requiring or encouraging society to thank a teacher is a little like forcing your child to apologize when he or she isn’t ready to say “sorry.” Ideally, as teachers, we would love for our students to understand that our work at school… Continue reading #thankateacher From One Teacher to Another: May You Always Feel Appreciated
It’s not every day U.S. Senator and former N.H. Governor Jeanne Shaheen comes to Lin-Wood School. Just two weeks ago, Senator Shaheen introduced new legislation to Congress aimed at preventing opioid misuse among students and student athletes. Today, she facilitated a panel discussion with other leaders in prevention including our own Nick Nelson (check out… Continue reading U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen Introduces New Prevention Legislation for Students : Stemming the Flow of Addiction
Dear Mr. Nelson, The day you called for an interview at Lin-Wood Public School was May 3, 2003, the very day we lost our Old Man on the Mountain. The phone rang, and I didn’t hear it right away because I was celebrating my graduation from a Masters in Education program. The music was loud,… Continue reading Dear Mr. Nelson: Thank You for 44 Years in Education
When I was a freshman at Connecticut College in the early 1990s, my beloved hometown of Merrimack, NH elected a Christian Coalition majority to our school board. The margin was something like 6 votes in a town of roughly 26,000 at the time. Please don’t fact check me, but it was very close. I did… Continue reading Why I Vote and Participate in Annual School District Meetings as a Teacher and a Mom
As a 23 year old teacher long ago, in a school district far from here, accused by a local minister of “raping” a young man of his innocence, we imagine the worst. We imagine a teacher who has sent inappropriate photos or messages to a student she is responsible for professionally. What we don’t imagine… Continue reading The Time a Parent Accused Me, a Teacher, of “Raping” with Reading
Heather Ehrman Krill: The "Write" Kind of Coach 