Father Greg Boyle and Darrel Scott conversations with Mick Founts...

                                                            

I just got home from hearing a man named Father Greg Boyle speak at the County Office of Education's "Conversations With..." which is put on by the San Joaquin County Office of Education.  The format is really interesting.  The guest speaker sits down with Mick and the conversation goes where ever it may go.  Mick asks questions and the audience also has the chance to participate.  Last month a man named Darrel Scott came and spoke.  Darrel Scott's daughter Rachel Scott was one of the first students to be shot at the Columbine High massacre.  They have a website that I highly recommend anybody educator, student, whomever should visit and read.  You can find it here. What I took away from Darrel's conversation was that as a person and especially as an educator who works with at risk youth, you must always focus on the positive.  You cannot focus on the drama or the negative.  If you do, it will drive you crazy.  Also you need to focus your energy and approach our students in a positive manner.  Today during school I was coaxing students into getting to class as I do in between every passing period.  As I was speaking loudly to a group of students one of my seniors suggested I "put some bass in your voice" which was his way of saying "get tough on these stragglers".  I nodded to him and when the group got moving I said to him quietly "You know, I used to yell and holler and be kind of loud but I've found that you guys react a lot better when I asking nicely and in a positive way."  He just chuckled and walked with me down the hall.  I can't tell you when this practice began and it's still a daily struggle to remain calm and positive when students are casually walking to class and talking and almost ignoring me when I am asking them to get to where they need to get.  I do know the change was gradual and did not change over night.  Little by little my approach and outlook towards my students has come full circle.  I think that early on I kind of took on a negative, confrontational approach at times and the results were disastrous.  I'm not saying that I still don't sometimes get fired up and verbally let loose every now and then but those reactions are slowly becoming less and less frequent.  It just doesn't help the situation.  So I remember both Jeff Eben's speech and Darrel Scott's speech when I feel I need a little guidance on which way to approach a student.  Jeff Eben is another educator who works in Clovis California, near Fresno.  I saw him speak a few years ago and he was awe inspiring.  His story is awesome.  You should visit his website here. Ultimately I've come up with my own words of wisdom and that's "Negativity will get you nowhere."

Tonights speaker was amazing.  I believe that books will be written about this man and his accomplishments.  His humility is what really inspires me.  I feel that this man deserves alot more accolades and praise then he has received and that hopefully one day he receives the recognition he deserves.  He does not want this for himself which is one of the things that makes him so great.  Father Greg Boyle is a priest who has been working with gang members throughout Los Angeles for the past 25 years.  If you have never heard of him I recommend stopping by his website which can be found here.  Also you can see some great video's of him speaking at various events on youtube,  here is a video. 

What I will take away from Father Boyle is that my role in the rehabilitation of a young person is vital.  That without a "love caring adult who pays attention" then a child has little or no chance.  He spoke about people "discovering the truth of who we are" and how people must "redefine" themselves.  He also spoke about the process of gang intervention and that it is a long process.  He said that in the beginning of his work he would simply get ex-gang members jobs and that was the main focus.  But he said now, it is more like recovery.  Like and alcoholic a gang member must be ready to change before any progress can be made.  He said "I can't save anybody" that people save themselves.  He told many heart wrenching stories about young people whom he's known and have died due to gangs.  But like Darrel Scott he talked about not letting death "punk you out".  Not letting death get you down is an important message.  Father Boyle lost one of his workers to gang violence the Saturday before giving this speech.  You could tell he was troubled by the event but he kept his composure and helped uplift all of the people in the audience with his message.                                          

I am very grateful that I work for an agency that brings people like this into my midst.  I feel renewed after these events which is why I attend them.  Like anybody I get the feeling of being 'burnt out' and listening to people who are inspiring renews my spirit.  Without a strong spirit or a strong sense of 'self' we as educator's could not go on day in day out and continue our journeys with a positive outlook.  It's up to us to be the guiding light in many lost lives.  Regardless of who you think 'should' be mentoring these young people, it is our responsibility to do as much as we can with whatever we can to help enrich and guide our 'kids'.

My own journey has led me towards technology, music and art in an effort to reach young people and hopefully inspire a passion that I have always had for creativity.  In a way it's selfish as I choose to interact with students in a form that I find interesting but at the same time, through shared passion we find common ground.  I look forward to the future and the new ground I am going to step on and I will look back on nights like these when I am in need of guidance or when I need a lift of spirits.                    




                                                    I am truly blessed.

February, March, April.... and on and on...

It's been a while since I've written ANYTHING on/in this blog.  I've been THAT busy. A lot is going on in the world these days.  Libya, Egypt, Japan all have a LOT on their plates.  Other then bad weather and our crappy economy it's business as almost usual in the good ol' U.S.A.  What I don't like about the younger generation (I might have been guilty of this when I was 16) is that they do not appreciate what they have.  I realize jobs are scarce right now, especially for teens but... they are out there.  They may not be 'good' jobs, but McDonalds IS hireing.  There are jobs to be had.

Anyway back to me.  This is my blog by the way.  I could go more into depth about the latest peace talks in Libya but honestly it doesn't interest me.  It should, as oil prices have risen and look to continue, and I'm a car nut so that's bad news for me, but I'm still not all that interested at this point.  The first few days of fighting was pretty excieting and I watched alot of CNN but now, it's kind of yesterday's news.

Speaking of yesterdays news, WHEN is Charlie Sheen going to do the world a favor and O.D. already! I actually like a lot of his movies but I am SICK of all of his bullshit!  He's a washed up CRACK head! This is like Flavor Flav all over again.  Nobody cares what you have to say.... crack head.  We MIGHT have cared back in 1991 but... now?  Who cares that you locked yourself in an airplane bathroom with a 7oz crack rock?! I don't.  Apparently alot of rich assholes, who are willing to pay $500-$700 a ticket care but that's them.

Ok, I'm done.  Check out some pictures.                     


Valentines Day flowers for Jacelyn

                                                           



                                                                   Brody, being Brody.

Just checking in...

Thought I'd post a few pics and write a few words.  January 27th (a Thursday this year) was my 33rd birthday.  My dad thought I was 31, go figure.  I told him "Don't worry Dad, I have no idea how old you are either!"  Overall not a terrible birthday.  I went to a Dr's appointment and missed work :) but then got to work and had to work for several hours taking care of bid-ness (kicking out crazy-ass high school kids for fighting).  Anywho, went out to eat with Jacelyn then went to see 'True Grit'.  The original happened to be on yesterday and I watched some of it and I gotta say the new version stands up pretty good.  Don't get me wrong, there is NO replacing The Duke, but the Cohen brother's take on a great story was pretty awesome.  My newest obsession has been go-karting.  I know what your thinking "really, go karts?" Yes, Daniel-son go-karts.  I've been to the track a few times with them (yeah I have 2) and have had a lot of fun.  Oh yeah and I bought a new truck.  Check out the pics.

This is my new daily driver.  It belonged to my grandpa.  It's a 1989 Toyota pickup. I love this truck!












This is one of my Karts.  This is an Emmick with a 'Clone' motor.  I also have a 80cc shifter Kart that does like 80-90 MPH.












Just a random picture of Brody on his 'glider bike'.  You can never see enough picture of this dude can you?

7 hours and 32 minutes... both ways. Stockton to Elko NV and back in 1 day...

Your first question is "Why does he do these things?"  And to that, I have no answer.  I don't know why I do things like drive 16 hours in 1 day, I just do them.  And even when my wife and friends try to talk me out of it... I still do them.  Although after this little jaunt I may have learned my lesson.  It was a really really really long drive from Stockton to Elko Nevada. 

What's that you say? Never heard of Elko Nevada? Well friend your in luck because I'm about to tell you all about it!  I can sum up Elko Nevada in 1 word: PODUNK.  It's in the middle of nowhere... literally.  My faithful co-pilot and navigator Billy and I left Stockton at 3 A.M. Thursday morning.  (To make it home before midnight we figured 3 A.M. was a good time to leave). I borrowed by buddy Adam's 4x4 chevy to make sure we made it over Donner summit with no problems and I borrowed his trailer to make hauling the bike easier.  Overall the drive to PODUNK/Elko Nevada was smooth sailing.  We had one little 'pucker' moment on the way up the summit (by pucker I mean your asshole shrinks 2 sizes in a matter of milliseconds because you think your about to die).  I threw on the 4 wheel drive and the rest of the summit went by without a hitch until I tried to use Adam's windshield wipers to clear the windshield.  Yeah, they just smeared salt and dirt and snow and ice instead of clearing it.  So them I had to sit hunched over and see out of the one clear spot for the next 20 minutes until we pulled into Truckee. 

Anyway Billy and I continued our 'circumnavigation' of Nevada without incident.  We arrived at our destination and I checked out the goods.  At this point you've got to be wonderin WHY did I drive 450 miles? To buy a 1998 Honda CBR 600 F3.  Below are some picks we took.  Oh and the other highlight of the trip was getting to eat at Taco Time!  I remember there used to be one in Stockton and me and my brother loved getting the Crispy Meat Burritos.  Deep fried and full of seasoned taco meat.  It was glorious!

Nevada is extremely beautiful and bigger then it looks.  The drive to Elko was foggy at times but offered great views.  The drive home looked like this!

Brody loves helmets! The bike came with a helmet that Brody immediately wanted to wear.  I couldn't resist.

The mythical Taco Time was found and pillaged by Billy and I!

At home in the garage finally.

Being a teacher...

So being a teacher is great.  You get EVERY evening off, you get EVERY weekend off and you get every holiday PLUS several weeks OFF.  The very best part though is that at the end of the day I KNOW that someone's life is better off because of me.  I KNOW that I have made a difference in the world and a contribution to society.  I know I have a HUGE impact on other people's lives in a positive way.  One of my co-teachers had a really bad day the other day and she was venting to us at the end of the day.  As she walked out to her car she discovered that a student had written all over it with a pen, she was beside herself.  Now I have had my share of car's keyed so I know exactly how she felt.  Whats crazy is that I am so used to it that it no longer bothers me.  It's kind of like letting a student get you mad.  Whats the point of getting mad?  That's what they want.  Eventually you stay calm and you look at it as nothing personal, it's just business.  A student cusses me out and acts all crazy, whats the point in my reacting with anger.  THEY are the ones who are crazy and have issues, why make THEIR issues, MY issues?  So I don't.  My coworker and I started to check out the damage and luckily we were able to get all of the pen off the car.  She had much better day today thankfully and was in high spirits.  She had to park her car down the street and walk several blocks in order to avoid more damage being done to her car but, such is life.  It made me think of this saying, and that's why I'm blogging it because it was a nice way of looking at being a teacher.  Mailmen get bitten by dogs, Policemen get shot, Firemen get burnt or suffocated, sometimes teachers car's get keyed.

 Besides, how many jobs do YOU know where you only work 180 days out of the year but get paid for working all 12 months?

My Grandfather Ronald Lee Raley...

My Grandfather, or Papa as we grand kids have always called him, was truly a unique man. He was quick witted, he was intelligent, he had a great sense of humor and he was extremely kind. That's not to say he was a saint, for those of you that know him well he was also a bit of a spitfire. He had many legendary feuds with folks through out the years as well as a great many War of Words. Something I do not recommend anyone getting involved in because my grandfather could turn a phrase into a joke in about a half a second.  I had so much fun with him. He taught me so much. Some of you may know this story so I apologize but I grew up about 4 houses down from my grandfather. I would be sitting in my garage or front yard and I would see a Domino's pizza truck drive by, and I'm sure my grandfather would look at his watch and say "I suspect we will have company in about 45 seconds" and sure enough there I was for dinner #2, Pizza! What 10 year old could resist that? I remember sitting on the steps and putting together my first skateboard. My grandfather actually found an old board, painted it, painted a Santa Cruz logo on it and put trucks and wheels on it for me. My first fishing pole was given to me by my grandfather.

Some may not know this but Papa had many interests which is where I must get all of my interests from. He was a jack of all trades. He could play the organ extremely well.  He was really good with dogs, he had a passion for dogs. As a toddler I remember him having Rottweilers and before I was born it was German Shepard's. As he got older the dogs got smaller.  I remember after one of his dogs died, his name was Rogan, he bought a new Rottweiler puppy. I remember he paid a large sum of money something like $600.00 and this was in the mid 80's. The puppy came down with Parvo. Now most dogs once they get Parvo die very quickly, I think that most vet's actually recommend you put them down when diagnosed with the disease. Not Papa. He nursed this puppy back to health. The dog grew into a HUGE Rottweiler named Zack. My grandfather had patience like that. He had patience with me as he taught me various songs on the Organ. I remember I spent the day at his house one day and we practiced the Marine hymn over and over which was odd because he was in the air force. My grandfather was also a tremendous father as he raised my mother and uncle. I remember the respect and love my mother had for my grandfather to this day.  I remember being suspended from school one day for getting into a fist fight. I was definitely scared as it was my grandfather who was retired by then came to pick me up from school, we got home and got down into his living room, which was a converted garage, and he asked me "You know your not supposed to be fighting at school right?" I said "Yeah I know." And then he quietly said "Well did you win?" and I looked up and said "Yeah, I did." And he gave me a quick wink, and that was all he said about it. My mom got off work and came to pick me up from his house and she was fuming and my grandfather somehow was able to calm her down and get me out of hot water. I'll always love him for that one. The first time I shot a gun, it was my grandfathers. He came over to our house one day with two packages under his arm. My brother and I ripped into them. B-B guns! Red rider Daisey B-B guns! I was 11 years old. The cats, birds, windows of my neighbor hood would never be the same. My grandfather had a passion for automobiles just as I do. He loved all cars, big small, fast or slow. I took many of my first camping trips in his truck and camper that we later bought from him. He sometimes went through several cars in a short amount of time, a habit I have unfortunately inherited from him!

 

I will miss him dearly, he was always there when I needed him. He was always there to listen, to guide, to lean on.  He has been a constant in my life when so many things have not been. I feel truly blessed to have known him and loved him. He was the best grandpa a kid could ever have asked for.  He helped me to be patient, to help others when I could and to be honest.

 

I want to thank everyone for coming today. I know some of you may have had to travel great distance's to be here. I also want to thank someone in particular for all that she has done for my grandfather, actually her whole family.

 

Meryl and her family have been so incredibly kind to my grandfather and my family. He was so lucky to have found you and lived out his later years with you. You took such good care of him I am deeply grateful for all you have given to him and to me. I am so happy that he was able to find someone so special to be with. Thank you all so much for everything you've done.

 

 

Papa, if your listening, we love you, we miss you, you will be in our hearts forever.Pictures of Papa

The obsession con... I mean the hobby continues...

So my neighbor was having a garage sale and I saw a bunch of motorcycles parked out front so I decided to go down there to check them out. I remember him riding around on a really clean old school Suzuki enduro that looked like fun. Unfortunately he wasn't selling that bike. He did have a pretty complete but kinda nasty looking little Yamaha 100 2-stroke enduro though. I talked to him for a few minutes and heard some of the prices he was selling stuff for and offered him $25.00 for the Yamaha. He took it. I rolled the bike home and have been messing with it a little bit here and there.

So then I'm on craigslist trolling for cheap bikes and I came across a neat little Yamaha DT 175 enduro. (Enduro's were really popular in the 70's they are basically an all purpose motorcycle that you can take on trails and on the street) I emailed the seller and eventually talked him down to a number we both could live with. Of course the guy lived BALLS DEEP (as billy and I like to call it) in the Bay Area. I couldn't sucker anyone to drive with me so I made the trek solo all the way up to.... Windsor CA. This is north of Santa Rosa. Anyway I test rode the bike, liked it, bought it. I included pics of both of my new acquisitions!