Last month Jim heard about a "rededication" of a post office named for Mike but with many trips coming up decided not to attend this one. Surprise - it was actually the dedication of the newest U.S. Navy destroyer named after Mike!

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11902

Here are the remarks by the Secretary of the Navy:

Prepared Remarks by the Honorable Donald C. Winter
Secretary of the Navy
Dedication of Serenity Park and Naming of
DDG 112 in Honor of Lieutenant Michael Murphy
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Dan, Maureen, and John, members of the Murphy family, Congressman Bishop, members of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team ONE, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to join you in today's events honoring an American hero.

I would also like to recognize a special guest-Mrs. Natalie Healy, mother of another fallen hero, Senior Chief Dan Healy. Thank you for coming to share this moment with us.

This idyllic setting, the scene of so many childhood memories, and countless hours in the water when Michael Murphy was a boy, likely planted the seed that developed into his youthful dream of becoming a Navy SEAL. Lake Ronkonkoma provides the backdrop to the story that brings us here today, and that will always be associated with an illustrious name in American military history.

Michael Murphy was a product of many beneficent influences in his life, not least of which were those provided by his family. I have been struck by the strength and character of the Murphy family-their quiet dignity, their deep pride in a family member's extraordinary achievements, and their obvious love for a son who was a light of their life. Much of the strength and success of our Navy SEALs comes from their
families.

When asked about the source of their discipline, their determination, and their ambition to become the best of the best, Navy's SEALs invariably cite the values their parents inculcated in them as boys, and the support their families provided them during difficult assignments as our Nation's front-line warriors.
It has certainly been a privilege to learn about the Michael Murphy story, and to meet the extraordinary parents who raised him.

Michael Murphy epitomizes the value and the capabilities of our finest warriors-Navy SEAL's. The Michael Murphy story is one that was recently told in public ceremonies last October. As a recipient of the Medal of Honor, Michael Murphy's name will occupy a place among the most admired and distinguished heroes our country has ever produced.

He embodied the SEAL creed. He lived the values he preached. He led by example. When faced with the ultimate test, he demonstrated that his SEAL teammates were privileged to have served with a leader of truly outstanding character.

Although Michael Murphy's life has passed into the night of history, leaving an immense void in the hearts of all who knew him, his spirit lives on in the hearts of the warriors who serve in his beloved SEAL community. Michael Murphy's claim on life and virtue inspired those around him, and showed all of us that the dark corners of history are also illuminated by greatness, goodness, and acts of simple decency.

Even as a small child, Michael showed signs of fierce tenacity, an unshakable sense of right and wrong, and uncommon courage. The young child of two who, after having been nicked with the blade of an
axe above his eye, reassured a terrified mother that it didn't hurt, grew up into a twelve-year old who confronted three bullies who were tormenting a disabled child. The bullies were bigger, but Michael's sense of right and wrong was so strong that he came to the child's rescue.

It was always that way with Michael. His parents, after the incident in school, dubbed him "The Protector,"
someone who defended the weak against those who would prey upon them. Michael was driven by a desire to always do the right thing-regardless of the cost to himself. He was the kind of person who, if you were in a spot-with a flat tire by the side of the road, or lost, or in distress-he would stop and help.
He was just that kind of guy. And the world always seemed a more beautiful place because of him.

Michael's sense of duty to others also extended to his determination never to let others down-whether teammates on the playing field or teammates on the battlefield. In high school, Michael would play injured-time and time again. His team was counting on him, and he could not let them down. Never complaining, he bore challenges silently, stoicly. Convinced that adversity builds character, he followed his own advice to others to "suck it up" when the going gets tough. In BUDS training, the going got tough-very tough.

Michael was hospitalized for ten days with a painful injury to his shins while in BUDS, resulting in his being rolled from Class 235 to 236. His agonizing condition would have ended the ambitions of lesser men, but they did not make many like Michael Murphy. The only thing that saved him was his awesome tenacity-and the blessed arrival of the water phase of SEAL training.

Looking back now, we see in Michael's life experiences, the making of a hero-of a young man destined to make his mark in the world, with acts of kindness and courage, great and small. Michael made his mark as a Navy SEAL, and never more so than on the 28th of June 2005.

His actions on that day drew on the long and unique tradition of Navy leadership. The leader assumes responsibility for the welfare of his men, and he considers it a solemn duty to ensure their safety. This was Michael's mindset on 28 June, when four Navy SEAL's-thousands of miles from the nearest body of water-found themselves in the mountains of Afghanistan, outgunned and under hostile fire. In the face of mortal dangers, Michael decided to abandon a covered position and put himself at risk in order to try and save the team.

Michael's fellow SEAL's always thought of him as the type of leader they would follow to the ends of the earth. On that day, Michael showed why. Michael knew that by seeking higher ground, he was risking it all. But it was the only way he knew how to live. His teammates were in a spot-a truly dire situation.
Michael would come to the rescue-just as he always did-in life and in his final act of heroism.

It was at that moment that God took The Protector into his loving arms.

We are accustomed to looking into distant history for examples of great heroes-larger than life figures whose achievements fill us with admiration and respect. It is easy to think of heroes from earlier ages, heroes whose wondrous deeds were performed in bygone eras. It is more difficult to imagine, on the other hand, that the neighbor you used to watch swimming in the lake, or the boy who used to deliver your newspaper, or the classmate you used to play football with, ended up with a place among the most honored heroes in our nation's history.

And yet today's heroes belong, by any standard, to another greatest generation, a generation of heroes that our children and grandchildren will read about with wonder and awe. It is therefore most appropriate that the heroes in our own time be recognized, and that their stories be told. At a time when the Nation is crying out for heroes who might also serve as exemplary role models in life, here we have in Michael Murphy the genuine article-a hero who qualifies on every level.

One of the great privileges I have as Secretary of the Navy is to honor great heroes by naming ships after them. So today, it gives me great pleasure to announce that DDG 112-our newest destroyer-will be named after Michael Murphy.

Michael Murphy's name-which will forever be synonymous with astonishing courage under fire-will now be associated with one of the U.S. Navy's most technologically advanced, most powerful, and most capable warships. Every Sailor who crosses the brow, every Sailor who hears the Officer of the Deck announce the arrival of the Commanding Officer, and every Sailor who enters a foreign land representing our great Nation will do so as an honored member of USS MICHAEL MURPHY. Michael Murphy's life is an example of what one of America's finest had to offer-a life dedicated to sacrifice and service.

In Michael Murphy, we have a sense of the inspirational words of Longfellow, who spoke to us with timeless beauty:

"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again."

For the last few weeks I've been following the FLDS story in the national media. Even the generally conservative media seems to be reporting only one side of the story. Fortunately my good friend DHM at The Common Room has been keeping track of the whole story via the court transcripts and various interviews of both sides. Here is one of her recent comments:

By all means, as I keep repeating ad infinitum, arrest those who have committed crimes. But what the public is actually finding these people guilty of is not being 'one of us'- of looking and sounding different- and while we give lip service to 'individualism' we really, really, don't like people to be too different- spend some time at the mall sometime and notice just how superficial our 'unique' tastes are.

Based on her and other bloggers' analysis of the actual facts of the case, it seems as though the State of Texas' case is beginning to unravel. I predict a great deal of embarrassment for their CPS and family court system.

http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2008/05/flds-updates-for-52.html

Hat tip to Sarah, who sent this to a TOG list I am on.

I showed this to my son who is legally required to take an achievement test next week. Here's what I think of this kind of testing:

From the San Diego Union-Tribune (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20080412-9999-1m12remedial.html):

Cal State schools are a long way from their goal of seeing 90 percent of entering freshmen ready for college-level work.

Instead, 37 percent of freshmen entered a California State University campus last fall needing remedial math, while 46 percent were unprepared for college-level English, according to new data.

Locally, a quarter of freshmen at San Diego State University started school needing remedial math; 48 percent at Cal State San Marcos needed it. About one-third of SDSU freshmen were not proficient in English, compared with more than half at Cal State San Marcos.

And this in the same state that wants to ban homeschooling.

I went to San Diego State from 1990-1992, when I was in my late 20's. Frankly it was easy to get in, but I also had to take a remedial math class. Of course, it had been 9 years since high school, and I am the product of California public schools.

I wonder if there is similar data on homeschoolers to compare with this report?

I'm sure some of you have already heard this through HSLDA, but those of you who haven't will be happy to hear that California homeschoolers have gotten a bit of a reprieve:

On March 25, the California Court of Appeal granted a motion for rehearing in the 'In re Rachel L.' case--the controversial decision which purported to ban all homeschooling in that state unless the parents held a teaching license qualifying them to teach in public schools.

The automatic effect of granting this motion is that the prior opinion is vacated and is no longer binding on any one, including the parties in the case. 

This is a blessing for them and us. Let's keep praying, though, for the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision.

Last year I remember reading about charter schools in Idaho. Test scores were showing that homeschoolers were not only scoring higher than charter schools, but even public schools were scoring higher!

Charter schools have been a response by the public schools in many states to the popularity of homeschooling. They have recruited many homeschool parents by enticing them with free computers, equipment, and money. I've always had my doubts, however, and I personally am not interested in the public school system "overseeing" my homeschool.

Last week there was an article in a Texas paper about a local charter school that's become very popular. I'm pretty certain that many parents have chosen it because of the free equipment and other perks. I'm also pretty certain that they also expect to get an equal result as independent homeschoolers.

Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case:

Standardized test scores may be a concern too: Texas Virtual Academy had lower passing rates than the average public school. . . And although it is rated as academically acceptable by the Texas Education Agency, its students' passing rates on the TAKS tests were below the state average.

I wonder if the parent interviewed knew that befure she said this:

The virtual setup has some benefits of the public school system -- including technology, curriculum and textbook support -- but also has some benefits of home schooling, Kimberly Law said.

Something's very wrong in charter school land if an option that's supposed to have the benefits of both public school and homeschooling ends up doing worse than both.

http://www.star-telegram.com:80/local/story/540790.html

He is risen!

http://www.ignitermedia.com:80/products/iv/singles/4/Thats-My-King

I was relating an abbreviated version of this story to Mel at the conference this weekend. Today it occured to me that I should write it down and share the complete journey of how I came to use TOG. I think this blog reminded me of how it all began (I know, how does ElijahCo's now defunct catalog lead to choosing TOG; but I hope to clearly trace out the connection).

Jim and I first decided to homeschool our future blessings (we had none yet) when we ended up in a new church plant with several homeschoolers (Hi Cindy!). The children we got to know were just so amazing, interesting, and unassuming and we knew that this was what we wanted for our own family. I even went to my first curriculum fair when my oldest was a small baby.

Of course, entering a curriculum fair unprepared was the worst thing to do. I left with a major headache, not helped by my screaming baby. There were so many choices, how could I ever decide? I never stepped into another fair or conference until the year I decided to start kindergarten. Fortunately, somewhere along the way someone had recommended an awesome preschool curriculum, the Rod & Staff workbook set. But, now we had to move past that. I headed off to the local conference.

But, once again, I found myself completely overwhelmed by the choices. The workshops didn't really help much with the details. I wandered through the hall on both days, looking through all the booths and askings lots of questions. It seemed to me that many of these conversations didn't help me clarify anything. With the end of the conference approaching, I walked over to the Christian Liberty Press booth and picked up the complete kindergarten package. It seemed like a cop-out, but at least I had something to start with.

Once I got it home, my troubles began. I chucked the "art" book right away - I wanted a real art book, not a glorified children's craft book. The writing workbook, with no instructions, didn't work for me, either. I ended up only using a couple of the books in that package. Fortunately an online homeschooling group helped me pick Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for an excellent phonics program, and introduced me to Barry Stebbing's art books.

Now here enters Elijah Company's connection - at that conference I collected all the catalogs and other freebies and began to collect and review them. Eventually I came across an issue of their catalog that contained their now famous resource articles. When I read about educational methods, I became very excited. Could this help me clarify what I was looking for? I read the section again, then turned to the pages where they described the different methods.

It was very interesting; some sounded very strange to me, others too difficult or too regimented. However, when I read the description of classical education, I became very excited. This was exactly what I wanted for my children! EC also included a list of books that help describe each method. Begin of an intellectual bent, I immediately began researching all I could find on classical education (I now own just about everything written on the subject, but that's another story).

Some years later, I heard about a new, comprehensive classical curriculum that was coming out; Tapestry of Grace. I read about it, looked it up online, talked it over with my husband, and ordered Year 2 (the only complete year available then). I received it, put it in binders, looked at it a few times, and put it away. With two toddlers, and a difficult 2nd grader, I found it overwhelming (I still have it in a closet, BTW).

Anyway, I've spent the years since crafting my own eclectic attempt at a classical curriculum. When my co-op decided before last year to switch to TOG, I was disappointed; but eventually I decided that 7th grade would be a good place to try it out. It certainly helped that I now knew someone who actually used it successfully (Mel). I plunged whole-heartedly into this trial year.

I've since come to discover that it fits us very well. As I've used it, I've begun to clarify in my mind what is it that makes it work for us. The bottom line is, this is the curriculum that I would craft - IF I had all the time and resources in the world, access to all the best books, the best minds in each subject at my disposal, and the patience to put it all together. TOG is just the culmination of all the ideas I would love to include in my own family, but never could. And I get to take advantage of it!

Isn't that such a blessing?