Thank you for inviting me here. I hope this blog continues past the elections because I am so pleased to be included in this group. The emails are somewhat of a political lifeline for me, especially regarding my Canyon County roots. The blog holds even more potential for discussion of ideas without clogging the inboxes!
I haven't made it to any of your meetings, so I'll go first. My name is Cynthia Kozlowski, formerly known to Al and Lee as "Fawnsbee." My identity is somewhat muddied by a divorce and remarriage which changed my name but I remain...myself!
I claim Al as a mentor and Lee as a like-minded teacher in my personal history as a College of Idaho student and as a student teacher in the Caldwell school district. I worked for many years in the Vallivue system before moving to Meridian. My roots in Canyon County run deep. My 75-year-old Mom still lives in Caldwell. She broke her hip last month and I have been helping her get set up to send in an absentee ballot as well as wash her clothes and prune her roses. A lifelong Republican, Mom feels her party has deserted her and she is choosing to more and more look carefully at people and issues rather than party line. I see that as the impetus for change in Canyon County - voters just need to look a bit more closely because so many candidates seem to believe that the "Republican" label is some sort of guarantee of running a successful election. There is a party "machine" in operation. Forgive me if I sound like a determined Democrat...actually, I am an independent voter. But when I lived in Canyon County I admit to registering as a Republican so that I could vote in the primaries against the worst of the worst. Then in the generals I could vote my conscience. If there was anyone left to vote for. One of my last hopefuls out of Canyon County was Terry Reilly. He could have made it, dammit (respectful pause for the departed).
Then was then and now is now. I will certainly lend my support in any way possible to assist with this Correspondence Committee. I am also affiliated with the Boise State Writing Project(fellow '05 and writing coach for '06) and a member of political action committees for both years. We have blogs and email groups, too. I would be happy to serve as a correspondent between our groups. If you want to know more about us, please do a search on National Writing Project. As an educator, I have to tell you that the NWP has had the utmost positive impact on my personal and professional life! The project locally is headed up by Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm in the English department at BSU. Perhaps a more local connection is that the late Dr. Lynn Meeks served as director of the Utah Writing Project during her tenure as English professor at USU. I only knew Lynn by reputation, but I have become closely acquainted with her sister Jan Meeks (also a College of Idaho graduate) through her teaching and through her BSU Writing Project contributions.
So that's me. First grade teacher in Meridian, ID. and passionate about kids, Idaho, education, professional growth, preserving the environment that sustains us, meaningful dialogue that also sustains us, and hope for the future.
You?
Didn't I meet at least one of you at the film "Sir, No Sir" at the Flicks? I believe there was a gentleman seated behind me who suggested that we could make contributions to kits that would help keep our battlefield troops safe since our government has been lax in doing so? Although I do not support the Bush II war, I do support our troops and hope to see them come home ASAP. I have a son in law in his second tour in Baghdad with the USAF. Did you know that October has been the deadliest month this year for American troops and for Iraquis? I can't even stomach the statistics - "average daily death toll"? We are talking about fellow human beings. There is no "average" when we are talking about a human life - a person who lived and breathed and dreamed on this earth. Do any of us aspire to be just a part of some "average" alive or dead?
OK, that's more about me & my opinions. Sorry. I hope you all can chime in. I'd love to get to know ya! Cynthia
1 comment:
Hi Cynthia,
Welcome to the blog. It is still something of an experiment. Not all of us are familiar with "blogging," but decided, as you suggest, it might be a better way to communicate than e-mail. It also seemed like a good idea to have a place where we could link to other like-minded bloggers.
I, too, hope that the group will continue after the elections. I have lived in Idaho most of my life and have come to realize that I need to seek out those with whom I agree politically in order to remain sane.
Keep contributing because the blog is only as lively and interesting as we make it.
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