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This school year has been as hectic and stressful as either of us have ever experienced. There are times we don't feel like we'll make it to the end of this year, much less be able to continue in education after. Keeping up with our website is one extra thing thing to squeeze in time for, and we've done it less often since school started than we'd like. However, we want this to be a place that others can find valuable resources for the classroom and remind others that we are not alone in our struggles as educators. Please look around for the latest updates and check out our blog for some insight. Thank you for visiting.
Latest Video
Kevin created this informative film to trace the history of movie special effects in his Digital Arts and Media class.
You can find a pdf of the transcript and two crossword puzzles to complete using what you've learned in the film at https://bit.ly/3nhuMGw.
You can also play a review kahoot at https://bit.ly/3aP5dpn
Check out The Captioned Life Podcast that Kevin hosts with fellow educator, Sean Winningham. Together they look at how comics and pop culture mirror life and society.
Latest Blog
January 27, 2022: Remembering Apollo 1
Ed White was my father's childhood hero. He was a West Point Graduate, an Air Force Pilot with the "Right Stuff" and the first man to perform a walk in space. My dad, who also went by "Ed" to most of his family, was just a kid from middle of nowhere Tribune, KS who must have thought the astronaut was the epitome of American intrepidness in a flight suit and flat top haircut.
He was 11 when the man he looked up to so much, died aboard Apollo 1 with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee after an unexpected fire broke out during a launch test. A decade later, all three were posthumously awarded the Space Medal of Honor.
In 1967 the only person more popular than an American Astronaut was Elvis. They were kings among men, daringly doing a job every boy dreamed of, but few were fit for. I can only imagine that the accident that claimed the lives of the Apollo astronauts must have been a shock to a generation that saw these men as invincible, a modern version of the knights of the middle ages.
It's been over 30 years, but I still remember how tears welled in my father's eyes and how his voice cracked slightly as he shared the story of Ed White with me for the first time. We were on a visit to the Cosmosphere museum in Hutchison, KS. I remember the dome theater with its majestic views of Earth captured from satellites high above and the hall of space exhibit with its grand artifacts on display. But most of all, I remember the emotion that almost overcame my father as he recounted the accomplishments and untimely passing of his hero.
I don't know why, but I've held on to that memory like a photograph in my mind ever since. Maybe it was the reveal of elusive vulnerability that sons don't often see in their fathers. Maybe it was my first real understanding of Honor and Heroism.
The experience was no less moving for me, recalling the story of Ed White as I stood in front of his spacesuit, hand in hand with my son at the Johnson Space Center last October. I had to be patient and help my wiley seven year old understand the significance of events that happened two lifetimes before his own, but I too was caught up in amazement of Mr. White's accomplishments and appreciation for his sacrifice. As I took a deep breath to regain my emotional composure, Madden hugged my neck and graciously posed for a picture with the spacesuit to send to grandpa.
Although today marks the 55th anniversary of that tragic day, I'm encouraged by how the life and even the death of true hero can impact a little boy admiring from afar. That admiration was passed to me as a young man and I have reveled in my role as keeper of the legend for the next generation.
Hopefully, our visit to the Space Center will stick with Madden as he grows up, and one day he'll share the story of Apollo 1 with his children. Even if Ed White doesn't mean as much to him, he'll recall what the man meant to his father, and grandfather before him.
After all, that's how heroes live forever. They orbit the cherished memories of little boys with big dreams.