Corporate policy

With work over for the summer I have been quite lazy and haven't found any big moments of inspiration until I got a pro-life email. To tell you the truth, I didn't like it very much...

It was a list, which can also be found in this article, of all the businesses that support

Planned Parenthood. That list was followed with the request to boycott all those businesses. Well sure, I guess I can boycott Staples because there are so many other places to go.

I'm not a huge fan of Olive Garden anyway, but Trader Joe's has good organic food for much less than Whole Foods. My aunt works at Hilton group and I love Disney and Kohl's. Kohl's mainly because I usually get out the spending around 10-30 and "saving" 50-100. I don't think they are making much profits from me anyway.

So what is a girl to do? I try to shop where I can get a deal and prefer to support companies where my family work. I actually took the time to do some research because I really do like shopping at Kohl's. Under the women's health portion of Kohl's cares, the com

pany explains their desire to educate women on prevention and treatment of breast cancer - a noble goal. So they donate to Susan G. Kolman foundation who donates to planned parenthood. That is not as good but I found no mention of a direct link. I can contact someone for clarification, but I don't know if that is enough to keep me from going to that store.

What would you do?

I am thankful 8/16

Since I haven't gotten on the computer long enough to write a detailed post, I thought I would take Rae up on her suggestion to chime in on the thankful posts. It's always nice to be reminded to be grateful for all the blessings in life. We'll see if this becomes routine or not....

I am thankful for....

being home. I have been house-sitting for a couple years and the owners recently came home to visit, so we let them truly come home. It was the least we could do, but it is great to have my own space again.

great camping weather. I just got back from a family camping trip. I got to catch up with my sister and her husband and spend plenty of quality time with the rest of my family as well. It also helps that it was hot and sunny so everyone was quite happy to spend family time on the boat up north.

for new possibilities. There are a lot of things up in the air right now especially with jobs. The should sound a bit scary for me who doesn't like change, but the possibilities out there and quite probable are quite exciting. I can't wait until things get finalized and I can say more :-D

Quick Takes (9)

Yesterday was my last day of work for the summer school program. I thought it would be fun to list some of the highlights so I remember most of the good parts about this summer

1.

I loved the other paras I worked with. We helped each other out and all the subs that came in were great too! There was also a worker pretty close to my age that is a social worker during the year and reminds me quite a bit of a friend from college who is also a school social worker.

2.

The kids! Most were so happy to be there and most did great work for the four weeks. Some students were harder to reach than others but all seemed to respond well to the summer program - much better than I was expecting.

3.

A couple students frequently gave me compliments and reminded me that we are friends. Such a simple act of kindness with no strings attached. They weren't trying to get out of work so I know they meant it.

4.

One of my students had a major breakthrough one day. He never initiates conversation or asks to do what he wants. We all want him to ask for something as opposed to dictating how is day has to go. One day we decided to make grilled cheese and everyone had to take turns. When this student saw the cooking station was open he walked up to me and asked to make a sandwich to which I replied of course! And inside I was screaming yes he did it!

5.

While not as specific of a highlight, I was impressed and excited to see how many students increased their ability to use their dynavox (a computer generated voice). They were able to navigate between different screens and form complete answers to questions they were asked.

6.

I felt like I made a difference in someone's life and in a big way. These kids really benefit from coming to school for a couple hours over the summer and I was glad I could help!

7.

Last but not least, all the student helpers. Middle and high school students came and helped us work with the kids. It was nice to see peer interaction, which can be so much more useful for some of the social goals than having teachers doing all of the work and asking. It's amazing to see how many students took time out of their summer to get up early and work with our class. Many thanks to all of them (although I'm sure none read this blog). We gave them a pizza party at the end of camp to thank them - it was wonderful.

Check out more quick takes at conversiondiary.com

Voting Day

I meant to write a reminder yesterday but totally forgot. Today is the primary election and a quite important one. I will be voting for pro-life legislators and I hope you will too. This is one way we can spread awareness and impact societal norms. If you live in MI you can go to rtl.org under endorsements then personalized ballot to see some of the pro-lifers in your area. I know it is a little late for research so this is more of a reminder to people who planned to vote but maybe forgot what day it was. I'm leaving to go do so myself...