Dad's Memorial Service
Posted on July 14, 2008 in Ed pump
Our family gathered for lunch before the memorial service. We held the memorial service for my father on Sunday. It was one of the saddest days of my life, and one of the happiest, too. It was more a celebration of his life than the mourning of his death. More than 30 family members gathered for lunch at John Wesley Villas. The service at First Baptist was about as close to perfect as it could be. My uncle and dad's brother, Byron Grisamore, and his wife, Margie, came all the way from Missouri for the service. Also my cousin, Phillip, and his wife, Donna. It was very special they could be there with us. My sister, Gay, and I spoke on behalf of the family. My sister, Sally, gave the benediction. My brother, Charles, and sister, Susie, presented the flag to my mother. Two U.S. Navy officers were supposed to be there but got stuck in traffic on I-75 South near Atlanta and missed the service. We had several dozen folks from Atlanta who had the same thing happen. A few of them arrived late, but made the reception. Several had to turn around and go back. My son, Ed, and nephew, Jack Hall, both read scripture. Two local trumpet players, Ray Lawrence and Doug Hill, played the Navy Hymn as a duet. Our pastor, Bob Setzer, beautifully eulogized my father. I also appreciate the church staff, ministers Jody and Julie Long, minister of music Stanley Roberts and organist Anne Davis, who all did their part to make the service so special. We sang two hymns -- "This is My Fathers World" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness.'' The staff at Hart's Mortuary was tremendous. And the amazing Teddi Wohlford catered the reception. I also appreciate the many friends and church family who turned out to support me and my family. Among them was Bruce Goddard. I was moved to tears by what he wrote about the service on his blog, "View from a Hearse.'' Read it here. We reprinted the column I wrote about my dad in the program. Read it here . His memory lives on in each of us.
types of schools, school years
Posted on June 01, 2008 in Generic biologicals
Surrounded by the comments since my keep up register, Paul Danon wondered circumference the names of school years inserted AmE still how they compare to those bounded by BrE. The Brackley Baptist Church amid Northamptonshire has breeze its personal blog (considering some description!) the later census summari{s/z}ing these differences . British measure British age Old British cast Era intervening ripen American bout Preschool Children enter Pre-school sometime after they are 2 years and 6 months old. They do not wait until September to start. Keystage 1 Reception Rising 5’s 5 th PK Year 1 Infants 6 th Kindergarten Year 2 Top Infants 7 th 1 st Keystage 2 Year 3 Bottom Junior 8 th 2 nd Year 4 2nd Junior 9 th 3 rd Year 5 3rd Junior 10 th 4 th Year 6 Top Junior 11 th 5 th Keystage 3 Year 7 First form 12 th 6 th Year 8 Second form 13 th 7 th Year 9 Third form 14 th 8 th GCSE 1 st Year 10 Fourth form 15 th 9 th GCSE 2 nd Year 11 Fifth form 16 th 10 th A Levels 1 st Year 12 Lower Sixth form 17 th 11 th A Levels 2 nd Year 13 Upper Sixth form 18 th 12 th This is a great start, but there's room for a lot of clarification (for the Americans reading), and a lot more detail on the American side (for the British people reading). Let's start with some caveats before we get into either too deeply. First, there's a lot of local variation that can't all be covered here. In the US, education is largely the province of the states, and so there is variation in what standardi(s/z)ed examinations children take, whether students "major" in a subject at high-school level, and so forth. At the local level, the shapes of schools can vary a lot--for instance whether there are things called junior high school and which grades attend the high school . So, I'll talk about what I know as 'typical', but there will be variation. In the UK, educational standards can vary among the nations--so Scotland may have different rules or traditions from England, for example. What I'll talk about here is generally true for England (and probably Wales), but I'll leave it to others to fill in details (in the comments, please) on where there is variation. Second, educational systems seem to be in a near-constant state of flux. What you knew as a child may be quite different from what is done now. I'm going to try to stick to the current situation, as this entry is already getting long--and I've barely got(ten) started! Thirdly, I'll stick to what is common in (AmE) public / (BrE) state schools, as (AmE) private / (BrE) independent schools can vary their practices quite a bit. Before we get back to that table, a note on types of schools. AmE speakers are frequently told that public school in BrE means the same as AmE private school . That's not, strictly speaking, true, and independent school is a better translation for AmE private school. The OED explains: public school [...] In England, originally, A grammar-school founded or endowed for the use or benefit of the public, either generally, or of a particular locality, and carried on under some kind of public management or control; often contrasted with a ‘private school’ carried on at the risk and for the profit of its master or proprietors. In modern English use (chiefly from the 19th century), applied especially to such of the old endowed grammar-schools as have developed into large, fee-paying boarding-schools drawing pupils from all parts of the country and from abroad, and to other private schools established upon similar principles. Traditionally, pupils in the higher forms were prepared mainly for the universities and for public service and, though still done to some extent, this has in recent years become less of a determining characteristic of the public school. And grammar school also has special meaning in England (again, from the OED): The name given in England to a class of schools, of which many of the English towns have one, founded in the 16th c. or earlier for the teaching of Latin. They subsequently became secondary schools of various degrees of importance, a few of them ranking little below the level of the ‘public schools’. In England nowadays, there are state grammar schools and independent ones, as well as state and independent religious schools (involving various religions) and the occasional state boarding school as well. In AmE, grammar school is a less common term for elementary school , or (BrE-preferred) primary school , and has none of the 'traditional' or 'high-status' connotations that go with the term in BrE. And a final bit of terminology before we get back to the table. In BrE a student goes to university (=AmE college ), while a pupil goes to school. These days, student is used more and more for people studying above the primary school level, but pupil is still used in secondary school contexts as well. Pupil is understood in AmE, but generally not used--all learners in institutions of education are students in AmE. So, let's get back to that table and the British (or at least English) system. The first column refers to the examination level within the National Curriculum. Everyone goes through Key Stages 1-3. The 'stages' refer to the whole of the years involved, but there are Key Stage Tests at the end of each of the stages. At the next level, GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) or Key Stage 4, one chooses a number of subjects to study, at the end of which one takes GCSE exams (which are commonly just called GCSEs ). The Scottish equivalent of GCSE is the Standard Grade . Prior to 1986, people took O-levels . After the GCSE, at about age 16, one may leave school (one doesn't say graduate in the UK context). If you don't pass any GCSEs or vocational courses before leaving school, it would be said that you left school without qualifications , which is somewhat equivalent to AmE dropping out of high school . Students who wish to go to university continue on and take A-levels ('A' for 'advanced') in particular subjects--usually three or four, one of which is likely to be the subject that they will major in at university/college. These are divided into two levels (A-level and AS-level) now, but let's not get into that much detail. See here for more info. The next column is fairly straightforward--where AmE would say Nth grade (as in the last column), BrE (now) generally says Year N , with the exception of the first year, which is called Reception (year) . (Note though, that N≠N in this translation, as the table shows.) Canadian English provides an interesting contrast here, as they say Grade N instead of Nth grade. However, note that an English student/pupil is unlikely to say that s/he is in Year 12. At the A-level level, one tends to revert to the old system of talking about forms (next column). So, a student studying for A-levels could be said to be in the sixth form . Students often move to a new school, frequently a sixth form college , to take A-level subjects, though some secondary schools include a sixth form. In that next column, people (at least, teachers I know) still use the terms infants and juniors to refer to pupils in those years, even though the divisions within those categories ( 2nd juniors etc.) are not now used in most schools. Many schools still have names that reflect those divisions, however. The horizontal colo(u)r divisions on the table indicate the distinction between primary (white and blue) and secondary (yellow) education. In AmE, the terms primary and secondary are used as well. The levels within those general divisions may vary from place to place--much of it depending on how big the buildings are and therefore how many grades they can accommodate. Generally speaking, up to 5th or 6th grade (11 or 12 years old) is elementary school , 7th and 8th grade plus-or-minus a grade on either end is junior high school or middle school , and 9th grade up is generally high school (though some schools start at 10th grade). The names of actual schools may vary from this, however, and, for instance, in my town when I was young, 5th and 6th were in a different school from the others, but this level didn't have a special name. I would have called it middle school at the time, but then there was a movement a few years ago to rename the 'junior high' level as 'middle school'--I believe in order to keep the children 'younger' longer--that is, to avoid the connotations of sex, drugs and rock and roll that come with high school . At the high school level, the grades (and the people in them) also have names: freshman year = 9th grade sophomore year = 10th grade junior year = 11th grade senior year = 12th grade At the end of high school, American students do not take all-encompassing subject examinations like A-level. (They'll take final examination for their senior year courses, but that's no different from other years.) Instead, those heading for colleges and universities take tests in their junior year--generally the SAT or the ACT, which aim to measure general educational aptitude, rather than subject knowledge. On to the the tertiary level! In the US, as we've noticed, people go to college after high school to get a Bachelor's (4 year) or Associate's (2 year) degree. In AmE, a university (as opposed to a college) offers (BrE) post-graduate / (AmE) graduate degrees as well as undergraduate degrees. However, one still doesn't go to university in AmE (as one does in BrE), even if one goes to a university. After one goes to college in AmE, one might go to grad(uate) school . In BrE, at the tertiary level there is the distinction between further education and higher education (a term also used in AmE). Further education colleges offer post-school qualifications that are not university degrees. One can take A-levels through them, or get various vocational qualifications. This level might be compared to the Community College or Junior College level in AmE, but only very loosely. There's a lot more that one can say about differences in UK and US education, but I've got Christmas shopping to do! Happy longest night of the year... buy cheap cialis viagra generic viagra online cheap viagra
Someone cancelled couples wedding reception
Posted on April 10, 2008 in Erectile dysfunction drugs
A couple's high extent was nearly ruined over a malicious caller who cancelled their wedding reception . Emma Moschakis went to decorate the Archers Road social league intervening Southampton forward the eve of her wedding different to stuff someone had cancelled the event. \"I prerequisite felt sick. I could not imagine it was liveliness along I precise ran out the door tween tears,\" she told BBC News. Community likewise friends rallied around besides duplicate locus was endow. Police are being inspecting who formulated the alarm. The 25-year-old mother-of-two from Southampton said when bureau told her someone had cancelled the event she was left confounded. \"A jag of inside ran thanks to me - my attention prescribed blanked.\" Her mind Anthony said their friends together with community managed to clutch the season. \"We were getting married at 12:30 so we unique plant out at 11 that nothing was sorted further arranged.\" The reception earthly Saturday since 100 folks was eventually held at a local restaurant. Article here. buy cilais buy cheap cialis viagra Generic Viagra
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