OKLAHOMA

Today Oklahoma is celebrating 100 years of statehood. To honor our grand old state (which technically is not as old as other states), we watched the musical "Oklahoma." I love this movie. It's hardly historically accurate but it's fun. What made my day is hearing my students sing along with the movie. The movie facts may not be accurate but there are aspects that represent our grand old state.

On another amazing note, I must applaud my students. They have genuine hearts. This week they collected money for Invisible Children. I highly recommend reading more about it. Check out http://www.invisiblechildren.com/. But to put it simply part of what the organization does is raise money for schools in northern Uganda. In the 7th grade class alone they brought in over $500. I know this may not seem like a great amount. But when you consider that the majority of the kids don't have money and the money was mainly in change (i.e. pennies galore), you know it has impacted them in a great way. Even now tears come to my eyes as I think about how many of them asked what more they could do. They want to bring more money in and have more fundraisers. They would also really like to write letters to the students in Uganda. I am going to do my best to help make it possible for them. You never know what fire is burning in the hearts of young people. Most of the time they just need the opportunity to see beyond themselves.

In the end I must simply say Happy Birthday Oklahoma!!!!