Roosevelt to the Suburban

Most of you who know me know that I take an interest in high school sports. I wouldn't call it an obsession, but I do attend high school sporting events fairly regularly and keep tabs on the happenings in the high school sports world. Playing along with my history interests, I'm also interested in the history of high school sports, and was recently referenced in an article in the local Record-Courier about the long-standing rivalry between Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent and Ravenna High School.

The biggest news recently, outside the Kent-Ravenna game this past weekend, was the announcement that Roosevelt will be leaving the Portage Trail Conference (PTC) and joining the Suburban League in all sports. The initial announcement said it would be in 2016, but seeing as every other school has indicated 2015, I won't be surprised to see that change for Roosevelt either. As the announcement has come about, I've noticed a lot of the same questions in comments, the biggest, of course, is why? Also, people are wondering about the rivalry with Ravenna.

First, in addressing why, the answer mainly lies in the issue of competitive balance. Money is somewhat of an issue, but not in terms of making more money, but rather spending less. Athletic conferences in Ohio are designed to make sure schools have regular scheduling partners who are of similar size and relatively close distance. The move from the PTC to the Suburban doesn't really represent much of a change in travel costs--in reality it will probably increase travel costs slightly--but it does represent a change in competitive balance.

The Suburban League, in its new configuration, will be set up the same way the PTC is: two divisions that are determined by a school's enrollment. As enrollment numbers change, a school's position can also change. In theory this works, but in reality, what I've seen so far is the break between the "big school" and "small school" divisions isn't usually that big, so the schools at the bottom of the "big school" division are often better suited for the "small school" division or vice versa. In the PTC, though, you have Roosevelt well ahead of any other school in enrollment. Typically, Roosevelt is around 1,300 students while the next largest school is around 900 (that can be Ravenna, Norton, Springfield, or Coventry, all of which are roughly the same size). Roosevelt is nearly twice the size of Crestwood and Field, which have about 700-750 students each. In the new Suburban League, the enrollments will be much closer. All of the schools in the "small school" division, of which Roosevelt will be a member, are between 900 and 1,300. Copley, Cloverleaf, Barberton, Highland, and Revere are all schools with over 1,000 students while Aurora and Tallmadge are both around 900.

Why does that matter? While having more students is no guarantee a school will always have better sports teams, mathematically, it means that in most years, they likely will. More students means a larger pool of talent. Sure, you'll always have smaller schools that buck the trend or that have a particularly talented group of athletes come through every so often. But in the long run, there is a much better chance that the large school will be more competitive more often. That is why the state divides sports into divisions based on enrollment, so more schools have the opportunity to play for state championships against similar schools.

In football, where there are 7 divisions now (the number of divisions depends on the sport), with the largest schools being Division I and the smallest in Division VII. Ohio uses a computer system to determine who makes the playoffs. Within each division are 4 regions and within those regions, the teams are given computer points. While winning always gets a team those valuable computer points, beating a team from a smaller division means you get less because the computer expects the larger school to beat the smaller school. This was most evident in 2010, when Roosevelt and Ravenna were both in Division II for football (which is not the case this year). Despite Ravenna beating Roosevelt head-to-head and winning the PTC Metro that year, Ravenna missed the playoffs, finishing 9th (top 8 qualify) just behind Roosevelt. Roosevelt's early-season wins over Division I Stow and Division II Kenston off-set Ravenna's wins over smaller schools by just the slightest, but enough to send one to the playoffs and not the other.

Those football points, right now, largely work against Roosevelt since it is the largest school in the PTC. This year and next, it will be the only Division II football school while the rest are all Division III. It's not an issue if the team goes 9-1 or 10-0 or even 8-2 (this year they are 4-1 thus far). But 7-3 and 6-4 records will look a lot better to the computers coming against fellow Division II schools like Copley and Barberton than they will against Division III schools like Crestwood and Field.

Another aspect of the size differential is the additional sports that don't have a home in the PTC. Roosevelt has almost 30 varsity teams. Boys volleyball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls swimming & diving, girls golf, ice hockey, and girls field hockey all play in other leagues because not enough (or any) schools in the PTC have teams. Playing in other leagues increases transportation costs for most of the sports because the teams generally have to go outside the area of the PTC to find leagues to participate in. A move to the Suburban will find homes for most of the above listed sports, with the exception of ice hockey. Of the sports listed above, the only other PTC schools to have them are Crestwood with boys and girls swimming & diving and Southeast with a girls golf team.  For all the others, Roosevelt is the only PTC school to offer that sport.

So, what happens after this? The first question most people have is in regards to the rivalry with Ravenna. In the new Suburban League, Roosevelt will have 7 league games and 3 open spots for non-league games. I have to believe that Stow will remain one of those 3 (Stow is also joining the Suburban League, but will be in the large school division, so the game won't count as a league game) just because of the money aspect. Stow coming to Kent and especially Kent going to Stow is a huge money-maker for both schools' athletic departments, so I don't see it ending anytime soon as long as it remains competitive.

The same is largely true with the Ravenna game. It is still competitive and will likely remain a revenue-producer for both schools for some time. While the magnitude of the game may lessen by the schools not being in the same conference (meaning you won't have a game like 2011 that decided the PTC Metro title), there will always be the long-standing rivalry between the two communities regardless of whether or not it's a conference game.  The only way I could see the Kent-Ravenna rivalry ending is if it becomes non-competitive. Even if that would happen, it would likely take a very long period of domination by one school to bring an end to the football rivalry. In other sports, I think Roosevelt will continue to schedule Ravenna as non-league, again, because of the overall rivalry and the interest it generates. About the only change might be just one meeting in basketball each season instead of two, but anything is possible.

This move will affect other rivalries too. I would say a rivalry was definitely developing between Roosevelt and Field in several sports and also with Streetsboro, at least in boys basketball. I anticipate both of those rivalries will come to an end, though Streetsboro may remain a boys basketball non-league game (which it has been for a number of years and likely will be again this year since Streetsboro is back in the PTC County). I don't see Roosevelt scheduling Field in sports beyond Cross Country and Track if at all, which is how it used to be before the formation of the PTC.

Conversely, I definitely foresee a rivalry developing with Tallmadge. Right now, Tallmadge's big rival is Green, but Green is leaving the Suburban (which is what largely caused this all in the first place), plus Green isn't adjacent to Tallmadge like Kent is. While I don't see a rivalry with Tallmadge ever eclipsing Ravenna, I easily see it becoming a strong one, especially from the perspective of Tallmadge since they will have no true rival and if both remain competitive in football. Tallmadge and Roosevelt were longtime members of the old Metro League until 1990 and periodically play each other in boys basketball and a few other sports.

Barberton is another old rival that Roosevelt knows well. Barberton was a member of the old Metro League and then the WRC South, so it's only been 8 years since the two were league rivals. While there has never been a fierce rivalry with Barberton on the level of Ravenna or even Stow, there was clearly a rivalry between the two in their old Metro and WRC days, though seeing as the old Metro only had 5 teams at the time it finally merged to form the WRC, every team had a rivalry of sorts with the other. Barberton also has some of the most intense fans in the area (especially for basketball) and travels well. When the PTC was looking to expand about a year ago to replace Windham and East Canton, I was hoping Barberton would join, but the PTC ended up not expanding at all.

That leads to the next topic: what's next for the PTC? As I said, the PTC avoided expansion two years ago when Windham and East Canton announced they were leaving, mostly because there weren't a lot of viable alternatives. It's clear the PTC doesn't want any larger schools, but instead, seems to want to add smaller schools so that Southeast, Streetsboro, and Woodridge can all be bumped into the Metro Division. Right now, in addition to the gap between Roosevelt and the rest of the Metro, there is a noticeable gap between Southeast, Streetsboro, and Woodridge and the rest of the County Division. In other words, Roosevelt leaving may be a blessing in terms of organization and achieving the balance the PTC wants.

Two smaller schools in Geauga County, Cardinal and Berhshire, have already been mentioned as possibilities since those two are leaving the Chagrin Valley Conference soon and have expressed interest. Even if that happens, it still leaves one more opening. When the PTC debated replacing Windham and East Canton, 4 schools applied: Northwest in southern Summit County, St. Thomas Aquinas in Louisville, Lake Center Christian School, and Barberton. Barberton is off to the Suburban again, so they're obviously not in the picture, and Northwest would likely be in the Metro Division. Lake Center Christian would be the smallest school in the PTC, but they don't have a football team, which makes them rather unattractive. The problem St. Thomas Aquinas presents is that they're a private school, so my guess is that other PTC County Division schools would feel (and likely be) at a disadvantage against St. Thomas since St. Thomas can draw from a much wider pool of talent even if they have a similar-sized enrollment as other PTC County schools.

Although the PTC area is almost surrounded by smaller school districts, most of them are in conferences that are stable, so there is no pressing need to change affiliations. With that in mind, it may be difficult for the PTC to get back to 16 teams. They could still function at 15 and have the County with 7 and the Metro with 8. While less than ideal for scheduling, it is hardly impossible, and it would largely solve the enrollment disparity that currently exists in both divisions.

Overall, I hope it's obvious that I think this move is a good move for Roosevelt, the PTC, and the Suburban League. The Suburban League was having some enrollment disparities of its own, so this allows them to address that on both ends. For Roosevelt, it allows them to compete and associate with schools that are more similar than those in the PTC, not only in terms of enrollment, but also facilities, and gives more sports a home league. For the PTC, it allows them to also address the enrollment disparity in both divisions. People forget that Roosevelt wasn't in the initial wave of invitations that brought about the PTC from the old Portage County League. It was only after Roosevelt was faced with the option of staying in the old WRC and having to deal with increased travel costs and being the smallest school in the league that they pursued membership in the PTC. Had Barberton not left the WRC when it did, I don't think Roosevelt would've either.

Anniversary or succession?

In preparation for This is Kirtland! this year, there has definitely been some excitement because it's the 10th run of the show. A lot of people, though, keep referring to it as the "10th anniversary", when, in reality, it's not since the show started in 2004 and 2004 + 10 = 2014. This isn't the first time I've noticed this and people seem to confuse anniversary with other things, especially events that occur annually.

An anniversary is the celebration of the number of years since something has happened. For instance, the first wedding anniversary for a couple is one year since their marriage. In other words, it celebrates the end of that first year and is also the beginning of their second year.  The same is true for birthdays. When someone celebrates their 16th birthday, they have just ended their 16th year and now they are above that age. In reality, when we celebrate an infant's "first" birthday, it's really the first birthday anniversary since the first real birthday (in the truest sense of the word) is the actual day of birth.

Now, in some things, particularly annual events, we have two ways of marking time. One is to celebrate the anniversary of the first time something occurred (like an organization celebrating 10 years in existence), while the other way is numbering beginning at the first event (like the Super Bowl). Because we use both, people seem to think they are synonymous, when in reality, they aren't, but they're obviously still related.

What's interesting is when I point out the difference, it's often treated with contempt, like a detail that doesn't matter or I'm just being too picky. OK, then why use it if doesn't really matter? All it takes is simple counting and knowing what it is you're trying to celebrate. One of the tricky things, though, is when the first year of something is a year that ends in zero. That happened here in Kent with the annual Pops Concert. The first one was in 1970, so I noticed just the other day that the ads were promoting the "43rd annual Pops Concert". Nope, it's the 44th, but the 43rd anniversary of the first one. What's even better about that is that Pops '09 was celebrated as the 40th concert (though it was often referred to as the "40th anniversary" even though 2009 is obviously not 40 years after 1970) and there hasn't been a break in the concerts since then. Again, the simple confusion of succession vs. anniversary.

Here's a visual for This is Kirtland! to show how it works:

#1: 2004 (first performance run or "season")
#2: 2005
#3: 2006
#4: 2007
#5: 2008
#6: 2009
#7: 2010
#8: 2011
#9: 2012
#10: 2013

Note that 2004 subtracted from 2013 gives you only 9, again, since it hasn't been 10 years since the show opened, but this is simply the 10th time it's being put on (as is demonstrated). It's always going to be a year ahead of an anniversary because of what I explained earlier. As such, if you noticed the logo I designed for the show in a previous post, it says "10th Season", not "10th Anniversary".

The same is true for the Pops Concert at Roosevelt:

#1: 1970 (this would've been the "1st annual Pops Concert")
#2: 1971
#3: 1972
#4: 1973...
#40: 2009
#41: 2010
#42: 2011
#43: 2012
#44: 2013

Note how the succession is one number higher than the year since #1 was in 1970. It makes it easy to remember anniversaries when you have a year that ends in zero (like my graduating class of 2000!!), but can be a tad confusing if the annual tabulation is used.

And really, those of you who know me KNOW I'm a details person and a history person, so YES I definitely notice and I do actually care. Like I said, if you're going to go to the effort of publicizing how long an event has been around, there's no reason it should be inaccurate, especially something so simple. SO, make sure you know what you're measuring to celebrate: anniversary or succession.

Second Verse Same as the First!

I'm back using the laptop again after I had some major problems getting it to start just before I left Utah.  It would turn on, but wouldn't get past the "Welcome" screen.  It also wouldn't shut down (I left it in "shutting down" mode and came back 3 hours later and the "shutting down" screen was still up.  After running the full Checkdisk (CHKDSK), which took like 8 hours, and then startup repair, it finally opened today, though it still has some problems.  I'm hoping the problems are software related and not hardware related.  I already have Windows 7 ready to install, which I hope to do this weekend.  I was thankfully able to get all my important files copied to my desktop (and will eventually copy them again to my external hard drive), so I can start over.  All I need to do now is get the license keys for Microsoft Office programs so I can reinstall them after I add Windows 7.  My laptop is an HP Pavilion tx2000z, a tablet PC, complete with fingerprint reader and touch screen.  I got it in late May or early June 2008, just before I started grad school, so it's coming on 4 years.  My desktop (Dell) is almost 5 years old (got it March 2007) and is definitely showing its age.  All the more reason to get a better job, so I can replace them when that time comes!  While the laptop was out and I wasn't home to use the desktop, I was able to use my iPod Touch to access most of the websites I check the most.  Mobile's great and all, but not all the time, especially for typing!

Another year, another run with This is Kirtland!

My laptop problem is my first major "event" of 2012, which began for me in Utah.  It was the first New Year's for me in Utah since I spent New Year's Eve 2001 in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah.  It was great to be out in Utah with several members of my immediate family, and to have a change in the usual routine for Christmas.  As with any change in the year, I've definitely been reflecting on the past year, as most people do.  2011 overall wasn't a whole lot different than 2010 or 2009 in terms of progress.  That's not to say that nothing good happened in 2011, but it certainly wasn't as eventful in the areas I had hoped for when I looked ahead one year ago.  In many ways I feel stuck in neutral as far as finding that first full-time job and really taking off with life.  I'm still subbing and still at the same house.  There is some hope on the horizon, though, so at this point I'm cautiously optimistic that 2012 will bring some long-awaited progress in my life!  By the end of this year, there will definitely be some changes in any event in terms of employment.  Hopefully those changes will be an improvement over the current circumstances.

Singing the national anthem for the first time at a Major League game
was a total thrill!

The three biggest events of the year for me personally happened almost a month apart and were both unexpected events, or at least somewhat unexpected.  First was my surgery on August 25 to have my gallbladder removed. I had been having abdominal pains every few months and I just attributed it to indigestion.  The days leading up to the surgery, I had very intense abdominal pains that lasted a good 2 days and eliminated my appetite, not to mention made it somewhat painful to take deep breaths.  At first, there was fear of appendicitis, but I wasn't experiencing any of the symptoms.  After seemingly recovering from the stomach pains, I got extreme abdominal pains early in the morning of August 24th, so I had Mom take me to the ER in Ravenna around 5:30 AM.  There it was determined that my gallbladder was in need of removal, so I had surgery scheduled the next day.  It was the first time I've ever checked into a hospital and stayed overnight.  The surgery went well, but the gallbladder was so swollen it was ready to burst, so rather than going laparoscopically, they had to do a traditional incision that is about 7 inches long.  I still have a nice scar from that incision and the staples that were used to close it (and were removed about 2 weeks later).  Paying the whole medical bill is an on-going process, but thankfully I have been able to make steady payments to the myriad of bills!

Pre-surgery picture.  I was in the hospital a total of 4 days and 3 nights

My next biggest surprise was the first of 2011, when the Cleveland Indians called me on March 3 (the day after my birthday) and asked me to sing the national anthem at the game April 5th.  I had been sending audition CDs to the Indians for years, so it was nice to finally hear from them.  Even better was that (in an even bigger surprise), I was asked to sing again at the September 24th game too!  Both performances were great experiences and I hope to be able to sing for the Tribe again in 2012.  I also sang for the Akron Aeros again on Good Friday.  It was fun, but very cold and wet!

 The other somewhat unexpected event of 2011 was that I got a new car.  Actually, I got 2 new cars, well, new to me.  In April, my grandparents bought a brand-new Ford Taurus and subsequently gave me their 2005 Buick LeSabre (the ultimate grandparents car!).  The biggest surprise there was that their new car was red, BRIGHT red, from two people who have owned mostly blue, green, or gray cars the last few decades (the LeSabre is gray).  I knew they had been leaning towards getting a new car, but I didn't even know they were looking until they had already bought the new Taurus.  Well, at that point I tried to sell my existing 1998 Oldsmobile 88 LS (which had a host of problems) and the LeSabre with hopes of using the money to get a newer, smaller car.  Well, I struggled to find anyone willing to buy either car, so I was resigned to just keeping the newer LeSabre and going for a newer (and smaller) car when I finally got a job.  Well, things were going well until my trip to Pennsylvania and New York in August and I ended up having to have the LeSabre shipped back to Ohio after the brake rods rusted through, which happened in New York City on the way back from JFK airport.  All that got the wheels going fast on getting a different car, one that wasn't going to completely bankrupt me by having problem after problem.  With my mom's help, we got the main problems fixed on both cars and tried to sell them on the open market, but that didn't work. The LeSabre was sold to VanDevere Buick in Akron for $7,000 and I traded the Olds in (for a whopping $700) when I got my new car at Park Honda in Akron. I ended up getting a 2008 Honda Civic EX, which so far I have absolutely loved.  It's obviously much smaller than my previous cars (major plus), has great gas mileage, and my most favorite feature is the power moonroof.  I took it on its first major trip in November (to Louisiana and back) and it did pretty well!  

First time in the new car...this was the day AFTER I sang for the Indians
and got horribly sunburned during the game!

My new car right after I brought it home!

I had my share of travels this past year, which I very much enjoyed.  My first trip was to Bowling Green, Ohio, to see Kent State play BG in men's basketball and to visit my friend Michelle.  It's always fun to visit, plus we got to see a great game (and a KSU victory)!  The interesting part of the trip to BG was that I took it during the week (Tuesday) even though I had work the next day at Roosevelt (which also happened to be my 29th birthday).  I got back to Kent around midnight and then went to work ay 7 AM.  Yeah, I was tired, but it was totally worth it.  Other travels included three trips to Nashville (March, August, and November).  The November trip to Nashville was for Thanksgiving and also included a same-day trip to and from Monroe, Louisiana, to visit a friend there.  The most adventurous trip of 2011 was the Ridinger family gathering in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania near the town of Bushkill at the Tree Top Villas. That included three trips into New York City, which was just under 2 hours from where we were staying.  I took a solo trip to Manhattan one day (which included parking in Manhattan for free!), the crazy trip to JFK to drop my sister's friend Natalie off at the airport (the entire trip to and from JFK took like 9 hours or something outrageous because of traffic!), and then a group trip to Manhattan with my dad, sisters, and brother-in-law.  The two sightseeing trips were tons of fun and I enjoyed where we stayed and the time we had with each other.  My other biog trip is what ended 2011: my trip to Utah to visit with my sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew for Christmas and New Years with Mom.  It was a lot of fun, plus I enjoyed being able to see a few of my old friends I don't get to see very much anymore.  Christmas with a 2-year old is rather entertaining as well!

2011 Ridinger family photo

Birthday trip to BG with Michelle!

March 5 game in Kent with Katie!

Christmas morning at Becky & David's

Nate liked the wooden train I got him (Mom found it; I financed it!)

And of course, no year would be complete without another appearance in This is Kirtland! which I did this summer for the 6th year.  2011 was my debut as Lorenzo Snow, a part I thoroughly enjoyed.

After a show, from Brenda Ebie

And lastly, I finally rejoined the Kent Historical Society in October and started putting my love of local history to work. I'm in charge of planning a 90th anniversary of the Davey school building (the original Roosevelt High School), to take place this coming September.  It's been great working with everyone at KHS and having my excitement for local history appreciated! It was enough to get me to start my newest blog, Happenin' History, and share what I'm learning about history even more.  I've learned so much more about Kent's history than I ever imagined (especially the schools).  Joining the Facebook group "You Know you are from Kent if/when...." has been a lot of fun and educational!!  Now, here's to hoping 2012 is a good one!  Oh, and I just noticed that this is my 200th actual post on this blog!  Wow!

Rough Rider Way

Over the last few months, I've gotten into the habit of walking and jogging at the Roosevelt-Stanton campus pretty much every day or as close to that as possible (outside Sundays).  It's relatively close, there isn't much car traffic to deal with (crossing the roads), and when I get there I have a choice of 2 all-weather tracks to use for my jogging.  Only my ankle sprain in June derailed my walking for about a month and my jogging for a little longer than that (much to my dismay).  I started when the weather first started getting a little warmer back in May (was very late this year) and lately have been going in the evening so that it's not as hot and the sun isn't scorching me too bad.  Plus, after a certain time, Roosevelt Stadium is covered in shadows from the trees, so I can do my jogging there.  The track at the adjacent Stanton Stadium has absolutely no shade at all, so I only jog there when it's dusk or cloudy.

Roosevelt Stadium, which got a new scoreboard and new
goalposts in the last few weeks!

Anyway, all that walking, especially the unshaded parts, definitely got me thinking.  Now, for those who don't know me very well, while I love music and teaching, it wasn't my first passion.  No, through elementary, middle, and much of high school I had every intention of being an architect.  While I obviously didn't go down that career path, I still love architecture and designing buildings.  Too often I find myself looking over a building and renovating it in my head; things I would change, additions I would make, etc.  That has definitely been true for Roosevelt as well.  Not only did I spend tons of time as a student there, but now as an employee I have even more time in there.  These next few posts I'll share just some of my ideas; basically, the ideas I think could be feasible versus my more grandiose pipe dreams for Roosevelt High School.  The first has to do with what most people know as "Roosevelt Drive".

We could have a special street sign like this (since it's not a city road)
or just use the traditional green and white Kent street sign format,
but either way it needs a street sign!

The road that goes across the entire Roosevelt Campus is known colloquially as "Roosevelt Drive".  It goes west from a signaled intersection with North Mantua Street (SR 43) to an intersection with Hudson Road and Robert Drive.  The road is not part of the city of Kent's road system--it's maintained by the school district--and has no street signs.  As a result, it's often omitted from published maps of Kent and some of the older maps identify the road as the "Roosevelt Service Road" if it's on there at all.  I've seen Google Earth label it as "Robert Drive" since it lines up with Robert Drive at Hudson Road.  In any case, it has no official name and no signs to identify it.  That's the first thing I'd like to change.  I'd like to see it officially named "Rough Rider Way" complete with street signs at each end of the road, whether they be special red street signs with the Roosevelt "R" logo or the typical green Kent street signs with the city's tree logo.  Basically something so it can be identified by anyone, especially people from out of town, for the purpose of giving directions.  I chose "Rough Rider Way" because Kent already has a "Roosevelt Avenue" in the southwest part of the city, so having a Roosevelt Drive and a Roosevelt Avenue in two different parts of town could be somewhat confusing.  Plus, the road at the high school includes Stanton Middle School, which also uses the Rough Rider mascot and it's how you get to Roosevelt Stadium and all the athletic facilities.  I've seen many other schools use their team name as the name for the road and I must admit I was initially inspired by these metal collectible "street signs" I've seen in some of the classrooms that say "Rough Rider Way".

Wouldn't this look much better with
trees lining the sidewalk?

The other things I'd like to see along this newly-named Rough Rider Way are some trees!  Walking along that road so many times now, I have lost count how many times I wish I had some shade.  Most of the road is completely devoid of trees.  On one part of the road, there can't be any trees because it parallels the main water line for the city of Akron.  But the side of the road that has the sidewalk can definitely have some trees and the part that runs almost directly east-west could probably have trees on both sides.  What I'd like to do is set up a program kind of like those brick-paving fundraisers where you can buy a personalized brick.  Instead, you have it set up where people, families, businesses, and other organizations can pay to have a tree planted along this Rough Rider Way.  It could even be tied in with the Urban Forestry class at Roosevelt not only for the physical act of planting and caring for the new trees, but also the research of what kinds of trees would work best for lining the road and even some research on what trees will turn red in the fall.  Anyway, the cost would include the tree (maybe have more than one choice) and some kind of sign or plaque for a personalization aspect.  I proposed this as an option for Kent's new Veterans Memorial Park, but I submitted it late and they went another direction anyway.  Either way, I think not only would it create a shaded area for those that walk along the road (students walk between the two schools all the time and I'm hardly the only resident who uses the campus for exercise!), but in the fall, it would be quite a sight to have a whole line of trees on Rough Rider Way turn a blazing red.  Added to that, we're beautifying the campus and hey, this IS the Tree City!

I recognize that there would be drawbacks, mostly maintenance issues and the removal of leaves in the fall.  It would be interesting to see what kind of discussion or response such a plan would get if it were ever proposed.  But in terms of cost, this would be largely self-supported.  About the only cost would be the street signs for Rough Rider Way.    

Map of campus, ca. 2005, showing in yellow where I would like to see trees and where they seem possible.  The south side of the part of "Rough Rider Way" where it runs diagonally is over the main water line for the city of Akron, so we couldn't plant a row of trees there.  The line runs diagonally across the entire campus.  There could also be trees on parts of the other roads on campus if the program were popular enough!

Safe Spaces

I'm pretty sure I have subbed at Roosevelt for the last time this school year, unless something comes up tomorrow or next week. It's unlikely for next week since they only have three days of school and most of those days are exams. One of the things I noticed subbing there were these little stickers on many of the classroom doors that said "Safe Space". They are from the website GLSEN.org and are to mark the room as a "safe space" for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students (LGBT). Being in a fairly liberal town like Kent I wasn't surprised at all to see them there, though they got me thinking about the whole concept.

As an educator, one of the things I remember having drilled into my head on many occasions was the idea of creating a safe environment in the classroom. Basically, every student should feel safe and comfortable in your classroom if you're doing things correctly. So seeing these stickers on so many doors definitely had me thinking "shouldn't they already be safe spaces for LGBT students as well as any other students at Roosevelt?" The answer is of course a resounding YES. I certainly don't have a problem with LGBT students feeling safe at school. No one should have fear going into a school or a specific classroom; fear of the teacher or the fellow students. Bullying is still too much of a problem at any school, Roosevelt included, because so much of it happens outside the view of teachers and administrators. Sadly, from my own experience in school, even bullying and similar actions that actually do occur in view of teachers is often ignored which, of course, simply perpetuates the problem. It is irrelevant why the bullying or harassment is taking place. Whether it be because of the student's sexual orientation (or perceived sexual orientation), their looks, their religion and/or ideology, or any other reason, it's all the same in terms of promoting an unsafe and negative environment for students. It's one thing to state that bullying and harassment aren't tolerated; it's an entirely different thing to actually enforce that rule and stop them in their tracks when they are witnessed firsthand.

Seeing these also got me thinking about the whole "gay rights" movement in general and their claims of fighting for equality. In reality, it's not so much about equality for everyone, but just for their specific group. The website that promotes and sells these stickers and other related materials is pretty specific that these are to specifically help promote safe spaces and environments for LGBT students first and foremost. Again, I'm not opposed to safe environments for any student, but why do these students need extra special attention? There are all sorts of "minorities" in a given school. I'd be willing to bet that everyone is part of some sort of minority whether it be racial, ethnic, ideological, religious, etc with some being part of more than one. To put in in perspective, as a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) I was one of just 10 students out of around 1,400 at Roosevelt High School my senior year. This year there were just 4 LDS students in the entire school. There were a lot of bizarre ideas and misconceptions about what I believed and while I never experienced any direct persecution because of my religion, I did, at times, feel uncomfortable expressing what would be considered more conservative viewpoints in a discussion. I would not be supportive if the school decided to make Mormon "Safe Spaces" like this because it would only further separate members of the church from the rest of the student body and perpetuate the "us and them" mentality. That's what I see here. In our eagerness to protect a group of our students--by all means a good thing--we are in fact separating them and potentially creating more resentment towards them. What about the 12% of the school that is black? Or the even smaller percentage of other races and ethnicities? And it bears mention...would we be so quick to bring the hammer down on name-calling and persecution towards those with conservative and/or religious beliefs? So much of the campaign against Proposition 8 in California claimed to be against the "hate" it was promoting, but one of the biggest ways too many groups "fought" this "hate" was by using hate back in the form of insults, slanders, generalizations, and even violence and property damage. Using hate to fight hate doesn't solve anything and makes the alleged victim as much a perpetrator and guilty as the people they are fighting. When you use fire to right fire, everyone gets burned.

So, if/when I have my own classroom, will I have this sticker on my door? I think the answer is pretty obvious: NO. My reasoning is that it would be inaccurate; not because my classroom would be unsafe for LGBT students, but more because it would be a "safe space" for all students including them. Do I think Roosevelt teachers are favoring LGBT students? No not really. In all honesty I don't think many have even looked at it from this angle. They see it as something good (and it is) and want to show support for diversity and tolerance but fail to see the hidden and unintended messages such a promotion sends to other groups or individuals who are also subject to persecution and harassment. In the end, every classroom needs to be a safe space for every student. And if you truly are for equal rights and equal treatment, make sure that applies to all races, ethnicities, ideologies, religions, etc. and not just certain ones; even ones you may completely disagree with! If you're just for the improved treatment of a specific group, say it! Don't make it out to be all inclusive if it isn't.

Roosevelt named a "Best High School" by US News

After the bad news a few weeks ago, it was definitely nice to pick up the newspaper and see this on the front page of the December 12 Record-Courier:

Yes, Roosevelt was named in the US News & World Report 2010 "America's Best High Schools" issue. Like with any ranking system for something so large (21,786 high schools analyzed), when looking over it, one must look at the methodology behind the study. Why is it one of the best? Based on what? For instance, Newsweek released their own "Best High Schools" list a few months ago and Roosevelt was nowhere to be found. Why? Because Newsweek's study focused on AP scores and how many students took AP classes at a given school. As a result, what I call the typical "heavyweights" -- the local high schools that typically do well on standardized tests and are in communities with higher median incomes -- were well represented in that ranking. These are places like Shaker Heights, Chagrin Falls, Solon, Hudson, etc. They are usually regarded quite highly educationally and for good reason: they have excellent facilities, more educational opportunities and resources, and many, if not most, of the students come from wealthier and highly educated backgrounds and largely stable families. In other words, it is more likely for these schools to not only have a larger percentage of students who take AP (Advanced Placement) classes, but do well on the tests associated with them. In the US News study, however, none of the traditional "heavyweights" made the list at all as it focused on other factors such as looking at the performance of students classified as "economically disadvantaged" and minorities. Roosevelt was one of only 8 schools in the region to make the entire list, and one of only 46 to be listed in the entire state. Roosevelt's ranking was a "Bronze Medal", the third highest ranking after the Gold Medal (top 100) and Silver Medal (461 schools). 1,189 schools in 48 states and Washington, DC were rated as "Bronze Medal" schools. What that means is that of the three major criteria used, Roosevelt did well in two. The other criterion, in this case, was either too low or not measured. Basically, Roosevelt did well when the magazine analyzed it's state proficiency test scores for low-income and minority students. Roosevelt is a somewhat diverse school, but is still predominantly white (87% from US News, 82% from the state of Ohio). To see the entire methodology explanation for this study, click here. The third criterion was based on AP scores and percentage of students who take AP or similar college-level classes (I personally think AP classes are harder than typical college classes). Roosevelt has eight AP classes available and usually does well on AP tests, but I would imagine the percentage of seniors who take them may have been what hurt there. It's not abnormally low, but compared to the schools that made the top 100, it probably isn't all that impressive. There are, of course, a lot of factors as to why certain students take AP classes and how well they do, many of which have little to do with the school itself.

One statistic that stood out to me was 84% of Roosevelt students classified as "economically disadvantaged." I'd first like to know what US News means by "economically disadvantaged" since that just seems a little high to me. Granted, there are a lot of students here who are poor, but there are also quite a few who are either middle class and even upper middle class. It's really quite a mix in Kent not only with race and ethnicity, but also financial status. The state, for instance, had only 26% of Roosevelt's students classified as "economically disadvantaged" according to the most recent state report card (it also had slightly different racial percentages, but not that much different). Obviously, there are two very different definitions and thresholds being used here.

That said, I've always felt Kent City Schools overall has done a good job in closing the gap between the students who come to school with a strong educational background and those who do not for whatever reasons. The state report cards always have Roosevelt doing as well as any of the other high schools in the area that come from districts rated "Excellent." Because of test scores at the elementary schools, Kent is rated "Effective," again because they typically have to play "catch up" for so many students. Holden Elementary School, for example, has 62% of its students classified as "economically disadvantaged" by the state and many come from very poor and unstable families. And yet, by high school, Kent students are right up there on the state test scores with students at other high schools who come largely from more stable and in many cases wealthier families. About 10 years ago, the Cincinnati Enquirer did a study and ranked Kent best in the state when actual test scores were compared with expected test scores, based on socioeconomic status. While a person's financial status doesn't guarantee a specific educational outcome, we do know it has a significant influence on a large amount of people. In other words, it is more likely for a student who comes from a poor, unstable home to not do well in school than it is for someone who comes from a better-off and stable home. And there are *always* exceptions, for sure, both good and bad. And no, standardized test scores are by no means a "tell-all" stat, nor are the state report cards. They tell just part of what is going on at a school.

Even then, it is still exciting for an outside group, particularly one at the national level, to recognize your school for anything positive like this. As an alum and community member and now as an employee, I'm very proud of my alma mater! Go Kent!

See also:

• Roosevelt 2008-2009 State Report Card
• Roosevelt profile at USNews.com
• Cleveland.com/Plain Dealer article...totally different perspective!
  

Oh, and seeing the following on the top of the same front page and in the sports section didn't hurt either. :) It's an appropriate title given the fact that in sports this year, Roosevelt has won every meeting between the two schools in every sport except the one-point overtime loss in football.

Homecoming Weekend/Script Kent

After Kent State's homecoming last weekend, this weekend was Roosevelt's homecoming among many other things. It got off to a pretty interesting start on Friday, but everything worked out. My brother Andy and sister-in-law Heather were in town for the weekend for my brother's 10-year reunion, we had a pretty fun ward activity on Saturday night, and then a full day Sunday with church and having lunch with Andy and Heather at Grandma and Grandpa Derby's before Andy and Heather headed back to Maryland.

First item of business was Friday morning. I was supposed to attend a music conference in Cleveland as part of my class and the fact that we were missing regular class for NEOEA (Northeast Ohio Educators Association) day. I'll admit that I wasn't exactly thrilled about going, not only because of the early start to the day but just the thought of sitting through another conference. Professional conferences are a great tool, but like anything, too much can be a bad thing. Having just attended a conference two weeks ago on top of a full-slate of classes, I'm a bit burned out by music right now beyond pleasure! Despite that, I was up and ready and out the door on time. I had no problems getting to downtown Cleveland even at 8 AM as Cleveland has a pretty extensive highway system, so rush hour isn't really that bad at all. Sure, there are traffic jams and slowdowns, but nothing even close to what I've experienced during rush hours in the Washington, DC area or Salt Lake City. Backtracking, Thursday night I was driving back from campus and heard a noise that sounded like something bouncing around in the hood or on the side of the car. When I got home I checked and didn't see anything, so I figured I must've hit something that rolled around. If only it had been that simple! Just as I was getting downtown and running into my first traffic slowdown, I noticed my steering was getting stiff. As I noticed that I looked at my dashboard to see that engine temperature already in the "red zone" meaning it was pretty hot, so my "hot engine" light was on as well as my "low volts." I got a little nervous because I needed to pull off and wasn't sure I could make it to the exit. Thankfully I did and pulled off (not so easy without power steering!), immediately shutting the car off and opening the hood. I would come to find that the noise I had heard was a belt breaking; the belt that pumps water to the engine. So, thankfully I have AAA (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) so I called them and had it towed back to Kent. I was surprised how fast the tow truck showed up (30 mins) and the driver was a nice guy, so we had a good conversation on the way to Kent (about 45 minutes from downtown Cleveland). Come to find it was indeed the belt that turns the pump, but like anything with a car it's never quite so simple. It also broke some other things when it broke apart. All in all, I spent $860 after labor and some other maintenance things I added that needed to be done now or soon anyway. While I waited for about 3 hours, I wrote the blog "Fall Colors" since the dealer (Montrose Chevrolet in Kent) had wireless internet and I had my laptop. How convenient!

Left: Roosevelt Stadium homecoming crowd on a perfect night for football; Right: Rough Rider Marching Band at halftime for homecoming festivities with visitor's stands in the background; Below: Aunt Sue, cousin Lindsay, Katie, and Me at the Roosevelt game.

Things got much more fun Friday night as I attended the Roosevelt homecoming game against Crestwood. It also happened to be the final home game of the regular season. There is a chance we could get another home game in the playoffs if we move up one spot...we'll see. The great thing about homecoming is alumni get in free. For the first time this season, I also didn't attend the game solo as my sister Katie, cousin Lindsay, and aunt Sue were all at the game as well. Roosevelt played really well and won 35-7 (go Rough Riders!) to clinch at least a tie for the division title, but the real treat was after the game. It is tradition at Roosevelt for the marching band to perform "Script Kent" at the final home game each season. Script Kent is just like "Script Ohio" in that the band slowly spells out "Kent" in formation. The difference is that rather than just spell it out like Ohio State does, the band members wear green glow-sticks on their ankles and it is spelled out in the dark with the stadium lights off. It's really cool to watch and it never gets old. When I was in high school, it was done at halftime. Soon after I graduated, the school got new stadium lights that don't allow them to be shut off and turned back on quickly, so they moved Script Kent to after the game.

Left: Script Kent a little blurry but visible in the dark; Right: The band still in Script Kent formation after the auxiliary lights came back on

Andy and Heather arrived during Script Kent. We were hoping they would be able to get there right before it started, but it just didn't work out as the game ended a little quicker than I thought it would. Rather than come into the stadium, they went to my Derby grandparents house and I met them after the band show was finished. It was great having them here this weekend as it always is. Katie and I spent much of Saturday with them visiting the grandparents, touring (or attempting to!) Roosevelt, and visiting Aunt Sue and our cousin Jason. Andy was here for his 10-year high school reunion on Saturday night. While he went to that, Mom, Katie, and I went to a ward activity in Suffield where a member of our ward (congregation), Brian Ebie, hosted a bonfire and dinner followed by the 1925 silent film version of "Phantom of the Opera." What was cool was the garage it was in also has an organ inside, so he supplied improvised organ accompaniment as we watched, which apparently was pretty common when silent films were running. It was a pretty fun evening visiting with friends and just having a good time.

Left: Katie, Heather, Andy, Me, Mom at Derbys; Right: Andy and Heather with Grandma and Grandpa Derby at their house in Kent.

Rah Rah for Roosevelt!

Of course its always nice to win a rivalry game, but even more so when it means something beyond local bragging rights. Tonight I attended the Roosevelt vs. Ravenna game at Roosevelt Stadium in Kent. Both teams came in at 3-0 in the Portage Trail Conference (PTC) Metro division, so whoever won would seemingly be on their way to a division championship. It seemed like everyone was picking Ravenna, at least as far as the local newspapers were concerned. Both have their "pigskin picks" and the Record-Courier panel had all but one of the 7 voting sportswriters choosing Ravenna to win and then the Akron Beacon-Journal did a video where they talked about their picks for select games of importance and they all said that Ravenna's offense would be too much for Roosevelt. The Cleveland Plain Dealer also picked Ravenna. I felt good about Roosevelt's chances because Roosevelt has had an excellent defense all year, including two shutouts. One of those shutouts was last week at Southeast (42-0), a team that put 34 points on Ravenna the week prior and led for most of that game before Ravenna pulled away for a 52-34 win. As I mentioned in a previous post, Roosevelt has a really fast defense, and I felt it would be able to hold against Ravenna. Whenever you have a good defense against a good offense, usually the defense prevails, at least in my football-watching experience.

Well, I arrived during halftime as I first had to attend a mini-conference for music education in nearby Streetsboro. I was a little disappointed when I found out earlier this week that the conference conflicted with the game. Friday night football is one of the things I really enjoy doing, so it's frustrating when other things interfere with it, but even more so when it's a big game like this! Anyway, I went to the first session of the conference and will attend 3 sessions tomorrow as well (it was quite a workout doing different folk dances we can use in music classes!). So, I arrived at halftime with Roosevelt up 13-9. I would find out later that Roosevelt initially led 13-0 before Ravenna got on the board with a touchdown and field goal. In the second half, the Ravens added another field goal to get within 13-12, but had ample opportunities to take the lead. Both teams had a lot of penalties (15 total for 152 yards...ouch!), but especially Roosevelt. There was one point they had a second-and-42 or something like that. But, Roosevelt's defense also had five interceptions, and I believe three were in the second half. Most of the second half Ravenna didn't punt, not because they were moving the ball, but mostly because they kept throwing interceptions. I know people will say Ravenna played poorly in that regard, but you have to give the defense credit for interceptions as much as poor offensive execution. Many of the interceptions were the result of the quarterback being under pressure as well as good coverage of receivers. Some were poor decisions by the QB of course too. Anyway, Roosevelt got a long kickoff return right after Ravenna got within 13-12 and was aided by a personal foul later to keep a drive alive and ended up scoring again to make it 19-12 (the point after was tipped and missed). That ended up being the final score as Roosevelt couldn't move forward with the ball (they would have a second-and-38 at one point late in the 4th due to consecutive penalties) and Ravenna couldn't move much either against the Roosevelt defense and then would throw an interception. So, with that game in hand, Roosevelt has three games left against teams they should beat, well, at least on paper. The teams they are playing (Springfield, Crestwood, and Norton) currently have a combined record of 2-19.

It was nice to see such a large crowd from both sides. The stands themselves were pretty full. It's pretty rare to see the visitors stands full for any game, but they were pretty full tonight, which didn't surprise me at all. In reality, there were way more people than the stadium can hold since so many, especially students, just hang around on the grounds or stand around the fence surrounding the track. Roosevelt Stadium probably holds around 5-6,000 people for seating and I would guess there were close to 7,000 people there, though I really don't know.

The rivalry with Ravenna is an old rivalry. It goes back to 1922, which was the first year that Roosevelt was called Roosevelt (before then it was just Kent High School). Since then the two schools have played 86 times counting tonight's game, with Roosevelt holding a 44-41-1 lead in the series. The rivalry between Kent and Ravenna goes WAAAAAY back though, long before 1922. It pretty much goes back to the very beginning when the two cities were first being settled; Ravenna in 1799 and Kent in 1805. In 1807 it was announced a new county, Portage County, was being formed. Competition between the two tiny settlements began as Ravenna founder Benjamin Tappan and Kent (Franklin Township) proprietor Aaron Olmstead both pushed to have their settlements named the county seat. Although it seemed that Olmstead was going to secure the county seat for his settlement (which he did not ever actually live in), he died before the land he had set aside for the county seat could be donated to the cause and his heirs used the land, located near what is now Standing Rock Cemetary across from Roosevelt High School. Ravenna ended up being the county seat. As the two towns slowly grew, they were in constant competition for settlers and businesses. In fact, the namesake of the city of Kent, Marvin Kent, was actually born in Ravenna and came to what was then Franklin Mills in the 1850's with his father Zenas. In fact, local historian and Record-Courier editor Roger Di Paolo did an article not too long ago that talked about how Zenas Kent came to Franklin Mills from Ravenna after he had a falling-out with another Ravenna businessman. ""It is said that he declared he would live to see grass growing in the streets (of Ravenna)," historian E.Y. Lacey wrote in a 1933 account in the Evening Record, "and he set about to make his word good" by turning his interests to the tiny settlement of Franklin Mills, which was located west of Ravenna."

Ravenna and Kent would compete throughout the 20th century for the title of the county's largest city as each city seemed to pass each other back and forth. They were also both among 20 competing sites for the location of a new northeastern Ohio state normal school in 1910. Kent would end up being chosen and it was said the Ravenna delegation knew their bid was doomed when the state delegation arrived 4 hours late to tour Ravenna's proposed site for the new school. In the history of Kent State it says:

"The Ravenna welcoming committee had been waiting, with mounting anxiety, for four hours when three cars braked in front of the city hotel and the five commissioners climbed out, along with some familiar Kent faces, all smiling and laughing. The Ravenna men knew in their bones that they had missed their lunch and wasted four hours—all for nothing: the normal school would not be coming to their town. And they were right, though the commissioners did not make their final decision until after paying a surprise visit, on November 12, to the fifty-three-acre Kent Farm."

Of course this normal school evolved into Kent State University and started out pretty small, but is now Ohio's third largest university. By the end of the 1950's, Kent State's growth began to really fuel growth in Kent and so the population battle between the two cities effectively ended. Today, Kent is the county's largest city at around 28,000 residents while Ravenna has just under 12,000 and is actually now the county's 4th largest city behind Aurora and Streetsboro (though it should be noted that both Aurora and Streetsboro incorportated their entire former township. If Kent and Ravenna did the same thing, then they would have close to 20,000 residents in Ravenna and over 34,000 in Kent.). Because Kent is the larger city, Roosevelt is also, naturally, a larger school by about 500 students. In fact, there are only a few sports where Roosevelt and Ravenna are actually in the same state size division, which varies by sport (football, for instance, is divided into 6 size divisions based on enrollment while basketball is divided into 4). In football, Roosevelt is part of Ohio's division II and Ravenna is division III (in Ohio division I is the biggest schools, down to division VI). What that means is that in theory, both Roosevelt and Ravenna could win state titles in the same year since each enrollment division crowns a state champion. This year, they are both on track to qualify for the state playoffs in their respective division's regions, which would mark the first time that both would be in the playoffs at the same time.

I have a placement!

Well, with all the BAD news I've been getting this week, it's nice to finally have some good news. I found out today I will do my student teaching at Southeast Middle School with the choir director/general music teacher. The Southeast Local School District is a rural district located in Palmyra Township and covers all or most of 5 townships in southeastern Portage County (hence the name "Southeast"). It is about a 25 minute drive from my house to the school. All of the district's schools are located in the same general area. I know several people from the area since it is part of our ward (congregation), so that is a plus.

Anyway, Tuesday when I was observing that teacher's general music classes I got a call from the principal of Southeast Middle School letting me know he'd received a letter from Kent State about me student teaching and that he'd like to visit with me. Well, how convenient that I was already in the building when he called! I called him back between classes and he came and talked to me during the 8th grade class. He was OK with me coming there, but wanted me to talk to the teacher and see what he thought about it. The teacher didn't have the time to talk right then, so when after I observed his classes again today, we talked briefly and he said he was OK with it. At this point, that means I can start observing on a more regular basis and start having more of a role than just being in the background watching. The MAT is designed to allow the student teacher to observe in the classroom they will student teach in so that the students aren't totally surprised by the student teacher come January. In the general music classes that won't be the case since they change every nine weeks, but not so with the choirs. I'm not sure how much I'll take on as a student teacher (he also teaches a 5th grade choir at the intermediate school), but I'm excited. This teacher is highly respected and thought of by students and colleagues alike and he's been teaching for 31 years. I actually met him this past Friday night when I attended the Roosevelt vs. Southeast football game at Southeast (Roosevelt won 42-0 =)). After the game I saw some people from church that go to Southeast and they introduced me to him.

I'm just glad I have a place to go now so I can get the work done required for this semester. As part of our 100 hours of observations, we have to attend certain meetings and meet with certain people. The nice thing is that our observation time isn't just the time we're sitting in the classroom, but the time we're at the school in pretty much any capacity. So that game I went to on Friday? Well, since Southeast is my school now, it counts in my hours. Hurray! I'm also excited since I already know a few people at Southeast, both students and workers. One of my friends from church works at the primary school and her best friend is the secretary at the middle school. Turns out I already know the secretary as she came with us when my friend took my sister and me to an Indians game a few weeks ago. Of course my three current piano students are all at Southeast, with one at the middle school, plus one of my former students from my days as a teacher in Primary (children's Sunday School) at church is in the 7th grade choir. So, it's not totally familiar like going to Roosevelt or Stanton would be, but not completely foreign or new either. That's good for learning new ideas and ways of doing things; broadening my horizons as a teacher!

In other news, though the calendar said Fall started back around September 20, after today it is OFFICIALLY Fall here as I put the basement windows back in and closed them, turned on the furnace, and just took my window air conditioner out and put my screen back in. NOW it is Fall! After the house got down to like 60 degrees this morning and into the afternoon, it was time! Of course the weather has a few more nice days ahead, but doesn't look like anything that warm. I know Fall has arrived for sure when I have to do the window rounds! The same goes for Summer when I open them and take the storm windows off!

Empty Sports Weekend

Well, I spent $21 on game tickets, $5 on parking in Cleveland, and who knows how much on gas to go follow my high school and college football teams to their respective games this weekend. Kent Roosevelt played at Stow on Friday and Kent State played at Cleveland Browns Stadium against Boston College on Saturday night. I saw my teams score a grand total of ZERO points in Roosevelt's 14-0 loss to Stow and Kent State's 21-0 loss to BC. I will say neither game was a total surprise as Kent State would've had to pull off a pretty big upset to beat BC. For a team that hasn't been to a bowl or won the conference title since 1972, I guess we just have to take the moral victories where we can. As long as we beat Akron on October 4th I'll be happy! =) Roosevelt's game wasn't too unexpected either, though they had their chances as Stow only scored one touchdown purely on offense and the other was mainly the result of an interception returned near the goal line. Stow just had a much bigger team physically, so the fact that the game was only 14-0 is a good sign that Roosevelt has a pretty good defense (and they are FAST!). I think Roosevelt will be OK in PTC play in two weeks. I will say I felt Roosevelt won the halftime show (if there is such a thing!)! Even though Stow has an enormous band, they had several alumni marching with them, so for their halftime show they simply played three songs standing in a huge elongated arch while Roosevelt was in a constant state of movement and formations for their songs. Roosevelt has always had a pretty good and balanced marching band and I've always loved their sound. I just wish there were more people in the band! Right now it has around 100 members. The other cool thing was that since the game was at Stow, it was more like a second home game for Kent fans. Stow-Munroe Falls High School literally sits adjacent to the Kent border, so there are houses directly across the street from the school that go to Roosevelt since they are located in Kent. So, going to a game at Stow isn't much further than going to a game at Roosevelt. We had almost as many fans there as Stow did, something that is not true the other way around when Stow plays at Roosevelt! I was surprised too how Stow's stadium, which is built into a natural bowl, is evenly split between the home side and visitors side in terms of seating. Most high school stadiums have a large home side and a smaller visitor's side. Stow seems to have both sides pretty even, though their "home" side isn't very big at all, especially considering how large the school is (over 1,900 students). I guess it doesn't matter that much since the stadium is in a natural bowl, so people can sit on the sloped grass if the stands are full (and many did)!

The plus side this weekend for me was that Ohio State won 43-0 (not that that was unexpected playing Youngstown State) and Michigan lost at home to Utah 25-23. I think I was rooting against Michigan as much as I was rooting for Utah, the university I nearly went to on two different occasions and still think very highly of. Even though Kent State lost, I did enjoy my first visit to a game at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The halftime show was pretty cool too. The Kent State marching band along with five or six high school bands played "America the Beautiful" as part of the Patriot Bowl's armed services theme. It was quite an impressive site to see the field covered with band members (see my picture above). The last time I was inside the stadium was way back in 1999 for an open house just before it was finished. I have never been to a Browns game and don't think I will be able to anytime soon (not because I don't want to, but because I can't afford it!). I mainly went to see a game in the stadium. It's a nice stadium for sure, though I hope Kent State has learned the lesson that scheduling a game there won't translate to more fans coming. Since the team has been so bad for so long, they don't exactly have a huge following even IN Kent, so moving a game 45 minutes away from campus and then charging more for tickets just trims the attendance down even more. The announced crowd was just over 10,000 and that included a pretty good-sized contingent of Boston College fans. Had the game been played in Kent at Dix Stadium, I bet it would've been closer to 20,000 since more students would've come (it's free to come to games at Dix Stadium for students) and more local fans would've shown up as well to see the new stadium upgrades and just for something to do (not to mention not that expensive and a chance to see a big-name BCS school). Even then, it was nice to get a chance to see a game at Browns Stadium and go to Cleveland. I love going to downtown Cleveland!

Notes on pictures: 1. Picture from my original seats in the corner looking southeast of the halftime show with the KSU marching band and several high school bands playing "America the Beautiful." I ended up moving to better seats in the second half. 2. Outside shot of Cleveland Browns Stadium with the transit station visible on the left and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame visible on the far right as I was heading back to my car.

Refreshing Indeed!

One of the downsides of moving is leaving friends behind when you go from one place to another. While I have not legally "moved" since we moved to this house in 1983 (when I was all of 10 months old), with my mission and then my time at BYU-Idaho I have moved several times, so I still have friends in those areas and others as many have moved elsewhere. The benefit is that I have friends in many places that I want to visit, but the drawback is that I rarely get to see my friends and end up falling out of touch with them. Thankfully I have things like this blog, Facebook, MySpace, e-mail, and cell phones to keep in touch more than I would've been able to do a few years ago, but nothing beats face-to-face contact or at least a phone call. I've also complained to those closest to me that many times I feel like the only reason I have kept in touch with a lot of my friends is because I contact them but rarely the other way around. I have a select few friends that actually contact me out of the blue just to touch base; usually I'm the one that makes the contact. Of course it's not always like that, but too often that's how it seems.

Well, these last two weeks I've gotten some pleasant surprises. First, I got a call from my friend Elisa (Reyes) Burchett just seeing how I was doing and to tell me she is expecting! Elisa and I have been friends since 7th grade and still keep in touch pretty regularly even though we seem to go months in between contacts. Her and husband Todd don't live too far away either, so I've been able to visit them a few times already!

Next I got a phone call last Monday from my friend Lindsey (Smith) Fairbanks who was passing through the area with her new husband Dan (they make a great couple, by the way) on a large Eastern trip as they begin heading back to Utah. Lindsey moved here to Kent just before the start of our junior years in high school back in 1998 (we graduated in 2000) plus we went to church together. I hadn't really talked to her much since we went to a Utah Jazz-Cleveland Cavaliers game in Salt Lake City on Valentine's Day in 2007 other than a few text messages here and there and her wedding announcement, so it was quite an unexpected surprise to hear from her. We met for dinner on Tuesday at El Campasino in Stow (a Mexican place) and had a great time catching up, though I should've taken more time to actually talk to her husband and get to know him. I've noticed with a lot of my friends that get married, when I visit with them the spouse tends to get left out a bit since the things we talk about are things the spouse has little or no connection to. In this case, all the memories associated with Roosevelt and the Rootstown ward were things Dan, who grew up in Salt Lake City, had no connection to. We did discover that Lindsey's older sister Emily knows and graduated in the same class at Springville High School in Utah as current ward members (and my friends!) Nate and Susan (Olson) Jeppson, who moved from Salt Lake to Kent last year. Nate was called as bishop when I was called as executive secretary about a month ago (plus he's our home teacher) and Susan is the chorister in Primary (I am the pianist), so I have been able to work with both of them a lot and have come to really enjoy them (plus I love their kids!). What a cool family! When Lindsey and her family moved to Kent in 1998 they had come from Springville. Small world! Even more connection is that Lindsey has been living in the Sugar House area of Salt Lake (where her husband Dan is from) and the Jeppsons moved to Kent from Sugar House. Whooooooooa.

After meeting with Lindsey and Dan I was talking with my mom about how much I appreciated hearing from friends like that and being able to see them. I LOVE to visit with my extended family and old friends but almost always I am the one who does the traveling, some close, some not-so-close. Don't get me wrong; I do enjoy traveling, but it is rare that I have had a friend visit me here in Kent and it is nice to host once and awhile. Well, I was talking and she said it was "refreshing" and I said "refreshing indeed!".

Just when I was about to write this post last night, I got an e-mail from one of my most consistent and best friends, Michelle, and then an unexpected phone call from Andrea Sampsel, whom I and many others simply know as "Dre". I hadn't talked to Dre in who knows how long. She's been out in Las Vegas getting her masters at UNLV and working, so it was really great to hear from her again. The only downside was that her phone died while we were talking. Dang batteries! It's always good to hear from Michelle. She is one of my few friends who consistently contacts me by phone or e-mail (we always have long e-mails and phone conversations), plus she visits whenever she can. Of course I visit her whenever I can and have been able to make two visits since she settled in the Toledo area. Both Michelle and Dre attended Kent State with me the first time I was at KSU in 2000-2001. We were all part of an amazing Institute of Religion program and Latter-day Saint Student Association (LDSSA), which was headed by Lindsey Smith's dad Harold.

Let's not forget some new friends that I am making here as part of the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Kent State. I finished the first five-week session (Summer I) yesterday, so summer classes are halfway over. I start the next session on Monday and have two professors who both taught at Roosevelt when I was there. Finally, the benefits of growing up in Kent! The cohort I am part of (same group of students for all our classes) is an amazing group. We're all so different, yet we all get along so well and enjoy being around each other. After our last class on Thursday, nine of us (there are 12 total) went to lunch at Rays Place in downtown Kent. We had so much fun just talking and celebrating the end of the term, plus I ended up getting a free lunch after my order wasn't placed right. Everyone had gotten their food and I hadn't, but thankfully Mari, one of my classmates, had a freakin boatload of fries that I helped eat. I'm laid back enough that it didn't really bother me (I was ready to pay), so getting it free was quite the bonus. The place was packed and loud and seemed a bit understaffed, so I wasn't upset at all that it had been missed. Things like that happen sometimes and I'd hope for the same patience and understanding if I were in his (the waiter's) shoes. In another small world case, I found out one of my classmates, Carolyne, knows some people (the Dutsons) I know from church things as they went to high school together near Alliance, Ohio. The Dutsons are in the Alliance Ward (congregation), which is a neighboring ward to my ward (Rootstown) and is part of the same stake (group of wards). Back to the MAT, it went pretty well and overall I was very happy with myself and my professors. Dr. Bruce especially made us all laugh a lot and is one of the best professors I have had in college. Too bad he's headed for a new position at the University at Buffalo (part of the State University of New York or SUNY)! Now, on to Summer III...