Merry Christmas

Tags

christmas

Our fiber optic Christmas tree. The tips of some of the leaves change color as it runs.

I was not feeling much Christmas spirit this year until this past Friday. One of the people who goes to cardiac rehab the same time I do completed rehab on that day. So the mood there was quite good. That morning I got a phone call from a former coworker who moved out of state when she retired shortly after I retired. And I got a very nice Christmas letter email from a cherished old friend who lives in the east.

I’m making slow cooker beef vegetable soup for dinner tonight.

 

Advertisements

Heart Surgery

As some of my readers know I had open heart surgery on Friday, l’m alive but feeling horrible.

Quite remarkable that I’m able to make a simple blog entry. I’ll be back with photos and posts when I can.

Merry Christmas to All!

Son of Sam killer, who went to my high school, arrested 40 years ago this week

Tags

bronx, Christopher Columbus high school, son of sam

NEW YORK (AP) — For a year, David Berkowitz terrorized New York.

The papers called him the “.44 Caliber Killer.” In taunting notes to police and a journalist, he called himself “Mr. Monster,” the “Son of Sam.”

link: https://apnews.com/b679388a39994fccb7746d2df98f6fbb

This killer went to the same high school that I graduated from, Christopher Columbus HS in the Bronx, NY. He’s a little older than I, I did not know him in school. A friend of mine from those days has two older brothers, one of whom was in the same home room class as the Son of Sam. I wrote a post about  the closing of my high school here.

Sweet high school memories – not!

A high school graduation

Tags

high school graduation

We attended a high school graduation Friday evening, the son of a cousin of Gary’s graduated from Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy which is a charter school in Prescott. The young man graduating requested that we don’t post any photos of his graduation on social media, so no pictures.

I was amazed how small the class of 2017 was. 43 graduates. I think my high school home room class was just a bit smaller. The ceremony was held at Prescott’s Elks Theater, which dates back to 1915.

My high school graduation ceremony was also held at a movie theater because the crowd would not fit into the school’s auditorium. My graduation was disrupted when a melee erupted in the audience. Police were summoned to clear the building. Yes, my high school memories are “different”.

I attended Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx borough of New York City. For fun I googled it today and found out that it graduated its last class in 2014. Here’s the first part of the article I found:

It was where David Berkowitz once roamed before he became infamous as the “Son of Sam,” and where Councilman James Vacca learned to love public service.

Christopher Columbus High School, the 75-year-old Bronx alma mater of Berkowitz, Vacca, and countless other infamous and famous names graduated its last class in June — and on Friday teary-eyed alumni reeled in the years one last time.

And

“It was like watching a slow death,” said Vacca, a 1973 graduate. “It molded me into the career I’ve had. For many of us, you can’t replace the memories.”

Those who share Vacca’s memories of the once thriving school include fellow lawmaker Jeff Klein, designer Calvin Klein, actress Anne Bancroft, and TV personality Darlene Rodriguez.

I also found some statistics from 2010 here,

Graduate & Dropout Information (2010)
Graduation Rate
School: 41.0%
District: 60.0%
Percent of Graduates Earning a Regents Diploma
School: 42.0%
District: 66.0%
State: 83.0%
Percent of Students That Dropped Out
School: 9.0%
District: 4.0%
State: 3.0%
Public Assistance (2010)
Estimated Percent of Students From Households That Receive Public Assistance: 61-70

Yes, a 41% graduation rate. Anyone else thinking “this is a failing school?”