Wayne Boss smiles after speaking at the Boulder Colorado Stake's 'Most Inspirational Teacher' Awards Night in Louisville, Colo., on Feb. 24, 2010.

The quality of our nation’s teachers is more basic to excellence in education than even textbooks and curricula though the latter two are also extremely important. A caring teacher makes all the difference.

My children had many such teachers in the Boulder Valley School District as do students today. Instead of telling these stories here, however, I want to share “The Teddy Story” by Elizabeth Silance Ballard, the same story Wayne Boss, first counselor in the stake presidency and University of Colorado Leeds School of Business professor, told at the recent Boulder Colorado Stake’s “Most Inspirational Teacher” Awards Night. Though the piece is fiction, this story is relevant as we grapple with budget constraints and work to improve educaton. Because of the story’s length, I tell it here with a mix of the author’s words and my own.

Ballard wrote that as Mrs. Thompson stood in front of her fifth grade class on the first day of school, she “told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there on the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn’t play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy, and that he constantly needed a bath. Teddy could be unpleasant.”

At first, Mrs. Thompson took some delight in giving Teddy’s papers poor marks, Then, she read his record, something she was required to do. His first grade teacher wrote Teddy was “a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly, and he has good manners. He’s a joy to be around.”

In second grade, Teddy was well-liked and an excellent student. By fourth grade his mother’s terminal illness and death had taken its toll. His fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy’s withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends, and sometimes he even sleeps in class.”

Mrs. Thompson saw the problem and was ashamed. Then, as the students brought Christmas presents to her, Teddy’s gift, a rhinestone bracelet with some stones missing and a mostly empty bottle of perfume, was wrapped in brown paper. The children started to laugh, but Mrs. Thompson put on some perfume and exclaimed how beautiful the bracelet was.

“Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, ‘Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like mom used to.’ After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, and instead she began to teach children.”

As Mrs. Thompson helped Teddy in a caring way, he responded. “By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class, and despite her lie, became of her teacher’s pet.”

After leaving her class, Teddy wrote notes to Mrs. Stoddard. “A year later she found a note under the door from Teddy telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.” He said much the same thing when he finished third in his high school graduating class, with honors from college and again four years after that. He signed that note Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D.

But the teacher’s influence didn’t end there. When Teddy was married, she stood with him since his father had died a few years earlier. And, “she wore that bracelet – the one with the several rhinestones missing” and “the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.”

Mrs. Thompson and Teddy, now Dr. Stoddard, hugged each other. He whispered into her ear, “Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”

“Mrs. Thompson came with tears in her eyes and whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”

Dr. Chris King honored BVSD teachers at a "Most Inspirational Teacher' awards night Feb. 24.

Superintendent Chris King took time out of his busy life to underscore the value he places on Boulder Valley School District teachers. He spoke as a special guest as the Boulder Colorado Stake, a local geographical subdivision of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, honored 11 as “Most Inspirational Teachers” on Feb. 24 at 701 W. South Boulder Road, Louisville.

King reminisced about beginning his career as a teacher at Broomfield High and always coming home with chalk on himself from the blackboard. He added, “Of course, those were the days before smart boards.”

While some things in education change, others remain constant. Over 150 listened as King shared a quote from one of his “favorite reads,” Phi Delta Kappan. The quote by Sydney J. Harris from the April 1964 edition is still relevant. I appreciate King for sharing “Authentic Teachers” with me so I could share it with you in its entirety. It goes like this:

“A person is either himself or not himself; is either rooted in his existence, or is a fabrication; has either found his humanhood or is still playing with masks and roles and status symbols. And nobody is more aware of this difference, although unconsciously, than a child. Only an authentic person can evoke a good response in the core of another person. Only a person is resonant to a person.

“Knowledge is not enough. Technique is not enough. Mere experience is not enough. This is the mystery at the heart of the teaching process… Each is an art, more than a science or a skill – and the art is at the bottom of the ability to ‘tune in to the other’s wave length.’ This ability is not possessed by those who have failed to come to terms with their own individual person, no matter what other talents they possess. Until they have liberated themselves from what is artificial and unauthentic within themselves, they cannot communicate with, counsel or control others.

“The few teachers who meant the most to me in my school life were not necessarily those who knew the most – although knowledge often accompanied their compassion – but those who gave out of the fullness of themselves; who confronted me face to face, as it were, with a humanhood that awoke and lured my own small and trembling soul and called me to take hold of my own existence with my two hands…”

The superintendent is right in pointing out these truths. Congratulations to Terrence Dunn, Andrea Staufer, Jim Davidson (all three at Broomfield High), Mark Haxton (Aspen Creek), David Evans, Reid Walker, Jay Weerman (Monarch High), Belinda Harp-Schrag, Arthurenia Hawkins (both at Broomfield Heights Middle School), Pam Unrau (Douglas Elementary), and Carla Flanhofer (Peak to Peak).

Knowledge, technique, and experience are not enough. Thanks to these and all teachers who add that “inspirational” and “authentic” factor into their teaching.

Obama’s plan through the Department of Education was to ask children to write Obama a letter in which they told him how they were going to help him. Mind you, the question wasn’t how the children were going to help the United States of America be a strong nation. The question was how the children could help the President himself. This came across as his questioning children on how they were going to help him with his agenda.

After the justified uproar, Obama’s writing assignment was removed. What remained, however, were concerns that Obama, with the support of the Department of Education, was attempting to talk past the parents to reach their children politically. How his speech was handled in the Boulder Valley School District further negated parents’ role in their children’s education. The only decision parents were given was whether to remove their children from school on Sept. 8, the day of the speech.

Parents need to be allowed in the decision-making process. I value good teachers and school administration and lament the battle they have had with arbitration on the speech issue. But, I lament more that parents weren’t included at all. This situation needs to be remedied for future controversial situations and ongoing issues. A sounding board of parents at the building level could be a move in the right direction.

Elia Gourgouris, who hopes to leave for Haiti on Feb. 8, poses with his wife Sona, and sons, Dimitri (front) and Nicholas at a family celebration in March 2009.

Superior Town Trustee Elia Gourgouris plans to give hands-on help in Haiti after its devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.

Gourgouris explained over the phone last week how he came to that decision. He said he felt “a prompting” to go to Haiti and donate with his expertise and training and whatever gifts God has given him “to do something really hands on.”

Gourgouris is definitely prepared in that way. He holds a doctorate in psychology and practiced privately before becoming a life coach, speaker and writer. He was certified by the American Red Cross for disaster relief in1994, and helped after an earthquake hit California that year. He helped after the Columbine shooting in 1999, and in 2007-2008, he met and trained first responders with Terry Lyles at the U.S. Space Command and several Air Force bases.

Though Gourgouris felt prompted to go, he had concerns, security there being one of them. “Sona, the kids and I prayed,” he said before he added, “That’s what God would want me to do, to go and serve the least of his own. It’s a very emotional decision actually.”

After Gourgouris made his decision to go to Haiti, he e-mailed Lyles, who had become his good friend, asking whether Lyles was going. Lyles, a pre-eminent expert in disaster relief who also holds a doctorate in psychology, worked in New York City at ground zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and with victims of the tsunami in Thailand and Katrina in the U.S. Lyles’ answer was he was going and could use Gourgouris’ help.

They planned for Gourgouris to fly to Miami today and join with Lyles there for a flight by military transport plane the next day into Port-au-Prince. They would distribute protein drinks that provide 50 percent of the daily protein requirements, and help particularly children and fatigued Red Cross workers.

However, their plans have been postponed. The Haitian government closed the airport to commercial flights. Despite that, they are undaunted. Gourgouris explained in a Jan. 29 e-mail they may fly into the Dominican Republic and drive into Haiti. Also, they received an additional 200 cases donated or 2,024 more drinks and lined up three orphanages to receive them.

“The delay, although frustrating is turning out to be a blessing in disguise,” Gourgouris said. He added, “I’m more excited than before because now I know people who are waiting for us to come…and I’ll get to be with kids the majority of the time, which was my biggest wish. They are the most vulnerable…”

I hope and pray Gourgouris can leave on Feb. 8, which is the new plan.  

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the 5-to-4 majority “If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.”

The Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205 put into law what government has long accepted, that corporations have the same rights as individuals when it comes to political speech.

Furthermore, the ruling answered Solicitor General Elena Kagen’s statement that raised an audible breath from the Supreme Court in a comment to opposing council in March when the case was first argued. Kagen said Congress has constitutional powers over not only television and cable during an election but also book publications. Therefore, it would be a crime if a corporation published a political book during an election time.

Kegan’s interpretation of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, usually called the McCain-Feingold, and its more narrowing interpretation in 2007 was shocking. Without the Court’s ruling, political speech could be at risk not only in books but also in newspapers, on television news programs and on blogs.

No longer do bloggers have to wonder whether their speech could be regulated by law as corporations help get out their message. At the same time, the Court ended the confusion of which laws affect which corporations and prudently upheld the ban on direct contributions to candidates.

Though dissenters see all sorts of terrible effects on society and the political process, Congress can require corporations to disclose their political speech and spending and require them to run disclaimers with their advertising. Then, we’d all know and can judge for ourselves whether their viewpoints have any merit. America can do that.

During the campaign, candidate Barack Obama touted openness in government. He said, “I’ll make our government open and transparent so that anyone can insure that our business is the people’s business.” Obama continued by saying the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant.”

The crowd cheered.

Obama continued in lofty tones, “And as president, I’m going to make it impossible for Congressmen or lobbyists to slip pork barrel projects or corporate welfare into laws when no one is looking because …”

He paused and the crowd cheered some more.

Then, Obama said resolutely, “When I’m president meetings when laws are written will be more open to the public. No more secrecy. That’s a commitment I make to you as president. No more secrecy.”

Obama spoke this promise easily on the campaign trail but appears to have no intention of keeping it now he’s in office.

At present, House and Senate Democrats are preparing to bypass the formal House-Senate conference process. There differences between the two bills would have been negotiated by senior lawmakers from both parties. The new plan is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and other top Democrat leaders in the House and Senate will hammer out the differences with President Obama in their own private meetings. Their success would be followed by a quick vote.

Quick and hidden tactics are counter to democracy. Instead, democracy is messy. It requires openness and time to get it right. Democrats are acting scared that Republican lawmakers could muster the votes to block, delay or force politically challenging votes in both houses. They are also acting like they are hiding something from the public.

It’s still not too late for Obama to lead the Democrats in doing the right thing. At least, he needs to assure plans go forward for a formal House-Senate conference committee with senior lawmakers from both parties involved and the typical public meetings included. But, he could open up government a lot more. Now, will he?

However, reporters have brought us lots of hard-to-receive news this year. So, it was nice to hear an upbeat story focusing on the true meaning of Christmas on Sun., Dec. 13. Chris Denham, a husband and father of two young children, started out his talk to a Broomfield congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by quoting the English poet, Christian Rossetti.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would give Him a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part,—
But what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

Denham followed Rossetti’s poem with sharing “a treasured learning experience” from last Christmas. “I love gadgets!” he said. “If you ask my wife she will attest to drawers and counters covered in gizmos. I was really looking forward to Christmas morning as there was one present under the tree that had my attention. It was a relatively small box – the perfect size for an iPod. Kacey let it slip a few nights before Christmas that it was, in fact, an iPod under the tree.

“I was like a kid in a candy store wishing away the days until Christmas morning. Finally the moment arrived. After I waited patiently for the kids to open their presents I finally couldn’t take it anymore. With a nod from my wife I tore into the present. I was looking for a place to charge it when my little girl, Clara, grabbed my hand and placed in it a small gift. It had been wrapped with the loving care of small hands. It barely covered the contents of the gift and a whole roll of Scotch tape was used to make sure it was properly sealed.

“I put down my iPod and gently began to unroll the tape. I couldn’t help but notice the anticipation in Clara’s eyes as I got down to the prize. Inside was a craft she had lovingly made. She called it a birdhouse and you could tell hours were spent on it. In her small voice full of pride she said, ‘It’s for you, Daddy. Your very own birdhouse! Do you like it?’ Without hesitation I told her I loved it. I loved it more than any other gift, including my iPod. I loved it because it came from her heart and it touched mine.”

I looked around the congregation and saw several people with glistening eyes. A good feeling came over me as I heard this father tell of his love for his daughter.

Denham continued saying, “I can only imagine our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ, feeling much the same way I did when we offer gifts from our hearts. It is our Father and Brother looking down with pride as we shift our focus from those gifts of material consequence to those that have true meaning. So, what are these gifts from the heart? I’m sure there are many, but for our purpose today I will focus on four.”

Denham then talked about the gifts of service, faith, forgiveness, and perspective. He said: Our service would be to notice opportunities to serve and act on them with love in our hearts; Forgiveness may be difficult to give but can give us peace and freedom; Faith is one of the greatest gifts we can give our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ; And, perspective helps us be happy as we never forget our gift of life.

Thanks to Denham for sharing his story and thoughts. Merry Christmas!

(I welcome stories from all religions as readers celebrate holidays of the season. Please comment on this story or contact me directly. My e-mail address is on my About page.)

Nevertheless, President Obama appears willing to commit the U.S. to lessening mankind’s impact on climate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 6 through Dec. 18. Delegates from 192 countries plan to attend.

I find it quite telling that the Danish National Girls Choir sang a six-minute composition entitled “All life is your life” in the opening ceremonies. A possible interpretation is mankind needs to protect the polar bears and their melting habitat and rising ocean levels to protect all life. The thought would follow that as goes the polar bears, so goes all life.

With the hoopla about saving the planet and all life, try reading news stories on global warming and climate change with a new twist of really saving all life, even that of the unborn. If we’re talking about “All life is your life,” certainly all human life should be included in that count.

Over the years, I’ve watched other holidays become commercialized and thought there wasn’t anything anyone could do to ruin Thanksgiving. It was commercialization-proof. It may take money to travel to Grandma’s house and to buy the feast’s fixings, but Thanksgiving is exactly that, a day to give thanks. The original true story of Thanksgiving began with Pilgrims and Indians believing in God or a higher power and Pilgrims believing in the Bible. And, today people choose whether to make that a part of their story.

However, Thanksgiving Day has its enemies that want to tear down the all-American holiday. Chris Lewis, a CU American Studies instructor, comes across as in this camp in the Camera’s Nov. 25 story, “CU-Boulder prof: Thanksgiving history filled with myths.” He discounted many of the facts that other writers have presented.

Let me shed some light on the subject. Thanks to AnitaMomAdmin2, co-founder of “As a Mom … A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots,” for the links:

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax
The Great Thanksgiving Hoax

The Real Meaning of Thanksgiving: The Triumph of Capitalism over Collectivism
The Real Meaning of Thanksgiving: The Triumph of Capitalism over Collectivism

The Real Story of Thanksgiving by Rush Limbaugh
The Real Story of Thanksgiving by Rush Limbaugh

Come Tax Day, over 15.4 million taxpayers may actually owe the government. In some cases, people were given too much tax credit, so they are going to have to pay the extra money back. That’s not easy considering this money was made available to get the public spending to stimulate the economy. Now, at nearly the end of the year with holiday spending on people’s minds, they are to hold back spending to pay back the government for its error. This is not exactly what the economy needs.