HARDminute Factoid 37, Best High Schools

A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.
TOP TEN
Best High Schools in America


As we come to the end of year in most high schools, maybe we can consider how well students are served. US News and World Report recently looked at more than 21,000 public high schools in 48 states. The following are the 10 schools that performed the best in their three-step America’s Best High Schools analysis. For the full story, go to:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/highschools/2008/12/04/best-high-schools-gold-medal-list.htm


School & location / Quality-adjusted Exams taken per Test-taker / College Readiness %

Thos Jefferson HS for Science & Technology, Alexandria VA / 6.8 / 100

Oxford Academy, Cypress CA / 4.4/ 99.5

Pacific Collegiate Charter, Santa Cruz CA / 4.1 / 98.8

High Technology High School, Lincroft NJ / 3.1 / 98.4

Design & Architectural Senior High / Miami FL / 2.7 / 97.8

International Academy Bloomfield Hill MI / 5.9 / 97.8

Int’l Baccalaureate School @ BHS, Bartow FL / 5.3 / 97.5

Preuss School @ UCSD, La Jolla CA / 1.9 / 97.1

Academic Magnet HS, NO Charleston SC / 4.0 / 95.5

Gretchen Whitney High, Cerritos CA / 4.1 / 94.4

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.

I welcome your feedback!

HARD

HARDminute 36 Arizona in July

A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.

TOP TEN Signs
it is
July in Arizona*


1. The trees are whistling for the dogs.
2. You actually burn your hand opening the car door, then learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
3. You discover that it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car, but you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
4. You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
5. Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
6. You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
7. The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
8. Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
9. The cows are giving evaporated milk.
10. The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

*With apologies to the many friends I still have in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff…

Please let me know if this is of interest to you.

I welcome your feedback!

HARD

HARDminute Factoid 35

A Series of “Top Tens”
That Took Forever to Compile
But Requires Only Sixty Seconds
for You to Read.

My Top Ten Favorite
Steven Wright Sayings


If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the famous erudite scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." His mind sees things differently than most of us do, to our amazement and amusement. Thanks to my dear friend, Mike Hixson at CADO Real Estate Services for these. I have 24 more and will be happy to send them to you. Just post a reply with the e-mail address to use. Here are my ten favorites of his gems:


1. I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
2. All those who believe in psycho kinetics, raise my hand.
3. I almost had a psychic girlfriend...

but she left me before we met.
4. How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
5. I intend to live forever.... so far, so good.
6. What happens if you get scared half to death…twice?
7. My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes,

so I made your horn louder."
8. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
9. The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
10.Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.


Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD

Ah'm Just Wonderin'.....School Ideas

One of my brothers, and the wife of another, are both public school teachers. I am a part time professor at a public university. News reports are full of complaints regarding sources of funds…and then allocation thereof for public education. No one seems to be happy. There may be some solutions that we either can’t see or don’t want to embrace. At least for secondary schools can we afford to be so blind…or so intractable?

It makes me wonder.

What do they do with school buses between dropping the kids off in the morning and picking them up later in the day? Ah’m just wonderin’.

Can the buses be used for anything else in those intervals? Ah’m just wonderin’.

How about the drivers? Do they have a half shift, a split-shift or is it two full shifts? Just wonderin’.

Can THEY be used more, better, more efficiently? Again, ah’m just wonderin’.

We have some schools operating year round to better use their physical resources. Is there any value to having some classes start later in the day, ending later in the day and better matching schedules of the parents? With more parents on more non-traditional work shifts and with many people wanting to amass as much work time as possible, is there a social benefit to having the kids start daily classes at a later time when more parents can pick them up afterwards? Ah’m just wonderin’.

While we await a shakeout of property uses, and “moving through” of various demographic bubbles, does it make sense to lease abandoned car lots and install portables to bring some schools closer to some kids? Districts are closing some schools trying to dispose of some sites due to population shifts. In other areas, kids travel pretty far to get to school. SD’s are good tenants; they can establish portables quickly and remove them after a few years. Maybe that’s time enough to help the SD’s and await improvements in the property market that allow owners of car lots to find a permanent use. Ah’m just wonderin’.

Private schools name facilities after benefactors of the school. So do Universities. Cynics can call this “selling naming rights,” but so what? Would it work to sell naming rights to school labs, classroom wings, or playgrounds at public schools? Or is that too “commercial?” Do we think our kids don’t see commercial messages online, on the road, on the bus and even on their shoes, T-shirts, and backpacks? Do we need to protect them from this? If American Airlines wanted to sponsor a classroom wing, is there value to taking their money? If Nike outbid Puma for naming rights for the track, is that a bad thing? Or did we just find a new source of school revenue and I missed the memo? Only wonderin’.

At some churches, some individuals underwrite the cost of prayer books. Is it so bad to find a similar source for school books and allow an imprint or foil, with the name of the benefactor, on the fly leaf page…and even on the exposed sides of the pages? Ah’m just wonderin’.

I keep hearing we should protect kids from the commercial world. What? So they don’t confuse it with the real world??? Shouldn’t we teach kids that commerce is part (not all) of the real world? If we don’t, is that protection…or just procrastination? Isn’t compromise and sacrifice part of the real world? And should we first compromise their education, or maybe our own entrenched positions? Ah’m just wonderin’.

And, by the way, when they try to sell advertising in their annual yearbooks, what is that? Ah’m just wonderin’.

Since this is only wonderin’ I also wonder if any of these make any sense at all.

Jus’ wonderin’.

And wonderin’ if you have any feedback.

HARD