Month: November 2013

Categories
Family and Community

A Pause for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays of the year. It represents a pause in our activities to focus on the importance of goodness and family in our lives. As families, we actually take time from our hectic and active schedules to slow the pace, consider the wonders of our lives, and to pass on oral histories of our place and role in the world. The determination of our elders, to share the lessons they have learned, should be a continuing signal to us of how important our family history is and how it has shaped our lives and, in many cases, our opportunities.

This special time of the year encourages all of us to thank others for the things they do to have a positive impact on our lives. All of us at Lakehill Prep are fortunate that you have chosen to share your children with us. Each of us on the faculty and staff also chose this school, because we want children to find successes and to be prepared for the opportunities and challenges of the future. This school is a special place for children, and I appreciate everyone who gives of their time, energy, and finances to provide moments of “specialness” for all who enter our doors.  In keeping with the season of thanking those people who enhance our lives, special thanks goes to my wife, Virginia, who has continued to be understanding of the commitment I have to the profession of helping children.

I encourage you, during this season of Thanksgiving, to take a moment to thank your child for making your life challenging, exciting, and meaningful. And when an elder starts to recite that story you have heard many times, pause to remember that they probably had a great deal to do with making you who you are today and how you will handle the challenges of tomorrow.  This time in our lives will never pass this way again, so let’s enjoy it to the fullest.

Best wishes to you and your family for a thankful and memorable Thanksgiving season.

 

Categories
Giving

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

By Ray Dent
Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Lakehill Preparatory School

The first academic class in the USAF Undergraduate Pilot Course is Physiological Training. The object of the curriculum is to teach about the human body and the effects of supersonic, high altitude aviation upon it. On the first day, I looked around at a full classroom and realized that every other new person there was as apprehensive as I.

We snapped to attention when the salty old instructor entered the room. He told us to be seated then presented a concept that I’ve remembered for a long time. He began with the question, “Is it physiologically possible for a human to consume an adult African elephant?”

After receiving no definitive answer, he turned to me and asked, “Lieutenant, how do you eat an elephant!?”

I jumped to attention with the brilliant response, “Sir, I do not know, sir.”

“One bite at a time, Lieutenant!” He barked. “That’s how you do it. It is physically possible for a human to eat an elephant; it’s even possible for a shave-tail lieutenant to get through Pilot Training, if you just take it one bite at a time.”

This lesson came across my mind last week at the Halloween Carnival when a parent, new to Lakehill, was asking me about the Annual Fund Campaign. She had received our request for help in the mail and wanted to participate, but was concerned that she might not be able to make a very meaningful gift before the end of the year.

I suggested that she might consider making a pledge on the form and fulfilling the gift in smaller payments throughout the coming year. She was relieved when I explained that many people are able to make a more significant gift by paying off a pledge in smaller increments quarterly, bi-monthly, monthly or whatever is convenient for their situation. Many of the faculty and I make our Annual Fund Campaign gifts by monthly payroll deduction…one bite at a time.

Categories
Technology

Ed 2.0

By Bill Dunklau
Computer Technology Department Chair, Lakehill Preparatory School

Presuming that we have passed through the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions and are now in the Digital Revolution phase of the Information Age, it would appear that education is poised to become the major beneficiary of recent technological advances.  Small changes afforded by microminiaturization include the computer lab, the rolling laptop cart, the 1:1 (ratio of computers to students) initiative, and the BYOD (bring your own device) initiative.  

Further changes made possible by the World Wide Web include high-speed access to data and information, all but obsolescing the traditional way that research was done.  Still, the changes to education from digital and wireless technologies have been more evolutionary than revolutionary.  Blackboards gave way to greenboards in the ’50s and to whiteboards and even interactive whiteboards more recently, and the milled library card catalog is gone, but in terms of types of spaces, daily time structure, student movement, and teacher activities, don’t most classrooms look and operate pretty much the same as they have for 50-100 years?

But that could be changing.  The organization of information into curricula and the widespread availability of such knowledge could have a revolutionary impact on education. It could dramatically reduce the cost of professional development, change the roles of knowledge mediators in and out of the classroom, and further accelerate the accumulation and transmission of knowledge and practical capabilities involving knowledge.  

I say that because over the past ten years I have traveled to Duke, Roger Williams, Cal Poly Tech, University of Utah, Virginia Tech, Adelphi, Northeastern, Georgia Tech, and Brown for week-long computer science workshops. In contrast, I have just finished an online six-week certificate course from Georgia Tech and am now enrolled in six- to eight-week certificate courses from Berklee College of Music and from California Institute of the Arts.  Did I mention that these three online courses were free of charge and available throughout the world, using material from textbooks that are being finalized as we complete the courses?  I am putting some of this material into my curriculum for this semester, other material for next semester.  When using these new materials, I am sharing lesson preparation and presentation duties with the professors who generated them. When mediating instruction with these new materials, I am exchanging some of my personal preparation, lecture, and demonstration time for individualized student attention, mentoring, and monitoring.

I would like to think we may be at the advent of “Ed 2.0,” in which the preK-12 system, in partnership with the post-secondary system, will produce and consume high quality materials of various types that students can access and re-access, use to increase and demonstrate proficiency, and that institutions can accept as a basis for awarding course credit.

Categories
Heath and Wellness

Stomach Bugs: It’s Really A Virus

By Kelly Johnson, MD, the founder and owner of Pediatric House Calls.

Stomach bugs: It’s really a virus

When are antibiotics needed?   NEVER!!!

Gastrointestinal illnesses are very common in the winter months and can spread rather quickly around home, school or the office.  Despite being call stomach “bugs”, they are actually viruses that are spread from person to person.  Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea with cramps, and low grade fevers.  There are a few viruses that cause congestion, cough and cold symptoms prior to the stomach symptoms starting.  These are called viral syndromes and appear to be more common in children less than 5 years old. These viral illnesses usually last about 2-4 days and then rapidly start to improve, although the stomach pain can linger for up to a week after other symptoms have diminished. The biggest worry about these illnesses is dehydration.  This can be avoided in most cases by encouraging your children to drink small amounts (1/2 ounce) very frequently (every 15 mins).  This keeps the body hydrated without filling up the stomach, which can induce more vomiting.  If your child cannot keep fluids down in small, frequent amounts after 24 hours, they made need an anti-nausea medication like Zofran.  It is very effective and safe for children and adults.  There is no health benefit to persistent vomiting, but it is different for diarrhea. Diarrhea is the body’s way of getting rid of the virus so it can heal itself.  If you give anti-diarrheal medications, you may stop the diarrhea, but the virus will remain and can potentially make your child worse. There are very few exceptions to this rule.

Antibiotics will not treat viral infections and are never used for this purpose.  There are some bacterial causes of diarrhea like Salmonella and Shigella, but usually only very sick children requiring hospitalization are given antibiotics for these infections.

So when should my child see the doctor?  1) concern for moderate to severe dehydration requiring IV fluids.  2) to obtain a prescription for anti-nausea medications if your pediatrician will not prescribe it over  the phone. 3) bloody diarrhea, or diarrhea lasting longer than one week without improvement.  4) a child under 2 years of age that is not drinking well.

Signs of moderate dehydration are dry, cracked lips, sticky tongue with whitish color , no urination in 8-12 hours and increasing fatigue. Anyone one with these symptoms, regardless of age, should seek medical care immediately.

Good hand washing, especially after bathroom breaks or diaper changes, is the best way to avoid stomach viruses. Giving probiotics and temporarily avoiding foods with lactose (dairy) will help shorten the length and severity of diarrhea.  Your child should not go to school until all symptoms have resolved for 24 hours.

If you have further questions, need an appointment or want to read previous newsletters, go to my website at www.pedihousecalls.com or 214-558-0037.