AJC > Sandy Springs > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November
November 2007
If I ruled the world, or at least North Springs Charter School
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The dream of many school kids has become reality in our little community as there is now a school without a principal.
Vicky Ferguson, principal of North Springs Charter School of Arts and Sciences, retired recently leaving the school with a vacancy.
And while I’m sure the existing administration at North Springs will do a crackerjack job in the interim, I’d like to throw my hat into the ring. Let me spell out my qualifications and platform.
First, I attended North Springs in 8th and 9th grade, back in the dark days before middle school. I was on the field when the Spartans won their state football title in 1969. It’d be like those big-time college football programs hiring a coach who played at the school years before.
Second, I attended public school right here in Sandy Springs from grade 1 (no pre-k back in the old days) through 12. I’m homegrown.
And last, I have two kids in college and I’m pretty sure high school principals pull in a decent paycheck.
Now that we’re all feeling warm and fuzzy about me, let’s shift to what I’d do as principal.
Job one would be bringing a staple gun to school and helping all those young gentlemen who have not been able to master the art of keeping their pants up where they need to be.
The fee for a student parking permit would be 1% of the retail price of their car.
Any kid that wants to be a cheerleader can be a cheerleader. Cheer until you’re hoarse, regardless of gender or any other criteria used.
All soda and candy machines - out the door.
Any kid making a cellphone call during school hours will get a day of detention. Any kid caught texting during school hours will clean the cafeteria greases traps.
Any kid who want to drop out of school on their 16th birthday to seek their fortune will be given a job application to every fast-food joint within a five-mile radius of the school to help them realize their dream.
For any parents wanting to complain about anything, my door is always open. Provided they can pass a brief quiz showing they can name all of their child’s teachers, what their child’s class schedule is, as well as the kid’s approximate current GPA.
You guys think I have a shot?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Jim Osterman
Meet my new neighbor, Mr. Coyote…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are coyote traps in my neighborhood.
That’s a sentence I never thought I’d write in a work of non-fiction. It’s right up there with: “Hey, great, my season tickets to the opera showed up in the mail today.”
We live in Mountaire Springs, which has been around since the late ‘50s. The neighborhood has magnificent mature wooded areas surrounding our homes.
It’s not like those new housing developments where someone comes in, shaves the land down to the dirt and drops a bunch of cookie-cutter houses with one forlorn sapling in the yard before moving on.
We have woods around our homes and with woods come critters. Squirrels, chipmunks, possums, rabbits, raccoons - thankfully, no skunks — and now, apparently, coyotes. I’ve never seen one loping through the ‘hood but I have no doubt they’re here.
In an adjacent subdivision I drive through frequently I used to spot a fox now and then, usually in the evening. So the idea that a coyote or two might find our wooded areas nice and homey doesn’t surprise me.
And hey, this is their neighborhood, too. We evict all the critters and we’re really mucking with nature, which is something we humans tend to do without thinking long-term.
A few years ago my wife and I were at a friend’s island beach house. A regular on the island showed me panther tracks. He said some people complained but he liked having the panther around because it hunted late at night and kept the island rat population under control. Would I rather have a panther, who kept to himself, or rats? Here kitty kitty.
And while I want to be critter-friendly, in the case of coyotes they need to be caught and released far from here. They might carry some nasty diseases and they might also dine on someone’s pet.
As for the rest of the critters, mi ‘hood su ‘hood.
Permalink | Comments (51) | Post your comment | Categories: Jim Osterman
There’s not much to cheer in this winter wonderland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the recent time change and drop in the temperatures I’m having to concede early that winter has arrived - not my favorite time of year to be in the south. Usually I can fudge it way into November, but this year I can’t hide in denial.
It’s dark and cold when I get up. It gets dark and cold when I get home in the afternoon. Too much dark and cold. Small wonder animals burrow in and hibernate - what else is there this time of year?
My wife’s gardens - whatever survived this summer’s lack of rain - are done for the year. Nothing’s blooming and nothing’s going to bloom again for months.
And the tomato plants have been pulled from the ground leaving large bare patches. No more fresh vegetables just steps from the back door.
Out front, no matter how many times I get the blower and clean off the driveway, every night another couple of tons of leaves drop to the ground. And there’s nothing scenic about trees that have lost their leaves.
The only good that comes of all this is I no longer have to cut the grass.
Living in Sandy Springs in the winter means we pretty much get all the worst of winter and none of the good. Geographically, we live in a place where it’s going to get cold, but that’s about it.
If Currier and Ives had lived in Sandy Springs, they never would have had their magnificent careers capturing pastoral scenes of winter. Soft blankets of snow, turning the world into a winter wonderland.
If we do get snow it’s usually no good for building a snowman or sledding. Most of the time all winter precipitation does here is ice over the streets and yank power lines.
The only good that comes this season is that one of my favorite days of the year comes in the winter. No - not Thanksgiving, Christmas of New Years. The day I think I’m most happy in the winter is December 22. That’s the shortest day of the year, which means every day thereafter starts getting longer.
Maybe I could learn to hibernate.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Jim Osterman
It’s your right to vote. Use it!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve hit the first week of November, the traditional time for elections, and there’s a Sandy Springs issue to be settled. It’s a special election to fill a vacated seat on the city council.
I only bring this up because I’m guessing few of you folks reading this are aware:
a) The first Tuesday of November is annually election day b) That there is a local issue to be decided c) Who the candidates are and where they stand
And that should bother all of us. Maybe even scare us.
At the age of 18 we get the right to vote, but we should also understand it is a privilege to get to vote. You don’t have to pass a test or pay a fee or know somebody on the inside to be able to vote.
You just have to register. Fill out a short form and you, too, can be part of this great democracy. Unfortunately, that’s more effort than a lot of us are willing to invest. I mean what with the new season of TV shows, cruising the Internet for celebrity gossip and navigating the mall - who the heck has time to invest in citizen participation?
And even most of those registered to vote can’t muster the time and energy to actually go cast that vote. And of those who might vote, if election day weather is too extreme, they’re likely to pass.
These are the same folks who scream the loudest when something doesn’t go their way and wonder why those in elected office aren’t doing more for them. I know this might be a radical thought, but can someone who holds an elected position do anything for someone who didn’t participate in the elective process.
Here’s an intemperate thought - if you can’t prove you voted in the last city election, you don’t get to complain about anything. We’ll put in some special seating at all public meetings for you to sit and listen - but no vote, no voice.
Want to speak your mind? Show up with your slip from the most recent election. Call it your license to whine.
Back in the ’60s we were told if we weren’t part of the solution, we were part of the problem. Well, I have seen the problem and the problem is us.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Categories: Jim Osterman
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