I Still Remember September 11, 2001 and the Aftermath Vividly

I still remember September 11, 2001 vividly.  I was living in Maryland, just outside of DC.  I was getting ready for work, watching TV when the first plane hit. After the second plane hit, I ran to my apartment-mate’s room and knocked on the door and told her she needed to see what was going on.  After a while, I left for work and listened to the radio.

I was on the DC Beltway, in horrendous traffic (worse than usual), when the voice on the radio mentioned the plane that hit the Pentagon.  I was so angry that they got the Pentagon and the World Trade Center mixed up.  Then I saw the electronic sign on the highway, “Major incident at the pentagon, expect delays”.  I gasped… what was going on?  Then I realized that my apartmentmate’s ( my friend’s) dad worked at the Pentagon.

I quickly called home, she and I talked about it.  She tried frantically to get a hold of her father, but to no avail.  I tried, desperately, to reassure her, but what could I say?  I had nothing of any real value.  No one did.

I got to work (I was a youth minister at a church just on the outskirts of DC).  There was something stoic in everone’s faces.  We were all really confused, discombobulated.  How are we supposed to act?  War?  An act of war?  Here?

One of the people I worked with, I would later find out, had a brother who worked as a construction worker at the Pentagon… literally missed the collision of the plane because they needed to pick up coffee before work… found out that my roommate’s father was right down the hallway from the collision, but, because military precision in evacuation- he got out.  Later, I would find out that another friend of mine’s father described the collision as a sudden loss of air-pressure as he was in yet another part of the building.  And yet another friend, whom I would meet several years later, lost a sister at the World Trade Center.

I watched the towers fall on a TV in between trying to help out at the pre-school that was attached to the church while we were trying to (evacuate/release?) the children to go home… the rumors flew.  There was another plane down in DC and 2 more on the way.  We were afraid.  We were sure that war had finally visited the United States… what/who/where were we now?

Then, we heard another plane was down… this time, it was because some citizens, people just like me, had taken back control of a plane that was headed for another destination.  These heroes (I do not use this term lightly) took back the plane and traded their own lives for the lives of many others.

In the aftermath…  In the aftermath…  I will never forget the solidarity I felt with my brethren.  We were Americans.  For a brief moment, there were no political parties.  Americans and Americans stood in the capital and sang “God Bless America”.  That’s leadership.  That’s who we were in that moment.

That’s who we are.

Name one America who loves the division in this country and I’ll name you a million more who want peace and cooperation in our leaders- compromise is not a bad word!

I don’t like shoot-em-up movies anymore.  I don’t like horror films.  I’ve seen enough of the reality and never again do I want to see it.

If you really want to remember and honor those who died on September 11, 2001, please think about the peace and freedom we have enjoyed… we have enjoyed since.  Go beyond thanking a veteran and thanking those who serve and find a way to serve.

After the April 16, 2007 attacks at VA Tech, the alumni association issued a challenge in response… Ut Prosim- “that I may serve”.  It was called ENGAGE.  We are still under that challenge.  This challenge echoes that challenge that George W. Bush gave to all Americans after 9/11.

So, this September 11, please remember and honor those who lost their lives… celebrate their lives.  Thank those who have and are still protecting our freedom… then go and serve your brothers and sisters.  Fight the political devices that destroy us… turn off the TV and vote according to your personal convictions.  Love one another, even when they disagree with your convictions in favor of their own.  Finally, celebrate and live the life that you have been given.

Be free,

Paul

Ditching the Plans to Run and Teach by Feel

Tonight, I am in the final, nervous preparations for tomorrow when I will run my 4th half marathon and the third time I've run the Harrisburg Half.  There's something special about this race.  Three years ago, in 2009, this race was my first real race that I completed.  It was also my second year in my current teaching position (first year as contracted teacher in the district, though my fourth year teaching).

At the 2009 event, I ran into a fellow teacher (from the same school) who, I would discover later, was an avid runner- a streaker- who had run every day for the past 20 years without ever missing a day.  He was 58 and in his last year as a teacher and I was 32 and only just beginning in both my running and teaching career.  He finished in 1:51:52 and I finished in 2:03:57.  The next weekend he died suddenly in his sleep- it was a devastating loss for his family, his friends, his school, and his community.

The next year, in 2010, I had the opportunity to run the Harrisburg half again, this time being beaten by his daughter, but this time with a new Half-marathon PR 1:46:52- one that stands to this day.

In 2009, I also finished my first full marathon, the Harrisburg marathon, which kick-started my passion for distance running.  Since then I've run the Baltimore marathon, the Columbus marathon, and the Shamrock marathon (VA Beach).  This year, I'm planning to repeat what I did in 2009 (in better shape and hoping for better times) by running this half again and the full marathon in November.

This is also my 8th year teaching, and in the same way I've seen my development as a runner, I've seen that parallel with the evolution of my teaching.  As a runner, I used to spend hours documenting my runs, analyzing my form and training plans. I used to be so tied down to my split times and what the watch said, rather than enjoying the ride... but in 2010, my best 1/2 marathon ever, I forgot to start my watch and was completely oblivious to my time until the finish line.  As a teacher, I used to spend hours pouring over my pacing of content and analyzing state test results because those state test results trump everything else... but in recent years, as my test scores have remained commendable, I've tossed out those detailed plans and have learned to release the chains of curriculum and textbooks and teach from the heart.

Ultimately, I'm learning to teach and to run by feel- and I've only gotten better as a result.  It's a scary notion to release the watch and detailed training plans; or to release the chains that stifle the creativity in educating children.  I've not completely abandoned planning- I generally know what workout I'm going to do, and I generally know what I'm going to teach- but one of the biggest challenges is letting go and allowing the flow and feel of the classroom or the road to dictate the next step.

Some days you've got to change things up, change plans based on the situation or the feel.  Sometimes you need to simply abandon what you think is right, because you might be wrong.

Last school year, I was on a long run considering the next day's lesson.  I needed to teach my group of 6th graders that the sum of the interior angles of a quadrilateral will be 360 degrees while the sum of the interior angles of a triangle will always be 180 degrees and how to use that information to find missing angles of each.  I had created all these diagrams and notes and was fully prepared for the lesson, but I had a problem... on my run, I just kept despairing that this lesson was a dull as clipping one's nails- in that in needed to be done, but it wasn't all that interesting.  Then, suddenly, I had an idea.

...a string!

The next morning, I got to school early and quickly changed everything I had planned for the day.  As the students arrived in my room for morning homeroom, I was still furiously at work... they didn't know why or what I was doing, but when it was time for class to start, I was ready.

I gave each learning team a looped string.  I had them create various quadrilaterals (square, rhombus, parallelogram, etc) together with the string.  From the outside it may have looked like chaos, but the students were interested and engaged, standing in all parts of the classroom holding their loops tightly in the shapes.

I took an oversized, chalkboard protractor and measured each angle for each of the various quadrilaterals.  I had a student record each measurement on the board for each one, then had the class sit down.  I had the whole class add the angles together for each quadrilateral- bam-  each measured 360 degrees.  I repeated the same activity with triangles- 180 degrees.

What does this tell you about quadrilaterals?  What does this tell you about triangles?  Why?  Then I got to show them some diagrams and we discussed the reasons why this worked.  Then we started looking for missing angles... and I never had a class understand this one concept better.

I never wrote it down in a required lesson plan format that had been due one week prior... no one ever knew that this is what I did.

It was organic, evolving, and flowing.  It was fluid, like breathing.  That is what teaching should be.  That is what running should be.  That is how I want to live.  Free.

I believe that God made us to be free, and it is a hard lesson to learn.  I'm still learning.  In all honesty, we are never more free than when we surrender completely to God's will.  Because God is The creative genius.  With God's creativity in us, there is nothing we can't do.  That applies to teaching, running, and living.

In God's Freedom,
Paul

Free

I've been blogging for while at Run and Eat Simply.  I created Run and Eat Simply as a way to help and encourage others who needed help living a simpler and healthier lifestyle.  The concept was born out of my passion for running and eating healthy food that I cooked with my own hands.  The monumental cause of that passion was that, after years of being obese and unable to cook much of anything useful for myself, I lost all that weight and took up distance running and cooking as hobbies and passions.

Then I hit a wall.  Have I lost that passion?

That passion for running and eating that so consumed me for so many years has sort of waned, but it certainly isn't gone.  What I've learned is that once you lose the weight and accomplish monster fitness goals, you eventually realize that life is about more than one success.  Perhaps I've run out of things to say about it.  I mean, yeah, I lost weight and became a marathoner, but what have I done lately?

It occurred to me that, really, outside of my family, there are three things that I can get into discussion about with excitement.  Three things that, if left unchecked, I can go on and on about for hours.  Three things that I am always yearning to grow into, become better at, and learn more about.

God, education, and running free.

I realized that I boxed myself in with the old blog, like I wasn't free to speak about my other passions.  So, I decided that I would change it up.  This blog is about living in the freedom we have- as children of God, as Americans, and as human beings, designed for more than we can imagine.

This won't be a daily blog, but one which I will update as I feel inspiration to post.  I hope you enjoy and comment, but I encourage civil discourse, not political rants or raves.  We all have opinions and we should feel free to express ourselves without fear of retribution because someone disagrees with what we feel.  We're all in this together, and just because we don't all agree doesn't mean we're bigoted, heartless jerks who are sole bent on destroying America... we need to not take ourselves too seriously.

Have fun, and be free.