Free-For-All Friday 7/21/17
Decatur Metro | July 21, 2017 | 10:03 amFeel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.
Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.
EidleonDrexel
Steve
DawgFan
dsw
Bikeboy
Occi
Occi
Dan Whisenhunt
JC
tpreed
Despicable 30033
Queen Cersei
Happy Friday, everyone!
Does anyone know what is going on with the former tech school building near E Ponce on Church?
Recommendations, please, for glass replacement. It’s just a single pane in a door, but it’s a little too weird for me to do it myself because I’m dumb. It doesn’t have to be a pro service–a handyman with window experience will do. Thanks.
I like Dixie Glass Hoppers on east ponce. Have used them numerous times over the years.
I wonder if City of Decatur has plans to give all of us who have been driving around this non-stop construction a stipend for new tires?
How about a free alignment too?
No kidding!
I was also wondering whose fault an accident would be due to confusing lanes due to construction. Specifically thinking about the McDonough RR crossing going North where you can take the left lane across College and use it to turn left on Howard. With no lane lines and a new curb there a lot of cars who are staying straight on McDonough and are driving up the middle instead of staying to the right “lane” and it seems like an accident waiting to happen.
Paving will take place next week. I imagine that lanes will be properly marked when that is complete. Also keep in mind that traffic signals are going to be re-done in conjunction with the project to provide protected left turns at all interactions.
It was hot today. Please do not risk your doggo’s health by running with her during the hottest part of the day. I know your pup wants to go with you! and they would suffer gladly for the opportunity, but they also can die from heat stroke.
If you can’t leave your bare feet on the pavement without discomfort, don’t make your dog!
In Memoriam, Clyde McCarty: Teacher
On my last day as a teacher at Decatur High School, one of my all-time favorite students dropped in to say good bye. We sat down and reminisced about many things, funny classroom experiences, Close Up, and the numerous service projects that she volunteered for. Politely declining her offers to help me organize my 35 years of teacher clutter, and sensing that our meeting should conclude, she struggled to find the right words. I told her, “Long after you have forgotten me, I will remember you.” Her expression suddenly changed and with a big smile, she said “Thanks Mr. B” and walked out of my classroom.
Burning in the heart of every teacher is the hope that you will make a difference in the lives of your students. If a teacher is lucky, like I was, to finish a 35 year classroom career wishing there was one more, then you have many fond memories of what you accomplished.
Like most teachers, my desire to help students succeed ended for the most part when I retired. Some teachers however continue to help students for the rest of their lives. One such person was long time Decatur resident Clyde McCarty who died last Sunday at the age of 95. Her generosity, kindness and love of life was amazing up until the final days in hospice care.
Clyde started her teaching career in the mid Sixties at Saint Thomas More School in Decatur, GA. My wife Mary and I were in one of her first classrooms. She later spent most of her career in DeKalb County Schools and finally retired from Rockdale County Schoools after more than 30 years in the classroom. I found out at her memorial mass that she started teaching at STM because her husband Tom had suffered a heart attack and she had to get a “real” job. Her oldest son Mike McCarty described how she rose at 5:00 AM, studied for her college classes, fixed breakfast for six kids, went to work, and later attended classes at Georgia State University in order to get a teaching certificate. She did this for more than ten years eventually earning a masters degree and a specialist in elementary reading certificate. All while teaching a full load of classes and raising her children.
What I remember the most was how generous she was to my students. She had been retired for many years when I asked her to help students participate in Close Up, a week-long citizenship training program for high school students in Washington, D.C. She was particularly interested in helping a young girl, a recent arrival from Afghanistan, and the family had very little income. Clyde wrote a check for $500 and along with a generous contribution from the Decatur Education Foundation and others, this student, who had lived in a refugee camp in Pakistan two years earlier, shook hands with Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss while on Close Up. Clyde also provided money to students who needed help with Close Up airfare. In 2010, when Clyde found out that my Close Up students would also visit Gettysburg, she invited us over to her house for after school snacks. Among other things, she told the students about her great uncle Robert Marable who carried the battle flag for the Mississippi Rifles at the far left flank of Picketts Charge. She provided a real life connection to an event that seems like ancient history to most Americans. Later, when the students and I stood in front of the Brian farmhouse at Gettysburg, we realized that terrible battle wasn’t just about facts and maps in a history book but real people like Joseph Marable and his great niece who was so proud of his courage.
Two weeks before she died, my wife and I visited Clyde for the last time at her house on Drexel Avenue. I brought her favorite Chick-fil-A sandwich and while eating, we chatted about teaching, family and friends. We will miss her almost as much as we miss our own mothers. Such is the bond that sometimes exists between teachers and their former students.
In Decatur this week, and all over Georgia, parents and students are wondering what teachers they will have this year. My wish for all of them is to have someone like Clyde McCarty, a teacher who never forgot how important you can be in the life of a child.