Why Is The Grass Greener In Coos County, New Hampshire?

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…by Anura Guruge

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The green, green grass of Coos County, or ‘Coors’ County as I call it.

On our way up to the Balsams Grand Resort auction last Saturday, May 12, I, for a change did most of the driving (rather than read or nap while my wife does most of the driving). As is to be expected I tend to notice more of the scenery that we are going through when I am driving as opposed to having my eyes glued to a book (with reading glasses on) or having them shut.

I enjoyed the drive. I expected to see more hills, but I guess once you go past the White Mountains I guess you leave most of that terrain behind you. Having grown up in two countries noted for their verdancy, I tend to notice shades of green (often tinged with nostalgia because in my mind there is nothing more peaceful and beautiful as the deeply rich green grass of England, especially when seen from a plane as it banks to land at Heathrow Airport).

As soon as we got on Route 3, just north of the now gone ‘Old Man of the Mountain‘, I started noticing a change in the grass by the side of the road. By the time we got to ‘Twin Mountain’ it was inescapable. Then it became a feature for the rest of the drive through Coos, or as I fondly call it (for obvious reasons) ‘Coors‘ County. The grass was greener than in central NH — by a long chalk (and talking of chalk, lime may be a factor here). The grass is different. It is finer and of a lighter color. But it is devoid of bald spots and weeds as is often the case in Belknap. [Talking of which, on Thursday of this week I saw a large truck, not belonging to the town, spraying the lawns by the side of Alton Main Street. Not sure what that was all about and what budget that was coming out of. How come they don't spray my lawn? Plus, what are they spraying? Will it make my Golden turn green?]

Furthermore, most of the grass was already mowed. Coming back that afternoon seeing people mowing was common, some with tractors others with push mowers. On one farm I saw two lawn tractors being used in tandem to mow. Was I impressed. Back home I had only seen one person mowing their lawn and he is retired ‘snow bird’ who appears to be compulsive about moving is lawn and blowing away leaves from his drive. He seems to do it everyday. All his lawn mowers (and he seem to have one for each day of the week) and his leaf blowers have defective mufflers, which is kind of ‘OK’ with me — but here is the funny part. The guy is deaf as a lamp post and wears hearing aids in both ears. I always wonder whether he has ever made a connection between his lack of hearing and the defective mufflers.

So what is the deal here. Per my limited knowledge of horticulture the grass should not be greener in Coors. They have a longer winter. My wife reckons that the snow might help. It is marginally possible that the cooler temps up there prevent the grass from getting burned (as it does down here). That could be a factor. I would have thought that the soil was worse up there than here; but I could be wrong on that front. I am sure it is a different type of grass and in general, from what I could see, the type of grass and its quality was consistent across the county. It was like they laid a fine green carpet. I have talked to a few people this last week, at hardware stores etc., as to why the grass is greener in Coors. Some say that it is because the properties along Route 3 (that I was driving on) are ‘old money’ and as such have well established lawns. That is possible, but Belknap isn’t all red neck country either. So if you could shed some light I would be most interested and grateful. Thank you.

I Am Genuinely Sorry To See Steven Ross, Assistant Principal, Leave Alton Central School (ACS)

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…by Anura Guruge

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I have known Steve Ross since 2007 when my then 7-year old daughter started attending Alton Central School (ACS).

Since Steve was in charge of discipline, I soon got to know him; my daughter far from an angel. Steve Ross was always fair, understanding and even fun. Yes, we crossed swords once, but we were both cool. We continued to ‘josh’ with each other when we met in the parking lot or at a school event. He would tell me about his son who used to visit China on a regular basis.

I would like to have seen Steve as the new Principal. He told me that he would not apply because he was extremely happy with his current job. That is why I was shocked to read yesterday, in the BaySider newspaper, that he was leaving.

I sent him an e-mail this morning and basically echoed the sentiments I am posting here. He was a good ol’ fruit, and despite some differences we have had, I will genuinely miss him. I felt a sense of safety with Steve being there; you could always tell that deep down, despite what he might try to portray, he cared — he was a caring father.

Not sure what is happening. Though he thanked me for my kind words he would not tell me why he was leaving. I am hoping that it has nothing to do with the new Principal.

I also see we are getting a new Superintendent. I don’t know him, but I hope he at least knows that Pluto is no longer a planet. [See this post for background.] I have read that he is a big athletics coach. I just hope he is not just a jock. I wish him all the best. He doesn’t have a very high bar to clear. I just hope he really cares about the kids, their education and well being, rather then being a self-serving politician, who specializes in euphemisms to brush off the real issues facing ACS. In reality we don’t need two full time administrators to do that.

Alton ‘The Baysider’ Coincidence

The very day that (I again) cite ‘The Baysider‘ in one of my blog posts, ‘The Baysider’, unbeknown to us, and totally coincidentally mentions us in the paper.

Click image to access the March 1, 2012 issue of 'The Baysider'

This is at the end of Josh Spaulding’s regular weekly column — ‘have a great day‘ citation, as of last year (from what I recall), the now de rigueur ending for this always entertaining and often educational column.

‘The Baysider’ first covered our work in 2008. Though it would be quite a few more years until we physically met Josh, he from then on has been a very supportive friend.

We did not expect to see our names in his column because we do get mentions in other parts of the paper on a fairly regular basis — Deanna sometimes submitting community-related photographs for publication. It was nice. Made our day. Thank you Josh. You really are, to use Bl. Pope Urban II (#160) phrase, ‘salt of the earth‘.

Alton Central School (ACS) Administration Should Do A Bit More Homework

My wife was involved in this Facebook dialogue on the ACS Facebook page earlier this week. Her question was based on this little snippet that appeared in the local Baysider Newspaper last Thursday, February 23, 2012.

Click image to access the Baysider online ... it is on page 12.

Homework has been an issue at ACS and we were delighted to see that the Administration was at long last is trying to implement a policy. See related posts: homeschooling decision and ‘questionable’ (I am trying to be polite) homework.

I was immediately struck that something, crucial, seemed to be missing. Every time I read it there was something palpably jarring. Then I realized what it was: there was no ‘time period’ specified for the ’10 minutes per grade’! Was its ‘per night’, ‘per 5-day week’, ‘per 7-day week’ etc. Don’t tell me that it was obvious. Definitely not obvious to us for one very simple reason. We had a 5th grader at ACS, who had been there for 4 years.

5th grade = 50 minutes.

4th grade = 40 minutes.

We can’t remember her ever having 40 minutes of homework a day last year — in 4th grade. 40 minutes a week was more like it.

Definitely NEVER even close to 50 minutes of homework a night in 5th grade. Lucky if she got 10 minutes. 5th grade science and math were particularly bad. No homework — the teachers are off the hook for having to mark anything (let alone having to justify the ‘applicability’ of the homework).

So here is the Facebook dialogue. It is kind of funny in a sad way. Well, given their recent lack of diligence (and again I will be polite and not mention the very public faux pas though I think there is a post about it on this blog) you would think they would have read, re-read and then asked a few others to read their homework policy before presenting it ‘half cock’. But, that is just my opinion.

Click to ENLARGE.

Removing Our 5th Grader From Alton Central School (ACS) and Homeschooling Her!

This morning we handed in the necessary letter to the Superintendent of ACS so that we can start homeschooling our 5th-grade daughter as of Monday next week.

This was a huge and unforeseen step for all of us — but one we had no choice but make.

If you had asked me even a week ago whether I would ever consider homeschooling I would have been emphatic in my answer: ‘are you kidding?‘

But, we couldn’t take it any longer. She was learning next to nothing, especially when it came to science and math — and I stress learning which I appreciate is different from that ‘of being taught‘. That said, from all I could see, the quantity and quality of what she was being taught left a lot to be desired. [q.v. this post] I have been doing this off-and-on for awhile. When our daughter gets home I grill her on what she got taught that day, what paperwork she did in school and what she got for homework.

When she was in 3rd-grade we found a major anomaly in the homework policies of ACS and we ended up going and speaking to the Superintendent. That got fixed within the day.

In 4th-grade, i.e., last year, she got more homework than she is getting this year. Math and science homework, since the start of 2012, has been trivial. Yes, I have taught and I know that marking homework is a chore. No homework — nothing to mark. Yes, they have a variation on that too. Homework that isn’t marked. Suffice to say that all of this was not helping our daughter.

Yes, we are lucky that we can afford the ‘luxury’ of homeschooling. I am retired and at home most of the time. And yes I have a Masters in computer science (from the University of London, U.K.), have taught post-graduate and graduate computer and marketing courses at SNHU, and from 1983 to 1998 spent much of my time doing professional, stand-up, 1 to 5 day, IT training in the U.S. and Europe. So, I think I can handle the challenge of homeschooling particularly since my wife can also help — full-time.

Yes, we have been ordering books like crazy. 12 are on order. Plus, we have a ‘few’ books in the house!

Until this week I really didn’t have much truck with homeschooling. It was not something I could identify with. Funnily enough a month ago I attended a Saturday training program for Destination Imagination (DI) assessors (i.e., judges). Met a number of local mothers who were homeschooling. When they learnt that I was also a rather passionate DI Team Manager, they asked whether I would consider being a Team Manager for a team of homeschooled kids next year. Well it looks like I will …

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I am and will continue to be a big believer in Public Education.

My father, put his life on the line, quite literally, to make public schooling a reality in Ceylon. I only found out about it much later, but it appeared that there were two kidnap threats against me to try and stop my father from going ahead with what was called ‘the schools TAKEOVER’. Here is a good headline on it from 1960. Here is an article.

My father, as a civil servant, was put in charge of implementing the takeover. I was 7 in 1960, and attending a private school that my father tookover! It was ‘fun’! Teachers would get me to stand-up in class and harangue me for what my father was doing. This takeover lasted quite a few years. I later learned that there were three attempts to assassinate my father. I remember the police guards and some days going to school with a police escort. I remember my father’s office surrounded by barb wire and armed police guards. This was the defining experience of my early youth. Though it was and still is controversial, we as a family are very proud about the success of the schools takeover act. Kids in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, get free education. Even the university system is free. The motives were good.

So, public schooling is something that I feel passionate about — though I attended 3 years of private schooling (in Paris and London) and my son, now 19, went to a private Catholic school in Leominister, MA — ostensibly so that he could play football. To be honest I was not impressed with that school though to be fair he did get a good education and he is doing well at Wheaton. My eldest daughter, nearing 23, attended public school, albeit in southern NH, and is now finishing her Masters in Forensic Psychology. She is very proud that she graduated from public school. Looking back, I have to say, the difference in the level of education she got and what I am seeing at ACS is like chalk and cheese. The irony is that the school system that she attended, serving three towns, is in an area that, in terms of demographics, is nowhere near as ‘well off’ as Alton. I will be surprised if there are even 10 million dollar homes in that entire area!

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Yes, I plan to document this new unexpected chapter of our life: homeschooling a 11-year old.

Alton, NH, Superintendent, Kathleen Holt Claims “Mistake of Enormous Proportions”

This is the same Superintendent that a couple of months earlier claimed that as far as she is concerned the planetary status of Pluto was still in doubt and that it is ‘Ok’ for Alton Central School teachers to teach kids that Pluto was still a planet. Check this post.

Well there was no wriggle room with this one:

Click for Laconia Daily Sun article from February 7, 2012

Click to read February 7, 2012 Laconia Daily Sun article.

Click to read Laconia Daily Sun article from February 7, 2012.