I was reminded of the classic Simpson’s episode Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish where Mr. Burn’s is running for governor and Marge serves him a three eyed fish, Blinky, from the run off pond by his plant. He proceeds to spit the fish across the table and promptly loses the election.

So, while I appreciate that Doug Skuttles is willing to but money where his mouth is, I hope he is ready for some smart mother to make him eat his words.

PS — Please clean up the oil and reimburse my country. Thanks.

1) (1) Crystal Bowersox — Crystal had another solid performance, but she needs to take it to then next level if she wants to stay on top.
2) (2) Casey James — Strong performer taking risks, if he takes a few more big risks and they pay off he could take it all.
3) (4) Lee DeWyzee — Judges and fans love him as he comes out of his shell and gains confidence.
4) (3) Michael Lynche — Had kind of weird interpretation of the song this week and is having trouble breaking out of doing the same thing every week.
5) (5) Aaron Kelly –  Did a nice job and is a talented individual, a few more years under his belt and he should be a star.
6) (7) Katie Stevens — Had one of, if not her best performance. This should keep her around, but she has a lot of work to do.
7) (6) Tim Urban — In a competition with six other boys his good vocals and pretty smile may not be enough with the safe song choices he is making.
(9)  Siobhan Magnus — Had another odd week. Her big notes are not going to be enough to keep her around if she can’t put together a solid performance.
9) (8) Andrew Garcia — His time may be up, he can sing okay, but his songs sound the same each week and he isn’t really growing.

– What are your thoughts on the team’s performance at the State Meet this weekend?

It is tough to put the whole experience in perspective. We were pretty happy after Friday finishing in 9th only 327 out of first. We knew it was going to be a tough climb, but we knew we could do it. Then on Saturday morning we bowled our best 3 game series of the tournament but we still dropped a place to 10th. That was fine, we set our goals on 6th and moved forward, but then we kind of unraveled and dropped down to 12th. As I said, it is tough to put in perspective because you are in last place on the second day of state, but then you have to remember that only 12 teams in the state made the second day of state and you realize what an awesome accomplishment it is and then you look at the individual successes inside the larger team and you realize that it truly was an amazing weekend that I or the boys will never forget.

My main goal going in to the tournament was to get to Saturday and then see where we could go from there. So, in that sense the weekend was very successful. The boys were focused all weekend and really gave their all. After entering Saturday in 9th place we were hoping to move up in the standings, but it was a tough field with several quality schools. I was pleased with the determination the boys showed through all 12 games never giving up and fighting until the end.

– What were some of the highlights for you guys?

There are several pieces of the weekend that will always stand out to me. The first was the support we got from the parents. We had a fairly large contingent follow us down to state, and it meant a lot that there will willing to take the long trip to O’Fallon. On Friday in game 6 we were right on the bubble between advancing and being cut and the boys needed a big game, we were going strong through the first 8 frames and we were in good shape. Then, unexpectedly, the fan section starting chanting, “Let’s go Bears, Let’s go Bears…” and it was really awesome. This encouragement pushed the boys forward and we bowled our best game of the day (1039). The chants from the crowd gave me goosebumps and really made the day.
Another highlight is the performance of the seniors, Luke Mueller and Austin Wells. Both days Luke started out with a rough score (159 Fri and 148 Sat) but finished very strong. (1266 on Friday and 1211 Sat) he didn’t let the bad first game get him down and he kept fighting through. He was also always clapping and cheering on his team mates even when he was worried about his own game, which I really appreciate that he was able to put his own frustrations aside for the good of the team.

Austin’s performance was also inspiring. He has been battling with tendinitis since winter break and been fighting through the pain. On Friday morning his medication was not agreeing with his system and he just felt a little off leading to an uncharacteristically low (155) game 2. In the afternoon, after eating some lunch and letting the medication settle, he was back in good form finishing with a strong game 5 (266) and a 672 series for the afternoon. Then, on Saturday Austin was our rock. He decided to forgo medication and tough through the pain. In the morning most of the boys were clicking and bowling well which lead to our team’s high series (3052) but we still dropped a place to 10th with Austin finishing with a 622. In the afternoon as the team started to unravel, Austin was steady as a rock with only one open in the last two games and finishing with a 642 series and taking 28th place with a 2485 tournament total (207.1 avg). This makes him the highest finishing Lake Zurich Boy’s bowler in school history. It was really nice to see Austin achieve this since he has been our team leader for the last two years and to see all of his dedication to the bowling team really pay off.

Finally, the total team effort that the boys showed throughout the weekend very gratifying to me. It is difficult to instill the team concept in what is perceived by many as an individual sport, but the boys really came together as a group. When we had to substitute kids in and out to try and find the right mix no one got down or upset. The boys were constantly trying to help each other make adjustments and they were constantly encouraging each other. The leadership of Kyle Hunter, much like at sectionals, really helped us on the first day to keep from getting discouraged in the tight competition, he was always setting the expectation that we were going to do better each game, and that paid off.

– I believe Austin Wells reached the state tournament last year as an individual, how much do you think that helped him this time around?

Austin learned a lot last year in terms of how to adjust to the lane conditions as the broke down. The state oil pattern is still a house shot, but it is a slightly different house shot than what these boys play on all year. This isn’t as much of a problem in the early goings as it is as they break down. Austin saw this last year as he was barely eliminated after the first day because he was not able to string together his strikes. That experience gave him motivation to make his game more versatile and we can see that it paid off this year. Austin has never been one to be affected by the pressure of the moment, but I still think having been in that state environment last year helped he keep a cool head this year.

– Could you list how the rest of the team did at State?

Luke Mueller was 44th with a 2426
Steve Garcia was 45th with a 2407

Those were the only 3 who bowled all 12 games.

Here is a link to the results from Saturday, http://www.ihsa.org/activity/bwb/2009-10/1result2.htm and Friday, http://www.ihsa.org/activity/bwb/2009-10/1result1.htm.

– Can you put in perspective the season the team had this year?
This was the first year since my first were we had a full varsity team (5 or 6 kids who could average 200+). We had no seniors last year and only 2 two years ago, so we have been building to this for several years. Last year when we didn’t advance out of sectionals after winning the conference we said, wait til next year and all year we talked about how this is our year and the boys performed up that expectation. They won two large, competitive tournaments (Cougar Classic & Plainfield North Invite) and finished in the top 5 the last 5 weeks of the season. (Morgan Park, Rockford PBA Experience, Plainfield, Lake Zurich, Sectionals). With the 12th place finish at state this is the most successful team in Lake Zurich Boy’s Bowling history.

On top of that we are only losing two members of the Varsity squad (Mueller and Wells) for next year and we have some underclassman that have made a lot of progress in the past year. After the 2006-07 state trip, most of that team graduated, so the lessons learned from state where not passed on. This year, I am hoping that the returning members will take what they learned from this experience and use it to motivate and drive them forward as we work in the off-season.

Some of the my comments were in the article, but I wanted to share the rest. I was a little verbose because I was exited from sectionals.

– What does this mean to you guys to be competing at the State Meet next weekend?–
It means quite a lot for us to be going to state. This is a group that spent the last 3 years waiting for “next year.” The team had no seniors last year and only two the year before. So, most of the guys this year have been on varsity in some form for the past 3 years. As a group we always talked about growing and maturing and how our time would come and this season we have seen all of the hard work of the last three years finally pay off. For this group to make it to state is also personally satisfying because the seniors on the team started the same year that I started coaching the team so it is culmination of a lot of hard work.

– What were some of the highlights for you guys at the Sectional today?–
A few highlights of the day for me where Mike Schmitt (Fr. 200 average) who came in off the bench when we needed him in game 5 and bowled a 257. That was a huge game that really helped keep the team’s momentum going.

Game 6 was very exciting for the team. We we were out of 1st by 25 pins but up on 3rd by 80 and 4th 136. The 4th place team, Niles (Notre Dame), was coming in real strong in the lane next to us and we were about neck and neck with Vernon Hills (1st place). Throughout the year at several tournaments the boys have had a rough time staying strong through all 6 games. Today with the pressure on, the guys performed well and finished the day almost climbing back into 1st.
The other highlight was the performance of Kyle Hunter. Kyle typically starts tournaments stronger than anyone on our team. However, he has not had a particularly consistent time of it as the tournaments progressed. Today Kyle showed his toughness both physically and mentally to fight through 6 games making many adjustments and trying different shots both ones that he was used to and ones that are outside of his wheelhouse. And while he had dreams of 1^st place after the first three games, the 6^th place finish is by far his strongest individual performance.

Also, the stable leadership or our seniors, Luke Mueller and Austin Wells really help set the tone for the day. While they were not the scoring leaders, they didn’t let that get to them. The other bowlers could see that they still had the confidence in the team and were panicking because of a couple of low scores and that helped to set the tone for the day. I can not say enough about what those two have done for this team over the last three years, and we certainly wouldn’t be were we are today without them. Ultimately, all four of the upperclassman ended up “on the sheet” which would be in the top 27 for the sectional.
Finally, I was very excited about the support the team received today both from the large turn out of parents and the large number of other bowlers from the team that showed up. It is encouraging as a coach to see that the younger kids are excited to be on a team and are willing to come out and cheer their teammates on.

– What did you think of the performances of your two juniors Kyle Hunter and Steve Garcia on Saturday and what have they brought to the team this year? –
I can’t say enough about the performance of Garcia and Hunter. I already wrote about Kyle above. But to add to that Hunter has become one of the team’s emotional leaders as well. More than anyone on the team Kyle has matured as a leader and the team looks to him for motivation and inspiration.
Garcia has been one of our consistent performers over the past few weeks. He took 3^rd at the Plainfield North Invite, 3^rd at our tournament, 4^th in conference, and 8^th at the sectional and is really starting to find his way as a bowler. He started the day a little slow but showed true grit and fought through and gave us some huge games when we needed them. He too is growing into his role as leader on team and impresses me a little more every week with his bowling insight. All during the second game he had to basically through his ball at the gutter in order to strike. This is something he is horribly uncomfortable doing, but he toughed it out and got the job done.

– What are the team?s aspirations at the State Tournament next weekend? –

One of the traditions our school seems to be developing over the last three years is that teams that earn 1st or 2nd in state get to ride a fire truck from May Whitney to the high school for a pep assembly. One of the boy’s main goals is to ride the fire truck. That is what they talked about in practice as we prepared for sectionals. My goals are a little simpler, I want to make it to the second day at state. My first year coaching I took a team down state and we did not make it past the first day, and I would like to get over that hump. If after that we get to fire truck all the better. This group has the physical ability to bowl that well as long as they stay focused. We don’t have a true super star this year, but we have a group of solid bowlers that have shown when they are performing they can compete with the best in the state.

A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for a homework assignment.

After it was graded and the child brought it home, she returned to school the next day with the following note:

Dear Ms. Davis,

I want to be very clear on my child’s illustration.  It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint.  I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm.  This photo is of me selling a shovel.

Mrs. Harrington

***I have no idea if this is real, but it is funny.***

A lot of teachers would be uncomfortable with some of these avenues, but for me I truly believe that it has made my teaching more effective, (Research would seem to agree, Link 1, Link 2.) and it is the only way I know how to be. Many times I would see something on Facebook that I could discuss with the students during class the next day to build those connections, or a student would see something I posted about myself or Isaac and then we could use that to build a connection in class. I try to tell myself each year that I am not going to get as close to the students, but I can’t do it. I love teaching and I love it because of the students I get to meet. They change me for the better and hopefully the opposite is true. When the days are tough and I need a break from teaching, the kids are what get me up in the morning and keep me going. If I didn’t have a strong relationship with the students, I wouldn’t enjoy my job nearly as much. I wouldn’t know how to teach any other way.

On Scrubs Dr. Cox says he teaches through fear, but I can’t do that. I have too much fun being a goof with kids and interacting with them. Each day I am not sure what is going to happen in class, but it usually results in us laughing and having a good time. I’ve always believed that I can get more out of the students if they like me and want to work in class for me, if not for physics. Some people yell to manage their classes, but I like to use my relationship with the kids to manage the classroom.

Anyway, the point is that I formed some pretty strong relationships my students this year. I wouldn’t say it was with every student, but on the whole I felt closer to my students this year than any year in the past. One of my big fears in teaching had been that as I got older, I’m 29 now, I would start to lose touch with the students. I have actually found now that the opposite is true. This year I have found that more students have talked to me in an advice type sense than any other year. So, while my relationship with students is different than it was when I started teaching, I find that I am enjoying the new role I am in.

So, now the end of the year comes and I have to say good-bye to these wonderful young people. I do not know why this is so hard for me each year. Part of my says I only see these kids for 44 minutes a day for 180 days this shouldn’t be this hard. But, even knowing that, I feel a void when they leave. The truth of the matter is I see a lot of these kids more than that. Some come in for help, some come by to hang out, and some I just see other times. I love how things go for the first 9 months of the year, but the last week or so is just really depressing. I often refer to it as Post-Prom Depression. It is a rough week because the kids are stressed out and cranky because they are going through a bunch of emotions with high school ending and their teachers piling on projects. I have to battle with them to stay on task because they have senioritis yet I have to be the responsible one. At the same time I just want to hang out with them because they are going to be gone soon. This really makes closure tough to come by.

I try to do somethings to get closure. I give them a little speech with a couple of simple pieces of advice. Then I teach them how to tie a neck-tie. This year I started a new tradition by doing something that my high school calculus teacher Mrs. Courtney O’Berry did that was very memorable for me: I read them Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. This was received well and I liked it.

Anyway, I am not really sure what I wanted out of this post. Mostly I just felt like I needed to get some thoughts off of my mind. I love teaching and interacting with students and I would never conduct myself in any other way than fully committed to building relationships with students. This year in particular I have grown particularly close to two students and they have helped me grow as a teacher and as a parent. They may never know they affect they have had on me just like I will never know the effect I have had on many students. I recently read a quote, The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. I don’t really like quoting other people, but this really sums up what I believe in a very elegant statement. I guess the hardest part is never knowing if the things I do on a daily basis have a positive lasting impact.

February 24th — Today’s good thing was getting to go snow tubing with some fun kids and seeing those kids be good representatives of their school. Also, I was thrilled to see them working hard on the problems they needed to work on and finding a way to have fun at the same time.

February 25th — Was just getting the chance to watch young adults work really hard in school today on some difficult physics problems. Most of the really responded today and were trying to raise themselves up to thar bar I set to be creative and resourceful. And even though I felt very poor today, every now and then it all seems to work really well and the kids pull me through a hard day.