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Its going to be a tough holiday and winter season for many people around the country, and perhaps even more so here in New England. While I was enjoying Thanksgiving on Thursday, my family got into a discussion about the state of the economy and fuel prices specifically.

To be honest, I'm not sure how some families are going to survive the winter. Here is an article from the Boston Globe from last month which talks about how some families need to make a decision on whether to heat or eat during the winter...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/21/the_heat_or_eat_dilemma/

If that doesn't depress you enough, the following is an article from the Providence Journal concerning recent cuts in state aid which threatens the delivery of meals on wheels to the elderly...

http://www.projo.com/news/content/MEALS_ON_WHEELS_11-14-07_QP7RNA4_v30.29ebf71.html

I could link you to plenty more articles like this unfortunately. My point in all this is a simple one. This holiday season, perhaps more than any other, we all need to think about the state of those less fortunate than us. There are families in our own neighborhoods which suffer from these very issues. This holiday season, please make the effort to make some type of donation, whether it be to a food drive, Toys for Tots, the Salvation Army, etc. The money Norton High raised at the pep rally for the Santa Fund was a great start, but theres lots more work to do.

Veterans Day

I recently attended a social studies professional development day. One of the speakers for the event really stressed the idea that we need to be cautious of who we consider to be "heroes" in today's society. Many people look up to celebrities or athletes who really should not qualify as a hero.

While that topic might be debatable, one thing is not. The need for us to support and honor our veterans in this country. They truly are the heroes.

This is a link to a video clip I recently saw which highlights the importance of veterans in our society.

http://www.military.com/VeteransDay/VeteransDayTribute.html

Democrats vs. Republicans

Recently in my history classes we discussed the election of 1800 and how it was really the birth of political parties in this country. The first "real" presidential campaign took place that year between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. It was the birth of the battle between political parties that continues on to this day.

That led into an interesting discussion about Democrats and Republicans. My concern is that not enough high school students know the major differences between Democrats and Republicans. Many high school students reach the voting age before they graduate, so shouldn't they have knowledge about the two major parties in this country?

After we discussed the basic ideals of each party, I took a quick poll to see which party students felt they fit into. The results were interesting. I had 10 Democrats, 10 Independent/Undecided, and 1 Republican.

I encourage you to find out the differences between Democrats and Republicans if you don't feel you know enough. Here is a link to a web site designed for students who are looking to find out which party they might fit into...

http://wise.fau.edu/~rpwatson/Just_Vote/just_vote_005.htm

Where do you fall?