ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life
* * *
Summary for October 22, 2017
* * *
Dear Folks -
First, the Ordinary Life Happy Hour scheduled for this Friday has been cancelled due to the death of George Schroth’s mother. The Schroths were to host the event. The next scheduled Happy Hour is November 10th. See the events page on the Ordinary Life web site.
I have already received glowing reports about the speaker in Ordinary Life this past week. Thanks to Frieda Hale for securing him for us, Pam Pool for introducing him and Calista Herbert for both taking care of the announcement time and making the notes that comprise this summary.
Our speaker this past week was Dr. Robert Sanborn, President and CEO of Children At Risk, a non-profit organization that advocates for improving the lives of children with a focus on education and safety. There is no text available of the talk but I encourage you to listen to the audio on the Ordinary Life website. You will discover that he is a fascinating and eloquent speaker. He spoke about the organization’s strategies of research, data analysis and public policy. They have played a key role in influencing our state legislators to set laws which will help in developing high-quality education for the children of Texas.
Calista made these bullet points of his talk:
- 60% of the children who attend public school in Texas are from low-income families
- high quality childcare and early education is essential
- warehousing children in no-learning childcare centers stunts their intellectual capabilities and growth
- full day pre-K (not half-day) is vastly beneficial to children
High-quality public schools require:
- a strong and capable principal
- motivated teacher
- longer and more school days, even Saturday school days
A culture of high expectations provides and environment encouraging children to success.
Dr. Sanborn also discussed the child and adult human trafficking going on in our city which is a major hub for human trafficking.
You can learn more about the organization by going to www.childrenatrisk.org
You can also listen to the complete talk by using the link below.
If you are reading this, I want you to know how grateful I am for and to you.
Be well and much love,
Bill Kerley