Kind Words

Given the subject on which I wrote this past week, there was a bit of irony that played out tonight as I skimmed through the news. It is especially curious since it was only a couple of weeks ago that I did sit down and write a letter in the hope to reconnect with someone who had been so kind to me in the past. It wasn’t until long after the sun had set and our son was asleep in his bed when I learned about the passing of Elie Wiesel. As I read through the remembrances streaming across my computer, I couldn’t help but think about the moment when I received a letter in the mail with his name in the upper left hand side of the envelope.

While we had never met in person, I did correspond with this wonderful man in the past and I had been fortunate to receive his blessing regarding the poems that I originally wrote about Janusz Korzcak. Words that, while brief, carried the weight of the world and of history. At the time I had doubts about whether my writing was honoring the memories of those lost. I have never been one to rely on the approval of others to write but this is a subject and a project that was a completely different scenario. With a few simple sentences, I had the confidence to continue which resulted in the collection that I published this year, What Was Not Said: Echoes From The Holocaust.

What speaks volumes of his legacy is that my interaction with this great man is not a unique experience. He gave more of his time, his energy, his life not just to ensuring the permanence of memory but to the lives of others in pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Dr. Wiesel supported many of us, from near and far, in more ways than most could ever dream. Some were personal interactions while others only got to know him through his words printed on the pages in one of his fifty seven books, countless essays and articles, and numerous interviews and speeches. I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones to have corresponded with this righteous man.

And when we look back on the life of this great man, there is much that we can learn from not just his words but his actions. While he lived through unimaginable horrors, he chose to live with hope and kindness. He pursued the perpetuation of memory and ensured that it served as a means for achieving peace. He was a beacon for the world shining light not just into the darkness of the past but casting a warm glow on the possibilities of the future. Sometimes he would do this on a grand stage in front of thousands or on television in front of millions but also in a classroom in from of a mere dozens or in a conversation, a letter, a phone call one on one. This is why, for many reasons, I now say I will never forget!

Guest Blog: Genealogical Verification

Whenever you attempt to write about your family history in narrative form, there are always potential problems. These usually come in the form of the difficulty of verifying family histories in times when community records were never kept or (at best) are incomplete. Such circumstances make it difficult to substantiate important ancestral events and their significance to the overall story you are trying to tell. The only way to address these issues is to take the following steps.

The first is to only use those tales that you can demonstrate to the reader has some form of truth or logical reasoning for its inclusion. In my novel, The Legacy of Two Gemini Knights, I would estimate that I only used around 40% of the tales in my family archive. The remaining 60% had to be disregarded because of questionable sources. Adding them, whether I liked it or not, may have lessened the power of the text in one way or another.

The second step is to try to cross-reference any type of material you are using. Books, magazines and especially the World Wide Web do provide excellent means of providing added credibility to your written arguments. For example, much of the information on the Battle of Teba, Spain in 1330 as employed in the book, did help me formulate the Logan brothers’ and the other Templar knights’ roles in this conflict and the impact it eventually had on the rest of the story.

Another way to look at family genealogy is to visit those places that your ancestors came from. Often, small details are not included in the notes of official texts. On a number of occasions I have picked up vital clues to a story line, by talking to people at the scene or looking at the physical evidence myself. Such things can often give a particular insight to events that would otherwise be lost and in doing so leave the material written rather shallow and without conviction. For example, my visit to Leith, Scotland, did help me understand how my ancestors coped with such harsh living conditions at the time. As a result one could understand how the social culture of that period shaped the characters thinking on a daily basis and so in turn helped me to enrich the content of the text.

Finally, one can verify genealogical situations by establishing a linear series of events that fit together in some fashion. This maybe over a time frame or within a cultural setting that has already been established in other recorded contexts. Again, when talking about the Gemini Knights and their association with the town of Lanark, the land estates in west Scotland and St. Andrews in Leith, they were all established as important to the next part of the story by the interlinking efforts of further research. Such facts enabled family stories and genealogy to fit into the context of the broader textual message of the existing story with some degree of reality and understanding. Thus, hopefully improving the thrust of the book in some way.

However, no matter how one tries, there will always be gaps in any story from such a long way back in time. And we as authors must always accept that someone else will come along in the future and say your analysis on certain situations today are incorrect. And unfortunately, this is the price we pay for taking the conversation one step further in the here and now. Nevertheless, all we can do is our best at the time of writing one`s book and just hope the reader appreciates the genealogical contributions and connections made to date.

Geoff Logan, a veteran university lecturer, has a master’s degree in education from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. He now serves as an independent education consultant. “The Legacy of Two Gemini Knights” is his first book.

One If By Hand, Two If By PC

(L-R) Guest Speaker Dr. Beverly Moskowitz and President Elect Sean M. Teaford

Most people don’t give much thought to the legibility of their own handwriting. Poor penmanship is something that we tend to only notice when we have to read a note, a form, or, all too often for some, a prescription. But on a day to day basis we really don’t think about this.

As I have said before, one of the wonderful aspects of Rotary is meeting people and hearing speakers who introduce concepts and ideas that we wouldn’t normally give significant consideration in our everyday lives. The importance of handwriting and the legibility thereof is something that Dr. Beverly Moskowitz has dedicated her life to for the majority of her 37 years of experience as a pediatric Occupational Therapist. In 2011, she authored the largest research study ever conducted with the primary focus placed on handwriting with her program proven to be 99.9% effective in the classroom.

During our meeting she shared with us the evidence generated from that study of why handwriting instruction still matters and how learning institutions can embed effective, efficient, measurable and fun manuscript instruction into the school day. The results, to say the least, are staggering and the need for further instruction in this simple fine motor skill is one that not only provides the basic benefit of clear written communication but it has a much longer lasting impact on the functionality and effectiveness of the written word which students carry with them throughout their lives. The ability to formulate concise thoughts and articulate them efficiently and effectively is rooted in the fundamentals of putting the tip of the pen or pencil on the paper.

This breakthrough is a result of Dr. Moskowitz’s extensive real world experience as a school therapist where she has serviced more than fifteen school districts and over 60 different schools. Her broad exposure to a variety of teaching methods, administrative styles, and treatment interventions has confirmed her resolve to insure function, participation and inclusion for all students without wasting time. The result of this lifetime of experience in conjunction with her creative background has been a body of intellectual property and products that reflect current educational policy, practices and problems alongside the latest evidence and curricular demands.

In 2010, after spending years in the field as well as authoring numerous publications (including Practical Strategies for Increasing the Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Impact of your School-Based Occupational Therapy Practice) and lecturing across the country through the Bureau of Education and Research, Dr. Moskowitz launched Real OT Solutions, Inc. The company’s mission, as both a service and product-oriented business is to provide consumers (therapists, teachers, parents and kids) with Effective, Efficient, Affordable and Fun solutions. Guided by evidence and literature on best practices regarding optimum function, independence and accessibility, they create tools to make kids successful, documentation fast, teachers cooperative, and parents satisfied.

I personally have little background in the field of education beyond my participation as a student and a few stints as a teaching assistant. However, I have spent the majority of my life putting pen to page which has made me who I am today. I know for a fact that the inability to accomplish this simple task is something that has a detrimental effect on the creative, processing, and overall mental abilities of an individual.

This is, in large part, why the annual survey results of incoming college freshmen outlined in the Beloit College Mindset List because in 2010 it was revealed that the majority, and a large one at that, of incoming students didn’t know how to write in cursive. My immediate thought is that if you can’t write cursive how do you expect to read, or more accurately put decipher, something written in the hand of someone else? It just goes to show that history is not the only thing that is lost on much of the younger generations. How long before they forget the name Paul Revere (we have already forgotten Israel Bissell)? After all, kids can’t even read anything written in his hand anyway.  

In the end this is not just a generational disconnect but also a modern social division as well. On a screen everyone seems equal but when you put pens in people’s hands there is an erosion of both confidence and the ability to communicate as well as clear evidence of the degradation that exists in the school systems. Confidence in writing breeds confidence in thought and communication. Effective communication is the great equalizer so if you want to achieve true equality in the schools you much make sure that all students can communicate.