The Learning Curve

Over the last couple of decades or so, the words diversity and inclusion frequently appear together. Yet I am not sure many of us have taken the time to parse their meanings and understand the important distinction between the two.

I have always loved science and for more than a decade I was a card-carrying scientist and enjoyed all the accompanying fame and riches… or maybe it was the fun and adventure? I’ll get back to you.

Can one child change the world?

On January 25, 2017, Bana al-Abed, a 7-year-old Syrian girl, tweeted an image of a letter along with the following statement to President Donald Trump: “I beg you, can you do something for the children of Syria? If you can, I will be your best friend.”

I have to admit that I am tired of hearing, and yes saying, “you need to think outside the box.” I just used this exact phrase in my engineering class recently during a brainstorming session (more on this later). I get it; we want our students to move beyond the binary of right and wrong and to embrace the challenge and messiness of finding novel solutions to complicated issues.

Several days before the start of the 2019-20 school year, two of my closest high school friends (who am I kidding, my only high school friends) and their spouses got together with me and my wife.

Forty years ago, give or take a few weeks, I graduated from high school in Delaware. The only reason this is on my radar is because I got a call recently from an old classmate who had “found” me, no small feat given that I have no real presence on social media.

In the summer between 9th and 10th grades, I went to band camp. For some of you of a certain age, feel free to insert your American Pie jokes here. My friend Randy convinced me that it would be fun to spend a week on the campus of the College of William and Mary playing music with other high school students.