Teacher Nominates Family for Extreme Makeover

Eric Kuhn was so affected by an emotional parent-teacher conference that he knew he had to do something to help.

A parent, Felicia Jackson, had a sister who had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. The doctors said she had only three months to live. Jackson promised her sister that she would not allow her children to be put back in the foster care system, but she had no idea how she'd manage the parenting of ten nieces and nephews in addition to her own four children.

Kuhn, then a special education resource teacher at Kingsview Middle School in Germantown, Md., wanted to help in any way he could. He met Felicia Jackson in 2004, and that year, after her sister passed away and she took in the children, he nominated the Jacksons for ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. He nominated the family again the following year, and every year since. They were finally chosen in 2008, and, after a whirlwind week at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fl., returned to a newly-constructed home just outside of Poolesville, Md.

Don't miss the Jackson family’s story on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition this Sunday, September 26th at 9 p.m.! And stay tuned to our blog for more of the story from Kuhn’s point-of-view.

By Erica Addison

Move Over Obama, Here Comes Dalton

While the pundits rehash the political keynotes of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, one nonpartisan speech has taken the education community by storm. Ten-year-old Dalton Sherman delivered the keynote at the Dallas Independent School District Believe/Achieve Back to School kickoff—and he rocked the house.

“I believe in me. Do you believe in me?” Sherman asked the more than 17,000 teachers, administrators, and education support professionals attending the event. Sherman’s message and near-flawless delivery had the audience laughing, cheering, and dabbing their eyes during the nine-minute talk.

“You better not give up on us. No, you better not, because in some cases, you’re all we got…. We need you,” said Sherman, daring Dallas ISD employees to get ready for the school year.

If you haven’t been emailed the video, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMLOnSNwzA. It’s the perfect way to kickoff your own school year.

By Michelle Chovan

When C-SPAN Makes You Cry

While watching Caroline Kennedy pay tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy on C-SPAN during the Democratic Convention, Sarah Vowell burst into tears.

''If your child is getting an early boost in life through Head Start or attending a better school or can go to college because a Pell Grant has made it more affordable, Teddy is your senator, too,'' Caroline told the delegates in Denver.

That's when the waterworks started, Vowell says in a recent New York Times Op-Ed (registration required). She says she was surprised by her tears, but there's no surprise here.

Without Kennedy's unwavering support of Pell Grants, Vowell wouldn't have been able to pay her way through Montana State University; take German every day at 8 a.m. just for fun; jumpstart her writing career by working for the school newspaper; pass geology; graduate magna cum laude; and "open a trap door to a bottomless pit of beauty -- to Walt Whitman and Louis Armstrong and Frank Lloyd Wright, to the old movies and old masters that have been my constant companions in my unalienable pursuit of happiness."

In other words, without Pell Grants, Vowell wouldn't have been afforded an education or any of the enriching, eye-opening, mind-expanding experiences an education brings to a person's life -- experiences that continue long after graduation.

When you think of what made your education possible, doesn't it bring tears to your eyes, too?

Magic

As the summer is about to dispose of it's humidity and heat
Our once silent hallways erupt with the sounds of excited little feet
One can only guess what some of these miniature invaders would do if dared
Yet, others seem so shy, nervous, and scared

Yes, some seem to be be treacherous and not Heaven sent,
And others are certain to be doctors or perhaps our future president
I find myself guessing what some of these little people will become before long
And, yet I pray that my estimation of others would prove to be wrong

Only a few will ever find themselves in the midst of fortune and fame
And others will fail and try to give their parents and teachers the blame
As I look upon these children, I know I am watching life in full motion
And I have only concluded that for their success education is a powerful and magical potion.

By Dave Arnold