Fate vs. Destiny

A quote by S.L. Scott, New York Times BestSELLING AUTHOR:

“Fate is the life you lead if you never put yourself in the path of greatness. That’s the direction your life moves in without any effort on your part. That’s your fate.”

“Destiny is your potential waiting to happen. It’s the top tier in the grand scheme of possibilities and where your dreams come true. You have to be willing to take that first step to reach your potential, even if it’s a risk.”

Fall always visually presents these two dynamics (fate vs. destiny) with me in my life.  The transformation witnessed every day, in the peak of the fall color season, is the fate of all vegetation progressing into the winter months.

Yet there is always a sense of renewal in the springtime and a feeling of hope.  That is the destiny I seek.  The possibility for change that nourishes the soul and stimulates the mind.

The fall colors, brilliant and stunning, leave me with a feeling of inevitability.  This course of events leads us into winter, and I witness these changes taking place in the environment as a bystander present outside of it without applying any effort.  That is fate.

The flood of colors in the peak fall season washes over us and it makes me rejoice over the beauty of life and the exquisite gift to be alive on this planet! 

Destiny provides the opportunity for all of us to live the fullest life possible in the shortest amount of time we have in this world. To truly appreciate the gift of life is to embrace destiny as a way of living every day.

EARTH STEWARDSHIP PROJECT

2019

The initial stages of the project is associated with students taking account of the soil in their community and its vitality as a means to grow crops.

Soil is a mixture of clay, silt, sand and organic material.  The composition of these substances determines soil composition and overall density.
It is important that students begin to scientifically evaluate the quality of the soil within the community.
Soil quality is critical not only for the production of food and also for dealing effectively with climate change.

Analysis of soil quality begins with both percent composition and resulting density.  Students will designate three locations outside the building and then begin to collect samples at each location.  

A. Enough mass of soil at each location is collected so each student can accumulate and test three 90 ml samples of soil.

B. Also students need to collect enough soil to fill at least three glass jars half-full so they can add another half-full of water and mix up the entire suspended mixture.  As the substances in the glass jars settle out they will move into specific layers (clay, silt, sand and organic matter).

The mass of soil in each cup (90ml) is measured to the nearest tenth of a gram of mass.
Knowing the volume and mass of each cup, students will be able to calculate the density of soil in each cup.  An average density is determined from analyzing these three cups.

• Students working in groups of 3 to 4 persons will collaborate, share their findings and determine an overall classroom density of soil.
• Good soil densities can range from 0.9  to 1.3 grams/ml.
• Students will be able to compare their findings of density of local soils to the range of known good soil densities.
• Once students become knowledgeable of soil densities they can create their own superior soil density samples.  These designed samples can be tested by planting basil and vegetables and allowing them to grow and prosper within their soils

Therefore there are many opportunities for students to investigate, test, analyze and create.  With knowledge and information comes power and increased self-efficacy of all students.  Students begin to think out of the box and pursue solutions to regenerate the soil in their community. Since students know the composition of good soils and they can look at environmental and societal impacts upon the soil in our community.

Students will begin to promote square foot gardening as the means to increase the urban agriculture to help support the community's food resilience into a climate change threatening future.  Square foot gardening at the local level is an essential final stage of this project to implement what has been learned and discovered and creating a viable productive facility to grow food.  Students can help manage the garden and they can continue to perform scientific studies and work to maximize the growth of these plants.

Reflecting upon a moral imperative

It can be said that to be Christian is to have an innate desire and motivation to bring forth social justice in the world.  Equity stems from a belief in sharing natural resources like food, water, energy and providing equal opportunities to learn.  For the past 200 years, public and private education have been the hallmark of our democracy continually carrying our society forward as we take on challenges of an evolving future.

Rick Wormeli, on Friday at Boylan High School, presented to educators gathered from across the Archdiocese of Rockford, a moral imperative of change in the educational system.  It is nothing less than the genesis of a more equitable, more thoughtful and more fair means to facilitate learning in the 21^st century classroom. 

The change that Wormeli advocated is a process.  It takes time and it takes sustained effort.  Leadership to bring about this change will rise from committed school administrators, teachers and students. This imperative for change stems from a belief that to be educated is to be viable in our society.  To be viable is to be knowledgeable and to have self-efficacy to take on challenges that arise through the course of events in our lives.  This comes down to preparing our children for a dynamic changing future.  Human ingenuity is the outcome that results from thoughtful and reasoned thinking. This is what educators strive to achieve in the classroom.  The ability of our kids to solve problems through logic, evidence-based reasoning and with a degree of creativity that can, at times, be outside accepted norms.

Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”  To make the changes needed in education is to move progressively toward a model of education where learning is primary and away from strict interpretations of grades given as compensation for student effort.

One key component of Wormeli’s presentation was the fact that as educators we can not achieve these needed outcomes unless we are willing to readdress the learning process in the classroom and be progressive in how we communicate, to parents, the ability of their child to carry forward what they have learned into their lives. The experience of the child in the classroom is about chasing learning not chasing grades.  Grades are not a form of compensation for our students, they are a means to communicate to parents a measure as to what their child has learned.  The education goal is 90 percent competency in what has been taught.  This also means that what has been taught is now carried forward by students in their thinking process. The focus by teachers needs to be directed upon teaching to accepted standards in education and then commit to documenting and advocating for evidence-based models of learning as part of the curriculum design in the classroom.

In science class we always talk about discovery being a process not an outcome.  Science is the continuation of learning that is unending. So too is education in general.  As educators we build upon "best practices" and we strive to solidly prepare our students for a future that continues to change along with the demands for knowledge and understanding to deal with it.  Wormeli thoughts open an avenue for change that I believe is a guide to bring forth progressive educational models in the classroom by keeping the focus upon doing right by the children that we teach.  This becomes the goal of educators to adapt learning to the needs of our students to be successful in a changing world. It is the moral thing to do!