This year February 14th, St Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday, opening the prospect of a whole weekend of love and laughter.
St Valentine’s Day on Sunday 14th February is one of three important dates in the social calendar that tumble upon each other in close succession; we also have Mother’s Day on Sunday 14th March and Easter on Sunday 4th April.
But, where did St Valentine’s Day come from? And, how do we celebrate it here in St Margarets?
There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. It is thought that, indirectly the origin of this day that celebrates love is a long and bloody war campaign raged by Emperor Claudius II.
The Emperor was having great difficulty getting men to sign up for his war campaign, which he felt was because the men did not want to leave their wives and families. So, he cancelled all marriages and engagements.
St Valentine was a Roman priest in those days and he and another, St Marius, secretly married couples in love and for this defiance he was apprehended and martyred on February 14th, 269 AD. Legend says that St Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St Valentine.
Others say the root of St Valentine’s Day is a tradition, rather than a person. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage.
The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia. In those days the lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, on the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars and each young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar. The boy and girl would then be partners for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.
Whatever the origin, February 14th became established as a day in which a couple celebrated their love; boys and girls would send a card declaring their interest or affection to someone they admired - whether it was their parents, friends, teachers or grandparents. Competitions ensued over how many cards each person got, and many happy hours were spent over guessing the identity of their secret admirer.
Other random St Valentine’s facts:
- There is a town called ‘Loveland’ in Colerado that does a roaring trade in postcards and postage on 14th February.
- The first commercial Valentines days cards were supposedly sent by a lady called Esther Howland in America. Commercial cards were introduced around the 1800s.
- Shirley Valentine was made at our very own Twickenham Film Studios. Formed in 1929, the studios are the most important post production studios in the UK.
- Love’s Labour Lost, often credited to Shakespeare has been also credited to Francis Bacon, and reportedly written here is sunny Twickenham.
- Mills and Boon, those peddlers of love stories to the masses, have recently developed a love for Rugby and all things Twickenham with stories featuring Twickenham Rugby Stadium.
St Valentine’s in St Margarets
How are we celebrating St Valentine’s Day in St Margarets?
Our local florist, Forgetmenot Flowers, is of course catering to the lovers in our area, with beautiful bouquets from £25 including delivery. If you prefer, they have also created arrangements in hearts, tea cups and vases which are very beautiful and which can also be delivered to the one you love for St Valentine’s. See their web page www.forgetmenotflowersdelivery.co.uk for pictures and details.
Alternatively, why restrict yourself to one day? Forgetmenot Flowers have noted that many people are choosing a ‘Friday Flowers’ delivery for the month of February or March instead of the traditional one off display of affection. Apparently the men and women of St Margarets like to show they care every week and not just on the 14th February!
To cater for this, Forgetmenot Flowers provide Gift Certificates for those who think that a flower is for all year around, not just St Valentine’s.
If it’s a traditional romantic meal you are looking for, then Brula (www.brula.co.uk) offer fresh, seasonal dining in a beautiful setting. If you prefer to dine at home, then their home dining service will bring Brula to you at home.
If you are looking for that special place to celebrate Valentines then look no further. This year we are celebrating Valentines over Saturday and Sunday. Choose from a specially created 3 course Valentines menu accompanied with a Valentines cocktail or from our new a la Carte menu. During the day on Sunday there is also a Valentines brunch for a seductive start to your day.
To make a booking contact George Muller on 020 8892 7166 or email us at firstname.lastname@example.org
The Crown Pub
If you are looking for an alternative to the traditional romantic night out, look no further than the Crown (www.thecrownintwickenham.co.uk) who has a rocking night planned with Roland Rock on Saturday 13th pm, and a romantic roast lunch on the big day itself.
You could also brave the elements and pack a romantic picnic and stroll off to enjoy the beautiful buildings around Twickenham and St Margarets, many an inspiration to love and beauty. Twickenham was the 18th century equivalent of Beverley Hills, popular with the foremost artisans. Henrietta Howard, mistress of George II, had Marble Hill House built for her and regularly entertained the greatest poets and wits of the day. Or you could visit Horace Walpole’s gothic fantasy at Strawberry Hill and Pope’s Grotto. A gentle stroll along the riverside reveals beautiful gardens and open spaces such as the York House garden sculptures and the baroque Octagon Room of Orleans House; enough to inspire any love lorn romantic.
– from Roisin Morris


St Albans children have one of lowest obesity rates in the country
- Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
St Albans has one of the lowest childhood obesity rates in England, according to figures released by the NHS.
Just 10 per cent of Year 6 pupils in the district were obese during the 2017/2018 school year, which is one of the lowest rates in England. In some London boroughs, such as Barking and Dagenham, almost one in three 10 to 11-year-olds are classified as obese.
The figures, which come from the National Child Measurement Programme, show that in St Albans 1.3 per cent of Year 6 children are severely obese, and a further 11 per cent are overweight. In the same school year just six per cent of St Albans’s children were obese in Reception.
Children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds were found to be more than twice as likely to be obese as those from the wealthiest areas.
Public health minister Steve Brine said: “Obesity is a problem that has been decades in the making – one that will take significant effort across government, schools, families and wider society to address.”


This is not a pipe. It's a painting.
President Lincoln was not much for hiding behind language or engaging in obfuscation, and he would sometime pose a riddle to new staffers to underscore the point.
"If you call a tail a leg," he would ask, "how many legs does a dog have?
"No, four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
I tell this tale, because it is more than a little germane when it comes to the taxonomy of dogs.
If I point to a cross between a Dachshund and a Corgi, and proclaim it to be a "Shenandoah Mountain Setter," does that make it a bird dog?
If I pick up a Border Collie at the shelter and insist on calling it a "Black and White Swan," does that make it a bird?
And yet, there seems to be confusion among some people in the dog world, who think words mean nothing. Words do mean something. Take, for example, the word terrier.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary and Etymology Online, this is the origin and meaning of the term:
c.1440, from O.Fr. chien terrier "terrier dog," lit. "earth dog," from M.L. terrarius "of earth," from L. terra "earth" (see terrain). So called because the dogs pursue their quarry (foxes, badgers, etc.) into their burrows.
A terrier is a small dog that goes to earth and which pursues its quarry -- foxes, badger, etc. -- into their burrows.
I could not have said it better, though I might have given a bit more history.
For example, I might have detailed the fact that Dame Juliana Berners, writing in the Boke of St. Albans (1496) noted that there were 14 basic types of dogs:
"Thyse ben the names of houndes," she wrote, "fyrste there is a Grehoun, a Bastard, aMengrell, a Mastiff, a Lemor, a Spanyel, Raches, Kenettys, Teroures, Butchers' Houndes, Myddyng dogges, Tryndel-taylles, and Prikheridcurrys, and smalle ladyes' poppees that bere awaye the flees."
Later, in 1576, John Keys (who wrote under the Latinized name Johannes Caius) divided the world of dogs into five broad categories. Under the first group type, the Venatici, or dogs used to hunt beasts, could be found:
Leverarws or Harriers; Terrarius or Terrars; Sanguinarius or Bloodhounds; Agaseus or Gazehounds; Leporanus or Grehounds; Loranus or Lyemmer; Vertigus or Tumbler; and Cams furax or Stealer.
In an entirely different group (his fourth category), Caius noted that were various kinds of herding and guard dogs.
Canis pastoralis, or the Shepherd's Dogge; The Mastive, or Bandogge, called Canis Villaticus Or Carbenarius, which hath sundry names derived from sundry circumstances.
Prior to the 19th Century, there were very few "breeds" of dogs; most were just types.
This seems to be a point of confusion for some people who are a bit shaky as to what constitutes a "breed" versus a "type."
The Oxford English Dictionary says a breed is "a line of descendants perpetuating particular hereditary qualities."
In the modern world, it is generally deemed to be an animal that "breeds true" for at least seven generations.
But what does it mean to "breed true?"
Good people can, and do disagree. The American Kennel Club, for example, splits breeds that other registries and countries lump together, and vice versa.
The good news is that the real experts -- the people who actually work their dogs on a regular basis rather than merely parade them around at the end of a string leash, are not too often confused.
A genuine terrierman knows what a true terrier is, just as a running dog man knows what a true sighthound is. And as for the houndsman, he will tell you a good dog is never the wrong color, and the same can be said of those who herd sheep for a living, or depend on dogs to carry them over 200 miles of open arctic snow and ice.
But, of course, these people are in the minority today, aren't they?
Instead of people who engage in honest work with types of dogs, we now have show ring theoreticians who are obsessed with breeds of dogs.
For them, a dog is not what it does, it is whatever the piece of paper says, and that piece of paper is all wrapped up in a romantic history cocked up years ago by an all-breed book writer penning paragraphs about a dog he never owned and never worked.
As a result, we have complete and total nonsense in the world of canine taxonomy.
Take the issue of terriers, for example.
Despite what some folks would have you believe, a "terrier" is not a universal catch-phrase that can be properly tagged to any type of scruffy-looking or game-bred dog. It is a dog that goes to ground.
So then, is a dachshund a terrier? Yes! It is included in all books about working terriers. A true terrier is defined by the work it does, same as a true collie or a true bird dog is defined by the work it does.
A 60-pound hound is not a terrier.
That would seem to be simple and obvious enough, but for some folks it is not. And so, in the topsy-turvy world of the early dog show world, a few odd-looking Otterhounds were once crossed with a working terrier and then called the "Bingley" or "Waterside" terrier, and then later renamed the "Aierdale" terrier.
But can a dog that is almost entirely hound, and which weighs 60 pounds be called a true terrier? Only if you would call a transvestite a woman!
An Aierdale is a hound in form, and it does a hound's work in the field when it is worked. A houndsman knows it is a hound, for it is found in his kennels, and not that of the terrierman.
Aierdales, in turn, were crossed with a herding breed (the Giant Schnauzer) and a molosser breed (the Rottweiler) and a few herding and guard dogs (Caucasian Ovcharkas and Eastern European Shepherds). The resulting cross was called a "Black Russian Terrier," despite the fact that there is no terrier in the breed at all.
Once again, you can call the dog whatever you want, but calling it so does not make it true. A Black Russian Terrier is not a terrier in any way, shape or form.
Going down the list, we have the Tibetan Terrier which is not a terrier (it is a spaniel), and we have the Schnauzer (it is a miniature version of its larger herding-dog relative), and we have the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Pit Bull Terrier, which are molosser (guard dog) breeds.
And then, of course, we have the Bull Terrier which is neither true terrier nor true molosser. It is, instead, the most common type of dog on earth today: the dog dealer's dog. This is an animal cocked up for the pet trade, and for no other purpose than to trot around the ring and lie next to the chair.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with a dog being created solely for the purpose of being a pet. That is the work of most dogs, and it is the purpose to which most terrier breeds have devolved. But let's not kid ourselves that these dogs were ever bred for any other purpose, eh? A pet is an honorable enough occupation; let us not gild the lily with nonsense histories or contrived work.
And as for ratting, let me say this clear: any dog can rat. A whippet is a fine ratter. But it is not a terrier. If a dog is too large to go to ground, and has never gone to ground, it is not a true terrier, because it is not a dog of the dirt.


Jun 29, 2009. Yet treatment with popular remedies for acid reflux, like the. travel from the mouth to the throat, then down the esophagus into the stomach,
GERD is a more serious and long-lasting form of gastroesophageal reflux (GER). These symptoms may include vomiting, gagging, coughing, and trouble breathing. Your baby. Often your child will just have a bad taste in his or her mouth.
If you aren’t sure that you have symptoms of acid reflux or if you’re wondering if some of the other things that are bothering you could be tied to reflux, then see.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as acid reflux, is a long-term condition in which stomach contents rise up into the esophagus, resulting in either symptoms or complications.
Acid reflux is a fairly common condition that occurs when stomach acids and other stomach contents back up into the esophagus through the lower esophageal sphincter (LES).
29.03.2019 · Acid reflux, or the backflow of stomach acid into the esophagus, throat or mouth, is the most noticeable symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Reflux is when the contents of the stomach are regurgitated (brought back up), either up the oesophagus (food tube) or into the mouth. The medical term for reflux is gastro-oesophageal reflux…
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Swallowing problems or acid reflux can give patients similar symptoms of nasal/ throat drainage. LPR is similar to Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD.
Sep 4, 2018. Gastroesophageal reflux, also known as acid reflux, occurs when the stomach contents reflux or back up into the esophagus and/or mouth.
29.03.2019 · Hyperacidity, as known as acid reflux or heartburn, is irritation of the esophagus that results when acid from the stomach is released into the esophagus.
Indigestion Due Chemo I am on Xeloda, 1500mg 2X daily, two weeks on one off. Colon cancer , 10cm colectomy at the sigmoid colon , two 26 week chemo treatments. I have had
Oct 12, 2018. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) occurs when the upper. back into the muscular tube linking the mouth to the stomach (esophagus).
Acid reflux is caused by digestive juices creeping up from the stomach back into the esophagus. Click to learn how an acid reflux diet can help symptoms.
Acid reflux is a condition in which acid backs up from the stomach into the esophagus and even up to the throat, irritating their lining tissues.
Learn about gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, acid reflux, heartburn) symptoms like heartburn, chest pain, regurgitation, and nausea. Diet, causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention information is.
ARTICLE SUMMARY • Western allopathic medicine blames GERD on the flawed and outdated theory of stomach acid overproduction, but GERD is actually due to a lack of stomach acid, which can arise in response to multiple triggers.
Care for your child with GERDS with these helpful hints. The esophagus (eh- SOF–uh-gus) is the tube that goes from the mouth to the stomach. A muscle at the lower end. It can lead to breathing problems or failure to gain weight. However.
May 14, 2018. Acid reflux and its more chronic cousin, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. When that happens, breathing ensues through our mouths. Dental appliances, chin cups, and other oral devices may be used to help with mouth.
Chronic GER is often diagnosed as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.. Airway obstruction due to swollen tonsils may cause mouth breathing,
Jun 14, 2018. It can cause bloating, pain, indigestion, diarrhea or constipation. One of the basic tenets of obstructive sleep apnea is its' strong association with acid reflux. especially if you are a mouth breather with lower levels of saliva.
Acid Reflux Symptoms and Complications The most common acid reflux and GERD symptoms include: Heartburn; Bitter taste in your mouth, periodically or (for some people) throughout the day (some people taste regurgitated food or sour liquid at the back of their mouths/throats)
It is the inability of food or liquid to pass easily from the mouth, into the throat, Having a tracheostomy (artificial opening in the throat for breathing). Irritation or scarring of the esophagus or vocal cords by acid in gastroesophageal reflux.
GORD is liquid acid reflux causing heartburn and indigestion. features of such reflux, such as postprandial coughing, a funny taste in the mouth or symptoms.
acid reflux – you produce more stomach acid than normal when you're anxious. throat; mouth breathing – when you're relaxed you breathe through your nose,
Aug 28, 2018. Heartburn can affect your ability to get a good night's sleep. If you experience acid reflux at night, here are tips that can help mitigate the.
Acid reflux can cause an uncomfortable burning feeling in your chest, which can radiate up toward your neck. This feeling is often known as heartburn.
Throat irritation can refer to a dry cough, a scratchy feeling at the back of the throat, a sensation. Both of these organisms enter the body via the nose or mouth as aerosolized particles. and painful swallowing, drooling saliva, hoarse voice, difficulty breathing and malaise. See also: Gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Jun 19, 2007. Ok, last night I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air! I couldn't breathe out of my nose OR mouth! I had to force myself to suck in.
However, the mouth-body connection means that other bad breath smells can tell. restricts air flow, making sufferers more likely to breathe through their mouth. Any kind of condition that causes stomach acid/heartburn/stomach distress.
Hydrochloric acid has many uses. It is used in the production of chlorides, fertilizers, and dyes, in electroplating, and in the photographic, textile, and rubber industries.
Laryngomalacia is the most frequent cause of noisy breathing (stridor) in infants and. laryngomalacia need oral medications to treat gastroesophageal reflux.
Dry throat is often related to mouth breathing and snoring at night, and is. Other more serious conditions, such as asthma or gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Is It Possible To Burp Up Stomach Acid What Causes Acid Reflux Disease? One common cause of acid reflux disease is a stomach abnormality called a hiatal hernia. This occurs when the upper part of the stomach. Hi


When April 6, 1917, tossed the American spectators onto the European gridiron, they had not even a high school squad to meet the professionals. The 1916 Defense Act had been merely the promise of a team for which only a few freshmen had reported. The army had no large tactical units in a modern sense, few weapons, a dearth of officers, no experience with trench warfare, little training and less strength. It had 9,750 officers of all grades and experience, while 180,000 of the utmost efficiency were immediately necessary.
On the other hand, it had received a signal blessing in disguise. Few have ever regarded Pancho Villa as a benefactor. But his crossing our border the previous year had given our President the excuse of training a large portion of the Regular Army and about 150,000 National Guardsmen on the Mexican border. The hardening, discipline and schooling in the field were the finest to date for the army and made possible later the ability of the American forces, especially the First, Second, Twenty-sixth and Forty-second Divisions, to turn the tide in March, 1918, in France. There has been much speculation since as to what might have happened had not Mr. Villa done us this temporary or ultimate ill‑turn or favor.
1917 The main antidote to our preparing after declaring came forty days and forty nights after our entry. The Congress executed a single piece of legislation to implement the entire American war effort. It consisted of two main advances: the first equitable draft legislation in our history, and adequate provision for training camps for officers. Major General Leonard Wood had been the army impulse behind the officers' training camps, and Major Douglas MacArthur had been the propulsion for the draft behind the newspapers.
The law caused the regular army to be brought up to full war p464strength by providing immediately the five annual instalments of the 1916 Act. It also authorized drafting into the military service any number of National Guard reserves, who were to be organized under proper officers at once. It allowed an additional force of 500,000 enlisted men to be raised and drafted for a national army, and gave the President authority to increase or decrease the size of the units of the regular army to suit the conditions to be met in Europe. It stipulated that all officers above the grade of colonel were to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. It caused machine‑gun units to be created. This force of 1,000,000 men in round numbers could be called out, organized, and trained as soon as the President saw fit. He was further authorized to raise and maintain by voluntary enlistment not to exceed 4 infantry divisions. The enlisted men for the regular army, if possible, were to be gained by recruiting those who volunteered or by resorting to the selective draft. All other forces were to be raised and maintained by the selective draft exclusively. The whole contingent was to be placed uniformly under the regulations governing the regular army. The President was authorized to raise and maintain in addition any special and technical troops he might deem necessary. It was particularly provided that no bounty should be paid to any one as an inducement to enlist in the regular service. No person was allowed to furnish a substitute. All male persons between the ages of twenty‑one and thirty, except those who were especially exempted by the law, were subject to registration and draft. All officers and enlisted men of the forces raised were to be upon the same footing in regard to pay and allowances as the regular army. All enlisted men of the army of the United States, meaning all the forces obtained under this law, were to have their pay raised.1
p465 The President was also authorized to make regulations concerning the prohibition of alcoholic liquors in or near military camps. He was also virtually required to prevent the setting up of houses of ill fame or brothels within such distances of any camp, station, fort, post, cantonment, training, or mobilization place as he might see fit.
Three days after the President signed this bill, 40,000 civilian candidates for commissions appeared at 16 large cantonments throughout the country — willing, green, and soft. To receive them at each camp were from 10 to 12 regular officers, scattered barracks, a few partially constructed shacks, and the open air. The average instructor had to teach, train, select, and recommend for commission about 150 men in less than three months. Second and third sets of training camps were later set up similarly.
Under such haste and pressure the products were named "90‑day wonders." Although they humorously gave themselves this nickname, probably no nation ever saw any finer contrast assembled. Their performances, despite the limited training their country allowed them, are brilliant pages in the records of the War Department, and their sacrifice because of their limited training lies underneath the crosses in France. But haste characterized the efforts to obtain enlisted men as well as officers.
For the immediate enforcement of the draft law, Major General E. H. Crowder was appointed provost marshal general.
1917 A registration day was at once fixed, and some 4,000 civilian registration boards over the country with a personnel of registrars and assistants to the number of 125,000 were appointed and organized. Registration day saw the enrolment of 10,000,000 names.
The manner of calling out these drafted men was the next problem. A great lottery was established in Washington which fixed the order of call for the whole.
1917 When this feature had been determined, the boards were required to call in the names according to the lists of numbers and have the recruits examined physically in order to complete the first national quota of 687,000 men. Shortly, the selective service system was ready to deliver to the national cantonments 180,000 men. Sept. 1
1917 In less than three months the nation had accepted and vigorously executed without any p466serious friction that miraculous thing in a democracy — a compulsory service law.
To accommodate the organization of these inducted men into divisions for overseas, camps had to be built at once for 41,000 men each. The difficulties presented to the army in construction work were formidable. The enlargement that fell to the lot of the Quartermaster Corps alone was colossal. The country had no rendezvous such as our enemies had had long before the war, because of the denial of such a thing in the previous decades. While the old world had learned to take things pretty much as they are, we were still counting on things as they ought to be.2
As we had no place for a large army here, so we had no maneuver space, possible battlefields, or enough munitions. We had to go beyond the seas for them. There was an insufficiency of training schools and almost a total lack of artillery and airplanes. The government had to adopt the French auto‑gun, machine gun, 37‑millimeter gun, the rifle grenade (V. B.), the 240‑millimeter trench mortar and the Stokes mortar, which were mostly supplied from abroad. Since nearly all of the regular officers had been deprived of experience and of observation of the World War I, the main instruction they could give the candidate was found in pre‑wartime regulations. So many blank forms were necessary that some had to be dug up which dated back to the 80's. The foremost necessity and possibility in the limited time was to instill in young officers the element of discipline and loyalty, if possible. It was impossible to teach young men from all walks of life any deep military technic and art in these short months and under such conditions. There were officers commissioned in the artillery who had never fired a gun, in the ordnance who had never seen an arsenal, and in the infantry who had p467never been in command of men anywhere. This condition was the fault of no single person but rather the mass of the country during the preceding five years.3
Scarcely had this Selective Service bill become a law, when
1917 General Pershing in command of the American Expeditionary Forces sailed with 53 officers and 146 enlisted men from the United States. June 26
1917 The next contingent to arrive in France was the division under Major General William L. Sibert consisting of the Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-eighth Infantry, together with the Fifth Marines. Most of these units had but a month before been guarding the Mexican border. They were practically all the trained troops in the country that could be put at war strength and sent abroad. Sept.
1917 It was not until much later that other divisions began to arrive.
1918 At the beginning of the next year 1,325,000 men had been enrolled. Forty‑two divisions had been organized, 8 of which were Regulars, 17 National Guard and 17 National Army. Out of these only 6 had been landed in France. Only 4 on French soil could be classified as fighting divisions by having completed their training abroad. They were the First and Second Divisions p468of Regulars and the Twenty-sixth and Forty-second Divisions of National Guard.
Since these units had exhausted the first quota of men called to the colors, General Crowder had to draft the remainder of the Class 1 men, while the War Department was setting in motion plans for other training camps. The effort on this side of the waters grew acceleratingly to fill General Pershing's requests for more and more supplies and men. But to get them over there was another story.
Throughout the year, transportation was an intricate problem with little tonnage on hand and with a sea infested with submarines. Both the general staff and the ports of embarkation were taxed to the extreme. 1918 It was not until the middle of the summer of our second year that facilities were brought into full swing toward bearing troops across the Atlantic.
Could an American army of any size be transported to France, properly staffed, organized, and made of any consequence in the fight? Such was the challenge to General Pershing. Many Allied generals and others were highly skeptical of such a possibility. Indeed, it appeared they were right when not a fraction of physical aid arrived on the Western Front until
1917 seven months after our declaration, and then but 1 regiment, the Eleventh Engineers at Passchendaele Ridge. Jan. 19
1918 Over nine months after we entered the war a division, the First, took over a quiet sector north of Toul. Similarly, a month later the Twenty-sixth Division appeared at Soissons and the Forty-second near Lunéville. Mar. 18
1918 The following month the Second went into line near Verdun, over eleven months after our entry — and, except for the excellent achievements of the small body of engineers, we had really not yet entered the fight. The French and British were disappointed and resentful. The American strength was a myth. In addition, General Pershing, following instructions with a steadfast backbone, was holding aloof in order to organize an American army instead of amalgamating in small groups with the British and French.
Whereas our late aid had been the fault of the American people in their habitual supineness before all our wars, General Pershing's reluctance to fight on any other conditions than as an American army was the wisest course in the long run because
p469of the morale and genius of our people. To be known as part of a British or French unit was nausea to the American soldier. Yet both the tardiness of active entry and the aloofness until we were organized and trained as an army were plain betrayals in the eyes of our Allies. The American soldiers professed much but did little.
1918 Already there were a quarter of a million of them in France. And wasn't it nearly a year since they had been so noisy about the Yanks coming?
General Pershing saw the serious consequences and compromised temporarily.
1918 When the German assaults made more reserves a question of victory or defeat, he placed his forces unhesitatingly at the disposal of Marshal Foch. May 28
1918 The organization of a distinct American army languished, but the heroic actions of the First Division at Cantigny, the Second and Third Divisions at Château-Thierry June 4‑
1918 and the Second Division at Belleau Woods, Bouresches and Vaux put an end to any question as to the effectiveness of American troops.
Although General Pershing promptly turned over his units to Marshal Foch, he tenaciously clung to the formation of a separate army whenever it could be safely achieved.
1918 He had by mid‑summer taken pains to organize four army corps, the I, II, III and IV.4 June 6
1918 In early summer he had gained permission from Marshal p470Pétain to form an American army corps on the Château-Thierry front. Between then and midsummer he had worked vigorously on building the First American Army, which was completed in time for the next big offensive. July 24
1918 The day after he took over his organized army headquarters, it was decided in a conference of Allied commanders-in‑chief that the St. Mihiel salient should be reduced. General Pershing's First Army was assigned the principal tas. The bitter contentions and recriminations of over a year were to be buried under the fruits of persistence and weight of American solidarity. Aug. 10
1918 The First Army was secretly concentrated on that front, Liggett's I Corps along the southern face or right side of the triangle, Dickman's IV Corps extending that side to the left, French divisions occupying the apex, and Cameron's V corps well up on the other side.5 It was a steam-shovel movement with the French at the hinge.
1918 In about twenty-four hours after the jump‑off, the First and Twenty-sixth Divisions of the IV and V Corps respectively, met in the middle of the sector, and with the other divisions cut off the bulk of the Germans in the point of the salient, capturing p47116,000 prisoners and much war material. The efficiency, celerity and success of the attack completely vindicated the formation and power of an American army.
Concurrently with the preparations for the St. Mihiel offensive went those for the Meuse-Argonne region. That theater had already been chosen by General Pershing for the fall offensive.
1918 Fifteen divisions were moved thence, including seven that had been in the St. Mihiel battle.
Nov. 1‑11 The three phases of the offensive are well described in various histories of World War I — how the progress of the American soldiers went steadily forward in the face of mud, morass, cooties, machine‑gun hornets, and every harrowing device and obstacle known to the cunning of the Germans — how in the last phase Pershing's armies threatened the German supply lines through Sedan — how intrepidity and desire scrambled certain units in their high endeavor to be the first to reach that city — Nov. 11
1918 and how the very threat was the deciding factor which produced the Armistice.
Similarly, there have been described actions of American forces on other fronts.
1920 Major General William S. Graves' Siberian expedition, consisting mainly of the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-first Infantry, with its three-fold mission of guarding military stores, aiding the Czechs, and helping the Russians, while keeping free from Russian politics, presented cross-currents even more intricate than those of General Pershing in Mexico. With his expedition part of the time under Japanese command, furiously set upon by the Ogre of Chita, double-crossed by supposed Allies, the story of his help to the Czechs and extrication from his unhappy mission is one of the epics of defense against chameleon friend and foe in a far country.
1918 Likewise to aid the Czechs, 143 officers and 4,344 enlisted men of the Eighty-fifth Division then arriving overseas, were sent under Lieutenant Colonel George E. Stewart6 from England to Archangel, North Russia. Sept.
1919 The small force was stretched over •450 miles, in most dismal, lonely, arctic fighting. Its numbers were more than decimated by casualties. Fighting under p472British command its exploits have been obscured and its heroism little exploited. April 9
1919 Later, Brigadier General Wilds P. Richardson7 assumed command. Leaving
1919 The whole force was held in Russia over six months after the Armistice.
On other fronts, the American soldier likewise distinguished himself. The II Corps under Major General George W. Read advanced •about 15 miles and
1918 pierced the Hindenburg Line near Le Cateau. The Second and Thirty-sixth Divisions in succession assaulted Mont Blanc between Rheims and the Argonne successfully and advanced •nearly fourteen miles to the Aisne River. Oct. 2‑Oct. 10
1918 Aiding the Sixth French Army in Belgium, the Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first Divisions with the artillery of the Twenty-eighth, by dauntless attacks, Oct. 30‑Nov. 3
1918 drove the enemy beyond the Escaut and to the Scheldt rivers.a
to Armistice Often forgotten is the work of the Three hundred and Thirty-second Infantry on the Italian front and its aid of the Italians against the Austrians, especially at the crossing of the Piave.
To commemorate the work of the Services of Supply would occupy a volume in itself. Its personnel of 644,540 at the time of the Armistice and its handling of eight million tons of munitions of every type from weapons to beans during the operations gives but a suggestion of the expanse of its task for more than two million men. The value, amount, and importance of its buying, handling, and transportation made it the world's largest single business undertaking up to that time.
Too many times shortages from the United States both in material and manpower hampered the A. E. F. in general and the S. O. S. in particular. The supply of trucks and ambulances was embarrassingly low for the need in midsummer of 1918. Hastily made transportation like the Camion and Caledon were frequently too simplified and undependable. The replacements necessary for building up units to efficient strength caused new p473divisions arriving from the United States to be broken up for such purpose. Esprit and efficiency suffered appreciably for these and similar reasons.
Many of these defects were remedied by the time of the Armistice, when the United States was in a fair way to become militarily competent in its own right.
In retrospect, the war held much that should shame us now. The training of officers and soldiers had to be scant in too many instances. Inexperience and lack of knowledge incident to haste produced in themselves undue loss of life and munitions. Soldiers had to be placed on the line when many of them had not had time to know the use of the weapons they were handling. The assignment of officers and men to the multifarious duties of a modern army could not be made with sufficient appropriateness in the time allotted. Laundrymen in the ordnance department, engineers in the quartermaster corps, mechanics in the infantry, electricians in the provost marshal general's department and lawyers in the signal corps felt themselves to be square pegs in round holes. Had there been opportunity beforehand, had all organization not been compelled to be jammed together toward one, immediate, life-and‑death end, men who were found inefficient in their assigned tasks would have been superior in their particular bent, as they sometimes were when accident or fortune allowed the transfer.
Promotion, too, had to be haphazard when there could exist no agencies for the proper classification of officers and men. As a rule, there were no coördinating offices that could thoroughly check up recommendations, because such an elaborate system had to give place in the rush to more important considerations. To the degree that a nation is late in its discipline and training, to that extent must the sufferings of the individual be increased.
So must the country's extravagances. Having thrust aside sufficient airplane manufacture and manipulation before the war,
1917 Congress hurriedly voted the sum of $44,250,000 after the outbreak of American hostilities. At this time we had altogether 55 serviceable aëroplanes, of which 51 were obsolete and 4 others nearly so. July
1917 A joint army and navy board then made a program for obtaining 19,775 planes, at which Congress, believing money to be the panacea for all ills, voted $640,000,000. Time was required p474in selecting models and in having the machines built. In the spring of the next year it was announced that we were short of aircraft. Where had the money gone? 1918 An investigation was ordered, which came to nothing after 17,000 pages of testimony had been taken down. As a matter of fact, the planes, irrespective of business methods, could not be had in so short a time, a fact which might have been obvious before the investigation. April
1918 One year after the declaration of war, we had in our service abroad only 1 pursuit and 2 observation squadrons of French planes flown by American pilots who had served in the French Army before we came into the conflict. America with its own craft could not before the Armistice have had superiority in the air over the enemy. The story of those vital guns, the 3‑inch field pieces, is about the same in character as that of the aëroplanes. We could not get them in time and therefore were put to the humiliating necessity of making inroads on the French supply of 75‑millimeter weapons. Vast sums appropriated for materials had to be spent when values had risen to many times the height they had stood before 1917 and when it was impossible to get delivery of the quantity to be purchased. As a result, a large proportion of the money voted was poured later into the bilge of post-bellum activities. Meanwhile General Pershing lacked many weapons and machines for effective fighting. Although the quartermaster department executed a prodigious task in constructing great cantonments over the country in the few months allotted it, the buildings and surroundings were not all that could have been expected of them, had our contractors and builders had opportunity for such work a year before the war. Cold and dampness were felt most keenly. Clothing, too, as was the case with weapons and machines, could not be had in sufficient quantities.
1918 But in addition to all these drawbacks of hurry, a greater fact now stands out in bold relief. It took us over a year after we had entered the war to get into any real offensive against the enemy. And then, General Pershing could muster on the Western Front only 6 completely trained divisions in contrast to the 160 that our Allies had placed there. During the first year of our participation in the World War, we could bear no physical aid in the fighting. Even considering the difficulties of transportation p475overseas, it is conceded that we could have been a great factor in stemming the German tide sooner and could have saved thousands of lives and dollars lost during our delay for training purposes, had we as a nation been imbued with discipline and knowledge in the beginning.
To cap all, the selective draft revealed that almost half of the young manhood of our country was either defective or unfit for fighting.8 Had a large percentage of our youth had the opportunity for the development best accorded in military camps, and had such exercises been carried on even for limited periods before the war, no one can doubt that this appalling figure would have been materially reduced. Meanwhile the boy would ordinarily have become more commercially efficient and a more self-reliant citizen.
Facing the problem of building an army on the rotten ruins of smug apathy looked many times hopeless and hapless to Pershing. But in spite of the brakes put on his efforts he did build a mighty fighting machine, which when it reached its peak had to be torn apart and taken down.
Three major tasks confronted the former A. E. F.: to occupy its part of Germany and hold it; to clean up in France, and to demobilize both in France and America.
1918 The first task was put into execution with Pershing's customary celerity. Six days after the Armistice, the Third Army, commanded by Major General Joseph T. Dickman, began its march into Germany. The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Thirty-second, and Forty-second Divisions had had no time for rest from the recent battles before the long, wintry marches began into enemy territory. The army established a bridgehead at Coblenz with advance headquarters at Treves. Nov. 22
1918 Later the VII Corps under Major General William M. Wright, consisting of the Fifth, Eighty-ninth, and Ninetieth Divisions, was added to the army. The difficulties in occupied territory were many. The situation was novel for American troops, who acquitted themselves on the whole with dignity, decorum, and decency. The curious factor in this efficient effort was that the army had more trouble with its Allies than with its former enemies.
July 2, 3
1919 In midsummer of the next year it was found expedient to dissolve the Third Army as an army and replace it next day with the name of the American Forces in Germany. Major General Henry T. Allen was designated its commander.9 June 28
1919 Decreasing necessity for such an army among former enemies in Europe became apparent after the Treaty of Versailles. Little by little troops were returned to the United States because control in occupied territory seemed less needed especially by a highly disciplined and weakened people. Five divisions left before fall. Jan. 27
1923 Accordingly, General Allen withdrew the last of his American troops and turned the territorial command over to General Marty, commanding the French troops, four years after the Armistice.
The second problem in France, though little mentioned, was no light one. The Armistice suddenly reversed the whole process of the S. O. S. Men and supplies headed in had suddenly to be headed out. The current and slope of the stream had to be reversed. Construction had to give place to demolition. Over two million men were clamoring for discharge and home.
But there were chores in Europe still to do. Thousands of soldiers had to be repatriated, thousands had to be held against their will, surplus supplies had to be disposed of, myriads of claims had to be adjusted with a temperamental and exacting people, cemeteries had to be surveyed, improved, and reorganized, and a general overhaul and liquidation of the immense A. E. F. had to take place in an efficient and businesslike way. It was a delicate, unlovely, and critical task.
1919 Many of these functions were begun and carried into execution by G. H. Q. of the A. E. F. However, it was dissolved and went home eight months after Armistice. The natural successor to this work was the S. O. S., which had borne the brunt of many of these undertakings. Accordingly, its former chief of staff, Brigadier General W. D. Connor, was selected as chief of the American Forces in France, and all troops there were placed under his command. With dwindling forces and oft‑times increasing difficulties, he carried on the work of leaving the American establishments with no bad trails or smells. Jan. 11
1920 It was not until p477well over a year after the Armistice that he and the last of Americans in France could leave the country after having accomplished a clean‑up of extraordinary self-respect.
The third problem confronted us here in our own country. The involved executive labor and burdens of demobilization which fell upon the shoulders of General Peyton C. March, the chief of staff of the army in the United States, are too often overlooked. The war, of course, in its character, as compared with previous wars, was unique. The immense size of modern armies entailed more complicated systems of supply and broader bases of industrial support at home. A war of position demanded a great outlay of ammunition and elaborate engineering. The advance in invention had caused complicated weapons to appear, whose use was little known at the beginning and whose attributes had to be learned by a multitude of new officers without any familiarity with that sort of thing before 1917.
After nineteen months of concentration of all national activities to one end, that of the production, upbuilding and maintenance of an effective war machine, it was necessary not only to tear down the structures in Siberia, Russia, and France, but to see that the consequent efflux did not interrupt activities in the United States. The welfare of the army and the country demanded that definite provision should be made for the wise distribution of men returned to civilian life. Economic and industrial conditions were absolutely dependent on the manner in which over two million soldiers were thrown back into employment or unemployment. Congestion of idle ex‑soldiers in large cities had to be prevented. Positions had to be assured for discharged men. The disposal of surplus stocks of supply and material had to be judiciously watched.
1919 In spite of the very delicate problems surrounding the discharge of these men, the Chief of Staff in this country had, within two months after the Armistice, demobilized 732,766 men. Feb. 15
1919 In a period of three months and four days afterward, he had methodically discharged 1,246,374 from the service — over twice as many as had been returned home during the same period after the Civil War. Not quite six months after the Armistice nearly two million men had been mustered out with little or no disturbance to business. The strength of the army of the United p478States10 on the day of the Armistice totaled 3,670,888 officers and men. By the middle of the next year 2,723,515 officers and men had been returned to civil life. June 28
1919 The gigantic labor involved in this massive undertaking required a discernment and management that can scarcely be estimated.
While on the one side these forces had to be disbanded skillfully, on the other they should not become civilians in such wholesale numbers as would leave the regular forces with no strength. Would the training of the country, as after all our other wars, be thrown into the discard? To add to the embarrassment, many officers and enlisted men of the permanent establishment had already become parts of organizations due for demobilization. Such a scheme had been found necessary in order to infiltrate an experienced personnel into those units which had had comparatively little training. To what were they to be transferred and what classes were to be absorbed? How many were to be retained and what were the inducements?
Certain factors helped to gain sympathetic and progressive answers to these questions. A vast proportion of the population of the country had actually been in the war or closely allied with it. The hardships and low rates of pay in comparison to the relative ease and high wages at home were generally recognized as unfair. Understanding the needs of soldiers was widespread.
1 "All enlisted men of the Army of the United States in active service whose base pay does not exceed $21 per month shall receive an increase of $15 per month; those whose base pay is $24, an increase of $12 per month; those whose base pay is $31, $36, or $40, an increase of $8 per month; and those whose base pay is $45 or more, an increase of $6 per month: provided, That the increases of pay herein authorized shall not enter into the computation of the continuous-service pay."
2 This principle is illuminated by an incident of an ordnance company arriving in France in 1918. It was marched after reaching Brest to the famous "Caserne de ." Two of the enlisted men speedily found their quarters and ambled through the historic barracks from which Rochambeau's men had started for America over 130 years before. Accustomed to the hasty, wooden shacks of Camp Merritt, they were astonished at the massive stone living quarters of the French Army. One of them remarked, "Its queer how these French regard war as a permanent institution." It was fortunate for America it was allowed this point of view, or was it? (For this anecdote and comment the author is indebted to Dr. Randolph G. Adams, Director of the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, who was the private.)
3 Much has had to be said on the previous pages of this history concerning what Congress has or has not done at various times. If those facts have amounted to criticism of that body, they are not to be so construed. Our nation has a representative form of government in which the legislator often becomes the echo of his constituents. According to our system he also has to work under the lashes of the whips of his party, or stand alone as a sort of and be discounted, even stultified. So it would be manifestly unjust to rail at Congress for its blunders, when the people are responsible entirely for its systems and oftentimes its votes. Albeit if the whole public wanted a project intensely and vigorously enough, Congress would ordinarily vote for it. Unfortunately active minorities have too frequently overwhelmed negative majorities. A constructive view was stated by a great legislator and statesman to his constituents: "Certainly, gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a Representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But, his unbiased opinion, his mature judgement, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you; to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the Law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your Representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." (Edmund Burke, Speech at his arrival at Bristol and at the conclusion of the Poll, p14. London, 1774, J. Wilkie, publisher.)
4 General Pershing directed on Jan. 15, 1918 that Major General Hunter Liggett form the I Army Corps at Neufchâteau, giving him his staff (Lieutenant Colonel Malin Craig, chief of staff) and corps troops. General Pershing on Feb. 20, 1918, appointed Lieutenant Colonel George S. Simonds chief of staff of the II Corps, which was to comprise the American troops in the British area, and charged him with evolving the organization of corps headquarters and troops and the amalgamation of the units under American commanders; Major General George W. Read was its first commander, June 13, 1918. Similarly on March 30, 1918, Pershing designated Lieutenant Colonel Alfred W. Bjornstad as chief of staff of the III Corps with duties for our troops on the French front akin to Colonel Simonds' duties for the British; Major General William M. Wright assumed command June 17, 1918. On June 10, 1918, General Pershing designated Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Heintzelman as chief of staff of the IV Corps, to organize it and to relieve the I Corps at Neufchâteau June 21; he appointed Major General Joseph T. Dickman as corps commander, August 16, 1918. On July 7, 1918, General Pershing appointed Major General William M. Wright in command of the new V Corps and the next day Colonel Wilson B. Burtt as its chief of staff. The old III Corps became the new V Corps, except that the staff moved to the aid of the organization of the First American Army. On July 23, General Pershing appointed Major General Omar Bundy as temporary commander of the new VI Corps, and on July 30 he appointed Colonel Briant H. Wells as its chief of staff. On August 16, 1918, General Pershing designated Major General William M. Wright as temporary corps commander of the new VII Corps and appointed Major General George H. Cameron in command of the vacated V Corps. The VIII Corps was formed November 26, 1918, after the Armistice, with Major General Henry T. Allen as commander and Colonel George C. Marshall, Jr., as chief of staff. On November 16, 1918, General Pershing appointed Brigadier General William K. Naylor as chief of staff of the IX Corps and on November 18, Major General Adelbert Cronkhite as corps commander. The headquarters began to function on November 25 at Ligny-en‑Barrois after the Armistice.
5 This was the First Army of which General Pershing initially took command and which Lieutenant Colonel Hugh A. Drum, as its chief of staff, had started to organize July 4, 1918. General Pershing relinquished command on October 16 and turned it over to Major General Hunter Liggett, who became a Lieutenant General on November 1 and retained command until Apr. 20, 1919. Colonel Drum became a brigadier general on October 14 and retained his position as chief of staff until April 16, 1919. The Second Army was started when General Pershing appointed Colonel Stuart Heintzelman to organize it as its chief of staff, September 9, 1918. Major General Robert L. Bullard became its first commander, October 12, 1918. He was promoted to lieutenant general November 1, 1918, and remained in command until April 15, 1919. Colonel Heintzelman was promoted to brigadier general October 13 and remained as chief of staff until April 15, 1919. The Third Army was ordered to be formed November 7, 1918, but was not begun until after the Armistice, on November 15, 2 n. Major General Joseph T. Dickman took command. He remained in that capacity until April 28, 1919, when Major General Edward F. McGlachlin, Jr., took command, relinquishing it to Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, May 2, 1919, who retained it until July 2. The Third Army's chief of staff was Brigadier General malin Craig from November 15, 1918, to July 2, 1919.
6 Later Colonel. See Dupuy's Perish by the Sword.
7 Later Major General. A curious expedition of railway troops consisting of the One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Operation and One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Maintenance Companies under Major Edward E. MacMorland, Coast Artillery Corps, was put under General Richardson's administration for the purpose of operation and maintenance work on the Murmansk-Petrograd Railway. It arrived at Murmansk March 25, 1919. Operating some "broniviki," the expedition took part in minor engagements as the troops advanced to Lake Onega, •about 600 miles. This contingent started for home July 28, 1919.
8 Out of 2,750,000 young men examined 46.8 per cent could not pass the physical test for front-line soldiers.
9 The troops were the same except that the III Corps had been turned over to the S. O. S., July 1, 1919, for return to the United States.
10 Nov. 5, 1918, the national army, National Guard and regular army were known under the single name of the Army of the United States.
a Sic: but this is the same river under two names, French and Flemish.
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Drinking coffee every day may lengthen the life of older adults and lower their risk of death from many diseases, suggests the largest study on the topic. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For the study, researchers gathered data on coffee consumption from approximately 400,000 participants of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. When the study began in 1995, the 50 to 71 year-old-participants filled out questionnaires about their coffee intake.
By the end of 2008, the study found that those who drank six or more cups of coffee a day - caffeinated or decaffeinated - had a 10-percent lower risk of dying during the study, compared to non-coffee drinkers.
When looking at specific causes of death, coffee consumption linked to lower risk of deaths from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections. For cancer, there was no link between coffee consumption and risk of death overall.
The authors note that this is an observational study, and cannot prove it was the coffee that helped people live longer.
Content Continues Below ⤵ ↷
Coffee drinkers are also linked to many unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, drinking alcohol and eating large amounts of red meat.
The authors adjusted for these factors and others that may have influenced the findings, but it's possible there were residual effects from the behaviors, they note.
Source: Neal D. Freedman, Yikyung Park, Christian C. Abnet, Albert R. Hollenbeck, Rashmi Sinha. Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, 2012; 366 (20): 1891 DOI.


Bancroft third grade students celebrated Law Day on Friday, February 10, 2017. This is an annual event that fits perfectly into the third grade social studies government curriculum. Bancroft parent and local area lawyer, Mr. Don Kohler, comes to play the role of the judge. This interactive skit allows students take part in a court case involving an incident on the bus. Students are the jury who decide the liability after hearing all the evidence. Law Day is a fun and interactive way for students to learn more about government roles and increases student reading fluency.


Of Mice and Men: Character Profiles
George: George is the story's main protagonist, a small, quick man with well-defined features. A migrant ranch worker, George dreams of one day saving enough money to buy his own place and be his own boss, living off of the land. The hindrance to his objective is his mentally handicapped companion, Lennie, with whom he has traveled and worked since Lennie's Aunt Clara, whom George knew, died. The majority of George's energy is devoted to looking after Lennie, whose blunders prevent George from working toward his dream, or even living the life of a normal rancher. Thus, George's conflict arises in Lennie, to whom he has the ties of long-time companionship that he so often yearns to break in order to live the life of which he dreams. This tension strains George into demonstrating various emotions, ranging from anger to patience to sadness to pride and to hope.
Lennie: George's companion, the source of the novel's conflict. Lennie, enormous, ungainly, and mentally slow, is George's polar opposite both mentally and physically. Lennie's ignorance and innocence and helplessness, his childish actions, such as his desire to pet soft things, contrast his physical bulk, making him likeable to readers. Although devoid of cruel intentions, Lennie's stupidity and carelessness cause him to unwittingly harm animals and people, which creates trouble for both him and George. Lennie is tirelessly devoted to George and delights in hearing him tell of the dream of having a farm, but he does not desire the dream of the American worker in the same way that George does. His understanding of George's dream is more childish and he grows excited at the possibility of tending the future rabbits, most likely because it will afford him a chance to pet their soft hides as much as he wishes. Nevertheless, a dream is a dream, different for everyone, and George and Lennie share the similar attribute of desiring what they haven't got. Lennie, however, is helpless to attain his dream, and remains a static character throughout, relying on George to fuel is hope and save him from trouble.
Candy: The old, one-handed swamper who is the first to befriend George and Lennie at Soledad. Humble and weary, Candy seems to be at the end of his line after Carlson shoots his last possession and companion, his old, blind dog. "When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me" (66), Candy confesses to George and Lennie, hoping for a similar fate as his dog. But when he overhears the two talking of their little place, Candy offers all his money and his meager services to be in on the dream. His substantial sum of money and the fact that he knows of a place make it impossible for George to refuse him. Candy clings to this hope of a future as a drowning man would to a piece of driftwood. It rekindles life within him, but it also becomes an obsession, and in his excitement and indignation, he lets the secret slip to both Crooks and Curley's wife. And when Lennie kills Curley's wife and shatters the reality of the dream, Candy becomes hopeless and full of anguish, the broken shell of a man.
Curley: The boxer, the son of the boss, the angry and hot-headed obstacle to George's attempt to keep Lennie out of trouble at Soledad. Insecure of his size and over-protective of his wife, Curley is eager to fight anyone he perceives as a threat to his self-image. From the outset, Lennie unwittingly incurs Curley's antagonism simply because of his size, and the reader immediately braces for future confrontation. Curley remains undeveloped, forever little and forever mean, poking his head in at various points in the novel, either to look for his wife or to stir up trouble on account of her.
Curley's Wife: Nameless and flirtatious, Curley's wife is perceived by Candy to be the cause of all that goes wrong at Soledad: "Ever'body knowed you'd mess things up. You wasn't no good" (104-105), he says to her dead body in his grief. The workers, George included, see her as having "the eye" for every guy on the ranch, and they cite this as the reason for Curley's insecurity and hot-headed temperament. But Curley's wife adds complexity to her own characterization, confessing to Lennie that she dislikes Curley because he is angry all the time and saying that she comes around because she is lonely and just wants someone with whom to talk. Like George and Lennie, she once had a dream of becoming an actress and living in Hollywood, but it went unrealized, leaving her full of self-pity, married to an angry man, living on a ranch without friends, and viewed as a trouble-maker by everyone.
Crooks: Called such because of a crooked spine, Steinbeck does not develop Crooks, the Negro stable buck, until the fourth chapter, describing him as a "proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs" (74). Crooks is bitter, indignant, angry, and ultimately frustrated by his helplessness as a black man in a racist culture. Wise and observant, Crooks listens to Lennie's talk of the dream of the farm with cynicism. Although tempted by Candy, Lennie, and George's plan to buy their own place, Crooks is constantly reminded (in this case by Curley's wife) that he is inferior to whites and, out of pride, he refuses to take part in their future farm.
Slim: The tall, jerkline skinner whom Steinbeck describes as something of a living legend: "he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen. He was a jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on the wheeler's butt with a bull whip without touching the mule. There was gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. . . His hatchet face was ageless. He might have been thirty-fice or fifty. HIs ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought" (37). Slim lingers in the shadow of his overwhelming description throughout the novel. He serves as the fearless, decision-maker when conflicts arise among the workers and wins the confidence of George, offering advice, comfort, and quiet words of wisdom.


On 22 September 2017, the IceCube neutrino telescope detected a high-energy neutrino of about 290 TeV passing through the deep South Pole ice. When a series of gamma-ray telescopes looked at the same location in the sky they identified a blazar, TXS 0506+056, which happened to be flaring at that moment. In addition, IceCube found an excess of high-energy neutrino events with respect to atmospheric backgrounds at that location between September 2014 and March 2015. Details of the IceCube results can be found at their website.
The ANTARES neutrino telescope in the deep Mediterranean Sea followed up the initial IceCube real-time alert, but no time coincident events were found. However, a time integrated search during the period 2007-2017, did yield a small excess of neutrinos in that direction. Have a look at their website for details.
The first identification of an astrophysical source of high-energy neutrinos represents an important step forward for the fledgling field of multi-messenger astronomy. With its unprecedented angular resolution and complementary field of view, KM3NeT looks forward to soon joining IceCube and ANTARES in the hunt for the enigmatic sources of cosmic neutrinos. Exciting times are ahead of us!
Image: A blazar emitting neutrinos and gamma rays, Credit: IceCube/NASA
In this artistic rendering, a blazar is accelerating protons that produce pions, which produce neutrinos and gamma rays. Neutrinos are always the result of a hadronic reaction such as the one displayed here. Gamma rays can be produced in both hadronic and electromagnetic interactions.


FUNDAMENTALS OF THE DIESEL CYCLE
Diesel Engine Fundamentals
To convert the chemical energy of the fuel into useful mechanical energy all internal combustion
engines must go through four events: intake, compression, power, and exhaust. How these
events are timed and how they occur differentiates the various types of engines.
All diesel engines fall into one of two categories, two-stroke or four-stroke cycle engines. The
word cycle refers to any operation or series of events that repeats itself. In the case of a four-
stroke cycle engine, the engine requires four strokes of the piston (intake, compression, power,
and exhaust) to complete one full cycle. Therefore, it requires two rotations of the crankshaft,
or 720 of crankshaft rotation (360 x 2) to complete one cycle. In a two-stroke cycle engine
the events (intake, compression, power, and exhaust) occur in only one rotation of the crankshaft,
In the following discussion of the diesel cycle it is important to keep in mind the time
frame in which each of the actions is required to occur. Time is required to move exhaust
gas out of the cylinder and fresh air in to the cylinders, to compress the air, to inject fuel,
and to burn the fuel. If a four-stroke diesel engine is running at a constant 2100
revolutions per minute (rpm), the crankshaft would be rotating at 35 revolutions, or
12,600 degrees, per second. One stroke is completed in about 0.01429 seconds.
The Four-Stoke Cycle
In a four-stroke engine the camshaft is geared so that it rotates at half the speed of the crankshaft
Figure 16 Scavenging and Intake
(1:2). This means that the crankshaft must make two complete revolutions before the camshaft
will complete one revolution. The following section will describe a four-stroke, normally
aspirated, diesel engine having both intake and exhaust valves
with a 3.5-inch bore and 4-inch stroke with a 16:1 compression
ratio, as it passes through one complete cycle. We will start on
the intake stroke. All the timing marks given are generic and
will vary from engine to engine. Refer to Figures 10, 16, and 17
during the following discussion.
As the piston moves upward and approaches 28 before
top dead center (BTDC), as measured by crankshaft
rotation, the camshaft lobe starts to lift the cam follower.
This causes the pushrod to move upward and pivots the
rocker arm on the rocker arm shaft. As the valve lash is
taken up, the rocker arm pushes the intake valve
downward and the valve starts to open. The intake
stroke now starts while the exhaust valve is still open.
The flow of the exhaust gasses will have created a low


Celebrate Black History Month in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, where there are many unique experiences that highlight our African American heritage.
These Roanoke Valley sites each offer a different glimpse into our history and provide a powerful connection to the past for visitors of all ages.
Did you know this region was the birthplace of one of the nation's most influential African American leaders?
Booker T. Washington was born in Franklin County near Smith Mountain Lake in 1856 and lived as a slave on James Burrough's plantation until the age of 9, when he was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Booker T. Washington National Monument stands today on the 207-acre farm where Washington was born and serves as a place where visitors can learn and reflect on his life, as well as this time in American history. The monument features historic walking trails, as well as farm and garden areas with exhibits showcasing farm operations.
It's open daily from 9am - 5pm and admission is free.
The Harrison Museum of African American Culture is one of four museums located in Center in the Square in Downtown Roanoke.
The museum highlights the art and history of African Americans in Virginia's Blue Ridge with various memorabilia, photographs, oral stories, and other exhibits that make up its personal collection.
The museum is currently displaying Tobacco People: Africa and The Americas, a special exhibit by Sarah Hazelgrove that focuses on the role Africans and people of African descent have played in the commercial production of tobacco throughout the past 400 years. The exhibit will be on display at the museum through March 30, 2016.
This self-guided walking tour through the historic Gainsboro neighborhood of Roanoke is an impactful way to learn about the vibrant center of African American culture during the time of segregation in the City of Roanoke.
This tour includes stops at historic structures such as the former Hotel Dumas on Henry Street, where legendary jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Roanoke’s own piano legend Don Pullen were known to have legendary jam sessions. You'll also see the Martin Luther King statue, placed at the foot of the former Henry Street Bridge. Historically, the bridge separated Roanoke’s black and white neighborhoods and has since been renamed the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.
The tour eventually leads you to the Gainsboro Library. Built on land donated by the nearby St. Andrew's Catholic Church, the creation of the Gainsboro Library can largely be attributed to the determination of Virginia Lee, who requested the land donation from St. Andrew’s presiding priest. The priest submitted the official request to Rome and the donation received the approval of Pope Pius XII. Ms. Lee went on to serve as the librarian for 43 years.
Learn more and download the PDF version of this tour to experience it during your time in Downtown Roanoke.
The Virginia Museum of Transportation in Downtown Roanoke features the African-American Heritage on the Norfolk & Western, 1930-1970 exhibit. The exhibit and its powerful video featuring oral histories from former African-American railroad workers has been described by William L. Wutuhn, a Smithsonian curator, as "the best exhibit on African Americans on our U.S. railroads that I have seen anywhere."
The exhibit highlights the impact African Americans had on the railroad during a time in which there were massive changes regarding working conditions and civil rights for people of color.
Plan Your Visit to Virginia's Blue Ridge!
While February is a great time to visit, learning about the rich African American history in Virginia’s Blue Ridge can be a year-round experience.
Start planning your trip to Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains today and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter to keep up with exciting new features and upcoming events!


December 9, 2013
Concord, NH - The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) recognizes National Influenza Immunization Week, December 8-14, 2013, to highlight the importance of getting vaccinated against seasonal flu. The Immunization Program in DPHS wants to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of vaccination against seasonal influenza.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that yearly flu vaccination begins as soon as flu vaccine becomes available. By getting vaccinated now before getting together with family and friends for the holidays will help protect the ones you care about.
Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can result in severe illness, hospitalization, or even death for some patients. Typical symptoms include cough, muscle aches, fever, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, and fatigue. Certain populations are at greater risk of complications from the flu and should be sure to receive the vaccine every year.
“In recent years DPHS and the Immunization Program have been working with local partners to host school-based clinics in their districts,” said Dr. José Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS. “Since September, 92 school-based clinics have been held and it is expected that approximately 5,500 students will be immunized this influenza season at their schools. I want to thank and commend all the people in the towns and at the schools who worked so hard to make this happen.”
“If you won’t get vaccinated for yourself,” continued Montero, “do it for the ones you love and care for. Remember too, that all routinely recommended vaccines for children in New Hampshire are available at no cost to parents. Contact your healthcare provider for more information.”
In the 2012-2013 flu season, 48.9% of people who were eligible received a flu vaccine in New Hampshire. As long as flu viruses are still circulating, it is not too late to be vaccinated. Flu season has just begun and generally runs until May. There are plenty of doses of flu vaccine available in New Hampshire and it is recommended for everyone who is at least 6 months of age.
Flu vaccines are offered in many locations, including doctor’s offices, clinics, retail stores and pharmacies, and health care centers, as well as employers and some schools. To find a clinic near you visit http://flushot.healthmap.org/. To learn more about National Influenza Vaccination Week visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/. To find out more about the NH Immunization Program go to http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/immunization/index.htm.


Although the theory of centrifugal pumps gives many qualitative results, the most important indicator of a pump’s performance lies in extensive hydraulic testing.
In industry, the characteristics of all pumps are usually read from their Q-H curve or performance curve (flow rate – height). As can be seen, the performance charts use a discharge – Q (usually in m3/h) and pump head – H (usually in m) as basic performance variables.
In the chapter on head loss, it was determined that both major losses and minor losses in piping systems are proportional to the square of the flow velocity. The system head loss must be directly proportional to the square of the volumetric flow rate because the volumetric flow rate is directly proportional to the flow velocity.
It must be added that the open hydraulic systems contain not only the friction head but also the elevation head, which must be considered. The elevation head (static head) represents the potential energy of a fluid due to its elevation above a reference level.
Most of the hydraulic systems are closed hydraulic loops in nuclear engineering, and these systems only have friction head (no static head).
Pump Head – Performance Curve
In fluid dynamics, the term pump head is used to measure the kinetic energy which a pump creates. Head is a measurement of the height of the incompressible fluid column the pump could create from the kinetic energy that the pump gives to the liquid. The head and flow rate determine the performance of a pump, which is graphically shown in the figure as the performance curve or pump characteristic curve. The main reason for using head instead of pressure to determine the performance of a centrifugal pump is that the height of the fluid column is not dependent on the specific gravity (weight) of the liquid. In contrast, the pressure from a pump will change. In terms of pressure, the pump head (ΔPpump) is the difference between system backpressure and the pump’s inlet pressure.
The maximum pump head of a centrifugal pump is mainly determined by the outside diameter of the pump’s impeller and the shaft angular velocity – speed of the rotating shaft. The head will also change as the volumetric flow rate through the pump is increased.
When a centrifugal pump is operating at a constant angular velocity, an increase in the system head (back pressure) on the flowing stream causes a reduction in the volumetric flow rate that the centrifugal pump can maintain.
The relationship between the pump head and the volumetric flow rate (Q) that a centrifugal pump can maintain is dependent on various physical characteristics of the pump as:
- the power supplied to the pump
- the angular velocity of the shaft
- the type and diameter of the impeller
and the used fluid:
- fluid density
- fluid viscosity
This relationship is very complicated, and its analysis lies in extensive hydraulic testing of certain centrifugal pumps, as seen in the picture below.
Operating Characteristics of a Hydraulic Loop
When we put together the frictional characteristics (system head) of a hydraulic loop and the performance curve, the result will describe the characteristics of the entire system (e.g.,, one loop of the primary circuit). The following figure shows a typical performance curve for a centrifugal pump related to the frictional system head.
On the vertical axis, the pump head is the difference between system backpressure and the pump’s inlet pressure (ΔPpump). On the horizontal axis, volumetric flow rate (Q ) is the fluid flow through the pump. As can be seen, the head is approximately constant at low discharge and then drops to zero at Qmax. At low discharge, the characteristics can be unstable (with a positive slope of the pump head). These are undesirable characteristics because an unstable pump may start to oscillate between the two possible combinations of flow rate, and the pipeline can vibrate.
At flow rate Q1, the pump gains more head than consumes the frictional losses. Therefore the flow rate through the system will increase. The flow rate will stabilize itself at the point where the frictional losses intersect the pump characteristics.
The following terms are defined to characterize the performance of centrifugal pumps:
- Shut-off Head
- Pump Efficiency
- Best Efficiency Point – BEP
- Brake Horsepower
- Net Positive Suction Head
Example: Pump Performance Calculation
- the design discharge
- water horsepower
- the pump head
of a centrifugal pump. This performance data will be derived from the Euler’s turbomachine equation:
Shaft torque: Tshaft = ρQ(r2Vt2 – r1Vt1)
Water horsepower: Pw = ω . Tshaft = ρQ(u2Vt2 – u1Vt1)
Pump head: H = Pw / ρgQ = (u2Vt2 – u1Vt1)/g
Given are the following data for a centrifugal water pump:
- diameters of the impeller at the inlet and outlet
- r1 = 10 cm
- r2 = 20 cm
- Speed = 1500 rpm (revolutions per minute)
- the blade angle at inlet β1 = 30°
- the blade angle at outlet β2 = 20°
- assume that the blade widths at inlet and outlet are: b1 = b2 = 4 cm.
First, we have to calculate the radial velocity of the flow at the outlet. From the velocity diagram, the radial velocity is equal to (we assume that the flow enters exactly normal to the impeller, so tangential component of velocity is zero):
Vr1 = u1 tan 30° = ω r1 tan 30° = 2π x (1500/60) x 0.1 x tan 30° = 9.1 m/s
The radial component of flow velocity determines how much the volume flow rate is entering the impeller. So when we know Vr1 at the inlet, we can determine the discharge of this pump according to the following equation. Here b1 means the blade width of the impeller at the inlet.
Q = 2π.r1.b1.Vr1 = 2π x 0.1 x 0.04 x 9.1 = 0.229 m3/s
In order to calculate the water horsepower (Pw) required, we have to determine the outlet tangential flow velocity Vt2, because it has been assumed that the inlet tangential velocity Vt1 is equal to zero.
The outlet radial flow velocity follows from conservation of Q:
Q = 2π.r2.b2.Vr2 ⇒ Vr2 = Q / 2π.r2.b2 = 0.229 / (2π x 0.2 x 0.04) = 4.56 m/s
From the figure (velocity triangle) outlet blade angle, β2, can be easily represented as follows.
cot β2 = (u2 – Vt2) / Vr2
and therefore the outlet tangential flow velocity Vt2 is:
Vt2 = u2 – Vr2 . cot 20° = ω r2 – Vr2 . cot 20° = 2π x 1500/60 x 0.2 – 4.56 x 2.75 = 31.4 – 12.5 = 18.9 m/s.
The water horsepower required is then:
Pw = ρ Q u2 Vt2 = 1000 [kg/m3] x 0.229 [m3/s] x 31.4 [m/s] x 18.9 [m/s] = 135900 W = 135.6 kW
and the pump head is:
H ≈ Pw / (ρ g Q) = 135900 / (1000 x 9.81 x 0.229) = 60.5 m


This Week in Texas History: A column
by BARTEE HAILE
Gravely wounded in a Christmas Eve duel at Gonzales, Reuben Ross waited until Dec. 25, 1839 to die.
The deadly dispute began two months earlier, when Ross challenged Henry McCulloch, brother of the famous Ben, to a duel on behalf of an offended friend. Angered by McCulloch’s refusal to fight, the messenger became the antagonist and hounded the reluctant duelist until he finally agreed to meet him on the field of honor.
Ross “won” the chivalrous combat by wounding McCulloch in the right arm. That should have ended the affair, but the victor would accept nothing less than the death of his opponent. Ross was “intoxicated and obnoxious,” according to the Handbook of Texas, when he “drew his pistols” leaving a sober McCulloch with no choice other than to kill him.
Although the dueling ritual was brought to Texas in the 1820’s by southern expatriates, formal face-offs rarely occurred before the Revolution. The most famous duel of that day involved representatives of two prestigious families.
At a well attended dinner in 1834, William H. Wharton’s brother John made a spiteful toast. “The Austins,” he snarled. “May their bones burn in hell.”
With Stephen F. Austin away on business, defense of the family name fell to William T. Austin, a distant but devoted relative. He unhesitantly dared Wharton to put up or shut up.
Though admittedly unfamiliar with firearms, the lesser known Austin must have been a quick learner with his life on the line. In the memorable encounter, he settled the matter by putting a lead ball through William Wharton’s right arm.
Idle recruits in the Texas Army took to battling each other after the victory at San Jacinto. Petty squabbles often erupted into ceremonial confrontations.
At Galveston two captains fought over beef allotments for their hungry companies. One got a bullet in the head and the other the best cuts. A horse provoked a clash between a pair of majors, and again only one party survived.
Sometimes the contest ended in a dead heat, as in the case of two heroes of the Texas Revolution. Infuriated by the failure of W.D. Redd to stand up to a Comanche band menacing San Antonio, Lysander Wells called his old comrade a coward.
In a lethal exchange the following day, Redd perished on the spot but not before wounding his adversary. After lingering at death’s door for three weeks, Wells too passed away.
During his time in Tennessee, Sam Houston fought his one and only duel. The expert coaching of Andrew Jackson, who had killed a man a generation before in a similar setting, enabled him to walk away the unscathed winner.
As president of the Lone Star Republic, Houston needed a cooler head. Mirabeau Lamar, David G. Burnet and Commodore Edwin Moore of the Texas Navy were but a few political foes who tried to goad him into a sunrise shoot-out.
Houston took it all in stride and with a sense of humor. One handwritten challenge was forwarded to his secretary with the wry notation, “This is number twenty-four. The angry gentleman must wait his turn.”
Dr. Chauncey Goodrich awoke on Jun. 24, 1837 to discover that his life savings, a crisp thousand-dollar bill, had disappeared during the night. There was no shortage of suspects in the crowded Houston hotel room, but the outraged physician selected the least likely culprit — Levi Laurens.
Stung by the insulting accusation, Laurens insisted upon an apology. Goodrich refused and shredded the timid government employee with a vicious tongue lashing. Under the humiliating circumstances, Laurens felt duty bound to demand satisfaction.
The doctor eagerly accepted the challenge, pleased that the choice of weapons was his. Rifles at 20 yards and the sooner the better. The two warriors agreed to meet at dawn.
Alarmed by rumors of Goodrich’s dueling prowess, friends pleaded with Laurens to break the dreadful date. But he feared public ridicule more than an early grave and kept the appointment.
The dispute was decided in the warm morning mist according to the age-old code. Before he could squeeze off a shot, the nervous novice dropped to the ground with wounds in both thighs. Two pain-wracked days later, Levi Laurens died.
The identity of the true thief was uncovered after the funeral. He was none other than the dead man’s closest friend, who had acted as his second on that fateful morning.
Posthumous regrets from Dr. Goodrich did not bring his pitiful victim back to life or appease the wrath of an eloquent Houston editor. In The Telegraph and Texas Register, Dr. Francis Moore condemned dueling as “one of the most fiendish, foulest practices that ever disgraced a civilized society.” The death of Levi Laurens inspired the newspaperman’s successful one-man crusade to stamp out “affairs of honor” in Texas.


- PREDICT expression OUT=SAS-data-set <options>
The PREDICT statement enables you to construct predictions of an
expression across all of the observations in the input data set. Any
valid SAS programming expression involving the input data set
variables, parameters, and random effects is valid. Predicted
values are computed using the parameter estimates and empirical Bayes
estimates of the random effects. Standard errors of prediction are
computed using the delta method (Billingsley 1986). Results are
placed in an output data set that you specify with the OUT= option.
Besides all variables from the input data set, the OUT= data set
contains the following variables: Pred, StdErrPred, DF, tValue, Probt,
Alpha, Lower, Upper. You can also add other computed quantities to
this data set with the ID statement.
The following options are available in the PREDICT statement:
specifies the alpha level to be used in computing t statistics and
intervals. The default value corresponds to the ALPHA= option in
the PROC NLMIXED statement.
requests that derivatives of the predicted expression with respect to
all parameters be included in the OUT= data set. The variable names
for the derivatives are the same as the parameter names with the
prefix "Der_" appended. All of the derivatives are evaluated
at the final estimates of the parameters and the empirical Bayes
estimates of the random effects.
specifies the degrees of freedom to be used in computing t
statistics and intervals in the OUT= data set. The default value
corresponds to the DF= option in the PROC NLMIXED statement.
Copyright © 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.


This week in the Patience Fruit Stand the firsties continued to develop their understanding of what it means to do their personal best. They wrote books, drew pictures, and sorted stories to illustrate their thinking. The firsties learned what it means to give their “4-Star Effort” every day!
They also learned about what it means to be a good citizen, not only in our classroom but also in the outside world, and began to investigate what it means to be an American. Ask your firstie to tell you about some of the American symbols they learned about or the fancy word for “freedom.” We also introduced the idea of voting and that presidents are elected while choosing a class mascot. As your firstie to tell you about Crocky and Fluff Ball and which one we chose! Don’t be alarmed if your child won’t tell you who they voted for. We learned that voting is serious business, and no one should ever have to share their personal choice if they don’t want to! 🙂
The firsties have been working on building stamina in readers workshop. They learned this week how to read to a partner. Ask your firstie to tell you what it means to sit “EEKK!” and how to stop, think, and check for understanding. At home, practice choosing “just right” books with your first grader by using the 5 Finger Rule. As your child begins independently reading a text, have them put up one finger for every unknown word. If they read through the page with 4-5 mistakes, that book is too difficult. If they only put up 1 finger, that book is too easy. If they read through and put up 2-3 fingers, that book is “just right,” that is, challenging enough to allow your child to build reading skills while not causing your child to become frustrated or give up.
In writers workshop this week the firsties have been focusing on writing “small moment” stories. In first grade, many children write stories that sound something like this: “One day I woke up. I brushed my teeth. I got dressed. I ate my breakfast and we drove to school. At school I played and painted. After school I did my homework and ate all my dinner. After that it was bedtime. The end.” Sound familiar? I call these “list stories” because they simply list everything the child could think of to add detail to the story or lengthen it. Instead of writing list stories, writing about a “small moment” invites the child to choose one small part of the day or event, focus on it, and expand it. For example, instead of writing about every single thing I did when I went to Busch Gardens, I might choose to write about riding one roller coaster. I would add details describing what I was thinking, feeling, and seeing as I prepared to ride, rode, and disembarked. This type of writing allows children to practice adding 5-senses details and explore a singular topic in-depth. To help your child develop this skill, instead of asking, “how was your day?” you could tell them to describe their favorite part of the day and then ask more questions inviting them to give details. How did that experience feel? What did it make you think? How did others react? It takes time for writing to develop these qualities, and we will be using a variety of children’s literature to demonstrate and model this kind of writing.
We have been practicing using many different math tools over the last week to help us learn to use them properly, use “math talk” while working, and review familiar concepts, such as patterning, comparing amounts, number formation, addition, and counting to 120. The firsties have been working independently, in partners, and in groups as they practice the skills they will need for our workshop rotations. They are almost ready to begin our full workshop time! It is important for children to be able to work both independently and in cooperative groupings for skill and social development, and so that I can also work with small groups to assess learning, challenge deep thinking, and provide intervention and remediation for those that need extra help with difficult concepts.
We read Fireflies! by Julie Brinkloe and began an artistic response piece. These multi-step pieces are beautiful, and almost complete! Look for them in the hallway soon!
This week we also learned about Cain and Abel and wondered whether or not each of them gave their personal best to God. Ask your child which brother gave their personal best and which one gave his leftovers. We learned that even when we don’t give our personal best, God (and our parents, too!) still love us, care for us, and want to protect us. Ask your firstie to share with you how God did that for Cain!
I can’t wait for next week!


by Ann Brown, Richard D. King, Timothy Moore, Edward Bruce Bynum
Asking the question, Are people with dark skin truly different?, these essays consider the history, science, and psychology of melanin. With contributions from such noted writers and scholars as Hunter Adams, Ann Brown, Richard King, and Owen Moore, these writings explore the history of people with surface skin melanin. The genetic influence of melanin on culture and learning is also addressed, with a specific look at the unfair treatment of African American children in schools that has led to poor IQ test scores and disproportionate numbers of African American children in special education classes.
Paperback: 160 pages