:-)
Might start updating this puppy in the near future...we'll see :-)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
new life
Grant and I live in Maryland now...check me out on facebook for more updates! I'm under Amy Cooper Heckman.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Check this out
so grant and i have been wanting to sponsor a child for a while now. if you have been thinking about that too, check out Luo, a new organization dedicated to setting children free from poverty. we are excited to be sponsoring Katlego, a precious boy you see pictured here.
Friday, May 9, 2008
something funny happened on the way to June...
hey so it's been a while anything was posted on here, as usual. sooo, here's a heckman update.
life keeps on going and i keep on flowing...sometimes it seems like spring took forever to get here and other times i think Christmas was only a few days ago. well, like it or not in a few weeks summer will begin and we have a lot of craziness going on. good craziness, though! campouts, summer musicals, family activities, VBS, and trying to keep my house organized, clean and ready for friends and family to visit. staying in shape is also a goal, albeit one that hasn't worked too well recently. aerobics classes at the church died a slow death, so we are moving on to other plans - walking groups, perhaps. with my fancy new ipod and nike plus system, running is wickedly cool.
our small group for our young adult ministry has gone well, we meet again in a few days and i have a few chapters of our book to read this weekend (pausing while i write this on my calendar). grant is preaching in morgantown this sunday so YAM will be led by a small group member, and i think we are watching a rob bell dvd. though i am not blind to the fact that their is disagreement among some christians regarding his theology and influence, i am appreciative of rob bell and his gifted teaching. i have never heard anyone drive a point home better than he - and velvet elvis should be on your summer reading list.
last week was baby day, we had 20 babies represented - quite the boom for waynesburg naz. our future kid and youth programs are hereby established for the 2010's through 2020's.
i drew jury selection duty for several days a week ago. it was rather crazy. the court case was a murder trial, so the selection process was laborious and long. i basically sat in a courtroom for 4 days reading books and watching office episodes on my new ipod (thanks mom!). i wasn't selected to be interviewed, and i doubt i would have made the jury anyways - being a kids pastor, they probably wouldn't have wanted me on a jury dealing with a child's murder. oh, and the jury they picked came back with a guilty verdict yesterday.
grant got to attend the orange conference in atlanta and learn all about family ministry. fascinating and obvious statistic from the conference: kids spend only an average of 40 hours in church a year, and thousands of hours (i think it was 3000 but i'm not going to make it up) at home with their parents. who do you think has more influence? i'm really glad that churches like northpoint are leading the way to unite the family in church again.
my sisters are having babies. i get to be an aunt! baby boer is coming in july. gettin' pretty excited about that. might try for a heckman baby sometime in the coming year. baby heckman just doesn't have the same ring as baby boer, though. we'll need a synonym for baby that starts with H.
i gave a speech yesterday at our local high school at the National Honor Society induction. pretty low-key, talked about the need for us to commit to a live of service and selflessness. being a public school, couldn't really play the God-card, but got pretty close to the line. i'm not really aware of anyone who is selfless on their own abilities without divine inspiration/sanctification, but just couldn't quite put it that way...but did get to use mother teresa as an example of selfless living. anyways, apparently it is just shocking to find someone who can read/write/speak english, since an attendee came up to me and with an awe-filled expression asked if i had been an english major. when i said no, he replied "well i teach at carnegie mellon university and i hear a lot of speeches and that one was fabulous, and i am just so impressed by your abilities!". i told him it was because my dad made us play "find the typo" at the dinner table when we were kids. thanks, dad.
our puppy is growing up. recent email from mom regarding Leo:
life keeps on going and i keep on flowing...sometimes it seems like spring took forever to get here and other times i think Christmas was only a few days ago. well, like it or not in a few weeks summer will begin and we have a lot of craziness going on. good craziness, though! campouts, summer musicals, family activities, VBS, and trying to keep my house organized, clean and ready for friends and family to visit. staying in shape is also a goal, albeit one that hasn't worked too well recently. aerobics classes at the church died a slow death, so we are moving on to other plans - walking groups, perhaps. with my fancy new ipod and nike plus system, running is wickedly cool.
our small group for our young adult ministry has gone well, we meet again in a few days and i have a few chapters of our book to read this weekend (pausing while i write this on my calendar). grant is preaching in morgantown this sunday so YAM will be led by a small group member, and i think we are watching a rob bell dvd. though i am not blind to the fact that their is disagreement among some christians regarding his theology and influence, i am appreciative of rob bell and his gifted teaching. i have never heard anyone drive a point home better than he - and velvet elvis should be on your summer reading list.
last week was baby day, we had 20 babies represented - quite the boom for waynesburg naz. our future kid and youth programs are hereby established for the 2010's through 2020's.
i drew jury selection duty for several days a week ago. it was rather crazy. the court case was a murder trial, so the selection process was laborious and long. i basically sat in a courtroom for 4 days reading books and watching office episodes on my new ipod (thanks mom!). i wasn't selected to be interviewed, and i doubt i would have made the jury anyways - being a kids pastor, they probably wouldn't have wanted me on a jury dealing with a child's murder. oh, and the jury they picked came back with a guilty verdict yesterday.
grant got to attend the orange conference in atlanta and learn all about family ministry. fascinating and obvious statistic from the conference: kids spend only an average of 40 hours in church a year, and thousands of hours (i think it was 3000 but i'm not going to make it up) at home with their parents. who do you think has more influence? i'm really glad that churches like northpoint are leading the way to unite the family in church again.
my sisters are having babies. i get to be an aunt! baby boer is coming in july. gettin' pretty excited about that. might try for a heckman baby sometime in the coming year. baby heckman just doesn't have the same ring as baby boer, though. we'll need a synonym for baby that starts with H.
i gave a speech yesterday at our local high school at the National Honor Society induction. pretty low-key, talked about the need for us to commit to a live of service and selflessness. being a public school, couldn't really play the God-card, but got pretty close to the line. i'm not really aware of anyone who is selfless on their own abilities without divine inspiration/sanctification, but just couldn't quite put it that way...but did get to use mother teresa as an example of selfless living. anyways, apparently it is just shocking to find someone who can read/write/speak english, since an attendee came up to me and with an awe-filled expression asked if i had been an english major. when i said no, he replied "well i teach at carnegie mellon university and i hear a lot of speeches and that one was fabulous, and i am just so impressed by your abilities!". i told him it was because my dad made us play "find the typo" at the dinner table when we were kids. thanks, dad.
our puppy is growing up. recent email from mom regarding Leo:
PS Did I tell you he chewed up a certificate Josh got last week for winning 2nd place in the Song Writing Competition at church? We think he got it off the kitchen table one morning after Dad went to work. No problem--Ken will get him another one...We think he was just mad that Josh didn't get the 1st place award...
PPS Leo is becoming quite good at chasing squirrels and since he is faster than Sam, he is getting a lot of respect from them and they are staying away more. He is also getting very good at catching the frisbee--we are thinking of entering him in some competitions...
So we are proud parents (well, not about the certificate chewing). i did observe the frisbee catching on a trip home recently and was impressed. didn't think he had the eye-paw-mouth coordination!
grant and i celebrated birthdays in march and april - we are a year older and hopefully a year wiser. quickly approaching the end of my 3rd decade in the world, which isn't as exciting as it sounds.
i think that's all. i planted a lot of bulbs and flowers this year in "our" garden and looking forward to them coming up. also getting excited for a summer musical theater group forming at church and the end of other regular activities. i love summer.
peace out, all! :-)
So we are proud parents (well, not about the certificate chewing). i did observe the frisbee catching on a trip home recently and was impressed. didn't think he had the eye-paw-mouth coordination!
grant and i celebrated birthdays in march and april - we are a year older and hopefully a year wiser. quickly approaching the end of my 3rd decade in the world, which isn't as exciting as it sounds.
i think that's all. i planted a lot of bulbs and flowers this year in "our" garden and looking forward to them coming up. also getting excited for a summer musical theater group forming at church and the end of other regular activities. i love summer.
peace out, all! :-)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Homeschooling Ruling in CA
So for those who don't know, I was home schooled my entire life. I might not be the brightest person out there, but I did graduate from college with a high GPA and have had steady employment since. I can read fluently and express myself through the written word. I can find anything I don't know in a library or online. I don't think anyone could say that my education did not match that of a child in either private or public school. So my interest was piqued by the situation of homeschoolers out in CA facing the possibility of choosing whether to leave the state or become certified teachers in order to avoid prosecution. It all stems from a recent decision by an appellate court that found that all children in CA must be taught by a certified teacher. Now there has been a TON of discussion regarding this issue, and Gov. Arnold has promised to change the legislation should it be required to keep homeschooling legal. The decision itself stemmed from a child abuse case and the judge has interpreted the current CA education law in a stricter way than ever before...and there are a lot of nuances there I don't want to go into or discuss here. I think it will all turn out ok, so I'm not trying to jump on the frantic 'freaking out' bandwagon that some have started. But you can find more out yourself by googling the topic.
I simply want to post an editorial published in the LA Times today. I'd rather not comment on it, so I'll let you make up your own mind.
Regulating home schoolers
A court ruling is right to examine the seemingly elitist and illiberal practice.
By Walter P. Coombs and Ralph E. Shaffer March 13, 2008
A California appellate court has struck terror in the ranks of home schooling advocates by ruling that their children can't be taught at home without at least some oversight. Public education foes see this as an all-out attack on the concept of home schooling. That is not the case. And members of The Times editorial board didn't get it right either.
In the decision (pdf) in question, the parents did not meet even the meager requirements for home schooling that California has established. While enrollment in a public school is required by state law, the Education Code permits an exception for those attending private schools or those taught at home by a credentialed teacher.
Though the parents had technically enrolled their eight children in an existing private school, the court found that the children were not attending it. In fact, they were schooled at home by parents not qualified to teach the kids in subjects appropriate to their age and grade level.
The decision has caused anguish among families who fear that they may now be required to demonstrate that home schooling is an adequate replacement for their children's attendance at a public institution. The court's decision means that home schoolers must be given some substantive instruction in social studies and not simply spend their time watching Fox with its strange assortment of oddballs pontificating on current events.
It's time Californians realized that there are few regulations regarding home schooling and virtually no safeguards to make certain that subjects appropriate to the age group are taught. On the other hand, there is a formidable cottage industry run by conservative evangelicals that provides "suitable" materials for home schoolers. For-profit charter schools specializing in "home schooling" -- and collecting your tax dollars while doing it -- have not only cast a cloud over the concept of home schooling but have rankled teachers who see the state's limited education dollars being diverted from traditional schools.
If home schooling forums on the Web are indicative of the views held by parents of learn-at-home kids, their offspring are getting an extremely warped lesson in civics. Typical of the shrill screed now running on the Internet are these comments: "This [ruling] is a good example of bureaucratic tyranny! Kiss liberty good-bye, people." Another wrote: "Perhaps the judge could be impeached for incompetence. Else Christian families need to flee California." And: "This is another example of how socialist mentality destroys our God-given rights as parents."
It's evident that the vast majority who teach their offspring in front of the television do so because they don't want their children to be subjected to such dangerous doctrines as evolution, abortion, global warming, equal rights and other ideas abhorrent to the evangelical mantra. Weighing in on the side of home schoolers and their fundamentalist spokesman, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, that self-proclaimed expert on education whose latest action has been to recommend steep cuts for K-12 schools. The governor denounced the ruling as outrageous and vowed to overturn it. He must believe that the state's policy of providing no control over home schooling is just fine.
The Times editorial board misunderstood the ruling too. To start, we find no place in the ruling where the court "noted that the state Education Code appears to express distaste for home schooling." Then, the editorial goes on to say, "Private school teachers do not need a credential to instruct a class of 20 or 30 students. Why should parents need one to teach a few children at home?" That's a good question. But the court offered an equally good answer: In an earlier case, the court held that it is "unreasonably difficult and expensive for a state to supervise parents who instruct children in their homes" but that oversight of teachers in organized private schools is less difficult and expensive. Furthermore, the court noted that teachers in private schools would be supervised by the people who run the schools, and those administrators would want to make sure that their instructors were competent so that their private schools would qualify under the state Education Code.
The board also claims that the courts "tossed out" the option of public and private school independent study programs to help home schoolers. Not so! What the court said was that the Education Code provides for independent study through a school district or a county office of education, but the purpose is to provide students with educational opportunities during travel or in subjects not offered in the school curriculum. The court said this clause clearly did not apply to a mother's home schooling of her kids.The Times' editorial refers to the wonderful accomplishments of home schooling: "There are rare cases of parents who use home schooling to hide abuse or neglect. Far more common are the stories of responsible parents providing a good education." One anecdotal case of a home schooled teen writing a bestselling novel is cited, with the implication that such a remarkable achievement could not possibly have been attained because of the demanding homework assignments given by our public schools. Sounds like the board believes our traditional schools are overworking the kids -- which is not what most critics say. Isn't a major argument for home schooling based on the belief that the public schools aren't demanding enough?
Finally, in its call for the Legislature to enact laws providing for home schooling, apparently without credentialed teachers, the editorial wants "reasonable regulations," citing as examples required lesson plans or a student portfolio of work. Those regulations might be acceptable to some of the learn-at-home parents, but the Internet will be full of angry letters from home schoolers saying all that bureaucratic regulation is what they wanted to escape by teaching their children at home.
There has always been something decidedly elitist and anti-democratic in home schooling. It smacks of a belief that privileged children should not have to associate with the other kids in the neighborhood and that by staying home, they would not be subjected to the leavening effect of democracy.
Moreover, it is apparent from the cries of the far right that there has been a specific policy in home schooling -- to teach only the ideas acceptable to ideologues who fear the contaminating influence of what is commonly known as a liberal education.
Walter P. Coombs and Ralph E. Shaffer are professors emeriti at Cal Poly Pomona.
I simply want to post an editorial published in the LA Times today. I'd rather not comment on it, so I'll let you make up your own mind.
Regulating home schoolers
A court ruling is right to examine the seemingly elitist and illiberal practice.
By Walter P. Coombs and Ralph E. Shaffer March 13, 2008
A California appellate court has struck terror in the ranks of home schooling advocates by ruling that their children can't be taught at home without at least some oversight. Public education foes see this as an all-out attack on the concept of home schooling. That is not the case. And members of The Times editorial board didn't get it right either.
In the decision (pdf) in question, the parents did not meet even the meager requirements for home schooling that California has established. While enrollment in a public school is required by state law, the Education Code permits an exception for those attending private schools or those taught at home by a credentialed teacher.
Though the parents had technically enrolled their eight children in an existing private school, the court found that the children were not attending it. In fact, they were schooled at home by parents not qualified to teach the kids in subjects appropriate to their age and grade level.
The decision has caused anguish among families who fear that they may now be required to demonstrate that home schooling is an adequate replacement for their children's attendance at a public institution. The court's decision means that home schoolers must be given some substantive instruction in social studies and not simply spend their time watching Fox with its strange assortment of oddballs pontificating on current events.
It's time Californians realized that there are few regulations regarding home schooling and virtually no safeguards to make certain that subjects appropriate to the age group are taught. On the other hand, there is a formidable cottage industry run by conservative evangelicals that provides "suitable" materials for home schoolers. For-profit charter schools specializing in "home schooling" -- and collecting your tax dollars while doing it -- have not only cast a cloud over the concept of home schooling but have rankled teachers who see the state's limited education dollars being diverted from traditional schools.
If home schooling forums on the Web are indicative of the views held by parents of learn-at-home kids, their offspring are getting an extremely warped lesson in civics. Typical of the shrill screed now running on the Internet are these comments: "This [ruling] is a good example of bureaucratic tyranny! Kiss liberty good-bye, people." Another wrote: "Perhaps the judge could be impeached for incompetence. Else Christian families need to flee California." And: "This is another example of how socialist mentality destroys our God-given rights as parents."
It's evident that the vast majority who teach their offspring in front of the television do so because they don't want their children to be subjected to such dangerous doctrines as evolution, abortion, global warming, equal rights and other ideas abhorrent to the evangelical mantra. Weighing in on the side of home schoolers and their fundamentalist spokesman, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, that self-proclaimed expert on education whose latest action has been to recommend steep cuts for K-12 schools. The governor denounced the ruling as outrageous and vowed to overturn it. He must believe that the state's policy of providing no control over home schooling is just fine.
The Times editorial board misunderstood the ruling too. To start, we find no place in the ruling where the court "noted that the state Education Code appears to express distaste for home schooling." Then, the editorial goes on to say, "Private school teachers do not need a credential to instruct a class of 20 or 30 students. Why should parents need one to teach a few children at home?" That's a good question. But the court offered an equally good answer: In an earlier case, the court held that it is "unreasonably difficult and expensive for a state to supervise parents who instruct children in their homes" but that oversight of teachers in organized private schools is less difficult and expensive. Furthermore, the court noted that teachers in private schools would be supervised by the people who run the schools, and those administrators would want to make sure that their instructors were competent so that their private schools would qualify under the state Education Code.
The board also claims that the courts "tossed out" the option of public and private school independent study programs to help home schoolers. Not so! What the court said was that the Education Code provides for independent study through a school district or a county office of education, but the purpose is to provide students with educational opportunities during travel or in subjects not offered in the school curriculum. The court said this clause clearly did not apply to a mother's home schooling of her kids.The Times' editorial refers to the wonderful accomplishments of home schooling: "There are rare cases of parents who use home schooling to hide abuse or neglect. Far more common are the stories of responsible parents providing a good education." One anecdotal case of a home schooled teen writing a bestselling novel is cited, with the implication that such a remarkable achievement could not possibly have been attained because of the demanding homework assignments given by our public schools. Sounds like the board believes our traditional schools are overworking the kids -- which is not what most critics say. Isn't a major argument for home schooling based on the belief that the public schools aren't demanding enough?
Finally, in its call for the Legislature to enact laws providing for home schooling, apparently without credentialed teachers, the editorial wants "reasonable regulations," citing as examples required lesson plans or a student portfolio of work. Those regulations might be acceptable to some of the learn-at-home parents, but the Internet will be full of angry letters from home schoolers saying all that bureaucratic regulation is what they wanted to escape by teaching their children at home.
There has always been something decidedly elitist and anti-democratic in home schooling. It smacks of a belief that privileged children should not have to associate with the other kids in the neighborhood and that by staying home, they would not be subjected to the leavening effect of democracy.
Moreover, it is apparent from the cries of the far right that there has been a specific policy in home schooling -- to teach only the ideas acceptable to ideologues who fear the contaminating influence of what is commonly known as a liberal education.
Walter P. Coombs and Ralph E. Shaffer are professors emeriti at Cal Poly Pomona.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
NOEL
This past weekend our choir and drama team put on "NOEL - a Celebration of Christmas Moments". This was the first time we had done drama in a while, the first time we did two performances, and the first time we did a costumed nativity (no animals, but a live baby Jesus!). Thanks to ebay for the great costumes! :-) I am on cloud nine about how everything went - the first night we had a few small glitches and a small crowd (maybe 150 or so) but the second night was AMAZING. the Lord was there, the choir sang wonderfully, no one missed a single line in the skits, the tech guys were on the ball, we had around 300 in attendance and it was just a glorious experience. I have never had a performance like that at this church...and what a blessing it was. I've kinda chilled for a day and a half, but tonight we clean up the stage and I move on toward planning the Christmas Eve service! Pictures of NOEL still to come...Merry Christmas, everyone.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Christmas 2007 Staff and Families
Here are the Polings, Zinks and Heckmans lookin' pretty for our 2007 Staff Christmas Photo. The only reason the little boy (AJ) was smiling is that someone is jumping up and down behind the photographer with great zeal. And see, it made us all smile!
what a month
i just worked for almost 13 hours straight. welcome to the week before a christmas production! 3 of those were spent searching for and downloading video backgrounds. such fun (but not for my back, shoulders or eyesight)! anyways, this next week will just be more of the same, but i'm both exhausted and excited thinking about it. NOEL is on it's way...7 days and counting. pray for me, the choirs, nativity cast, soloists, techies - God's blessings are greatly needed! updates as time allows...and hopefully an update on the Heckmans and our various going-ons. life is good, but probably busier than it should be. warm advent and christmas wishes to all! now it's home for pizza and crashing :-)
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