What Remains...

No one can truly "make sense" of horrific acts of violence, especially those carried out against innocents. We explore psychological profiles and comb through family histories. We interview survivors and assign blame at intervals, scattered as shotgun blasts. More often than not, we crucify the ready availability of guns and martyr the mental health care system. I don't believe these arguments are without merit, but they are certainly not the sole solution.

Generally, we frame the shooter within a very particular psychopathy. The extremist, the charismatic sociopath, the troubled loner, all provide easy targets, so to speak. Granted, some of them fit the stereotype to a tee.

(Case in point)

Others, you might never suspect...

PERSONAL: The Ones Reserved as Family

In the pantheon of human experience, no greater compliment or judgement rests with the naming of one as "family." What makes to one the other poses a quagmire of possibilities, limitations, grudges, and allowances. The bog of familial ties stinks of forgiveness and treason. For this reason alone, no single set of elements may be used to prejudge to whom the blessings or curses of family are bestowed. (Just ask the Hatfields, McCoys, Hitlers, Rockefellers, and Kennedys about that.)

My own family consists of a small, tightly-considered clan of individuals, the majority of whom exist within the confines of Northeast Mississippi. My father's family exists in the foreign patches of south Florida. My mother's kith and kin consist of a myriad of cousins but only three children. Two of these, a brother and sister, live singular lives in their sixties. My mother's offspring are gay, married with an exceptional child, and an exceptional child. I am the gay one.

A Tale of Two Teachers

What do you get when you cross a gifted New Testament, a former porn actress, and a local education system? 

In the separate cases of Stacie Halas and Walter Tutka, you get the boot from a local education system.

A sardonic irony exists between these two cases. A local board of education punished Ms. Halas for completely legal actions performed apart from and probably prior to her duties as a teacher. Mr. Tutka remains without a job for the next year due to quoting an ancient text and gifting said text to a student.

Recruit, Retain, Respect

A few years ago, I enjoyed the pleasure of helping found a (now) university sponsored program at my baccalaureate alma mater. I learned a very valuable lesson about selling an idea to a university's administration. Simply, my presentation required an emphasis on how the program would help the university recruit and retain top talent among students and staff. The moral, social, and academic benefits of the program were important, but those alone were not going to see this program officially supported. In the end, only the promise of positive, and lucrative, numbers mattered.

Fast forward a couple of years, a few hundred miles, and a wealth of experience later, and I'm finding this particular lesson remains true- this time within the context of K-12 public charter schools. At least, this is the principle in theory.

 But, the principle in theory must ultimately bow to the principal running the show.

Moment of DOH! - Pedophobia and the Teacher

The case of Maria Waltherr-Willard places me at odds between accepting an allegedly acute mental health problem and rolling my eyes all the way around in their sockets.

Year of the Question

I'm never one to make resolutions at the turn of each new year. 2013 proves no exception. Still, I do come into this year with a sense of expectation in facing very new and very exciting possibilities. I am in the process of asking vital personal and professional questions, but I also haven't taken my eyes of those communities to which I belong. In the coming months, educators, LGBTIQ people, religious skeptics, social activists, and university students - all of which I currently identify with - will ponder the social, political, and economic landscapes so vastly changing.

Unparalleled "tipping points" loom on the horizon. And, we can meet those challenges with courage and grace under fire to the betterment of us all, or we can continue the polarizing rhetoric of our past. 

With any luck, Utmost Report will prove to be an extension, the cathartic expression, of my actions and opinions as pertaining to how the questions of 2013 are answered. With any dream fulfilled, Utmost Report will become a well-read, thought and discussion-provoking exploration of education, politics, religion, and personal expression, which in the end leads to the betterment of healing and hope. 

In a lighter sense, essentially, I wish to join the ranks of several thousand peers in finding a public outlet for conversation generally discouraged in such arenas by the Emily Posts of the world. (Though in 2013, I'm pretty confident such a world no longer exists.) 

Welcome to my world, please, don't be afraid to share yours!