Galvinizing Thoughts

Galvinizing Review--Arin Greenwood's "Tropical Depression"

2011-01-30T17:06:00.002+10:00

The odd thing about writing a book review—or a review of any work for that matter—is that the review, or re-view, is as much a re-flection of the reviewer as it is a reflection of the work itself. So as I read Arin Greenwood’s “Tropical Depression”, a not-so-fictitious (only a few of the names are changed to protect the guilty), somewhat hyperbolic, more-than-semi autobiographical tale of my home islands, I couldn’t help but read it through my lens—what the anthropologist Paul Rabinow called the “insider’s outsider”, a native who never feels quite at home in his native town, but isn’t exactly an outsider either, hence the label, insider’s outsider.

As an insider’s outsider, I found myself feeling many of the contradictory, paradoxical emotions that the novel’s speaker feels—defensive, apologetic, embarrassed, disturbed, forgiving, amused, uplifted, and sublime all at the same time—about how horribly and beautifully insane, or how insanely horrible and beautiful, our islands are. The speaker, Nina, puts it best upon returning to New York City after a year in “Miramar”, when Nina’s friends (don’t quite) want to know more about the island, to which Nina tells herself, “They do not want to hear confusing stories about parasailing accidents and the CIA’s deep involvement with Russian refugees. I can’t tell them about George and Brad, Robin and the judges and the secretaries and the CIA, Erika and Rory, unpaved roads, strip clubs, cockfights, karaoke with the mafia, parasailing ropes snapping, fecal lagoons, missing Max [her ex-lover] and bitter haoles and the cows at the court and how delicious mangoes are when you get them from the right store.”

Indeed, “mercenaries, missionaries, and misfits” (Arin’s labels for the three kinds of American expatriates who find themselves in Miramar) come to the islands with many misperceptions and dysperceptions about the islands, only to be disillusioned by the stark contrast and contentious conflict between their own self-righteousness and the islands’ own self-wrongness. Arin’s novel is thus not a postcard but, rather, a kaleidoscopic memoir of one such expat’s attempt to capture the psychological and cultural dissonance that can result.

That dissonance is fertile ground for humor, which Arin sprinkles throughout the novel with the clever but forgiving wit of a curious, observant, and only sometimes judgmental travel writer. (That should come as no surprise given Arin’s experience in travel writing.) Finding cows grazing in front of the islands’ Supreme Court house and chickens milling about on the airport runway; unwittingly drinking undrinkable tap water; trying to be a vegetarian on an island obsessed with meat, especially SPAM; frequenting poker clubs-slash-strip clubs-slash-karaoke joints; and reluctantly swimming in a beautiful lagoon contaminated by fecal matter are just some of the bizarrities (Yes, I made that word up. Isn’t it a cool and useful word?) that had me laughing throughout my read.

But the real bizzarities are the characters of the novel, who come to Technicolor life because they are based on real people living surreal lives. (Marquez’s magic realism pales in contrast to the novel’s surrealism.) The novel vividly presents a motley crew of missionaries, mercenaries, and misfits who are immensely diverse and distinct, yet share the common experience of being strange people in a strange land. (And boy do they drink and party and drink, which is a very verifiable reflection of the veritas of expats on the islands.) The novel also delves somewhat into the stories behind the foreign workers of Miramar, but linguistic and cultural barriers prevent the novel from providing any deep character studies of these equally diverse and distinct strangers in a strange land.

If the novel’s characterization of foreigners is shallow, the novel’s portrayal of the indigenous people was deeply depressing, only because it was so spot-on. While there are many redeeming characteristics in the local characters, the novel astutely observes that local politicians are crass and corrupt, local kids are raised by foreign nannies, and local cultures are fading away. (In that sense, Miramar is not so different from New York City.)

While locals might take offense to an outsider pointing these things out, Arin’s non-judgmental travel-writing tone spares the novel from the usual self-righteous indignation that characterizes much of what haoles say and write about the islands. In fact, I found her treatment of local characters, much like her treatment of expat characters, to be incredibly humane. Although the novel is sometimes a bit too neurotically myopic, it does take us past caricatures of its characters and into the depths of who these people really are, with all their warts and ticks and struggles and joys. Just as the expats struggle to find themselves in this Island of the Lost, the locals struggle to find themselves in their lost island.

(There is one exception to this depth and that is the one character I could not stand, Brad. He is too cool and hip and unbelievably Indiana Jones/James Bond-ish to be real or have any real depth. Brad is, in my book, a classic douche bag.)

At its heart, and what I found most endearing, “Tropical Depression” is a simple and timeless tale of unrequited love. Having lost her love in New York City, Nina loses herself in the tropics, looking for (what she thinks is) love in others, even if what she’s really looking for is still in New York, 6,000 miles away from Miramar. And, like many tales of unrequited love, in the end, she struggles not to find love, but to let go of the love that has been lost, and in the process, find not love, but herself.

Reading Arin’s story of a haole in the tropics reminded me of my days as an islander in the Pacific Northwest. I used to get depressed yet happy in Tacoma—wet, cold, yet content to wrap myself up cozily in the dense greenery, misty weather, and fog-filled mornings. Likewise (or in complete contrast), Arin’s heroine finds herself depressed yet happy in Miramar—humid, hot, yet content to wrap herself up cozily in the dense jungle, stormy/sunny weather, and hung-over mornings. She finds herself tropically depressed in the tropics. But, after losing herself in its metaphorical and literal jungles, she finds her way out of the tropics, out of her depression, and into herself.

Galvinizing Review--Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

2011-01-16T01:29:00.003+10:00

As if the 8-bit version of the Universal opening theme song wasn’t awesome enough to make you love this movie, the rest of the movie just kicks ass. Suffice to say that although I’ve never seen any other movies by Edgar Wright (I know, it’s a crime that I have yet to watch “Hot Fuzz” or “Shaun of the Dead” and I suppose I could watch either movie when it shows up on TV, but I hate commercials. So, Netflix queue, here they come!), after watching “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” for, like, ten times, I can say, by the authority vested in me as someone who loves kick-ass movies, that Edgar Wright is officially the most awesome director…at least of the past six months.

Because I love this movie so much, I’m not sure I can communicate anything coherently. So, in lieu of a brilliant, lucid, succinct review, and as a homage to Nick Hornby’s novel “High Fidelity”, I offer the following list: Ten Awesome Things about “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”

1. The soundtrack. The Pixies, low-fi bass rifts, Beck-inspired singles, and Beachwood Sparks and their cover of Sade’s “By Your Side” are just some of the reasons that this soundtrack rocks every second of the movie.

2. The Smashing Pumpkin t-shirts. Any movie that make any reference to the Smashing Pumpkins is cool in my book. (Sadly, though, not a single SP song is used in the film.)

3. It takes place in Canada. Canada’s cool.

4. It is framed as a classic video game of the classic Nintendo variety. (Who doesn’t remember playing Super Mario for all those coins?)

5. The trivia about Pac Man is erudite yet funny.

6. The soundtrack (Okay, it’s so awesome it deserves two slots on this Top Ten list.)

7. The script. It’s clever, witty, snappy, hella funny, and so true to-yet removed from real life with some of the greatest, most awesome-est lines ever. Here’s a taste and by no means is this an exhaustive list:

• “Listen, I was thinking, we should break up…or whatever.”

• “We gotta get some buzz goin’. We need ground swell. We need stalkers.”

• “What? I’m not afraid to hit a girl. I’m a rock star.”

• “You punched the highlights out of her hair!”

• “I was just a little bi-curious./Well, honey, I’m a little bi-furious!”

• “I’m in Lesbians with you.”

• “Well if my cathedral of cutting edge taste holds no interest for your tragically Canadian sensibilities, then I shall be forced to grant you a swift exit from the premises…and a fast entrance into hell!”

• “Dying’s gotta suck./You know what’s sucks? Getting killed by that guy.”

• “Young Neil, you have learned well. From this point forward, you will be known as: Neil.”)

8. The movie is faithful to the story’s graphic novel origins. In fact, the complete 7-volume set is sitting in my Amazon.com wish list. (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge anyone for my birthday or just because!)

9. Bleeping out the profanity. It helped me allow my kids to watch it and love it with me. (Not that that’s ever stopped me before given that I agree with John Milton’s argument in “Areopagitica” that cloistered virtue is no virtue at all.)

10. Bass Battle. ‘Nuff said.

This movie is so awesome that a Top Ten list cannot do it justice. So, here are Ten More Awesome Things about “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” that didn’t quite make the list:

1. The character, Comeau, played by Nelson Franklin: a douche bag who knows everyone but knows nothing. (Greatest line, when listening to a live performance of a band, “You should see them live, they’re much better live.”)

2. Did I mention that the soundtrack rocks?

3. My wife and kids love it as much as I do. (Well, maybe not as much as I do.)

4. One of the shortest songs ever performed in a movie: “We hate you; please die.”

5. The pee-meter.

6. One of the coolest band names ever with the coolest intros. ( “We are Sex Bob-omb and we’re here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff.”)

7. Chris Evans (you know, The Human Torch from “Fantastic Four” and the next Captain America) as Lucas Lee, a caricature of the action hero with the commiserate caricature lines like “Kiss me, I’m dying,” or “The only thing keeping me and her apart are the two minutes it’s gonna take for me to kick your ass.”

8. Michael Cera doing choreographed martial arts proves that lanky geeks can fight!

9. Bill Hader’s over-the-top narration.

10. Vegan Police. (You’ll have to watch the movie to see what that’s all about.)

For these reasons, and so much more, I give “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” 10 out of 5 bass guitars.

New Year's Resolution

2010-12-31T21:49:00.001+10:00

My New Year’s resolution is to be true to myself, listen to my heart, and follow my passions. Two of my passions are writing and movies. So, to merge the two, I’ll be posting reviews of movies on my blog and on FB. You can either read my notes or watch the video versions of the reviews—whatever floats your boat or stirs your oatmeal. I welcome your input, so long as it’s constructive. (Anonymous, spineless cyber-rats need not apply.) Enjoy!

Galvinizing Review--Yogi Bear (2010)

2010-12-31T21:41:00.001+10:00

The good thing about reading bad reviews of a movie you’re about to watch is that it lowers your expectations enough to be pleasantly surprised by how NOT bad the movie was. That was the case with Yogi Bear, which I recently, albeit reluctantly, watched with my eight year old son. While it won’t win any Oscars, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Before going any further, though, some disclaimers are in order. First, I have been spoiled by Pixar, which, borrowing from its Google friends south of the Bay, can do no wrong. So, it would be unfair to compare Yogi Bear to any Pixar movie, one of which HAS been nominated for an Oscar. Second, I did not watch the movie in 3-D. (Although I’m not sure that would have made it any better. The 3-D images seemed superfluous. Then again, when a movie’s main character is a talking bear, what about that movie isn’t superfluous?) Third and last, as I mentioned earlier, I lowered my expectations going into the movie, so I am grading it on a very low curve here.

Now that I’ve dispensed with the disclaimers, I can talk about the movie itself.

But before I do that, I should mention that the movie, stealing a page from Pixar, started off with a funny and nostalgic Road Runner/Wile E Coyote short. That was a nice treat. I took me back to my childhood days of watching poor old Wile E chasing Road Runner. (I still feel sorry for him and hate the Road Runner. And I have always wondered why he’s chasing the Road Runner anyway? What’s so special about the Road Runner? S/he is such an annoying tease, like girls I that wouldn’t give me the time of day in high school and college. But I digress.) The short was classic Loony Tunes that stayed true to the original formula with only a modern technology twist. Watching Yogi Bear was worth catching that short.

Okay, like for real now, time to talk about the movie itself.

Here’s my quick synopsis without a spoiler: Yogi (voiced by Dan Aykroyd) causes mayhem stealing picnic baskets in Jellystone National Park while his close friend, Boo-boo (voiced by Justin Timberlake), tries to help him and keep him out of trouble with the not-so-goofy goofy Head Ranger Smith (played by Tom Cavanagh). The plot of the movie kicks in when the mayor (played by Andrew Daly) attempts to sell off the park to loggers in order to dig his city out of a budget deficit, give voters money from the subsequent budget surplus, (Hmmmm…stimulus package reference, anyone?), and thus position himself to win his run for state governor. Along the way, Ranger Smith falls for the goofy Rachel (played by the awesome and really goofy Anna Faris), an extreme nature film-maker who shoots a documentary about Yogi and ends up helping Ranger Smith and Yogi save the park.

So the eco-friendly plot was cool, and very fitting for a story set in a national park. I appreciated my son getting that moral. (Or did he?) And although trite, the plot was believable enough, especially in this era of perennial fiscal crisis when every government is looking everywhere for revenue.

As for funny, I found myself laughing against my will, perhaps not as much as my son, who laughed at will. Aykroyd may not be funny as he used to be and Timberlake and Cavanagh were bland as cold tofu, but Faris was very, very funny because she is always, always funny.

(Remember her in all those “Scary Movie” movies?) The human side of the script was hella funny and clearly directed towards an adult sensibility, and Daly as the mayor was by far the funniest part of the movie. His blatant portrayal of a blatant politician was frighteningly accurate, akin to Robert Redford in “The Candidate” or Warren Beatty in “Bulworth”, and his Chief of Staff (played by Nate Corddry) filled the sycophant role all too well.

But, most important of all, my son thoroughly enjoyed himself. And that made it worth forking out my money, spending my time, and lowering my film standards.

I give it 3 out of 5 picnic baskets.

What We Need Is Humility

2010-09-01T17:59:00.002+10:00

Recently, Rik Villegas, an Instructor in Northern Marianas College’s Business Department and regular columnist for the Saipan Tribune, solicited input on an article he is writing as a follow-up to his 1999 article, “The One Thing”. As he put it, “I’m writing to ask your input and share with me what you feel “the one thing” is that could be the catalyst to turn things around at the College and positively impact the community.”

In response, I wrote the following:

I believe the most important catalyst we need to turn things around at the College, "The One Thing", is humility.

No one is perfect. We all know that. We all make mistakes. Still, rarely does anyone have the humility to admit those mistakes, learn from them, and use those lessons to do better next time. That’s a recipe for disaster, especially when our mistakes affect others.

As I see it, dysfunctional relationships and habits have plagued NMC for so long that they have compromised our ability to fulfill its mission. However, just as with any dysfunctional relationship, one must get past denial and fess up to the mistakes one has made. Only then will that relationship change and flourish. If we all spend our time pointing out the splinters in each others' eyes, we grow blind to the planks in our own eyes.

I know that I, too, have suffered from this hubris. I have sometimes failed to exercise due diligence in making important decisions that affect others. I have sometimes focused so much on the big picture that I failed to notice those details that betray the beauty of that picture. I have sometimes trusted those I should have doubted, and doubted those I should have trusted. And I have sometimes fell into silent acquiescence when I should have stood in thunderous protest.

These are just some of the mistakes I have made. And I know that I will make many more. But I hope that I will always be humble enough to acknowledge my mistakes, learn from them, and commit to correcting them and improving who I am, what I do, and how I treat others. It is my hope that we will all do the same.

So, for me, "The One Thing" that can turn the College around and, perhaps, turn our entire community around, is humility.

Philosopher Children

2010-04-18T12:14:00.003+10:00

This is a great article on how some teachers are using children's books to teach children philosophy. No child left behind? How about no thought left behind? Check it out and share you thoughts in the comments section.

The Examine Life, Age 8

The Plague of Mediocrity

2010-02-17T10:08:00.002+10:00

Reading Ayn Rand’s The Foundtainhead again after over a decade. It makes me wonder: When you consider the true greatness that is man’s potential—Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Monet’s “Waterlilies”, William Shakespeare’s “King Lear”—are you left with nothing but your measly existence and a festering contempt for your fellow man and for yourself? I mean, how can the mundane, pedestrian minutiae of our lives compare to the heights of Alexander the Great, Albert Einstein, and Virginia Woolf? I suppose that’s the rub in Hamlet’s discovery of Yorick’s skull: no matter what greatness one can achieve, at the end of the day, at the end of our days, we are nothing but worm food “stopping a bunghole”. But, alas, our work can outlive us. How many of us can claim that? How many of us want to? How many of us are afraid to?

Winter's Tale Director's Notes

2009-12-13T16:00:00.003+10:00

The following are my director's notes from the program for Winter's Tale.

I am always amused when people applaud performing artists for their creativity, as if creativity were the sole domain of the stage. That view of the performing arts, and art in general, underlies these hard times, where creativity often takes a back seat to “useful” qualities like technical skill, business sense, and political acumen. For proof of this, one need only see that the news is full of headlines about crime, the economy, or politics, leaving stories about artistic achievement usually buried somewhere deep in the paper or later in the news hours. For more proof, look at the funding, or lack thereof, for art programs in our schools.

In our day and age, art is simply not revered as it should be. The irony is that now, more than ever, we need art. As our lives get harder and our world gets darker, we need art to help us understand ourselves and our world better. Art reflects who we are. Art makes us who we are. What Percy Bysshe Shelley said of poets could very well be said of all artists: “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Art may not be able to legislate economic prosperity or political harmony, but it can certainly promote more understanding, more empathy, and more humanity within and between ourselves.

Above all, art can reawaken the creative spirit in all of us, which has been sadly eclipsed by destructive energies. Whether it be politicians playing politics, pundits criticizing everything, or terrorists and lone gunmen taking lives, society, as a whole, has become more destructive. However, just as we were all created by the divine providence of God, or by the miraculous accidents of evolution, we too are all called to create, for only creation will heal the destruction that has beset our world.

Tonight, we celebrate the beautiful creation of actors, singers, dancers, musicians, art designers, crew members, directors, and one of the greatest writers, dramatists, and artists of all time, William Shakespeare. Likewise, further north, we celebrate the creative artistry of ballet as Anna Glushko, her ballet family, and some of the world’s most renowned ballet impresarios stage masterpieces of dance. And throughout this holiday season, we celebrate art brought to our community by the Friends of the Arts, the Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands, the Paseo de Marianas Promoters, and numerous other groups and organizations. As we celebrate these creations, I hope that we also celebrate, cultivate, and ignite the creative possibilities within each of us, for we are all artists, and the world needs our creativity.

I would be remiss if I did not recognize and thank those who have contributed in so many ways to this production. First and foremost, I thank God, who, in creating us “in His likeness”, bestowed upon on us not just the gift of creation, but also the gift of creativity.

I also thank my wife and my kids, who put up with and celebrate my obsession with the theatre. I couldn’t do this without you.

Thanks to IT&E, Kathryn Barry, and Edilberto “Ed” Javier for your generous sponsorship of the show.

Thanks are also owed to Will DeWitt and the Saipan Southern High School Manta Band for sharing their creative genius with us. It is an honor to share the stage with you. Much thanks to Maximo Ronquillo, Jr., Minda Castro, Scott Guerrero, and Andreau “Andy” Galvez for sharing their creative genius with us as well. We are truly blessed by your participation in this production.

We are also blessed by the participation of Mount Carmel School alumni and Theatre Club veterans who have returned to grace the stage yet again with their art. Jon and Jake Igitol return with stunning music and Ignacio “Iggy” Benavente returns with beautiful choreography. Thank you for coming home.

Lastly, I thank the cast and crew of this production. I love all 80 of you guys as my second family. You are beautiful artists who have created something wonderful and beautiful. And while your creation may be fleeting, I assure you, your creativity is not.

To you, the audience, I thank you for coming tonight. Now, I challenge each of you to let this show take you away to that distant memory of yourself, that part of you that yearns to create, that lost self that has been, is, and always will be an artist.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T10:59:00.003+10:00

My creative, reflective writing is a bit rusty after not having written for so long. Between my campaign early this year and all the technical writing I’ve had to do at my new job, I haven’t exactly had the time or opportunity to be either creative or reflective. So today, on Thanksgiving Day, I thought I’d start with something simple: sharing the many things for which I am thankful. (On that note, it bothers me that proper grammar requires that I write, “the many things for which I am thankful” instead of what sounds better and makes more sense to me, “the many things I am thankful for.” Oh well. Screw Strunk & White.)

First and foremost, I am deeply thankful for my best friend and the love of my life, my wife, Velma. I don’t know how she puts up with me, but she makes my life worth living. Not only is she beautiful and funny and smart (I know, they sound like meaningless clichés, but I mean every single word.), but she enjoys being silly and quirky with me, and values many of things that I value: a preference for family video nights over going out partying (wow, we’ve grown old), sleeping in, Sunday morning breakfasts, travelling, going to the movies, listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong duets, fixing up our home, praying, loving, living. Things are far from perfect, but I appreciate how we’ve grown together and continue to grow together. She gives me room to grow, and I do my best to grow into the man that she deserves.

I am also thankful for what my wife and I have created, two wonderful kids (Yes, another cliché, but they are two of the most wonderful kids you could ask for, and if anyone disagrees with me, I’ll sock you a big one!) who bring so much joy, life, and laughter to our family. My daughter may be going through the annoying roller coast ups and downs of being a teenager, and I may constantly harass her about her grades, but she is a good person who still enjoys simple things like a good breakfast, shares much of my passion for drama, and gets along well with everyone, young and old, freaks, geeks, jocks and plastics. I am very proud of her. My son is a gamer (like me!) who loves to play, laugh, sing (he sings while taking a bath) and read (he loves to read, you hear!). He oscillates between being very silly to being very serious. However, even when he is super serious, he is super cute, and will always be mangi, even when he becomes an annoying teen ager like his sister.

I cannot believe that God has graced and trusted me with my wife and kids, and with one more in the oven. I am humbled by that. And I hope to always be the best man I can be for them.

Of course, I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it weren’t for my mother, who I am also thankful for. I am not always a good son and am sometimes rude to her (although she may tell you that I am often rude to her). I wish I could be a better son, and am trying. She deserves that. She is always there for me and my family, and she did a really good job of raising me and my brother and sister. She put up with a lot of crap, and did so for our good. She herself can be very silly and quirky, which I appreciate. And, like my wife, she too appreciates simple things: having her kids and grandkids over to her house for dinner, picking up the kids after school, watching a Lifetime movie. She took good care of me, and she takes good care of my kids. It’s my turn to take care of her.

Likewise, I am also thankful for my father, who passed away almost 12 years ago. Only a year before he passed away, I learned that he adopted me. And while he wasn’t always there (and even when he was there he was sometimes a violent jerk), he always treated me like his own son, and was very proud of me. I owe so much to him, and am thankful that I had the chance to reconnect with him before he passed away. I carry his name with pride and honor, as a lion warrior should.

In addition to reconnecting with my dad, in recent years, I have also had the chance to reconnect with my brother and sister. We were close growing up, but we grew apart in high school, especially when I went off to college. When I graduated and returned, we were like strangers living in the same house. That has slowly changed over time. Like my mom, they too take care of my kids, and I take care of their kids. We are now parents who want our kids to get along, just as we did when we were their age. My brother and sister help complete a family that lives to this day, perhaps a little more broken, a little more worn, and a little more jaded, but together nonetheless.

Aside from family, there are many other people I am thankful for.

I am thankful for Dave Kupferman. He is my soul mate. ‘Nuff said.

I am thankful for my best friend, Joe Taijeron, with whom I often disagree, but who balances out all my shortcomings and is trustworthy enough to point them out with a good measure of care and humor. I am a better person because of him. Plus, he enjoys Black Card status with my wife, which means that I can go out with him whenever we’d like.

Ed Buckingham is another good friend I am thankful for. Like Joe, he is honest in pointing out and balancing my shortcomings. Although Ed lacks Joe’s sense of care and humor, Ed has a good heart. My life is better because of him, and the world is a better place because of what he does.

Rose Cuison-Villazor continues to be a great friend who inspires me with her accomplishments. I don’t know how she juggles being a professor, a writer, a mother, and a friend. I hope one day to be as phenomenal as she is.

Jill Rickabaugh has always pushed me to be me by being her. She may chronicle life in still photographs, but her art moves with more life than many people who live dead lives.

Shelby Brown is brilliant and ridonkulous and facing many of the same life challenges that I face. His experiences resonate with my own. I hope one day we both find what we’re looking for.

Ed Propst is a good family man whose soul is afire against injustice and who puts his money where his mouth is. I hope one day to have as much courage and conviction as he does. If we all did, this world would be a better place.

Tina Sablan also more courage and conviction than I do, and probably than all of us combined. Although I disagree with some (or most) of her tactics, I do not question her motives. As with Ed, if we all had her courage and conviction, this world would be a better place.

Zaldy Dandan is an astute, honest, and practical observer of our times. While I may never forgive him for converting from the left to the right (even though I’m well on way in the same direction), I appreciate the blend of candor and empathy he brings to our civic discourse. If only more pundits and politicians would do the same.

Former CNMI Governor Juan Nekai Babauta had enough faith in me (and, I admit, my political pull) to want me to run with him for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. For all his imperfections, he is a good man who cares deeply for our islands. I am still humbled that he would see me fit to run with him to serve our islands.

Over the past 13 years, I have had the privilege of teaching, coaching, advising, and mentoring hundreds of students. I am thankful for them and for the opportunity to help them, at least in some way, in their life journeys. I hope I have served them well.

I am especially thankful for Mount Carmel School's Theatre Club, which has given me the opportunity to help create beautiful shows and share my passion for the performing arts with cast, crew, and audience members alike.

Beyond people, I am also thankful for great art. Many people are thankful for health and life, but to me, what good is a body if the soul is sick? Art breathes life into the soul. Paintings, movies, literature, and music help bring meaning to my life by illuminating different perspectives on the meaning of life. So, in no particular order, and by no means exhaustive, here are works of art and artists I am thankful for.

Movies: Rouge, Bleu, Blanc, The Bicycle Thief, Star Wars, Fight Club, Seven, The Fifth Element, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Cars, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Waking Life, Grosse Pointe Blank, Say Anything, Singles, Jerry Maguire, Meet the Robinsons, Big Fish, Scent of a Woman, and Love Actually.

Story-tellers: William Shakespeare, Pixar, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Cameron Crowe, James Cameron, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Luc Besson, Quentin Tarantino, Al Pacino, J. K Rowling, Sam Raimi, Tim Burton, Steven Soderbergh, and Bill Watterson.

Books: Frankenstein, Brave New World, This Side of Paradise, Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, Hamlet, Invisible Man, Nick Hornby novels, Tom Perrotta novels, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Musicians: The Killers, My Chemical Romance, Chemical Brothers, Beethoven, Preisner, U2, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Chopin, Beastie Boys, Blink 182, Angels and Airwaves, Coldplay, Sugar, Bob Marley, Sarah Brightman, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Sarah Brightman, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ben Webster, Stephane Grappelli, Thievery Corporation, Portishead, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Digable Planets, New Order, Amy Winehouse, Run DMC, UB40, Bob Mould, Airborne Toxic Event, The Flobots, and Jay-z.

TV shows: Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, House, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Attack Of The Show, Star Wars: Clone Wars, The Daily Show, and 24.

I could probably go further, and there are people, places, and things I’ve undoubtedly missed, but I’m already close to 2,000 words, which is more than most people would read anyway. I’m sure I’ll continue this list next year. If I’m lucky, I’ll run over 3,000 words the next time.

Happy Thanksgiving! Give thanks, and thank those who give.

Winter's Tale: A Holiday Classic by Shakespeare; a Holiday Treat for Everyone

2009-11-26T10:11:00.001+10:00

On Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, Mount Carmel School’s Theatre Club will bring William Shakespeare’s classic holiday play, “Winter’s Tale”, to musical life at Fiesta Spa and Resort’s Hibiscus Hall.

“Winter’s Tale” takes place in the fairytale kingdoms of Sicilia and Bohemia, whose two respective kings, Leontes and Polixenes, are childhood friends who take turns visiting each other each Christmas. Tragedy ensues when King Leontes suspects King Polixenes and Queen Hermione are having an affair and accuses Hermione of carrying the child of Polixenes. Will Leontes and Polixenes be reconciled? What will happen to their kingdoms? What will happen to Hermione and her unborn child? These questions form the conflict for the remainder of the play, reaching a thrilling climax in the play’s final musical performance.

“Winter’s Tale”, the Theatre Club’s 25th production since its inception in 1996, is being directed by Theatre Club founder and advisor, Galvin Deleon Guerrero, known by the club as Mr. G. According to Mr. G, “Winter’s Tale” is his personal favorite play by Shakespeare. “In my opinion, it’s Shakespeare’s best story, and it effectively blends the best elements of both comedy and tragedy. While his comedies are too light and his tragedies are too heavy, this play strikes just the right balance.”

In addition to modernizing parts of the original Elizabethan script, the Theatre Club embedded holiday music throughout the play, most of which will be played by the award-winning Saipan Southern High School Manta Band. Despite a busy schedule as it prepare for its historical performance at Carnegie Hall in the Spring of 2009, the Manta Band found time to learn the show’s music, which ranges from classic Christmas songs such as “Silent Night” to more difficult pieces such as Thomas Newman’s theme music for the 1994 film “Little Women”.

Additional music will be performed by keyboardist Andreau “Andy” Galvez and the band, The Wise Men, which is composed of several Mount Carmel School alumni.

Complementing the music will be choreography by Theatre Club veteran and Mount Carmel School alumnus, Ignacio “Iggy” Benavente (Class of 2003), who recently graduated from Eastern Oregon University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre.

Choreographing the show has been a homecoming of sorts for Iggy. As he put it, “It was great to come and give back to the school of my roots. It was especially fun to put my theatrical experience to good use.” Iggy added, “With the work that everyone has put into the show, it’s going to be wonderful!”

“Winter’s Tale” will be performed on Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, at 7:00 p. m. each night in Fiesta Spa and Resort’s Hibiscus Hall. Admission for Friday’s dinner show is $35.00 per person; admission for Saturday’s regular show is $5.00 per person.

Due to limited seating, advance purchase of tickets is strongly recommended. Tickets are available from cast and crew members or at the Mount Carmel School Business Office. For more information, call 234-6184 or visit http://mcstheatreclub.blogspot.com.

“Winter’s Tale” is made possible, in part, with support from IT&E.

An Apology and a Call for Dialogue

2009-04-30T22:04:00.003+10:00

My recent statements on disciplinary practices in our public schools have stirred up some disappointment, frustration, and anger in the community. Before going any further, I should first express my unequivocal apology to all administrators, teachers, staff, and students in our public schools. I was working with some flawed data and issued some statements that were uncalled for. As a result, I undermined, disrespected, and hurt the very people that I am constitutionally mandated to help and serve as a member of the CNMI Board of Education. I apologize for any harm I may have caused.

With that, I also feel it is important to clarify a few matters.

First, while the data is flawed, I went to great lengths to verify it. As soon as I came on board in January 2008 and was tasked to chair the BOE School Reform Committee, many parents and students raised concerns that suspensions were being abused at some schools. Rather than react to hearsay and isolated incidents, I decided that the Reform Committee should hold meetings at schools and villages to learn more about this issue, among other issues, at a grassroots level. We also requested data from the Commissioner of Education on suspension rates over the past five years, starting in school year 2003-2004. To verify the data, the Reform Committee then compiled this information, sent it out to the PSS leadership and the rest of the BOE, and presented it at a meeting at Saipan Southern High School on March 4, 2009. The Commissioner further discussed both the data and the issue of discipline with the PSS leadership and at the monthly PSS principals’ meetings in March and April. In the meantime, the Reform Committee continued to gather more input at community-based meetings where parents continued to express concerns over the alleged abuses of suspensions.

However, despite going through all of this for over a year, the data still came out imperfect. I wish it had not, and while I’m not sure what else I could have done, I wish I could have done more. It is clear that we must continue studying this issue to understand it better.

Second, contrary to the claims that I am going “soft on students”, my goal was and is to promote dialogue about this important issue, not to necessarily come down hard on one side or the other. In fact, in my April 22 report to the BOE, I raised these questions:

Does an increase in the number of suspensions indicate better enforcement of PSS disciplinary policy, or a switch to a more punitive approach towards student discipline?
How does the increase in suspensions affect student attendance and graduation rates?
Why is there so much variance between schools? Does this reflect a lack of consistency between schools, or does it uphold each school’s authority to handle its own discipline problems in its own way?
Is there a need for a policy change to enforce more consistency between schools, or should each school be empowered to implement its own approach to discipline?
How much are schools doing to balance the need for a disciplined environment against the needs of students that are suspended?
Is adequate counseling and support provided to students that are suspended?
Is there a need for innovative approaches to student discipline beyond just punitive measures?

Furthermore, in my report, I recommended the following to the Commissioner:

ü Review each school’s internal disciplinary procedures to ensure that they are in compliance with BOE/PSS policy and meeting the needs of students.
ü Study and investigate further to identify the causes for increased suspension rates.
ü Provide training to teachers, staff, and administrators on behavior modification as an alternative to punitive disciplinary actions.
ü Ensure that students are accorded adequate counseling services to address addictive/compulsive behaviors such as betel nut chewing and smoking, which account for a large number of disciplinary infractions.

Again, I was not going soft on students, nor was I going hard on them. I was doing my best to make sure their needs were being met.

Third and last, I do believe that we must strike a balance between ensuring a disciplined school environment that is conducive to learning AND ensuring that even students that are disciplined are getting the help they need. That is why, with the exception of violent offenses, BEFORE a student is suspended, BOE Regulations 2602 and 2606 mandate that schools exhaust “standard day-to-day corrective disciplinary measures” including, but “not limited to, in-house detention, parent conferences, counseling sessions, campus clean up, community service, required apologies, behavioral intervention plans, and any reasonable creative disciplinary measures.”

Perhaps some members of our community would disagree with this BOE policy. I, for one, think it’s a good policy because it encourages us to exhaust every possible way to help students learn and grow from their mistakes.

Again, I apologize for causing any undue harm to our school administrators, teachers, and staff. They are working very hard under very hard circumstances, and should be applauded for all that they do for our students. I hope that we can move past this and engage in a meaningful dialogue about the role of discipline in our schools. In fact, I welcome anyone in our community to submit their thoughts and perspectives on this issue via email at galvin@itecnmi.com. I firmly believe that by engaging in this sort of dialogue, we can all work together to help each and every student succeed.

HQT, HET, HPT--Follow Up

2009-02-09T20:51:00.002+10:00

After his discussion of malaria, Bill Gates presents compelling evidence that our focus should not be on highly qualified teachers (HQT) but on highly effective teachers (HET) and highly performing teachers (HPT). If we claim to be data-driven, then the data on student learning results should drive teacher pay, not the old-school trap of education and seniority. He also has some great ideas on how to replicate the successes of HETs and HPTs.

Check it out.

http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_unplugged.html

2008 Commencement Remarks

2009-01-25T21:34:00.011+10:00

The following are remarks I delivered at the graduation ceremony of Mount Carmel School's Class of 2008.

Tonight, my heart breaks into 36 fragile pieces, all of them dressed in blue, sitting right here in these front row pews.

Tonight, my dear Seniors, I face the moment that I’ve feared for so long: the moment that we must say goodbye.

You know, during all my years in education, I’ve been warned so many times by so any people that I shouldn’t get too close to students. And throughout the past year, I’ve been criticized so many times by so many people that I’ve gotten too close to you.

But you know what? Despite all those warnings and all that criticism, I don’t regret a thing.

I am so glad that I had the chance to get to know each and everyone of you. You have enriched my life more than you’ll ever know. Whether in the classroom, on the stage, in court, or on the court, you have given my life meaning and purpose.

I know it is expected that these commencement speeches should inform, persuade, or even inspire students with words of advice and wisdom.

But, tonight, I choose to do neither of these things, because all I want to do is express how I feel about you, the Class of 2008.

I also know that our public speakers have been chastised for being too emotional. But I don’t care. In fact, I believe that the main problem we all have today is a lack of emotion. We make cold decisions without considering our emotions and the emotions of others. If anything, we need to inject more compassion and empathy and love into our public discourse. In other words, we need emotion.

Besides, any decent scholar of rhetoric knows that Aristotle argued that every good speech must have logos, ethos, and pathos: logic, credibility, and emotional appeal.

So, tonight, I make an emotional appeal to you, my dear Seniors, to listen to these last words I share with you. And I ask you to forgive me if I do, in fact, get a little emotional.

While tonight’s commencement speaker, Janet King, was preparing for her speech, she asked me what makes this class special.

That’s a hard question.

Is it that this class has succeeded at so much: Drama, Basketball, NFL, Mock Trial, and AG Cup? Is it that this class has a bright future: Prestigious colleges, the military, even flight school? Is it that this class always McGyver’s a win: Pep Rallies, Christmas Shows, and even your own graduation? Is it that this class brings a smile to your face with funny jokes about molasses, games like Jeopardy, and movies like Pedro’s Anthem, The Great Ratzby, The Vicente Code, and Richardstein? Is it that this class is so diverse yet so unified: nerds, geeks, jocks, and even “trouble-makers” who come together to support each other in everything from soccer to basketball to mock trial to AG Cup?

Or is it that this class takes great pride in being Mount Carmel knights?

Which one of these characteristics makes this class special?

Probably all of them.

But for me, what makes you special, and the reason I love you so much is this: You opened your hearts to me and let me in. In turn, I opened my heart to you and let you in. And there is no greater gift in the world than that trusting act of love.

For that, I thank you.

And I thank you, the parents, guardians, and families for trusting us with your children. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve them.

Now graduates, as your principal and your teacher, I have one last lesson to share with you. It is a truth that you don’t want to hear, but you know me: I have always shared the truth with you, even when it hurts.

So here it is: You will never be this close as a class again. And, no matter what you’re feeling right now, we will never be this close again either.

I love you guys so much, and it hurts me to admit this, but I’ve seen hundreds of students graduate over the years, and I know this for certain: it’s never the same after tonight.

It’s sad that only when things end, only when we realize that we are losing someone, do we truly appreciate them for all that they are: funny classmates, supportive cheerleader, sympathetic listeners, loyal friends.

I tell you this not to depress you, but to encourage you to cherish this moment, and cherish each other.

You are more beautiful and amazing than you will ever realize. And even after all the you’ve accomplished, the world has yet to see the greatness that is to come from you.
I truly wish I could be there with you when that happens. But it is time for you to set off on your own.

At times, the road ahead will get lonely. And at times, you may want to come crawling back home. But believe me when I tell you that you are ready. You’ve been ready.

And even though it breaks my heart to see you go, I feel so blessed to have been a part of your lives. I honestly hope that I have helped, in some small way, to make your lives better, more meaningful, and worth living. I hope that I have given you as much as you have given me.

And while we will never be this close again, I hope you will come by and visit sometime.I’ll be here, ready to welcome you home.

Balance

2009-01-18T19:11:00.005+10:00

Kori Seki, an old classmate and good friend of mine who worked in the California housing market, has shared some of his thoughts on how we can revive the economy. In particular, he called for less restrictive building codes, pointing to old buildings that have lasted the test of time despite being built before the current array of strict building codes. He also argued for lowering property taxes to make it more affordable to build, buy, or own a home. These are certainly good points worth exploring in this economy.

One of the perennial challenges of a democracy and capitalism is balancing the need to protect people from unnecessary harms—including harms from themselves—through regulations like building codes, and trusting people—and the market—enough to refrain from overregulation. Similarly, on one hand we need taxes to fund important government spending, but we shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds by overtaxing a dwindling tax base.

At the risk of oversimplifying ideologies, I suppose that’s why there’s this constant tug between pro-regulation Democrats who want to fund health, education, and welfare, and fiscally conservative Republicans who want to deregulate as much as possible.

Let’s not forget, though, that a big cause of the current economic meltdown was the LACK of regulation in the financial markets.

It’s so hard to come up with a definitive answer that strikes the right balance. The new global market is making it incredibly difficult not only to be competitive, but also to understand what’s happening and where things are going. While I’m not a communist, Karl Marx certainly had it right when he predicted that capitalism run amuck would run society amuck.

Furthermore, while this quickly evolving market calls for flexible and adaptive governance, we must balance the need for swift action with the need for prudent deliberation. There’s no sense in rushing into yet another maelstrom. This need for balance between haste and prudence is also difficult to strike. But strike the balance we must.

New Year's Meanderings...

2009-01-05T18:49:00.003+10:00

With the arrival of each new year, it seems there is never a lack of people griping about how bad last year was, and how they hope this new year will be better. Save for the occasional positive pop psychologist, who ever unequivocally celebrates the year just passed without caveats, doubt, or sarcasm? After all, despite the economic meltdown of the past year, American voters reaffirmed our faith in America by electing its first black president, we elected our first delegate to the U. S. Congress, and my daughter got hooked on Twilight-phonics.

I guess it’s a matter of perspective. While the cliché goes that “hindsight is 20/20”, usually, we either romanticize the past, or condemn it. Personally, while I don’t want to be a Pollyanna, I’d rather celebrate the blessings of the past year, learn from its mistakes, and romanticize the future.

Here's to a Happy Old Year...and an even Happier New Year!

HQT, HET, HPT

2008-11-05T13:48:00.005+10:00

There has been quite a bit of debate about highly qualified teachers (HQT) and I want to share my thoughts on the issue. But, before I do that, some background might help us better understand the HQT debate.

When President George W. Bush entered office in 2001, he launched the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an education reform initiative influenced by similar initiatives he had introduced as governor of Texas. The basic premise of NCLB is to push for more accountability in education by linking federal funding for school districts to student performance and teacher competence, both of which must be measured by quantifiable data like standardized test scores.

One key requirement of NCLB is that all teachers must be highly qualified teachers by 2010. In the CNMI, the BOE has determined that in order to be HQT, among other things, one must pass the Praxis, a standardized test of content knowledge (i. e. how much teachers know about basic subjects like math and reading). To “motivate” teachers to acquire HQT status, the BOE laid out carrots (i. e. rewards) for teachers that pass the Praxis, and sticks (i. e. penalties) for teachers that fail. In short, if you passed the Praxis, you got a pay raise. If you failed, you got a pay cut.

Critics of HQT and the Praxis have argued that this system of sticks and carrots demoralizes the profession, especially for those who fail the Praxis. These critics point to the Western cultural bias of the Praxis and note that some very smart people are just not good test takers.

Furthermore, some have argued that rather than focus on highly qualified teachers, we should focus on highly effective teachers (HET). The argument goes that just because a teacher knows her subject matter, does not mean that she can teach it well or that students can and will learn it from that teacher. The current Praxis only tests one’s mastery of subject knowledge, but does not test for one’s ability to teach that knowledge.

As one who works closely with my own teachers, I believe that the HQT-HET debate kind of misses the point. Good teaching, and, in turn, good learning, come in many shapes and forms, shapes and forms that cannot and should not be limited to just HQT or HET. Just as good teaching and learning require a multi-faceted assessment that evaluates diverse aspects of student learning, we should use a multi-faceted assessment model of teachers that evaluates the many different aspects of teaching.

To be sure, our teachers should be highly qualified. But we should not limit ourselves to just one measurement instrument, the Praxis. We should consider alternative assessments of a teacher’s qualifications. We could, perhaps, require teachers to maintain current portfolios that reflect the many dimensions of that teacher’s skills, abilities, experience, and education.

Likewise, our teachers should be highly effective. However, we must move beyond standardized tests and use a variety of measurements to determine the effectiveness of a teacher. For example, how many of a teacher’s students participate in an extra-curricular activity? Or how many of a teacher’s students graduate, go off to college, or acquire meaningful employment after graduation? Standardized tests are just one reflection of a teacher’s effectiveness. We must consider all the ways in which a teacher is effective.

Furthermore, how we measure HQT and HET is as important as what we measure. In this regard, perhaps we should balance the end-product—student learning—with the growth process—teacher learning. While I am a big proponent of student learning, I also know that unless a teacher is growing personally and professionally, student learning will not happen. To grow, though, a teacher needs coaching and feedback from supervisors, mentors, peers, and students. For that to happen, we need to make time for principals and master teachers to conduct meaningful classroom observations, and encourage constructive student evaluations of teachers. Just as good assessment is not a penalty but a tool for student learning, good assessment of a teacher should not penalize her. It should help that teacher grow.

Beyond HQT and HET, though, lies the more important benchmark of a great teacher: HPT: Highly Performing Teachers. These are teachers that go above and beyond their lessons to advise extra-curricular activities, tutor students after school, and volunteer to help the school in other ways needed. These are the teachers that honestly assess themselves and are constantly looking for ways to grow and improve in their craft. These are the teachers that make great schools. These are the teachers that we need.

(For more information, check out this great article by Bess Keller for Education Week that reports on a teacher evaluation instrument that's helping teachers improve their craft.)

A New Era of Expectations

2008-01-17T14:52:00.000+10:00

Now that the fanfare of campaigning, elections, and inaugurations are over, it’s time to get to work. Still, I recall that late Saturday night and early Sunday morning following November 3rd. I’ll admit that I stayed up all night, glued to my T. V., watching all the results come in. To be honest, I was truly surprised by the results, and not just for me. Across the board, the candidates that had the most votes were younger candidates and fresh new faces, which was our community’s way of telling us that it’s high time for meaningful change.

However, while I was (and am) excited, I was (and am) also very scared by the expectations that our community had invested in this “new” generation of elected leaders, including myself.
Expectations can be a curse, especially when they’re too high for anyone to realistically achieve. We are not disappointed by those from whom not much is expected. Those who disappoint us the most are those from whom we expect the most.

For my part, I am humbled by the expectations that this community has invested in me, and I will do everything I can to meet those expectations. I certainly do not want to disappoint anyone.

But perhaps it’s time for a new era of expectations. Rather than expecting so much from government, we should expect more from ourselves.

To be sure, we should expect much from government. We should expect our government to pass legislation that serves the general welfare of our community in a just manner for all--citizens and non-citizens alike. We should expect our government to spend its limited resources on those things that really matter, like education, rather than on things that don’t really matter, like tents and picnic tables.

And you, the public, should expect your public school system to provide the best possible education that it can. You should expect your education officials to lobby more aggressively and effectively for the funding and resources our educators need to do their jobs. You should expect your board of education to do more with less, making the most of our limited resources. And you should expect your board to rise above the fray of petty politics and stay focused on our children’s education.

That said, we, as a community, should expect more from ourselves. In the business sector, I applaud the efforts of organizations like the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors annual scholarships and holds an annual Career Exploration Day. However, I call on the business sector to do more for education and get more involved with our schools. Scholarships and career days only scratch the surface. We need to consider internship and mentorship programs that allow students to earn high school credit while learning from valuable, real-world experience. We should revive Junior Achievement so that our students can rediscover the value of entrepreneurship by running their own companies. And we should bring business leaders to the education round table to help inform and transform our education policy and goals.

In the parent community, I applaud the efforts of our parent-teacher associations, which provide much needed financial assistance and policy input to our schools. But PTA officers can not do everything on their own. All parents need to take an active interest and an active role, not only in their schools, but most especially in their children’s education. Sadly, schools have become surrogate parents for much of our community, and it is all too common to hear of report card nights where less than 10% of parents show up. Parents must always remember that they are the primary educators of their children. Our schools cannot and should not ever take the place of parents. And research shows that when parents work hand-in-hand with schools, students succeed. It is time for all our students to succeed. It is time for all our parents to fulfill their roles as primary educators.

Lastly, I appeal to the student community. I applaud those students who work hard and achieve great things. But I call on all students to do the same. Students must remember that education is not a passive, spectator sport where your teacher does all the work to “teach” you. In fact, I would argue that it’s not about teaching but about learning, and that requires that you do your part as well.

I also call on your student leaders to step up. For example, I honestly wish that the CNMI Youth Congress would do more. Critics have every right to question the legitimacy of funding a Youth Congress that does nothing. I challenge the current Youth Congress to prove those critics wrong. Can you imagine, come budget time, how powerful it would be for Youth Congress Senators to storm the hallways of the CNMI Legislature, lobbying for education?

The youth have power. It’s time to make good use of it.

This is a time of change that carries the heavy burden of high expectations. Indeed, we have many problems that need fixing. However, government should not be the solution to our problems. We should be the solution to our problems.

The bottom line is that education is everyone’s business. It’s definitely my business, and it’s definitely the business of the Board of Education. But, most importantly, speaking to our entire community, it’s your business. And believe me when I say that it’s time to get down to business.

Budget Shortfalls and Teacher Salary Reclassifications

2007-11-05T14:48:00.000+10:00

The Public School System’s Commissioner for Education, David M. Borja, has said recently that due to budget shortfalls, the Board of Education must take action and PSS will have to reclassify teachers’ salary schedules. To put it simply, what he’s saying is that PSS cannot pay teachers what it’s supposed to pay them.

Before I share my opinion on this, it helps to understand the history behind this issue.

In compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act, the BOE and PSS adopted a new salary schedule that is commensurate to a teacher’s education, experience, and performance on the Praxis. PSS had to take this approach to ensure compliance with NCLB’s requirement for highly qualified teachers (HQTs). Otherwise, PSS would not have been able to continue receiving federal funding from NCLB.

Many of you will recall the controversy that emerged when the BOE and PSS implemented these new standards for teachers. Many teachers suffered a pay cut and some teachers even lost their jobs. However, overall, the drive to have highly qualified teachers in classrooms has been good for our schools and good for our students.

Now, because the governor’s office is proposing only 75% of the original budget request from PSS, and because the entire government remains on a continuing resolution budget, PSS does not have enough money to pay teachers who have acquired HQT status. This budget quagmire is exacerbated by the overcrowding and understaffing in public schools.

So, what’s my opinion on this? I think it is unprofessional, unethical, and unfair to have encouraged teachers to spend money and time in acquiring HQT status, and then deprive them of the very incentive you promised they would get. It also strikes me as rather irresponsible for the commissioner to discuss this possibility openly with the public without first discussing it with the board. The media is the wrong venue to bring such matters before the board.

What, then, should be done? First, the governor’s office should return the money it “borrowed” from PSS. Second, the governor’s office should reinstate the original budget and budget request of PSS. If the governor’s office refuses to do either, then it should reimburse the federal government for NCLB funds that PSS has received because refusing to pay for highly qualified teachers is equivalent to reneging on NCLB.

Third, assuming that the governor’s office will do nothing, the board should work with the legislature to reinstate its original budget request and to secure an emergency appropriation. However, this will be difficult to do with a lame duck legislature. Hopefully, members of that lame duck legislature will have enough of a commitment to the public that they will use their remaining time to help PSS. After all, without reelection worries looming over their heads, perhaps now they can make some bold decisions that may be politically unpopular.

Fourth and last (for now), assuming both the governor’s office AND the legislature do nothing, PSS has no choice but to look internally at what its options are. PSS and the BOE made a commitment to have highly qualified teachers and pay them as such. Now it’s time to live up to that commitment. I know that there may be nothing left to cut, but something must be done now before we lose good teachers or before a lawsuit is laid against the school system, a lawsuit that would sap even more cash from a cash-strapped system. And as I’ve said before, mitigation is so much more affordable, and preferred, than litigation.

Why AM I running anyway?

2007-11-01T13:00:00.000+10:00

Picture above: My dad, Ben "Rai", who used to always say, "If you can do it, do it."

Warning: The following commentary is long, but I hope you will bear with me because what follows is an open and honest discussion that any candidate for public office should have with her/himself and the public.

Given that elections are tomorrow, it seems rather late of me to explain why I am running for the Board of Education. However, up to this point, I thought it was more important to share my thoughts and insights on education with the public than to explain why I’m running because voters should know my approach to education before they know my approach to campaigning.

So, to the question at hand: Why have I chosen to run for public office? Before I answer that question, I want to explain why I, or anyone else for that matter, should NOT run for office. For now, I have six reasons.

Reason one: It’s expensive and time-consuming. It doesn’t have to be, but it usually is. On the campaign trail, you spend money and time publicizing yourself. If elected to office, you spend time in meetings, community gatherings, and all sorts of other engagements. Once in office you also spend money on donations to this or that charity, helping someone with their CUC bill, or giving chenchule to the family that invited you to their Christening, wedding, or funeral. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I have seen too many politicians lose money both in and out of office. Therefore, it doesn’t surprise that some politicians take bribes or kickbacks of some kind. They’re simply trying to recoup their losses. Why would I want to sacrifice all that time and money only to put myself in a position where I might be tempted to compromise my integrity and convictions? It would be wiser to invest my time and money into my family.

Reason two: People often expect too much from government, especially here in the Commonwealth. We live in the aftermath of the Trust Territory welfare state and the boom economy of the 1980s and 1990s where government doled out jobs and money and favors left and right. We, the people of the Commonwealth have been trained to believe that the government is the answer to all our problems, which is a far cry from my grandparent’s generation, for whom hard work over a long period of time was the key to a successful life. Today, we want instant gratification and magic solutions from a government whose benefits we feel entitled to. Such inflated expectations are virtually impossible for anyone to fulfill.

Reason three: While people expect too much from government, it is very difficult to achieve anything in democratic government. Democracy is meant to be slow and prudent because you have to work with other people. As I’ve said before, getting a group of opinionated people with ideas and interests of their own to agree upon a single course of action is very, very hard. Add to that democratic process the red tape of a bureaucratic government and you get a recipe for paralysis. You get a situation where nothing changes easily or quickly, if anything changes at all.

Reason four: Jumping into the public arena subjects me to the scrutiny of an often unforgiving and overly critical public eye. As a private citizen, I can pretty much just be myself and make decisions that I think are right, without having to worry about too many critics and snide remarks. If I make a mistake, I deal with manageable consequences and work to fix what’s wrong. However, campaigners and public servants have to deal with all sorts of people who have anything and everything to say about anything and everything that you do. And if you make a mistake, even if you’re humble enough to admit it, you must face a firing squad of critics, pundits, angry voters, and opponents who are all too willing to take advantage of your blunders.

Reason five: I am busy as it is. I am a full-time principal, full-time father, and full-time husband, who also teaches two classes and advises some extra-curricular activities. The last thing I need is another heavy load on my plate. For my own personal sanity, it would be better to avoid additional commitments, like public office.

Reason six: Am I truly qualified for the position? Who am I to think that I can or should be in a position to make important decisions about thousands of students, hundreds of teachers, and a system that has a profound impact on the welfare and future of our Commonwealth? The burden of that responsibility alone scares me. While I do have over a decade of varied experience in education, it would be arrogant of me to say that I definitely have what it takes to take on this position.

I bring up all these reasons against running because I believe that anyone who decides to run for public office should have reasons compelling enough to outweigh those reasons listed above.

In my case, I am running because of something my dad taught me a long time ago. My dad used to wake me and my brother up every Saturday morning to work on the yard. I hate yard work, so it was a constant struggle with me. However, when I finally got behind that lawnmower, my dad would always say, “If you can do it, do it.” That has always stuck with me.

Despite all the reasons above, I believe that I can and should make a difference. I’m tired of helping my students understand what our community’s problems are, without doing anything to change things for the better. It is hypocritical of me to point the finger at what’s wrong, without lifting a finger to fix what’s wrong.

I may lose money and time—but I will not do so inappropriately or unethically. People may expect too much, I may not accomplish much, and I will probably be criticized much no matter what I do or don’t do—but it’s still worth a shot. And I may be busy as it is and I may not be qualified enough—but I am committed enough to make time and make a good effort.

I am very passionate about education and I sincerely believe that a good education system can make a positive difference in our community. The Public School System has accomplished a lot so far, and I want to help it accomplish even more.

In short, I am running because I want to do my part to help our community.

And as my dad used to say, “If you can do it, do it.”

"Problem" Students?

2007-10-25T14:05:00.000+10:00

I am sometimes questioned and challenged about how I deal with “problem” students. In fact, at times, I am criticized for siding too much with students. It is a fair criticism that deserves an explanation on my part.

To be sure, I firmly believe that when students make mistakes, they must be held accountable for those mistakes. In the real world, we must all eventually face the consequences of our actions. Thus, it is only fitting that in schools, we prepare students for the real world by holding them accountable for their mistakes, albeit within the confines of the school’s policies and procedures.

That said, I believe that punishment is not enough. When students make mistakes, we must guide them to fix those mistakes. For example, when a student intentionally breaks a window, it makes sense to have that student pay for the window’s repair. Not only does that hold the student accountable, but it teaches him or her the value of remedying one’s mistakes. In law this is called restitution. In laymen’s terms, it’s called responsibility.

Furthermore, when a student makes a mistake, we must genuinely care for that student and help him or her learn from his or her mistake. When coaching public speakers and debaters, I always tell my students that they will learn more from losing than from winning. Losing forces you to reckon with what you could have done better, for you can only improve when you know what needs improvement. Losing also gives you the drive to do better next time. That’s why I tell them this paradox, “You have to lose if you want to win.”

I fear that we can sometimes be so judgmental and vindictive that we forget to help student grow from the experience of making mistakes. As I mentioned above, punishment is never enough. True concern and care for our students must drive us to help them remedy their mistakes, as well as learn and grow from them. In my mind, to do any less is just bad teaching.

Over the many years that I have been teaching, nothing has been more rewarding than seeing a “problem” student turn his or her life around, and knowing that I helped him or her at least a little bit. Besides, I don’t believe there is such a thing as a “problem” student. Rather, there are only people with problems who sometimes make mistakes—and those people are all of us.

What IS Wrong with Our Education System?

2007-10-18T13:55:00.000+10:00

Albert Einstein once said, “The formulation of the problem is often more essential than the problem.” That may be the case with our education system.

Ever since the historic Nation at Risk was published in 1983, everyone from business leaders, politicians, and the media has debated about “what’s wrong” with our schools. Despite all that debate, however, no one can agree on what exactly is wrong with our schools. As I have said before, the business community blames our schools for not churning out a skilled workforce; politicians blame our schools for low test scores and lackluster student performance; and, at least nationally, media pundits and cultural warriors blame schools for the breakdown of society and traditional family values.

Much of this confusion over what exactly is wrong with our schools stems from confusing expectations of schools. Business leaders expect schools to produce a workforce. Political leaders expect schools to produce students that are smarter than other students. And many media voices from the right and the left expect schools to produce morally upright, culturally literate citizens.

These divergent expectations don’t necessarily lead to the same result. For example, to succeed in business one need not score that well on standardized tests and one need not know Shakespeare. Conversely, someone who scores perfectly on the SAT and can quote Shakespeare from memory may not be the best candidate for a corporate job.

Some might argue that we can and should fulfill all of the above expectations by producing well-rounded students. I actually agree with that liberal arts approach. And in the best of all words, that would be great. But, in the real world, budget and time constraints limit us from doing all of the above. That said, it then becomes a matter of prioritizing our goals and expectations.

But we haven’t done that. Instead, all of these conflicting expectations have only confused teachers and students. Any teacher can tell you that if expectations are not made clear to students, you doom them to failure. After all, how can you tell if you’ve achieved your goals, if you don’t know what those goals are in the first place? As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you end up going nowhere.”

I, for one, don’t want our students to go nowhere.

So, I believe the first step towards going somewhere is to engage all stakeholders—parents, students, teachers, business leaders, politicians, and the media—in an open and honest discussion about what we want from our schools. That kind of discussion is going to require mutual respect, a willingness to work together, and a focus on the most important part of the education equation: our children.

Ultimately, it means developing and casting a shared vision for our education system, which I must warn you is going to be very, very hard work. But, the work will be worth it, for nothing less than the future of our islands is at stake.

We Are Student Centered

2007-10-17T11:03:00.000+10:00

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which oversees accreditation for virtually all schools in the Marianas, has a pretty cool nick name for its acronym, WASC: We Are Student Centered. That is a great way to think about education.

But what does it mean to be student-centered?

First, I think it means to focus not on teaching but on student learning. It doesn’t matter how great one’s lecture is if the students just don’t get it. A focus on learning shifts the attention away from how much the teacher knows to how much the student learns.

Second, being student-centered means respecting the goals and expectations of each student. Sometimes teachers assume that a student’s goals are the same as that of the school or of other students. However, students have different expectations of school and different goals in life. Educators must pay attention to those goals and expectations and incorporate them into their instructional design. Research has shown that making learning relevant to students is one of the most effective ways to improve their motivation and drive to learn.

Third, being student-centered means accommodating the different needs of different students. Students have different learning styles and personalities, all of which should be acknowledged and harnessed in the classroom. In education circles, the multiple-intelligences saying goes, “It’s not how smart are you, but how are you smart?” By building on one learning style that is strong, you can enhance a student’s other learning styles. Respecting the diverse, unique needs of students requires that we differentiate our instruction.

Fourth and last, being student-centered means truly caring for each and every student. I know this can be very hard in our day and age when students don’t respect teachers like they did in the “good old days”. (However, I often wonder how good were the good old days.) While students should definitely respect their teachers, we educators must remember: respect that is earned is better than respect that is commanded or demanded. We can earn the respect of our students by respecting them in the first place and by genuinely caring for them. Perhaps, when we care for them, they will begin to care for themselves and their learning.

As Maya Angelou so aptly put it, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” And what better feeling to plant in students than the love for learning, for that love will take them farther than any lesson I could ever teach in a day or even a year.

Promises Compromised

2007-10-11T16:37:00.000+10:00

At the recent education forums sponsored by the Association of Commonwealth Teachers, one particular question has been posed at every forum: “The common perception of teachers is that politicians are supportive of education while running for office, and then neglect PSS once in office. What do you think has caused this perception, and how will you address these concerns?”

To me, the answer to the first half of the question is easy: It’s not a perception. It’s the truth. The real question, then, is how and why does that happen? Why do elected officials make promises, only to break them once in office?

Let me just say this: I don’t believe it’s because politicians are evil. I sincerely believe that most politicians start out with good intentions and are, for the most part, concerned about the public good.

However, along the way, promises are compromised as politicians struggle with the reality of politics. Unfortunately, that reality isn’t necessarily about the public good. That reality is riddled with special interests, opposing parties, the complexity of issues, and the plain difficulty of getting a group of opinionated people to agree on anything. In that reality, it’s easy to lose sight of your promises and convictions.

To make matters worse, many politicians become convinced that in order to accomplish anything in politics, one must game the system by manipulating people, brokering deals, and orchestrating all sorts of schemes. In short, well-meaning politicians come to believe that they need power to make things happen. Then, it’s only a matter of time before the pursuit of power overpowers good intentions.

So, you either get lost in the mix or lost in power. Either way, you compromise your promises, which leads to the more important question: How do we keep this from happening?

That, my fellow citizens, is the trillion dollar question that has puzzled political theorists for thousands of years. While I don’t think we’ll find the answer in the weeks before the election, we can at least remain vigilant and remind leaders, once elected, of the promises they made.

Of course, it would be just as good if politicians promised less and delivered more. But would such candidates get elected? There’s another good question for another time.

My Personal Vision Statement of Education

2007-10-10T12:32:00.000+10:00

Every student can, should, and will learn
to lead meaningful, purpose-driven lives
as competitive yet humane participants in the emerging global marketplace
who ultimately work to make their world a better place.

To these ends,

All students will become better analytical and critical thinkers
who have a culturally sensitive global understanding of their world.
All students will become well-rounded individuals who are developed
spiritually, morally, socially, mentally, emotionally, creatively, and physically.
All students will become sympathetic and empathetic servants to others in need.

All teachers will become professionally proficient, passionate educators
who enthusiastically help students reach the highest academic standards.
All teachers will proactively cultivate learning among their students by
engaging the diverse learning styles of all their students.
All teachers will manifest a sincere and concrete care for each and every student.

All administrators and staff will secure a safe and welcoming school environment
that is conducive to learning.
All administrators and staff will provide resources and opportunities
for learning and professional growth.
All administrators and staff will respect teachers as professionals
and give them the support they need to do their jobs.

I will ardently listen, communicate, and promote dialogue to the best of my ability.
I will humbly assist, elicit assistance, and promote collaboration to the best of my ability.
I will passionately lead, empower, and promote synergy to the best of my ability.

All I will do is all that I can to help students, teachers, administrators, and staff succeed.
That is all that I can, should, and will do.

Adios Sister Remedios

2007-10-04T20:18:00.000+10:00

Sister Remedios Castro and her fellow MMB sisters from Saipan.

She was never elected to public office. She never made a penny of profit. And she never penned a condemning word about anyone. Still, she has probably had more positive influence and done more good for our islands than any politician, business person, or critic. Sister Remedios Castro has thus left us with a moving legacy of humility, charity, and love. It is a legacy that brings vivid life to the words of Henry Adams: “A teacher affects eternity; [s]he can never tell where [her] influence stops.”

And even though she has passed on, we can still learn much from this great teacher. Her example teaches us that it is better to serve than to be served; that the greatest rewards in life come not from material possessions; and that kind, supporting words help people grow more than harsh admonishments.

And whenever I find my ministry as a teacher and principal too much to bear, I remember the patient love of Sister Remedios and I struggle on. That is the lesson that I continue to learn from her.

Sister Remedios will be missed dearly by many, including myself, but I sincerely hope that her spirit will live on in our hearts and in the way we treat each other. For if we are to be worthy of her legacy, then we must learn to live the life of love that she lived every day of her life.

Adios Teacher.

Education is a Partnership

2007-09-27T15:42:00.000+10:00

At a recent forum on education sponsored by the Association of Commonwealth Teachers, Tina Sablan, a candidate for the House of Representatives, noted that education must involve everyone in our community, not just teachers. Her comment echoes one of my long-held beliefs about education and is something we must take to heart. Education isn’t a passive process whereby teachers fill students’ minds with information. Rather, education is an active and interactive partnership, where students construct knowledge on their own, where the focus is on learning not on teaching. In this model, a teacher is not a sage on the stage. Rather, he is a guide by the side of the student.

But this progressive perspective is not shared by many people, many of whom blame teachers for not teaching. Furthermore, teachers and schools have increasingly become the scapegoats for all that’s wrong in our society. The business community blames our schools for not churning out a skilled workforce. Community leaders blame our schools for low test scores and lackluster student performance. And, at least nationally, pundits and cultural warriors blame schools for the breakdown of society and traditional family values.

But, the truth is that schools cannot and should not bear the brunt of all this blame, for true education is a partnership. At the individual student level, that partnership involves teachers, parents, and students all doing their fair share. At the community level, that partnership involves schools, businesses, and community leaders working together for a shared mission and vision.

However, it has become all too common, easy, and even fashionable to blame schools for our social ills. This is very unfortunate because school teachers, staff, and administrators all work very hard to give the best possible education they can give, with what limited resources they have. And they keep at it, doing the best they can, even though some of their “partners” in education spend more time pointing the finger than lifting a finger.

There is simply too much at stake to keep passing blame. And what’s at stake? Our future and the very livelihood of our islands. Given those stakes, it’s time we all did our part in this partnership of education. It’s time we talked more about responsibility than blame. It’s time we found not blame, but solutions—together.

What We Spend Our Money On Reveals What We Value

2007-09-20T20:46:00.000+10:00

When I got back from college in 1997, I was astounded that Marianas High School was still the only public high school on Saipan for thousands of students. I even taught there for a while and was shocked to see as many as 40 students crammed into each windowless classroom. The simple fact, as verified by credible research, is that overcrowded schools and classrooms are difficult to manage and, therefore, difficult to teach.

What was even more shocking was that while MHS waited for a new gym—one that had been stalled for almost a decade—it took no time to erect a new court building and prison facility right next door! And while now we may have two new public high schools, it’s still a shame that we can build courtrooms and a state-of-the-art prison facility, but we can’t even fund toilet paper for MHS, let alone renovate or build new classrooms. And don’t even get me started on the challenges faced at Hopwood.

On top of that, discussion is underway to give government attorneys higher pay at the same time that PSS is facing severe budget cuts.

And from a national level, it sickens me that while thousands of billions of dollars are spent on the military, most schools have to beg and fundraise and panhandle just to buy textbooks. You have to ask, when was the last time the military had a bake sale?

I’m not saying that we don’t need the military. Nor am I trashing on our men and women in the armed forces, for whom I have nothing but respect and admiration. I just think our priorities are a little warped.

After all, what are our priorities?

Why do we spend more money to build courtrooms and prisons instead of classrooms? Is it more important to put people in jail than to keep them out?

Why do we spend more money on attorneys than teachers? Is litigation more important than education?

And why do we spend more money on weapons and bombs than on schools? Is it more important to destroy than to build towards a future?

In the end, what we spend our money on says so much more about what we value than anything else. So, while the adage may be that actions speak louder than words, our spending priorities must be so loud it’s deafening. If that’s the case, have we grown deaf to the symphony of destruction blasting away? I certainly hope we haven’t.

After a storm, only the trees with the deepest roots remain standing.

2007-09-13T14:08:00.000+10:00

The following was a speech delivered to the Mount Carmel School graduating class of 2007.

I remember my high school graduation. Unlike my classmates, I couldn’t wait to get out of here. I just wanted to get off this rock and set off for a new life. And unlike my classmates, I couldn’t stand the idea of following a clique to the same college. I wanted to be on my own. So that’s what I did. I enrolled at a college where I was the only one from the Marianas. People had no idea where Saipan was, which is exactly what I wanted.

But when it came time for my college graduation, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay in college.

And I had every reason to stay. I had just been nominated for both the Rhodes and Marshall fellowships, two of the most prestigious fellowships in the world that would have allowed me to study at Cambridge or Oxford in England.

I had professors who paved my way into graduate school at the University of Washington. On top of guaranteed admission, free tuition, and a paid stipend, I was going to publish a book with one of my professors. Had I taken those opportunities, I probably would be a professor right now with my college roommate and good buddy, Dr. Kevin Price, teaching in the University of Washington’s Politics and Government program.

Instead, here I am where I swore I’d never return, back on this rock, back at Mount Carmel School. And I’ve been here now for eleven years.

What happened? What went wrong? Well, nothing really went wrong. In fact, things went very, very right.

At first, I returned because my mom was in tears, begging me to come back home.
And trust me, when I got back home, I hated it. I complained about everything, even the pizza on island. But in my first year back, I had one of those once in a lifetime opportunities to fix things with my dad. You see, I grew up hating my father. He was an alcoholic who played poker, was very abusive to my mom, and didn’t seem to care at all about me. But, when I returned, he was a different man. Or, perhaps he finally revealed his real self.

He and I ended up having some simple yet important talks. Nothing serious. We would just sit in the garage and talk about the orchids he grew or about family. But those talks brought us closer. And I got to see the real man behind the alcohol, behind the gambling, behind the abuse.
I got to know him as a man who regretted the mistakes he had made, and only wanted to make things rights.

At the same time, I also learned from my mom how proud my dad was of me. He never said anything to me, but he would always brag to his friends about everything I was doing. And it was at that time that I also learned that he was not, in fact, my biological father. Despite that, he still treated me like his own son.

When I finally realized all of this about my dad, I built up the courage to tell him some of the hardest words any man can tell his father.

I told him that I loved him.

A few weeks later, he passed away.

While his passing away was sad, I was happy that I had the chance to mend things with him before it was too late. I was happy that I came home to do that. Had I gone on to graduate school to do all those important things I was supposed to do, I would have missed my chance to do something even more important.

So, the sacrifice was well worth it.

And since then, I’ve had the opportunity to do many great things, from teaching to drama to meeting my beautiful wife and starting a wonderful family.

I tell you this story for two reasons.

First, never miss an opportunity to show your love and appreciation for other people. You, yourselves, have learned that lesson all too well this year. Remember at the beginning of the school year when I asked you how you would treat someone if you knew that person were going to die tomorrow? Can you imagine how different this world would be if we all treated each other that way? It would be a very different world. It would be a better world.

Second, I tell you the story of my homecoming because just as my mom asked me to come home many years ago, I ask that you, one day, come home too.

I know this seems strange, at a graduation, to ask this. should be telling you to fly off to the horizon of your future.

But, to be quite honest, I am tired of seeing people leave, especially when we need them the most. Too many people from our islands have left for “the states” for a better life, rather than making life better here. And we so desperately need life to be better here. For that, we need your help.

Sure, go off and get your education, get some experience, but then bring it back here to help us.
God knows we need it.

I’ll admit, coming home won’t be easy. It wasn’t for me. But, I promise you, it will be meaningful. It will be worth it.

If you don’t believe me, let me share one more story with you.

In 2004, I was pursuing my passion to make movies and was all ready to head off to film school.
But, just as I was receiving acceptance letters, Bishop Tomas Camacho asked me to apply for the principal position here. I didn’t answer Bishop right away, but I promised him that I would think about it and pray on it.

And so I did.

And one of my favorite times to pray is while running in the mornings. Well, it so happened that one morning right after Typhoon Paka, I was running along the beach pathway, thinking about it. When I stopped to catch my breath for a bit, I noticed that there were a lot of trees that were blown down, but a few remained standing. I stood up and just stared for a long while trying to figure out how those few trees withstood the typhoon’s 100-plus mile-per-hour winds, heavy rains, crashing waves, and massive flooding and erosion.

How did those trees do it? Well, as I looked closer, my eyes moved down towards the ground.
It was then that I realized that the only trees that remained standing were those with the deepest roots.

And that’s when it hit me.

My roots are here.

And only by digging deeper roots will I remain standing, no matter what typhoons come my way.

So, that’s why I gave up film school to come back to Mount Carmel.
I came back to dig deeper roots.

Now, I urge you to remember your roots. Remember where you came from. And one day, come home. We’ll be here, ready to welcome you back with open arms and open hearts.
Until then, know that we will miss you—I will miss you—and we’ll do our best to hold down the fort, eagerly waiting for your return.

Thank you and congratulations.

Why We Need to Support Teachers

2007-09-13T14:01:00.000+10:00

I will always be a teacher. And I will always have respect and admiration for other teachers because, in my biased opinion, no other service helps people and society more than teaching. Whether it be Socrates, whose teaching started Western philosophy; Lino Olopai, whose teaching offers wisdom in our modern times; or the countless teachers in our classrooms whose teaching inspires young minds and hearts to achieve great things, teachers make a world of difference in the lives of all of us. Indeed, Henry Adams got it right when he wrote, “A teacher affects eternity; he [or she] can never tell where his [or her] influence stops.”

Moreover, teachers sacrifice so much to help our children. Even in these hard times, teachers dig deep into their own pockets to buy supplies and surprises for their students. They stay up late into the night writing lesson plans, grading papers, and thinking about how to help little Johnny who’s having a hard time with his multiplication table. And while some voices in the community pay only lip service to education and others outright bash the education system, everyday, in the trenches of our schools, teachers fight the good fight, moving forward one student at a time, against the daunting tide of criticism and empty promises.

Some say that we have to be practical and realistic about education and the economy, a perspective often used to undercut education. Well, if you want to be practical and realistic about the current state of affairs, how can you not see education as the practical and realistic solution to our problems? An educated workforce is a skilled workforce that attracts high-paying jobs and profitable industries. An educated electorate is a thinking electorate that will not tolerate government corruption, incompetence, and indifference. An educated people is an enlightened people that will work together to find common solutions to our common problems.

So, why in our darkest hours do we cut funding for our schools? Now, more than ever, we must invest in our schools. The most important resources in any given community are its human resources, and you cannot have that without good schools. Despite businesses and industries that run to protect their access to cheap labor, the new global market increasingly demands a high-skilled, high-knowledge workforce. As the National Center on Education and Economy put it, “only countries with highly skilled workforces could successfully compete in [the new global] market.” In other words, we don’t need cheap labor. We need smart labor.

That is why, instead of investing in lobbyists, consultants, and a third-world model built on cheap labor, we must invest in our children and we must support our teachers.

For teachers have not given up on our children and our future. Neither should we.

Galvin Deleon Guerrero
Candidate for the Board of Education
“From the classroom to the boardroom—an educator for education.”
Garapan, Saipan

p. s.
I don’t claim to know it all and welcome your thoughts and comments. Feel free to email me at galvin@itecnmi.com.

Err on the Side of Hope

2007-07-21T01:47:00.000+10:00

As a teacher, I often reflect on a long-running debate about human nature between another teacher, Plato, and his student, Aristotle. At the risk of oversimplifying that debate, as an idealist, Plato, in the guise of Socrates, argued that people are inherently good. Aristotle, on the other hand, believed that while people could be taught to be good, they are generally more self-interested, hence his claim in The Politics that “man is by nature a political animal.”

As educators, we stand somewhere in the middle of this debate, albeit leaning more towards Plato. We don’t quite claim that people are inherently good, but we do believe that they can and should be taught to be good. In this sense, our dilemma is better contextualized by the contrasting ideas of Plato and Aristotle about art. Whereas Plato argued that art should portray an abstract ideal, Aristotle argued that art should reflect concrete reality, with all its imperfections. Aristotle summed up this contrast in his distinction between the potential, or the ideal, and the actual, or reality as we see it.

As educators, we tend to idealistically believe in the potential of our students. Other professionals, however, are much more Aristotelian in their practical inclination towards baser aspects of human nature, namely self-interest. Lawyers work within an adversarial framework that pits parties against each other, each struggling for its respective self interest. Businesspeople play off of people’s self-interests in a competitive market driven by commercial consumerism. The medical profession has profited off of people’s insecurities with products such as Botox, Viagra, and plastic surgery, rather than encouraging everyone to live healthier, balanced lives. Politicians and the entire American system of federalism rely on conflicting interest groups, under the fatalistic and paralyzing expectation that these interest groups will cancel each other out. Journalists thrive on bad news about people who do bad things. Police officers spend most of their time hunting bad people, all the while trying not to become bad themselves. Even accountants operate under the assumption that someone somewhere at sometime will steal something.

In short, most professions are premised on the reality of self-interest. However, for us teachers, our profession is premised on the ideal of potential, that is, the ideal potential of our students. Maybe that’s why we have such a hard time communicating with politicians, business leaders, and other professionals in the great education debate. Maybe their pressure for accountability stems from an Aristotelian perspective of education, a deficit perspective that sees children as incomplete and broken machines that need to be fixed, not as “living systems [that] grow and evolve of their own accord” (Senge, 2000, p. 37), which is how most of us teachers see our students.

Yet the Aristotelian perspective is validated by our shared history, where violence and bloodshed eclipse our few, ephemeral moments of kindness and charity. Indeed, if the usual outcomes in human history are any measure, I can’t blame the realists for wanting to err on the side of caution and assume the worst of humanity.

In this light (or darkness?), ours is not so much the noble profession as it is the idealistic profession that requires quantum leaps of faith. And as one such professional, I confess that I profess that faith.

And at times, my faith is validated by a few but proud outcomes; like when Marvin, whom everyone had dismissed as lazy and stupid, one day understood and related to the children of Polonius in “Hamlet”; or when Nicolette, an overachiever obsessed with building her resume, humbly learned the value of service when tutoring a child at a battered women’s shelter as part of a National Honor Society service project; or when Rabban, a troubled kid who once came close to being arrested, found the drive to do better in school in order to land a disc jockey job we had arranged for him at a local radio station; or when Marie, after her father had passed away, found solace and meaning in my own story of my father’s passing. There are many moments such as these, moments that give me reason to hope.

Thus, while the Aristotelians choose to err on the side of caution, I’d rather err on the side of hope.

Transformation: More Than Meets the Eye

2007-07-12T01:28:00.001+10:00

Dr. Gini Shimabukuro’s reminder that “Catholic pedagogy calls educators to transform students” (Shimabukuro, 2007, B-1) might seem too obvious. After all, that is why we entered Catholic education, right?

Another obvious insight is that the responsibility for learning should not rest solely on the educator, especially if we are to shift our focus to “academic processes that will empower our students to interiorize their learning” (B-1). And that is probably the hardest thing to accept, that the most we can do is to create the most optimal conditions for student learning, for ultimately, the responsibility for learning rests on students, not teachers or schools.

But this does not absolve teachers and schools of their own respective responsibility, namely to, in turn, take responsibility for their learning. “We must simultaneously allow ourselves to be transformed [and]…shift our focus from teaching to learning” (Palmer from Shimabukuro, 2007, B-1). Indeed, taking responsibility for one’s own learning may be more difficult than relinquishing responsibility for the learning of another. In other words, it is easier to preach than to practice. This too should be obvious, right?

Another obvious insight is that “an effective curriculum development process hinges upon routine teacher reflection and dialogue among colleagues” (Shimabukuro, 2007, B-2), where teachers come together as true learning communities. Despite this call for teacher reflection and dialogue, I have heard and read many laments that teachers do not do enough of either. However, I have found that teachers will reflect and dialogue in their own way, usually around the water cooler or in a remote corner of the faculty lounge. I believe it is only human nature to reflect on our experiences and share those reflections with others through dialogue, or, in this case, gossip. Our goal, then, as school leaders, is to steer that reflection and dialogue through healthier channels that lead to the fulfillment of a school’s mission. In fact, healthy reflection and dialogue should be about just that, the school’s mission. Shouldn’t this also be obvious?

All of this might seem obvious, but it is funny how, when we get swept away by the currents of everyday school life, we become oblivious to the obvious. Perhaps what we need is not only a transformation of pedagogy but a transformation of perspective, one where we stay attuned to the obvious. When we do that—when we transform our perspectives—we might ironically find that there is more than meets the eye.

And so, to paraphrase one of my greatest teachers, Optimus Prime, I call on all educators: “Transform and roll out!”

What about Catholic Pedagogy?

2007-07-12T01:27:00.000+10:00

Industrial-Age vs. New Science thinking. Where do I stand? To be quite honest, with one foot in each. To speak to the Industrial-Age pedagogy, we cannot deny and should not neglect the utilitarian nature of education. In one way or another, it is incumbent upon us, as educators, to prepare students “to deal with the stress of the real world” (Senge, 2000, p. 28). To do any less would be irresponsible and almost criminal. Perhaps it is the privilege of first-world countries to worry so much about Abraham Maslow’s coveted self-actualization, but the fact remains that before you can reach that level of fulfillment, you must first fill your stomachs. And quite frankly, “deepening our sense of who we are and what we are committed to” (p. 35) does not feed your stomach. So, educators must accept the real world in which their students exist, which is still very Industrial-Age in its preference for educated workers who can outperform their peers. However, the changing needs of the new global marketplace also place my other foot in New Science, or systems, pedagogy. Peter Senge noted, “Employers of tomorrow likely will place a much higher value on listening and communication skills, on collaborative learning capabilities, and on critical thinking and systems thinking skills—because most work is increasingly interdependent, dynamic, and global” (p. 51). So, even from a utilitarian perspective, we must employ systems pedagogy if we want our students to be competitive in the global marketplace.

However, I did not get into education for strictly utilitarian reasons. That is why I work at a Catholic school, whose mission not only subsumes both Industrial-Age and systems pedagogies, but also transcends utilitarianism. My school’s mission states, “Mount Carmel School educates the whole person to see with Christ’s eyes.” From an Industrial-Age perspective, to see with Christ’s eyes means to perceive with the clarity of Christ’s vision and recognize how different parts of a whole work, just as Jesus recognized how the different laws of the Old Testament worked. From a New Science perspective, to see with Christ’s eyes means to discern with Christ’s wisdom and recognize how the different parts work together as one whole, just as Jesus synthesized all the old laws of the Old Testament into a new and profoundly simple new law. My school’s mission, which integrates both pedagogies, also offers utilitarian value to students’ education by equipping them with the analytical and critical thinking skills they will need to succeed in the real world. However, that same mission sees students from a holistic perspective and calls on them to transcend utilitarianism to find a higher purpose, a deeper meaning to their life on earth. For what does it mean to see with Christ’s eyes but to see people as Christ did, and love them as He did?

...and I am an eduholic.

2007-07-11T02:32:00.000+10:00

My name is Galvin Deleon Guerrero...and I am an eduholic.

I have been an educator for eleven years now. In that time, I have spent one year as a Vice Principal for Student Discipline, three years as a Director of Institutional Development, four years as a regent for higher education, two years as a board member on a humanities council, two years as a principal, and every year as a teacher, drama advisor, speech coach, and education enthusiast.

However, I don't proclaim to be an expert on education. In fact, I am constantly learning only to learn that the more I learn, the less I know.

So, I encourage y'all to read these thoughts as catalysts for further thought. In other words, I hope my thoughts galvanize your thoughts.

Ciao!