Reading for Treasure: Learning About Juneteenth

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles (and other readings) that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction.

Juneteenth only recently became a Federal holiday. It has been a state holiday in many places for a long time and has been celebrated by the Black community for more than a century. Here are a few articles to help people like me learn about the importance, history, and customs of Juneteenth. 

A good place to start would be Afro’s article, “The story behind Juneteenth and how it became a federal holiday” which gives a good background on the history of the holiday.

The New York Amsterdam News provides us with “A beginner’s guide to Juneteenth: What’s the best way to celebrate?” 

Two very good pieces from The Root continue our Juneteenth exploration: “Cheat Sheet: 5 Things You Must Know About Juneteenth” and “Why Juneteenth Isn’t a Black Holiday, but an American Holiday.” 

Finally, a powerful story about the importance of Juneteenth in NewsOne, “Juneteenth, Jim Crow And A Black Family Who Fought For Freedom.” 

I just finished reading, Being White Today: A Roadmap for A Positive Antiracist Life by Shelly Tochluk and Christine Saxman 

Twenty Years Ago: June 2003

January may be the official beginning of the calendar, but for a teacher, it really starts in August and ends in June. Teaching is a profession that has clear cycles. As a young parent and teacher in June of 2003, cycle was the operative word.  

As we get to the end of the school year, all of the conflicts and issues of the semester move to the foreground. I hate grades. I hate the effect they have on students, their families, and what they do to relationships. It is one of the reasons why I have never used an averaged grading system. 

In 2003, I was using a portfolio grading system. Students would demonstrate their growth by analyzing their work throughout the semester and evaluating it on our skill-based rubrics. Of course, this meant that they had to complete that work. 

There was one student in particular who had failed to turn in so many assignments that demonstrating growth was nearly impossible because there was so little to see. I met with him almost every day on his free period and helped him with missing work. My goal was not a “good” grade by a passing one! I noted in my journal, “It is amazing that this boy is not sick of me yet nor has he become mad at me. It is clear that he needs attention. I have given him opportunities to tell me to stop supervising him so closely but he does not say it. He wants this kind of close attention.” Throughout my career, I met many students like this young man. 

Grades weigh heavily on me. I err on the side of the higher grade if a student is on a bubble. Students used my evaluations and their own and their work to demonstrate what grade they thought they deserved. Most students are surprisingly accurate. Many are harder on themselves than I am. 

For some students, grades are critically important – but not for all. But they were ALL important to me, “I am spending too much time thinking about these kids’ grades and what they want, and how they’ll feel and react. I need to move to a grading system that takes it out of their and my hands more – a more objective system. That will be helpful.” That is why so many teachers use a purely numeric system: it is easier when it is cut and dry. It is also inaccurate and unfair. So, for my entire teaching career, grading was a process, conversation, and a pain in the mind.

If you are related to a teacher, you know that the end of the year is the busiest and most stressful time of the year. That spills into all parts of my life. I developed another cold. I had to close down websites so people would not think we were in school to reply to their requests. At the time, in addition to my own teacher website, I was also “webmaster” for the English Department, the Counseling Department, Peer Helping, StageWrite, and recommended reading websites. I was also putting together a new website for my new class: Humanities. 

June is also a time to say goodbye to retiring colleagues. I have attended every retirement celebration that the school has thrown while I worked there. At the time, the school retirement party was held after graduation. Thus, it was never particularly well attended. People from the retirees’ departments and older teachers would attend, but many people had just spent a day teaching, an afternoon at graduation, and needed to get home to their families. It was certainly one of our most challenging daycare days. Thankfully, my parents had our kids and we celebrated three wonderful careers. 

I was delighted at how our principal talked about each of the three retirees warmly and in great detail with few notes. There was a stark contrast between the two classroom teachers, one of whom was in my department, and the retiring department chair. I wrote about how narrow the teachers’ scope of influence. Neither had sponsored clubs or coached sports. Neither was that involved in building committees or projects. They were very focused on their classrooms, kids, and courses. This was not the case for the department chair, whose influence was far-reaching.

If the year ends in June and starts again in August, then the time in-between is not a “break,” it is project season. Every year I taught I had a list of things that got pushed into summer. I start trying to hit this list as soon as the last bell rings: everyone has their yearly doctor and dentist appointments, all home improvement projects are scheduled, and preparations begin for the next school year. 

My kids were keeping doctors in business that spring. I worked on my new course preparation a few hours every day. We had a new roof and siding put on the house and remodeled a bathroom. Summer was a blur! I wrote, “I don’t feel like I am on break. I worked at the building most of the day yesterday. I straightened out the English website. I think I have a handle on that now. I worked on putting my computer back in order and doing a few other bits and pieces.” I even served on an interview team to fill a spot in our department. 

Speaking of cycles, my son learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels! My brother and aunt visited and it was good to see them. The kids started day camps. We had workmen at the house six days a week! I had a planning session with the Sunday School faculty. Each day was very busy and I noted that I was falling asleep quickly and sleeping soundly. Consequently, my journal entries were often short. I talked about a great deal -but briefly.  

I was planning a summer vacation; my wife and I always took an “annual honeymoon” and the kids stayed with my parents. It was almost always in July. I took a school workshop learning to use Adobe Illustrator. I used it to improve graphics on my websites and to create some functional and fun posters for my classrooms. 

In the wider world, a new musical called Wicked premiered. The Mars rover was launched. I put our car phone, cell phone, and home numbers in the brand-new National Do Not Call List from the Federal Trade Commission. 

But like that list, June was a long parade of all the things that didn’t fit well during the school year. I suppose a teacher’s two seasons are not winter and road construction but the school year and everything else you need to get done! 

SUV POV?

On two recent vacations, I rented SUVs. Although I considered purchasing an SUV when I shopped for a new car, I have never driven one for longer than a test drive until these rentals. One of the SUVs was a three-row luxury vehicle. The other was a mid-sized sports SUV. 

After spending almost four weeks driving these vehicles (they are NOT cars), I still fail to understand their appeal. Why would anyone choose to drive these trucks? 

The original purpose of the sports utility vehicle was either to be a workhorse by pulling and hauling heavy materials or to drive on unpaved or inhospitable surfaces. Many years ago, SUVs became fashionable. The Hummer became the symbol of the SUV fad. 

When I purchased my first minivan, I looked at SUVs, but when it came to hauling people and their stuff, the minivan was both easier for the people and more storage for the stuff. The third row in the SUV I rented was almost unusable. Perhaps very small children or people without legs would be comfortable – when they could contort themselves to get back there. 

When we used the third row, the remaining storage capacity was so diminished that we could not carry much luggage. When we only had four people in the car, we had plenty of storage. Unlike my old minivan, the SUV could not carry people and stuff, but only one or the other – and the people not that well. 

People sometimes like to ride higher than traffic. It is not a feature exclusive to SUVs – nor do all SUVs have it equally. Minivans and a few other types of trucks also ride higher than a standard sedan. Some of the crossovers, which look more like station wagons, ride closer to the height of many cars. 

Safety is an often-stated reason for purchasing a larger vehicle. Are SUVs safer? According to a recently released study, passengers in the second row of an SUV aren't as safe as those in front. But this study looked at injuries to the people in the SUVs, not to those they hit! Are SUVs safer when they are not driven well? How many times have you seen a driver of an SUV on the road or in a parking lot who could not manage the large vehicle? Driving these beasts takes skill that many people have not mastered.

My rentals were more complicated to navigate in a parking lot or small spaces. The larger SUV had an interesting feature: the parking brake automatically engaged whenever the vehicle was parked. The SUV was so heavy that the regular parking setting could not keep it from rolling! 

My family owns hybrid cars. We are used to getting between 35 to 55 miles per gallon. Both of the SUVs I rented were gas guzzlers. I was shocked at how often I had to fill the tank. I was also shocked at the size of the tanks! I spent almost $100 to fill it up! That is three or four fill-ups for our cars at home! 

Why would anyone pay so much? Perhaps it makes sense if the SUV was full of people or stuff much of the time, but my experience is that most people drive alone. Why would you drive by yourself in an enormous, expensive, gas-guzzling truck? Does it say that you are so wealthy that the costs, both financially and environmentally, are meaningless to you? 

Gas prices are in the news constantly. People complain about them. Drivers of electric cars comment to me about how they are immune to them.  If you drive an SUV that gets less poor mileage and use it as your regular daily vehicle, I can only assume that the cost of gas might be breaking your budget. If it isn’t, you are indeed fortunate and wealthy. 

As I am writing, I am coming to the conclusion that driving a larger SUV is a kind of fashion and status statement. It isn’t about practicality, safety, fuel economy, or environmental impact. It is about wanting to drive the largest truck on the road. 

I have decided not to rent SUVs anymore. They are too costly, too difficult to drive, require trips to the gas station too often, and haul people poorly. If I need a truck, I’ll rent a van or minivan. From now on, I am sticking with cars!