cupcakes with yellow frosting
Since that flight was delayed, I did go to the neighborhood Stand for Children orientation meeting and potluck. I am, it seems, The Guy Without Kids, the team's representative from that 80% of the city's population, the unmarried-and-childless demographic. It's something they seem to appreciate, but it makes it a little hard to relate socially when everyone else at the party is a mom with their kids in tow.
The following is a copy of a message I just sent to the team organizers.
Hi gang,
I feel a little silly for leaving tonight while still having lots of questions, but between my own distractions for today (is that plane ever going to get here?) and the roving bands of cupcake-wielding toddlers, I probably did get as much information as I could handle for the evening.
But now I'll get these things written down while they are still on my mind.
Sometime I'd be interested in hearing more about the story of Stand itself. I don't think I've ever encountered another organization quite like it, a nation-wide focus but with a program committed to developing grassroots organizing skills in local teams. (The nearest resemblance I can think of offhand is the IWW.) How did Stand come about?
(The summit was great, by the way. A little out-of-the-way for some of us to get to, but $25 for a day with three workshops on organizing skills, meals, snacks, and childcare? That's pretty much unheard of. I just wish I'd been able to attend more of the workshops, but that being-in-one-place-at-a-time thing got in the way again.)
Another landscape I feel like I need a map of is the organization of schools in Oregon. We've got the school districts, which almost but don't quite fall along other political boundaries, and they're funded from and have policy set by ... cities? Counties? Someone mentioned "ESDs", which seems to fall somewhere between school districts and the State? I know we're talking about funding on a State level now, but I'm not sure how much of that is just because it's the time in the biennium to talk about such things. The levy recently passed, for example, was more local.
Stand and Chalkboard, compare and contrast?
Theresa, it was great to hear you talk about community activity not solely focused on influencing what goes on in Salem. I know that work is important, and hopefully very effective on a large scale, but I think I'll find it more personally satisfying if some of the relationships I form here are with teachers in our schools, not just reporters and politicians.
and you and your friends and family are invited to join us for holiday caroling on *December* 17th (not January), starting from our house at 4 PM.
Cheers,
- Kevin