Reflections on Josie’s Confirmation

          

My daughter gets confirmed this weekend.  On Pentecost Sunday, family and friends will gather at Emanuel Lutheran Church to watch this major rite of passage. I am very proud.   Leading the ceremony will be intern Kevin Baker.  Kevin is spending at year in Dayton “on loan” from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. 

            Ever since Emanuel moved away from having a full-time pastor, we have been blessed to have several interns who assumed the pastoral role for a year.  All have been excellent.  Cody’s confirmation took three years and he was fortunate to work with two interns (Matt and Adam) and one youth leader (Jake) during his journey.  

            Josie’s confirmation process has been truncated. Jo and her friend Cameron completed their “fast track” confirmation in one short year, entirely under the supervision of Kevin.    It has been a great experience for her and I hope a good one for Kevin as well.

            If Emanuel votes to leave the ELCA, one important loss will be that of the availability of interns such as Kevin.  Quite simply, the ELCA isn’t going to send us interns if we aren’t a part of the ELCA.   This, naturally, leads me to worry about my son Patrick’s confirmation process, that is due to start in a little over a year.   The wonderful gifts we have received from the various interns and their families is only one of many reasons I hope my church decides to stick it out with the ELCA.

            I could go into some of the other reasons, but I think it would be a waste of ink.  It appears to me that both sides have made up their minds and the battle lines are clearly drawn.    So I will just say THANK YOU to our Emanuel Lutheran family for all the wonderful gifts you have shared with the Breitsprechers.  A special thank you goes out to the four interns who have been there not only for confirmations, but also after accidents offering comfort and wisdom, during joyful times sharing in the celebration, and at high Church holidays, leading the congregation in worship and praise. It has been a privilege.

My family will all be sitting in the pews Sunday, wearing red to symbolize Pentecost Sunday.  Josie will even be wearing a dress!  It is my great hope that three years from now, we will all be going to a similar ceremony for Patrick. 

Power to the People

         

Every now and then, elected officials get it right.    Sometimes, “getting it right” means changing your mind. Recently the trend has been to call politicians who have a change of heart “wafflers,” “flip-floppers,” or worse. I’m not going to use any of those pejorative words to describe the recent actions of the SWG school board, who changed their minds in regards to the “pink slipping” of Mrs. Lisa Coder, 7-12 vocal teacher. I’m going to use words like “brave” and “forward-thinking” and “compassionate.”  Yeppers—the school board got it right when it reversed its decision and decided to rescind the termination of Mrs. Coder.

            Under a great deal of public pressure and media scrutiny, the board decided to offer Mrs. Coder a 75% percent position, instead of eliminating her job entirely.  This means that my children and your children and the entire community will continue to enjoy the genius of Lisa Coder—at least for another year.  And that is a good thing indeed.

            This is not to say the situation was handled perfectly.  There were plenty of threats, rumors, and downright untruths floating around in the weeks leading up to the May 12 hearing.   But, in the end, our elected officials listened to the people and did the right thing.  Bravo.

            It seems like a good time to state the obvious:  the folks that made this HUGE decision are ELECTED officials—which means they choose to run for the office and we, the citizens, vote them in.    Quite frankly, I know a lot of people that are more than willing to complain about elected bodies (like, gee—I don’t know, city council), but aren’t willing to put their name on the ballot and run for office.  I can’t say I blame them. It is indeed much easier to harp and moan, than it is to actually govern a city or school district. 

            However, the time for sitting on the sidelines and pointing out the deficiencies of various elected boards and councils is past.  If you don’t like the way the school board handles budget issues or you think the city council needs to get off their butts and do a better job of fixing the streets—time to get your name on the ballot. Or—if you don’t want to do that—go out and recruit someone who you think would do a great job. Offer to help them campaign and support them in any way needed.

            On the reverse side, if you feel appreciative of these folks that basically VOLUNTEER to be “on call” for irate citizens night and day and who spend hundreds of hours dealing with the issues, let them know.  I know personally as a city councilperson, “thanks” are few and far between.  “When the hell are you gonna fix my street?” comments, however, are plentiful.

Supporting elected officials can be as simple as voting for them.  Did you know that only about 6% of Iowans even vote in school board elections?    That is ridiculous when you consider the power these folks have. 

I would really like to see some new faces on the local ballot this fall.    Quite frankly, I would like more of the faces to be of the female variety.  I know I am going to do my part to recruit some strong, compassionate women to serve our public on various councils and boards.    One thing’s for sure—they’d better be strong-willed if they want to survive their term of office. If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past four years, it is local government isn’t for the faint of heart.  I thought I was a pretty tough broad, but I’ve been in tears more because of city council than I have because my children.  Public meetings can sometimes turn acrimonious.  Heck—there have been screaming matches at the park board meetings, for heaven’s sakes!  It is small wonder that fewer and fewer people want to run for local public office.  There’s very little glory in it—and a whole ton of headaches.

Perhaps if we as a people tried to keep the civility in our civil discourse, more people would be willing to step into public service.  The parents and students that protested Lisa Coder’s pink slipping were perfect examples of respectful civil disobedience. No one screamed; no one threatened, everyone followed the rules—and they (for the most part) got the results they wanted.  It is so nice to see the system working the way it is intended.

Cody's letter to the editor

To the Editor: 

I want to tell you how Lisa Coder has changed my life.   I have always had a deep interest in music and want to make it my career.  I have not only participated in music at school, but also attend Dorion music camp in the summer, am part of my own ‘garage band’ and occasionally play at my church.

I also realize that I am not the easiest kid to work with.  Let’s just say I occasionally have a temper and can be a huge pain.   When Mrs. Coder approached me about auditioning for the musical, I was skeptical.  I have little vocal training and have been told by other music teachers that I am hard to work with.    I overcame my fear and was given a role in the fall musical.  I learned a lot and had a great time—and the musical was fantastic as well.

It was this great experience that made me decide to join vocal second semester.  And I was not the only one:  in the two years Mrs. Coder has been at Southeast Webster-Grand, the choir has doubled in size and currently has 68 students involved. That is more students in vocal than in any sport and quite possibly in all the sports put together.    She is not only supportive of students, but also very knowledgeable in music.  If my dream of becoming a professional musician ever comes true, Mrs. Lisa Coder will be one of the major reasons.

If the school board does not find a way to keep Mrs. Coder and not eliminate her position, there is a very good chance I will not take a music class my senior year in high school. I urge the board to please try to find a way to save this excellent teacher.  I am evidence of how an amazing teacher can take a troubled student and turn them into a dedicated singer.   

Sincerely,

Cody Breitsprecher

Cheerio and Pip-pip to Will and Kate, Kitty Purry, and All Things English

When I met Dean he was driving a bright red Corvette. I told him boldly that although he ‘Vette was impressive, someday I was going to have an even more impressive car—a Jaguar. Even then, I loved everything British, which naturally made a Jag a perfect car for me.

If you’ve seen me driving around Dayton lately, you’ll notice that this particular dream has finally come true for me: I am now the proud owner of a JAGUAR! Patrick named her Kitty Purry. Sure, she’s a four-door and a little beat up—but she’s still made in Liverpool, England and that makes her perfect in my book. She even has a TELEVISION in her dashboard—a REAL, LIVE TV!! So, in theory, I can drive and watch Oprah at the same time. ‘In theory’ because I haven’t figured out how to run the television yet. Or the GPS. The previous owner was from New York and the only place the GPS wants to send me is New York City. When I try to reprogram it for Des Moines, it yells at me in a very proper British accent to “take a u-turn when possible.”

At least it is reprimanding me with a British accent. When I bought the car, the GPS spoke in Italian—not an Italian accent, but actual Italian. It took me well over a week to figure out how to change the voice. The car—though very cool—is also very complicated. But it is –oh-so worth it because it makes me think of London and Bulmers and Stonehenge every time I get behind the wheel.

I’ve always been obsessed with Britain—the monarchy in particular. I fondly remember summer trips to the library, when I would check out a dozen books on King Henry VIII and his six wives. HBO’s series “The Tudors” was like a gift from the English gods to me. You can imagine my giddiness when Prince William announced his royal nuptials to Kate Middleton.

The night before the nuptials, I dutifully set my alarm for 3:45 AM to watch every single minute of the Wedding of the Century. I woke Josie at 5:00 so she could watch the “I Do’s.” Jo and I giggled about the ornate hats, while we cuddled under the covers. When I told her that she could tell her own little girl about how she woke up in the middle of the night to watch the royal wedding with her mommie, she rolled eyes and said, “Like that’ll happen.” Well, at least I tried to make a memory.

Now that the wedding’s over, I guess my monthly trip to the British Food Store in Ames will have to be enough to feed my Britishmania jones. Every time I’m in the area, I head to the BFS to stock up on hard cider, HP sauce, and Wheatibix cereal. I can always pull out the scrapbook from the month I spent four years ago in Great Britain. And, I figure I’ll be headed across the pond for a long visit in a few years anyway—you know, when Josie marries Prince Harry. Then she can be Princess Josie and I can be Dowager Lady Kendra and spend my days polishing her tiaras. I am determined that our early morning wedding watching will pay off BIG TIME!!