Phineas and the Closing
I have pondered the name Phineas today, ever since I figured out that the man from Yoder/Haven who died recently was in fact, Phineas Schrock and not Enos Schrock, as I dutifully reported in the written church announcements today. I saw the error of my ways when I read the obituary page in the Hutch News this afternoon and saw Phineas' death announced. I think the confusion comes partly from the mispronunciation of the name Phineas--like Fee-nus. Online, the pronunciation that is given is Finn-ee-us.
With my head down, and my hand busily taking notes, my dad's announcement sure sounded like an "Enos" announcement--not a "Phineas" one. Really now, how many Phineases do you know, compared to the number of Enoses you know? Is the ratio 1 to 5? Or 7? Or 9? I'm maintaining that "Enos" was an ever-so-reasonable guess at the name for someone 85 years old who died in Yoder, Kansas. I still hate having gotten it wrong, however. For him to have endured that name for 85 years and then had it mangled at the end shouldn't have happened to anyone.
In the Bible, one of Eli's sons was named Phineas. People with that name also romped through Greek mythology. An American actress named her baby Phineas, and used Finn for short. In my opinion the name ranks right up there with Roman and Cletus as having mystery appeal in traditional Amish settings. The Romans, Greeks, and Hebrews all seem pretty distantly connected with the Amish. Hebrew names, of course, do have the Biblical record to commend them--unless they are one of the wicked sons of Eli. I don't get why that association has any appeal at all.
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Closing on our churches' purchase of the old Elreka school property took place this past week--seven months after the Haven school board and our people agreed to the purchase terms. Untangling the property from all its uses to secure loans, etc. took a very long time. An open house is planned for the near future.
I had a chance to tour the building several months ago. It looked better when I went to school there beginning in 1958--small wonder, since it was brand new then. Some of the work was finished after the school year began.
No one knows whether it can be ready for school by fall or not.
*********************
An experienced classroom teacher told me recently that she believes that only minimal renovation will be necessary before the building is used, with the expected benefit that delaying would enable us to nail down exactly what needs to be done further with more clarity than would be possible otherwise. I see some wisdom in that, especially when I remember that it was in daily use "as is" by a public school system until very recently. In this scenario, next summer would be the likely time for the major renovation work.
*********************
Lest I be misunderstood about the role of exercise in an educational program, I wish to go on record as being very much in favor of frequent breaks and adequate physical exercise as aids to learning, especially for younger children.
Anyone who knows the whole story would agree that I have used my limited influence and lent my full support to all efforts at the high school to see that everyone gets a chance to move frequently. We had no mini-breaks when I first arrived, and academic privilege levels determined length of playtime privileges. Now we have frequent mini-breaks, and we have uncoupled playtime privileges from academic privileges. In effect, this means that even folks with zero academic privilege get full-length breaks.
What I objected to in a recent post was a narrowed focus that puts volleyball and basketball at the center of recreational activities for students, especially if it happens at the exclusion of other activities and involves expensive specialized facilities to keep them at the center. Soccer and softball have almost fallen off the radar for high school students since some version of full-court basketball is possible in the shop, despite the fact that they have all the exercise and teamwork benefits of v-ball and b-ball. Volleyball can be played outside, as long as the poor condition of the slab is respected and compensated for. Softball and soccer could be played outside on any day when the weather is nice--which is most of the time in the fall, and a lot of the time in the spring.
For recess activities, I place a high value on the following:
1. Participation activities (no spectator sports)
2. Combination of group and individual activities
3. Pleasure for the present in balance with possibilities for lifelong enjoyment and benefit
4. A great deal of variety and opportunity for creativity in playtime activities
5. Exercising in fresh air
6. Exercise that is coupled with exposure to nature
In summary, I see that children need some way to get exercise during the school day. I don't see that it must be through playing basketball or volleyball, or that it must occur indoors, especially in a Cadillac of a structure.
*********************
A recent Reader's Digest article suggests that children naturally possess most of what it takes to learn eagerly and well, and that conventional practice in American education does not typically do a very good job of preserving this. The author does not deal at all with the "sin nature" problem, and I believe he is leaving out an important aspect of reality by omitting it. Neither does he recognize the priority of being part of the Kingdom of God.
One thing he implies that I also believe is that if we give children a life outside of school, many opportunities arise for them to learn self-discipline, etc. Justifying what happens in school as being necessary because of its character or skill-building potential sounds to me like trying to redeem a bad situation rather than making a credible defense for school-as-we-know-it.
Peter Gray, the psychologist and educational researcher who wrote the article, cites the work of an Indian researcher named Mitra, and his conclusion that "three core aspects of human nature — curiosity, playfulness and sociability — can combine beautifully to serve the purpose of education."
Mitra's own experience supports this conclusion: "He set up outdoor computers in very poor neighborhoods in India, where most children did not go to school and many were illiterate. Wherever he placed such a computer, dozens of children would gather around and, with no help from adults, figure out how to use it. Those who could not read began to do so through interacting with the computer and with other children around it. The computers gave the children access to the whole world’s knowledge — in one remote village, children who previously knew nothing about microorganisms learned about bacteria and viruses through their interactions with the computer and began to use this new knowledge appropriately in conversations."
I refer to the above article, in keeping with my sense that we can improve many things in traditional education if we are willing to examine what we're familiar with, discard what is too flawed to keep, and initiate change where we can find a way to improve. An entrenched status quo approach will short-change us almost every time.
With my head down, and my hand busily taking notes, my dad's announcement sure sounded like an "Enos" announcement--not a "Phineas" one. Really now, how many Phineases do you know, compared to the number of Enoses you know? Is the ratio 1 to 5? Or 7? Or 9? I'm maintaining that "Enos" was an ever-so-reasonable guess at the name for someone 85 years old who died in Yoder, Kansas. I still hate having gotten it wrong, however. For him to have endured that name for 85 years and then had it mangled at the end shouldn't have happened to anyone.
In the Bible, one of Eli's sons was named Phineas. People with that name also romped through Greek mythology. An American actress named her baby Phineas, and used Finn for short. In my opinion the name ranks right up there with Roman and Cletus as having mystery appeal in traditional Amish settings. The Romans, Greeks, and Hebrews all seem pretty distantly connected with the Amish. Hebrew names, of course, do have the Biblical record to commend them--unless they are one of the wicked sons of Eli. I don't get why that association has any appeal at all.
*********************
Closing on our churches' purchase of the old Elreka school property took place this past week--seven months after the Haven school board and our people agreed to the purchase terms. Untangling the property from all its uses to secure loans, etc. took a very long time. An open house is planned for the near future.
I had a chance to tour the building several months ago. It looked better when I went to school there beginning in 1958--small wonder, since it was brand new then. Some of the work was finished after the school year began.
No one knows whether it can be ready for school by fall or not.
*********************
An experienced classroom teacher told me recently that she believes that only minimal renovation will be necessary before the building is used, with the expected benefit that delaying would enable us to nail down exactly what needs to be done further with more clarity than would be possible otherwise. I see some wisdom in that, especially when I remember that it was in daily use "as is" by a public school system until very recently. In this scenario, next summer would be the likely time for the major renovation work.
*********************
Lest I be misunderstood about the role of exercise in an educational program, I wish to go on record as being very much in favor of frequent breaks and adequate physical exercise as aids to learning, especially for younger children.
Anyone who knows the whole story would agree that I have used my limited influence and lent my full support to all efforts at the high school to see that everyone gets a chance to move frequently. We had no mini-breaks when I first arrived, and academic privilege levels determined length of playtime privileges. Now we have frequent mini-breaks, and we have uncoupled playtime privileges from academic privileges. In effect, this means that even folks with zero academic privilege get full-length breaks.
What I objected to in a recent post was a narrowed focus that puts volleyball and basketball at the center of recreational activities for students, especially if it happens at the exclusion of other activities and involves expensive specialized facilities to keep them at the center. Soccer and softball have almost fallen off the radar for high school students since some version of full-court basketball is possible in the shop, despite the fact that they have all the exercise and teamwork benefits of v-ball and b-ball. Volleyball can be played outside, as long as the poor condition of the slab is respected and compensated for. Softball and soccer could be played outside on any day when the weather is nice--which is most of the time in the fall, and a lot of the time in the spring.
For recess activities, I place a high value on the following:
1. Participation activities (no spectator sports)
2. Combination of group and individual activities
3. Pleasure for the present in balance with possibilities for lifelong enjoyment and benefit
4. A great deal of variety and opportunity for creativity in playtime activities
5. Exercising in fresh air
6. Exercise that is coupled with exposure to nature
In summary, I see that children need some way to get exercise during the school day. I don't see that it must be through playing basketball or volleyball, or that it must occur indoors, especially in a Cadillac of a structure.
*********************
A recent Reader's Digest article suggests that children naturally possess most of what it takes to learn eagerly and well, and that conventional practice in American education does not typically do a very good job of preserving this. The author does not deal at all with the "sin nature" problem, and I believe he is leaving out an important aspect of reality by omitting it. Neither does he recognize the priority of being part of the Kingdom of God.
One thing he implies that I also believe is that if we give children a life outside of school, many opportunities arise for them to learn self-discipline, etc. Justifying what happens in school as being necessary because of its character or skill-building potential sounds to me like trying to redeem a bad situation rather than making a credible defense for school-as-we-know-it.
Peter Gray, the psychologist and educational researcher who wrote the article, cites the work of an Indian researcher named Mitra, and his conclusion that "three core aspects of human nature — curiosity, playfulness and sociability — can combine beautifully to serve the purpose of education."
Mitra's own experience supports this conclusion: "He set up outdoor computers in very poor neighborhoods in India, where most children did not go to school and many were illiterate. Wherever he placed such a computer, dozens of children would gather around and, with no help from adults, figure out how to use it. Those who could not read began to do so through interacting with the computer and with other children around it. The computers gave the children access to the whole world’s knowledge — in one remote village, children who previously knew nothing about microorganisms learned about bacteria and viruses through their interactions with the computer and began to use this new knowledge appropriately in conversations."
I refer to the above article, in keeping with my sense that we can improve many things in traditional education if we are willing to examine what we're familiar with, discard what is too flawed to keep, and initiate change where we can find a way to improve. An entrenched status quo approach will short-change us almost every time.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
10:19 PM
3 Comments:
Yes, I'm with you on the names. I have a very difficult time imagining being in the shoes of a young mother gazing adoringly at my newborn Enos, Phineas, or my favorite, Cletus. Unless of course I was trying to make some statement for life with a name reminiscent of fetus. But in that case, I might as well go with the word "Fetus" for an actual name then, without any great loss in aesthetics. :-D
By
Unknown, at 6/17/2014
I do try not to criticize other people's choice of names, given how little I often know about what prompted the choice. Honoring another person who has that name is a good example of why a person might choose names such as the ones highlighted in this post. Given our ethnic backgrounds, our choice of an Irish name for one of our sons probably makes no more sense than do the Greek and Roman names given here. Opining about names probably has entertainment value, and maybe not much other value.
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 6/17/2014
Well, and knowing someone and having a fondness for them goes a long way in redeeming a name. :-) At the moment I don't have any acquaintance with anyone with the above mentioned names other than the elderly man we rented from early in our marriage...I do have fond thoughts of him. It is funny how names that characterize an older generation can only be visualized as an older person and not a baby. Given all of the creative names people give their children these days, it makes me wonder, in 80 years which ones will sound like an elderly person and make the young generation wonder how their parents could have named them that?
By
Unknown, at 6/18/2014
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