Cindy was born to inspire others. She became a teacher and has been inspiring students, friends, parents, and colleagues her entire life.   Her elementary bus driver called her “smiley”. She was severely pigeon toed and classmates made fun of her often.  She wore a brace to correct her feet.  When Cindy was 10, she lost her 13 year old bother.  He was hit by a car while crossing the street to go to his bus stop.  She learned at an early age the importance of living life everyday as if it was her last day.  This was the first of many more difficult experiences she had to struggle with to find her smile again.  Her father died of cancer when she was in college and she worked in between classes to pay the bills for her family.  It was his wish for Cindy to graduate in the education field.  She did.  She married soon after college which ended in an ugly divorce.  Friends talked about all the bad breaks she had and wondered how she managed to keep a positive attitude.  Even so, she considers herself the luckiest woman on the face of the earth.  She found inspiration in the littlest of details to keep a sunny attitude. She finds appreciation in everything she sees, touches, hears and feels.  She even gives thanks for dirty laundry, knowing it is a blessing to have the clothes to wash.   She is an educator, a wife, a mother of two, and owns her own business now. She is an inspiration to many.  Now, she wants to inspire the world!  Vote for her to win her OWN talk show with Oprah called iInspire! Support her dream to inspire others to follow their dreams and make inspiration infectious.  Press the link to vote and watch her video.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE AND SEE CINDY'S AUDITION VIDEO

(written by her best friend)

 

        

Okay, so I got a wild hair, and decided to audition for the Oprah, Host Your OWN Show.  Please give feedback under the video.

Cindy's Audition: iInspire with Cindy Martin - OWN TV http://bit.ly/aIb3VG

        

        

I was at a child's birthday party when a mother was yelling her adorable son to open his card before he opened his gift.  She followed it up with, "Don't lose the card!" Then she asked a guest if they were able to write down the gift he received on paper, so she could write her thank you cards later.  The mother was frustrated, the guest was distracted from the fun and the child just looked confused.  Then, it hit me!  If we can learn to give cards with gifts, why can't we learn to write the gift we are giving on the card?  This works for weddings, showers, birthdays or any special occasion where a lot of gifts are given to someone.  This would save people so much time. Please pass this on to everyone you know.  Let's see if we can start a new tradition that will save time and headaches. Send this link to 10 people, make a wish after you push send, and it will come true. Ha! Seriously, this is the new gift card etiquette.

        

A popular celebration in schools today is Grandparent's Day.  Here is a list of ideas to help you successfully celebrate grandparents in the classroom, and my own lesson plan. << MORE >>

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What is going on with Education?  Look what I opened in my email today:

"Dear Brothers and Sisters; The Senate Ways and Means Policy and Steering Committee voted late this afternoon to change the Florida Retirement System from non contributory for the employee to an employee contributory system. Beginning in January of 2011, all employees in the Florida Retirement System will have a retirement contribution deducted from their gross pay. The initial deduction will be .25% of payroll, but there was no cap, and the horse is now out of the barn.

This is the biggest change in FRS in 35 years. The committee voted straight down party lines with the exception of one brave Republican, Evelynn Lynn, who voted with every Democratic Senator against making the pension system employee contributory. Every other Republican Senator voted against every teacher, law enforcement, firefighter and all other city, county and state employees. SB2022 has one more committee assignment. We'll keep you posted on lobbying efforts for bills next stop. The Committee members are:

You may want to thank Senator Lynn and all the Democrats for their support and as for the Republicans, I'll leave it up to you to tell them how you feel about their vote.

Next week the bill to end the Health Insurance Subsidy for all retired and active members is scheduled for a full vote on the House floor, call as many House members as you can and ask them to vote no on HB 5701" 


Alexander, JD (Chair) (R) 17 (850) 487-5044
Patty Harrison, Larry Ford,Caitlin Murray 412 Senate Office Bldg.
Deutch, Ted (Vice Chair) (D) 30 (850) 487-5091
216 Senate Office Bldg.
Altman, Thad (R) 24 (850) 487-5053
Christine Wayne, Brittany O'Connor, Kari Janzen 324 Senate Office Bldg.
Baker, Carey (R) 20 (850) 487-5014
Nanci Cornwell, Ann Drawdy, Thomas Hammons, Renee Strong 316 Senate OfficeBldg.
Bennett, Michael 'Mike' (R) 21 (850) 487-5078
Jacquie Connell 322 Senate Office Bldg.
Crist, Victor (R) 12 (850) 487-5068
Jeffrey Huggins, Eric Johnson and Jennifer Wilson 208 Senate Office Bldg.
Diaz de la Portilla, Alex (R) 36 (850) 487-5109
Patricia Gosney 330 Senate Office Bldg.
Fasano, Mike (R) 11 (850) 487-5062
Giovanni Casanova, Gregory Giordano, Christine Hunter, Michael Vente 404 SenateOffice Bldg.
Gaetz, Don (R) 4 (850) 487-5009
Christopher Clark 320 Senate Office Bldg.
Garcia, Rudy (R) 40 (850) 487-5106
414 Senate Office Bldg.
Gelber, Dan (D) 35 (850) 487-5121
Alexis Moseley, Debra Schwartz, Cameron Sisser 226 Senate Office Bldg.
Haridopolos, Mike (R) 26 (850) 487-5056
Nancy Bernier, Katherine Halley, Becky Bauer, Megan Phillips 420 Senate OfficeBldg.
Hill, Anthony C. 'Tony' (D) 1 (850) 487-5024
Tracy Butler 213 Senate Office Bldg.
Justice, Charlie (D) 16 (850) 487-5075
Courtney Vandenberg, Bethany Linderman, Michael Haworth 222 Senate Office Bldg.
Lawson Jr., Alfred 'Al' (D) 6 (850) 487-5004
David Ash, Melissa Durham, Deborah Fairhurst, Berta Kemp 228 Senate OfficeBldg.
Lynn, Evelyn J. (R) 7 (850) 487-5033
416 Senate Office Bldg
Negron, Joe (R) 28 (850) 487-5088
Carrie Lira, Holly Demers, Ginger Baldwin, Ann Bolduc 306 Senate Office Bldg.
Peaden, Jr., Durell (R) 2 (850) 487-5000
406 Senate Office Bldg.
Rich, Nan (D) 34 (850) 487-5103
Ellen Navarro, Erica Ortiz, Kristin Carter 214 Senate Office Bldg.
Siplin, Gary (D) 19 (850) 487-5190
Lakeisha Hood 205 Senate Office Bldg.
Sobel, Eleanor (D) 31 (850) 487-5097
Nick Matthews, Zachary Learner, Lori Kearns 224 Senate Office Bldg.
Thrasher, John (R) 8 (850) 487-5030
Darla Kubacki, Kay Rousseau, Kelly Williams, Rebecca Stagg 212 Senate OfficeBldg.
Villalobos, J. Alex (R) 38 (850) 487-5130
Sonia Castro, Norma Ledesma, Nanea Marcial, Vicky Romaguera-Garcia 400 SenateOffice Bldg.
Wilson, Frederica S. (D) 33 (850) 487-5116
Patricia Lightfoot, Shaquita Rahming, Chauncey Graham 202 Senate Office Bldg.
Wise, Stephen R. (R) 5 (850) 487-5027
410 Senate Office Bldg.

        

President Obama announced stronger federal efforts to help lower the high school dropout rate that he believes is hurting America's future economic potential. He is committed to reforming middle and high schools, focusing on America's lowest performing schools.

The administration has committed $3.5 billion in federal support to 5000 underperforming schools. The Department of Education is encouraging states to identify and take new measures to improve ...

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Since the death of Governor Lawton Chiles, and the subsequent GOP takeover of Florida’s state government, Florida’s education system has been on a rapid downward spiral. As one of the first states to comply with the NCLB model, we have suffered longer and harder than any other state. Now, a Republican controlled state senate has voted to bring Florida Education down another step, with the ultimate goal to destroy public education once and for all.

Teachers were so hopeful that a Democrat controlled federal government would bring back some sympathy for public education. Unfortunately we haven’t seen that, which gives Florida Republicans more power to do with schools whatever they wish.

If you don’t really know anything firsthand about educating children and you don’t like paying taxes to pay for education, you certainly aren’t going to worry about whether reasonable and logical decisions are made on behalf of public schools. You might not think much about the fact that you could end up in a hospital or nursing home one day and one of those kids your tax money went to educate will be grown up and taking your vital signs. You might not contemplate that when you call the police for help, the responding officer was most likely educated in a public school. You might forget that plumbers and electricians and carpenters need to go to public school before they can go to trade school.

Let’s say you do realize these things, and reluctantly agree that public schools are necessary. Do you care about whether your tax money is spent effectively? Because, if you do care, you might not be aware that you are being cheated.

Billions of dollars are annually wasted on the industry of standardized testing. That industry puts dollars in the pockets of people who are glad to take it and don’t give two flying flips about whether any good has come of it. Preparation for the tests take up all of our teachers’ time and energy, out of fear, and the learning that takes place in the classroom is short term and without depth. But teachers’ hands are tied. They have to do what they are told to do.

Now, Florida is taking it even farther. Republican politicians have voted to punish and reward teachers and students on the basis of standardized test scores. Test scores - acquired by spending more tax money on creating, grading, and analyzing tests instead of providing rich learning environments, classrooms, and teachers. It is a completely counterproductive move that will hurt our state and securely situate Florida at the bottom of national rankings for a long, long time.  They might as well let you keep your tax money, for all the good it will do.

Adding insult to injury, Republicans have allocated more money to school vouchers, so certain disgruntled families can use your tax dollars to send their kids to private school, where state and federal regulations do not exist, while the rest of our children continue to be pounded with Republican created rules that destroy our teachers’ ability to do an effective job. Let me clarify: Republican politicians are giving away Florida tax dollars, in the form of vouchers, to help some children escape the destructive system that they, Republican politicians, have created. Private school children are exempted from the Republican created standards, regulations, and punishments to which public school students are subjected.

Let’s just be up front about this. No Child Left Behind, and anything designed on that model of public school reform, is about destroying public schools. Republicans don’t like public school. They think it is unconstitutional and have arguments to prove it. They think education is meant to be a personal responsibility, not a public one. A personal responsibility - like in those third world countries where they film commercials for Americans to donate three dollars a day to help a little hungry eyed child learn to read.

If Americans don’t wake up and pay attention to what is being done; if they don’t think logically about this issue and utilize some foresight; if they don’t stop agreeing with politicians about education reform on the basis of their stand on other issues, like capital gains taxes and abortion, our education system is doomed. Education is not an industry. Schools are not making widgets. They are working with human beings, millions of individuals who will one day take over the running of our country. American voters need to be careful with our children and the people who do the work of preparing those children for their future. They need sound decision making, not flippant, careless, and punitive actions based on flawed philosophies.

If we don’t take the time to care for our future citizens, how can we ever expect them to care about us?

Article contributor : Canyn Flynn, NBCT

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