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April 10, 2013 - 06:03 PM Jim Napolitan - napolitanj@aol.com Hello 65ers! About a month ago I was in Ft. Lauderdale for a board meeting and decided to visit Stranahan. Had a delightful two hour tour with the Vice-principal, Dr. Bernadine Dorantes. She is a whirlwind, giving simple prods and compliments to students at the same time discussing the complexities of current educational policies. Physically, the school is not so very different than it was,ahem, 50 years ago. The big change was the student population. It is 80+% black and Hispanic. It is also a magnet school for the sciences, if I understand correctly. We visited many classrooms and the intellectual activity was active, focused and attentive. Students come from much farther away (many from what we thought of as the western swamps!). The rebuild of the school is on hold, a victim of the recession which happened as the plans were congealing. Students are hard pressed to meet some of the increased and unsupported costs. Sandy and I made a donation to the band uniforms and scholarships--which brings me to my idea. Why don't we plan a class gift to the school as part of our 50th Reunion? I am open to any of a number of support ideas and of course we could even ask them what might help the most. Second, why don't we plan the event during the school year and try to have a reunion tour of the school? Consider a fall reunion where we visit the school on a Friday, attend a whomping of the Flying Ls that night, and then party the rest of the weekend. On a sadder note, I want to report the death of my mother last September. Many of you knew her through my father's church. A long slow Alzheimers progression, but still knew me at 90. I expect many of you have started the goodbye process to the "Greatest Generation". Best wishes, dear friends. Jim IP : 205.178.23.206 |