Kathryn Thompson is the mother to three young children, two currently enrolled in two different elementary schools and one enrolled in toddler-style chaotic disruption.
Currently living near Seattle with her computer-genius husband, she is a stay-at-home mom and freelance writer. A regular classroom volunteer, Kathryn has served as the board member over communications for her local PTA and enjoys running their spring fundraiser each year.
She has a degree in English and Media Arts Studies from Brigham Young University and attended public school in Alberta, Canada and Katy, Texas. Before having kids, Kathryn worked as an Associate Librarian at the world’s greatest public library and enjoyed using the bathroom without spectators.
With all the talk about improving school lunches, I often feel sheepish about the foods my kids are actually eating at home. It’s humbling to think about marching into my administrator’s office to demand answers about the nutritional properties of cafeteria food when I have trouble getting my own kids to eat their vegetables or even one vegetable.
My kids are understandably excited for summer vacation to start. They want to party, they want to play outside, and they want to put as much distance between themselves and school as they possibly can. I think they’re almost as excited about getting out of school right now as they will be about going back to school in a couple of months.
Mom Congress delegates are known for speaking out on issues facing education and what better place to do that than the internet where their words can reach far and wide? Today I highlight a few posts by our delegates from around the web.
It looks like Cushon Bell has been called to the principal’s mayor’s office for what she’s done. On May 24th, Los Angeles County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich presented her with a certificate of appreciation at a Board of Supervisor’s meeting.
If your child were starving, would you steal a loaf of bread? If your child’s future depended on gaining a quality education, would you break the law to obtain it for her?
You’ve doubtless heard the statistics by now, statistics that show American students falling behind academically when compared with their counterparts in other industrialized nations. As a nation, we are failing to remain competitive in education, which basically means we are failing to remain competitive. Period.Read Full Post
This week’s question for our Mom Congress delegates is something I’ve had on my mind the as the weather’s gotten warmer. Like Emily, I’m excited for summer but I do worry about all the information they’ll be forgetting while we chillax and eat popsicles.
What do you do to keep kids motivated to learn over the summer? How do you prevent brain drain and help them retain their knowledge and skills for the coming school year?
The response I got was awesome! I'm ready to have the best summer ever with my kids.
We all want kids who are strong and well-educated and ready to take on the world, but things don’t always work out like that. In our educational reality, there are failures and dropouts and kids who graduate without ever really achieving their potential. We want changes and we want answers. So we start doing the most unproductive thing possible – looking around for someone to blame.Read Full Post
One speaker that everyone was anxious to hear from at the Mom Congress on Education and Learning conference was Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and not just because he comes with secret service and may transfer presidential cooties when he shakes your hand.
The Mom Congress delegates are passionate about education policy and will never be happy listening to political jargon without holding the speaker accountable for his words. They wanted to hear what he had to say and then closely watch how he would follow through.
This week our Mom Congress delegates responded to the following:
In the wake of teacher appreciation week, I’d love to hear your thoughts on what makes a fabulous teacher. No one can seem to agree on a fair and effective evaluation system for teachers but when you see great teaching, you know it. How do you know it? What would a teacher need to do to ace your personal teacher evaluation?
A great teacher knows my child, not just academically, but personally. Having this relationship builds community and respect. ~Lyssa Shadevan – Georgia Delegate 2011
