Ode de Olympics

Lone Star State eh?

Texas school district to let teachers carry guns

In what appears to be U.S. first, board cites remote location.

HOUSTON - A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States. The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt. School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom. Thweatt said it is a matter of safety.

"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" he said. "It's just common sense."

Board members estimate it would take first responders nearly 30 minutes to get to the rural school in an emergency.

Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, he said. Recent school shootings in the United States have prompted some calls for school officials to allow students and teachers to carry legally concealed weapons into classrooms.

The U.S. Congress once barred guns at schools nationwide, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck the law down, although state and local communities could adopt their own laws. Texas bars guns at schools without the school's permission.

(Armed teachers and students? Are you kidding me???)

Tis the Season

Teachers are back in the classroom, getting ready to begin the new school year. Me included :) I am guessing that teachers and parents view the upcoming 1st day of school a bit differently...

...15 days and counting...

You unnerstand the words that are comin' outta my mouth?

This to a former roommate (and any others who have ever had a difficult time understanding me)- One day as the two of us are finishing up washing and drying the dinner dishes (back in the days when there was no dishwasher!) I looked directly at her and asked,

"Can you hand me the reehg?"

All action slows, "Huh?" she looks at me with a curiously blank stare.

I point this time, hoping to make myself more clear, "The rrr-eeehhh-g."

Still no response. Apparently I am difficult to understand. To avoid further difficulties, I leaned over to grab the reehg myself. I have an accent. Who would have thought?

I should have realized and made some adjustments. But I remember my very first day of teaching 2nd grade. Very first ever(mind you). I was doing a tour of our classroom with the little kiddos, when I pointed out the Pledge of Allegience poster and begin explaining that we would be saying this pledge, with our right hands over our hearts...to our fleehg. I turn to move on to our next stop when I hear,

"Miss HPLuvr...Miss HPLuvr!! Don't you mean flag?"

I knew right then that I was going to spend the next 179 days trying to keep up with them.

Need further evidence? The results of said quiz:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The West
The Midland
Boston
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

So yes. If I had seen the movie Fargo, apparently I would have understood them without any difficulties.

Would you like paper or plastic beehgs for that?