Back to School at Buna ?????

 Well sort of.....

I need to call my nephew now in Ft. Stockton to see how just got-dang awful the first in service day was out there in Ft. Stockton ISD. And to see what high school English classes he'll be teaching. I am sure because it is his first year it'll be Fishmen, or Suckmores.....I doubt they give him Seniors. 

I worry today about people going into teaching. 

They'll always have some sort of teacher, in the classroom, even with AI, unless they have some sort of " Death Robot" take over in the future, which in truth, wouldn't shock me.  

I wonder in the future if anyone with any sense will do the job, or if AI takes over so many jobs, well, I am afraid teaching will be an act of desperation...And it'll put people in the classrooms that have no business there. 

Teachers, you are going into what used to be a noble profession, but in today's world of social media, well, it's not that great.Somewhat as the 19th Century British literature would call it, " Genteel Poverty".....I know today, well, I could not do it. Kids, parents, society has changed in the last 15 years so dadgum much. 

Folks, do the best job you can, if you're in it for the long term, I seriously believe you may have been foreordained to be there. I certainly believe I was foreordained to be in Buna High. As I have said for years, I didn't apply in Buna and to my shock, was called to interview for the gov/eco position over 30 years ago now.  

YouTube in the last 2 weeks has been full of teachers ( Females lately seem to think nothing will happen to them) having sex with their students. Most of them as I said, female, having sex with kids 13-14-15......And they're grown-ass people many 25 to 45 years of age. 

Look, you have sex with your kids, you're going to mess up your life forever. Jail, public humiliation in the press or/and social media, divorced, lose your profession, probably never get a decent job the rest of your life. 

Yet, people do it every year, like they're not going to get caught......You're dealing with teenagers, they are telling everyone who they are " doing."  

I hope you have a good year, I really do. Remember you are there for the kids, but also remember this is a job and well, sometimes, if it starts to effect your health, you need to get out.  

( I need to write an economics blog. It's looking bad, and I'm concerned. Lack of demand, simple microeconomics.....) 

 

Surely Not Buna.....

 So, I am minding my own bidness and for some reason, I decided to check the Buna ISD 25/26 Calendar....

Holy Classroom Batman.....

School for new teachers start tomorrow....All the rest of the faculty starts this Friday, August 1st.....So much of this having August off as teachers..... 

At my age, fixing to be 68, I literally could not do it.  

And while Friday is a workday for teachers, and I know it'd take me about 45 minutes to get ready, next week, all damn week, ALL damn week in in-service. Generally some "expert" from a Region Service Center, who has not taught in 25 years telling you some new way to teach....

I'd rather you hit me in the shin with a hammer.  

As a veteran teacher, I can see me sneaking off for a 45 minute bathroom break. 

And starting this week, I will be retired 15 years from the Buna Public Schools. It doesn't seem that long. And as I have said, the world, and kids have changed so much, I literally no longer could do it. Nor, do I want to...

I may in the coming days write a blog addressed to teachers, both vets and newbies.  

It seems like graduation was just about a week ago..... Man, that was a quick summer. 

Kids start back August 13th...... 

This Post Should Make People in Buna Either Buna, Buna ISD Wonder? Or Make Them Mad at Me

 So, and I am sure I am going to upset some people.....I notice that at the bottom of the posts on Facebook, and probably other social media, memos, etc, the New Slogan being used by Buna ISD....

" WE ARE BUNA."

I at once thought of the 2006 movie starring Matthew McConaughey  " We Are Marshal"....A movie about the 1970 Marshal University football team who were killed in a plane crash and the rebuilding of that football program. 

( I know many of you do not remember or even were around to know this, but in April of 1968, 7 people were killed at Beaumont Municipal Airport. Coach Ty Terrell, 5 members of the Lamar Track Team, and their pilot. The pilot had a heart attack trying to land the plane as they returned from the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. )

But, I digress. 

I know there was a tragic bus accident several years before I went to work at Buna High, and I seriously doubt the slogan has anything to do with it. 

Secondly, I thought of who used the term" WE ARE?" 

And at once I remember it was..........

"We Are Penn State. "

Damn.....

Didn't Buna already " borrow" from "Penn State?"   I know I was teaching at Buna when the district got a letter from the University to stop using the Nittany Lion  logo as their own......I remember the powers that be at the time, trying to change to something else, when someone changed the Buna Cougar logo just enough including the " dangling " C" to escape copy write laws. ( And to be honest, the new Buna one looks better)

So, now, Buna ISD has decided not to use one of Penn States' cheers/slogan, that has been used by them since the mid-late 1940s. ( The cheer was first used in 1976..)

The slogan is actually rooted in segregation, and the players on Penn State voting to not play the then segregated University of Miami, who didn't want Penn State to bring their Black players to Miami.. ( Remember, this was the 1940s)

( Correct me if I am wrong, I don't remember Buna being all gung-ho about desegregation back in the day....)

You think SOMEONE could have come up with an original slogan, not just borrow something else from Penn State.... 

Something like.....

"Buna....Hell, at least we're not Vidor." 

" Buna....We still think Orangefield sucks."

" Buna....We've not graduated more than 130 kids in 50 + years."

" Buna....At least we don't stink like Evadale."

Now, if Jesus is good to me, I'll never go to Pennsylvania again, odd people, awful , just awful, food. And there are a couple of historic sites I'd love to visit, but you know, if I don't well, I am okay with it....and you know, the last place I'd want to be borrowing stuff from is, well, Pennsylvania.   

From time to time people "borrow" stuff from the blog, and don't give me credit. And I generally don't mind you using it, as long as I get credit... 

I know adding Buna makes it non- copy write, but come on...... 

Come up with something original.  PLEASE.....

 

 

 

Okay Buna, Buna ISD, Jasper Co......Newton, Orange, Hardin, Jefferson Counties......And Others....

 I will probably post/publish this blog next week and perhaps the week afterward when I come back blogging on a regular basis. 

We are doing this because believe it or not, we have some new people join " The Govteach Part Deaux" group on Facebook. 

I am not blocking anyone at this point. 

I am not purging anyone from Facebook. 

I really encourage you to join the Govteach Part Deaux group on Facebook, as it generally gets the publication sometimes hours before I post it on Facebook. Other times, they are posted about the same time. 

This might be the most important thing I post in this blog. 

I am always looking for information, for stories. For news if you will. 

I may take heat for whatever it is I write from your information. Sometimes the heat, well, it is heavy. Very, very heavy. 

I have people in the Buna community who literally hate me. 

The school districts in the region, the county entities sometimes forget that they have their jobs because of the tax payer.    

Is the tax payer always right? No, but in their mind they often have a beef worth listening to, and often I don't publish their complaint because it hold no merit. And because of that, there are people mad at me. Their complaint is just normal government operating business. The same thing is happening to other people, and if it isn't fair, well, I will call it out. If it is fair, well, I'm sorry, all government entities act in this manner. 

Really mad.  

Concerning schools,  I don't trust teachers, or administrators, or the political leadership thereof said school district. 

Nor do I really trust elected officials and my brother is one. 

And I never reveal my sources.....Never.  

I am very serious about keeping who told me what anonymous.  

Again, I'm not making any money here, I have no advertisers so I don't care who I go after. If I were to turn commercial,  well, I have to start worrying about who I might offend and lose a sponsor. 

I have thought about putting my Venmo / paypal widget  on the blog, but just have not. Again, I may have to say something not so positive about a sponsor. 

Most people send me messages through Facebook, or if you'd like here is my email.

kdthomas1957@gmail.com

Please, do not send me advertising through my email.  

At one time I let people have my cell number, but no longer.  

( I am funny about my phone number and if you have it, please do not give it out "willy-nilly." Some folks think they can call me at 1AM.  About the only folks I will answer at that time is my wife, mother, child, DIL, nephew.) 

-Warning- I often use bad words.

- I often have a libertarian view on a lot of ideologies. In the mid-1970s, I read an article in Playboy magazine written by Karl Hess. You've got to remember that Playboy when first started it had interviews and articles written by everyone from Jimmy Carter to William F. Buckley to George Lincoln Rockwell to Malcolm X to Mary Calderone. Especially on Social issues. 

- I live a private life. I'm not a party goer, including going to my own family events. When I leave the family events, I often do an old " Irish Exit" and just go without saying "Goodbye." I have been invited to a BHS reunion this coming Sept in Lumberton.  I may or may not go. I went to a BHS reunion a couple of years ago and was told by an attendee " I hate you, I hoped never to see you again."( I wished I had not had gone. I was sort of at a low point at that time, and really put me into a depression. I have to remember I did not cater to those in the clique that still exists, and yes it exists Buna, don't tell me otherwise.) So, I've not been to another reunion.....Including my own 50th HS reunion this past month. 

- At some point, I am going to write something to upset you. Sorry, but I often look back at things I have written in the past and upset myself.

- I still try and pray very early, every morning. I have a prayer list.  LMK if you want to be added. 

- Yes, I often cuss and pray. Sometimes within the same minute. St. Paul had the same problem.( "The good that I should do, I do not.")

- I am often asked why I write on the Buna Public Schools...Believe it or not, I care about the Buna ISD. I want the district to be fair. I want tax dollars to be spent evenly. I want the poor parents kids to  treated the same as the wealthiest family's children. And sometimes it is difficult to help those kids, and often, I get more flak helping them than any other blog I might publish....( That and if I say something about a person they go to church with, they'll come out of the woodwork to support them, mostly because I don't attend that church....and then, if something else happen, and throw that same person that attend church services  with " under the bus" in a heartbeat, at a time the person in trouble need psychological and spiritual support.....That just amazes me. Hypocrisy knows no bounds often within a church.....Sorry, it just does sometimes.... )

 I do not think you know. 

Once again, I take blog requests and information very serious. And I do research on requests. 

Thank you for reading. It means a great deal when you like/love etc the blog, it also means a great deal when you send me private messages thanking me for writing blogs. Without them, I have no way to gauge if people like what I am doing or not.  

In the next several days will start blogging regularly.  

Again, thank you for reading.  

 

 

  

 

Free Meals- Buna ISD

 Again, taking a break from my sabbatical. 

The Buna ISD is offering Free Breakfast and Lunches for all students in the Buna ISD for 25-26. 

Good. 

They should have done this years ago. 

Now, if they would offer free lunches and breakfast to faculty and staff. Maybe it does? Use it as part of the incentive for teachers/staff. Teachers going to the cafeteria and perhaps staying and eating would cut out a lot of potential foolishness. Then again, perhaps the meal program for kids is part of a grant in which faculy/staff is not included? ( The economics might not be as enough to include teachers/staff.)But I am sure there are people who hate teachers and wouldn't want to consider that. I know Chicken Fried Steak day, well, who doesn't like Buna ISD CFS and homemade rolls? 

Anyway, good for the district offering free meals to the kids.  

 

I'm Back...Sort of...

 I spent the morning after 3AM prayers looking at investment properties in Caithness, and the Orkney Islands...Found a couple of good investments, but my children would profit from the investment, and well, those two give ME investment tips....And real estate in one of me homelands ain't in their suggestions....

But I digress. 

A couple of people asked.....

We're doing pretty good. I try and post every couple of days on Facebook. Let y'all know I am still alive. 

I've gone into sort of a news "blackout" as it was really starting to get to me, and have cut back on YouTube watching. 

The Israeli/Iranian War just did a number on me.... 

All this said, I am still concerned about the Western World. 

I made the mistake this morning and looked at the British newspapers and it is all "gloom and doom." Part of it is I read the Daily Mail, nicknamed the " Daily Hell" by many in England and Scotland. 

And to be honest the rest of the world, talking about Asia, ain't doing so good either.  

I'm concerned about what the United States, heck all the Western world will look like in 20+ years.  Then again, I guess I shouldn't. I probably won't be around in 20 years. I do turn 68 next month and when I was 18, well, 68 was ancient......And it sorta is.....

I am concerned about Gen Z. 

I am too a lesser extent concerned about the Millennials.  Read this before I went into a news blackout of sorts that less than 50% of them are having children. 

That's not enough to repopulate the US. 

Who knows what is going to happen with Gen Z?

On another note......

Damn, looked at the calendar, school is just around the corner. 

Teachers, get those last trips in, read that last book, watch that show on Netflix.....

Sooner than you know, you'll be going to that waste of time known as "Inservice." And don't tell me how valuable inservice is.....In 30+ years, I learned nothing and couldn't tell you a damn thing said at one.  As I have said for years, I'd much rather have the kids in class. 

This coming school year, I will start year number 15 retired.....The farther I get from it, the more I do not miss it, and realize, I could not teach today's kids, no matter how much baloney I could come up with. 

Thanks for letting me take a break from writing. I had gotten so much negativity that well, I needed to step away for a little.....We seriously have looked at moving to Europe more than once, but, we'd just be looking at the same problems there as here...Is that going to keep us from traveling there? Of course not. But us going there permanently? No....Part of it is, we should have moved years ago. 

Okay, back to my sabbatical. We plan to be back posting regularly in August. 

When I do come back next month, I'll write a disclaimer, and we'll start year 15 writing the blog from there. 

Again, let me reiterate, thank you for letting me take a break, my mental health needed it.   

( Of course if something dramatic happens, I'll post.) 

 

 

State of the Blog?

 I've knocked and rolled with my blog for the couple last days. And to be honest, I do not know if it is worth it anymore or not. I think I have got it again, but I've lost blogs in the process and not sure where?

I've considered even starting a new blog....Perhaps a Govteach Part Trois? Go Latin. Pars Terita "Govteach"  Or just keep the old Govteach Part Deaux....

And Summer-time numbers, well, they are never good. People on vacation, people drinking beer all day, everyday, school out of session. 

I don't know, I think I need a sabbatical. 

I often take a look and go...." Am I actually doing any good? I'm certainly not getting rich....Or making any form of money." 

Perhaps I need to take the month of July off.....Then something will occur, the wheels will come off the truck, and well, I'll need to blog. Won't make the month....But I need to try and take a break to reflect. Reevaluate. 

 Maybe I need to set up some sort of AI system and let it take over. :)

Going to watch a little baseball today. It is the 4th and most of MLB plays matinees today. 

I'm going to take some time off. I've been doing this for 15 years, and well, sometimes you need a break.  

 

 

Gotta Go to School........And Working on a Blog, Well, Having a Hard Time With.....

 I was someone amazed at the number of " Back to School" sales, and advertisements that popped up yesterday on the telly, the YouTube, the advertisements on the internet yesterday, it was like, " Man, we got behind, we better throw as many as we can out there today..."

I also forget how quickly the " Summer Break" flies  by when you are teaching school. I know non-teachers  you don't understand what it's like to have a room full of 30 well, I'll be nice and call them "characters" and you battle with them, every damn day, and it's like this for 8 hours a day. And the character personalities change every hour and so does your reaction....I still take two blood pressure medications to this day and my doctor said that I probably always will. 

I know many teachers will start back to school for inservice the first of August, the kids, the middle of the month of August. ( I've always said, other than a couple of days of workdays, learn any new rules in about an hour, I'd rather have the kids in class. Any changes I had made to my actual lessons, well, they had been developed during the Summer months....Economics was hard to teach to high school seniors., I changed how I taught it every Summer Break.)

- Now to the blog. 

I am in the process of writing a blog concerning Buna ISD. 

Normally, I don't care, I throw it out there and if people are pissed at me, well, so be it. I don't care. 

It's comes with writing what amounts to an opinion piece. 

I'm going to write this one, and well, it may splatter on people I don't want it to. Don't think it will, but, in 2025, you just never know. We live in crazy times. 

I am sure it is getting written in the coming days, and well, honeymoon periods, grace periods only last so long. And that person is not who I worry about offending..... Part of it is, a lot of people still don't know I write this blog, even though I've been doing it for 15 years. Never mind every time I publish a blog, hundreds if not thousands of people read it. 

I don't know, I know the blog will get written, and in the end I'm be Kerry Thomas and go " Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."