Shaping Tomorrow's Citizens: Education, Religion, and Cultural Norms in the Classroom

In this blog post from Stones of Erasmus, I connect philosophical ideas with practical aspects of teaching and societal values. Let's invite reflection on the role of education, the influence of religion, and the importance of cultural norms in shaping the citizens of tomorrow.

The sun may appear small and lightbulb-like to the viewer,
but it's actually a massive fusion-powered
 fireball that sustains life on Earth.

Parity in the Classroom: The Common Gifts of Our Students In every classroom, there lies a hidden world of potential. That gossipy student in the back row? Perhaps a budding playwright, weaving tales for the stage. Our students are not just learners; they are creators, thinkers, and future citizens. The Personal Stance vs. The Professional Stance Education is not just about imparting knowledge; it's a national effort to produce productive citizens. But what does that mean? Producing productive citizens is about nurturing individuals who contribute positively to society and the economy. It's about fostering responsibility, hard work, and a commitment to the common good. It's about developing skills like problem-solving, communication, and teamwork that are vital in today's workforce. The Image of Citizenship: A Reflection of Values What should citizens of a country look like? The nineteenth-century image of the American family was a myth, yet it shaped perceptions. Today, we recognize that there is no one specific way citizens should look. Every individual is unique, bringing their own strengths and perspectives. The goal is to cultivate responsible, engaged members of society who contribute to the common good. Religion and Education: A Complex Relationship "Orderliness is godliness." This saying reflects how we often infuse public education with ideology, including the notion to "pull yourself up by your bootstrap." But do religious influences benefit the school system? The Puritans were able to impose their ideology, but the relationship between religion and education is complex. Some believe that religious values can create moral grounding and community. Others see challenges in separating church and state, ensuring inclusivity for all students. Folkways and Mores: The Fabric of Society Folkways and mores are the threads that weave the social fabric. Folkways are the everyday customs and traditions, while mores are the deeper, moral values that guide a culture. Together, they shape our collective identity. Opinions: The Personal Take on Knowledge An opinion is more than a fleeting thought; it's your unique perspective on what you know. It's a reflection of your understanding, your beliefs, and your individuality.

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Discover the Difference Between Raster and Vector Images: Clip Art Fun!

I have recently started making my own clip art, and the difference between raster and vector images is really important. Raster images are made from pixels, so when you zoom in on them, you can see the pixelated image, which appears fuzzier to the eye. While not always as detailed as a raster image, a vector image can be scaled and resized without giving off the dreaded pixelated effect. A vector image is made using basic computer geometry — shapes!

Here is a clip art image I made of a school girl with moppish hair giving off Little Orphan Annie vibes:

POV: Counting Time as a School Secretary (If You Are Seated at the Front Desk)

In this post, I articulate the unique perspective a school secretary has on the inner workings of a school.

Point-of-View: The Main Hallway of a School as Seen by the School Secretary

Ms. Lauren Yandow walks down the main hallway
with her kindergarteners and
waves to the school secretary.

School secretaries have a unique insight into how the inner workings of a school function, allowing them incredible insight that few other people can even begin to fathom. Sitting at the front desk during the school day is almost like being immersed in an ever-flowing river of students — it's fascinating! Each passing moment brings new surprises and never fails to remind you just how diverse and vibrant life at each school can be.

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Pizza Face: Wednesdays in the School Dining Hall

What do you eat for lunch at school?

On Wednesdays, we eat Pizza.

A Slice of Pizza

Pizza Face. What you looking at?

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#pizzaface #teachersofinstagram #lunch #school

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A Year Ago Today: Going into Lockdown Because of the Coronavirus Outbreak in the United States (and the World)

Greig Roselli poses for the one year anniversary
of living through Covid-19 in these United States.

One Year Ago Today

Today is March 12th in the Year of Our Lord Twenty Twenty-One. Last year today, I was in a faculty meeting. “We’re not closing school,” they said. By Sunday, we were in lockdown. And the rest is history.

I feel like I’m living through a historic moment like folks who lived through the Great Depression and hoarded pennies in their mattresses. 

What Will Future Generations Say?

Future generations will ask, “What was

On the corner of 37th
Avenue and 79th Street
 in Jackson Heights, Queens

the Twenty Twentys like?” My friend Amira’s child, who is now ten months old, will want to know what he did during the quarantine. “Mostly eat and sleep,” Mom will say. “But it was a long time before you saw real people besides the doctors who birthed you and us.” And Sam will say, “OK. I survived a global pandemic.”

Recognizing That This is a Deadly Virus

As of today, 532,466 people have died in the United States; and, worldwide over 2.5 million people have perished. I recognize I’m privileged because I’m vaccinated and generally healthy (although I need to lay off the potato chips and ranch dressing). The pandemic has disproportionately hit the most vulnerable of society. I realize I’m in-person with students — so there’s always a risk I can be infected. But think about folks who work essential jobs and live in small apartments where everyone is working, coming into contact with many people. I can slink away to the haven of a more-or-less safe space in my apartment.

I think this global crisis has revealed just how fragile the ties that bind are. I’m grateful for today. I mourn those lost to Covid-19, and I’m hopeful for the future.

Kristen Ahfeld is a
First Grade Teacher in Queens.

How was your Covid-19 lockdown anniversary — and how are you coping? Let me know in the comments. ⁣

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#covidkindnesswes #covi̇dkindness #covıdkindness #covidkindnesseverydaychallenge #covidkindnessstories #covidkindnessplease #covidkindness🙏 #staysafe #covidkindness🙏🏽 #stayhome #covidkindness💙💛 #covidkindnessneeded #covidkindness❣️ #covidkindnesss #covidkindness🤟🏻🙏🏻❤️ #covidkindness1 #quarantine #covid #covid19 #covidkindnesses #socialdistancing #covidkindnesscookieproject #covidkindnessnailcollab #covidkindness❤️❤️ #love #covidkindnessau #covidkindnesswmbg #covidkindnessuhp #coronavirus #covidkindnessca

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A Fourth Grader's Optimism: Who Needs Some Inspiration? (Especially After the Tumultuous Events in Washington, D.C. this Week!)

Feeling the need to be inspired, I found this post-it note on a bulletin board at the school where I am a high school English teacher. I teach in a K-12 school in the New York City borough of Queens. 

Julian in Fourth Grade doles out a massive dose of encouragement. 

Needing Positivity this Week (For Sure!)

I am usually the teacher who brings positivity to the classroom. But lately I have been feeling down-and-out. Maybe it's the global pandemic that has swept the world, or maybe it's the attack on our democratic institutions on Wednesday that threw the nation's Capitol building in lockdown when a large group of Trump-inspired far-right rioters breached security protocol and entered the federal building, breaking glass, vandalizing the Speaker of the House's office, and even infiltrating the Senate chambers — where just an hour before, legislators had convened to accept certified electoral college votes from the states — to follow through with the Constitutional process to de facto validate the election of the next President of the United States, Mr. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Inspiring Note from a Fourth Grader

And I saw this note from a Fourth grader. Kids at this age have an optimism and clarity for both big-spectacled dreams as well as practical sense. Who doesn't want the world changed for the better. But I love how he admits it is a challenge. And kudos for his marvelous grammatical construction — "Changing the world isn't easy, but anyone can."

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Found Object: Ancient Set of Crayons Found at Garden School

I found this ancient set of crayons 🖍 in the faculty room at work. I work as an English and Ethics teacher at a Pre-K through Twelfth-grade independent school in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. The school is old and worn, and I sometimes find artifacts in drawers or closets. Hence, this find. Notice the font for “orange” on the right hand of the crayon in the bottom right hand of this photograph. #coloringtime #prangcrayons

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GIF: Teachers Do Lunch Duty!

I don't like doing lunch duty. However, I love the teachers who I share lunch duty responsibilities with every day. One teacher has been a teacher for fifty years. That's an accomplishment. The other teacher is my work wife. We're married according to the holy vows of accredited teacher-marriage. The other teacher is my roommate. We share a room, boo. And the last teacher is a science teacher who enjoys eating his lunch with us. Love Y'all! *besos*

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On a Trip to Mystic, Connecticut I Ran into Versions of American History

Can you see Manhattan?

     I have just returned from a sleep-away trip with Seventh graders. We went to Mystic, Connecticut — me and a couple of teachers and nineteen kids. I had never heard of Mystic — even though I saw the movie Mystic River  —which apparently has no connection to Mystic, Connecticut but there is a B-movie with Brad Pitt called Mystic Pizza - which apparently is real - the pizza. Not the story.

     So, what did we do in Mystic? We stayed at the Mystic Seaport Museum which is really a cool place - much more relaxed than any museum I have been to in a long time. It is a reconstructed nineteenth-century seaport town. It's replete with an apothecary, a maritime general store, a slew of interpreters who pamper you with their stories of sea life, whale blubber stories, and facts about forecastles, moorings, and ghosts. Our crew — including me — slept on the Joseph Conrad — which is a wooden Danish training vessel that at one point sunk — killing twenty-two boys — then resurrected from the sea — then a U.S. President salvaged it and christened it as a National Historic Landmark - so it is permanently moored at the Seaport. I like history, and I like even more how history gets told, gets packaged, and is applied to how we think about the world we live in today. 
     There is the ship Amistad moored at Mystic. It's a slave ship that was the site of a slave rebellion. Today it sits gleaming and speaks of liberty and the promise of change. However, its rewarding story belies the tragedy of the Middle Passage that claimed millions. Mystic also has a reconstructed version of the Mayflower - it is called the Mayflower II, and it is being revamped and polished for a celebration in 2020 celebrating the original ship's voyage four hundred years ago. The kids on our trip know these stories, and they see in these stories a symbol of religious freedom. However, I am confident that the Europeans who came to the New World were not as pure in their pursuit of liberty and the right to equality as we would like to paint them as in the history books. 
     You can also see a whaling ship in Mystic - and if you are a good sailor, you might get to talk to a re-enactor. We met a jolly lady who was presenting herself as an immigrant to Mystic who arrived in the 1870s. She had left Alaska after it was sold by the Russians to the United States. She spoke of her voyage, a trip from the islands of Alaska, down to Panama, through the canal, past Jamaica, and then up the Atlantic coast to Long Island Sound. I liked hanging out with the kids. They're city kids — most of the lot — so they were into running around, kicking a soccer ball on the village green - and feeling the cold October air in their face. It is kinda crazy to be chaperoning twelve-year-old kids for forty-eight hours straight, but I loved their energy. Kids that age are full of energy but no focus. It's refreshing. 
     Hey. If you know all the answers, then you're a fool, right?

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Image Source: Greig Roselli © 2018

Teaching: Greig Roselli's Educational Philosophy

Every once and awhile an employer or person will ask me about my educational philosophy. As they say — there are many ways to skin a cat — but here is one version of what teaching means to me:

The word “education” derives from the Latin meaning “to lead out.” Teaching is just that. To teach is to lead out. But where is out? And to where are we leading those entrusted to our care? I believe we lead our students out so eventually they will no longer need us. Of course, all young people graduate. But if they graduate and are still dependent on us -- then what have we accomplished? We don’t call graduation “commencement” for nothing. To commence means to begin the journey. Once those in our care depart they will have to guide themselves. We guide our students not so that they will be perpetually guided, but so that they too will become like us -- those who lead others out. That is the purpose of education.

Photograph: Maternal Aunt in Her Schooldays Dress

Genealogy Report 

from a Perronne Photo Album: Sandra Mitten Perronne is pictured here as a school student at Ella Dolhonde school in Metairie, Louisiana.

Sandra Perronne Mitten, my maternal aunt as a middle school student
 at Ella Dolhonde school in Louisiana (circa the 1950s).

Writing About the Perronne Family 

Stones of Erasmus
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Sandra Mitten Perronne - my maternal aunt -  who taught me what holy cards are used for (*for putting inside the interior pages of sacred books!*) and showed me how to crochet (a skill I have long since forgotten how to do). However, she is a cool lady. She makes doll fashions for a living; but, now she is retired, and she spends a lot of time with my mother and older brother. In the picture (posted above), she is an elementary school student at Ella Dolhonde school in Metairie, Louisiana.
I've written about family history on my blog - check out related articles here.

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In Memoriam: Mo

I taught a boy named Mo. He was fourteen years old when he died. This post is in his memory.

A young man in our theater troupe died a year ago today. We called him "Mo". But his real is Mohammed Charlot. He was fourteen years old. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This page serves as a memory to him. The photograph was taken before he went on stage as Arthur in our high school production of Sword in the Stone.

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