I'm back (sort of)

Has it really been more than a year since I've posted?

Looking back, I see the connection. A year ago, my kids were in a great gifted and talented program in our local public school. In April 2009, the local school corporation made the short-sighted decision to close that program. I am been home-schooling our kids in a virtual charter school program that opened last year, thanks to our state legislature. Also, I am part of an organizing group to bring a new public charter school to my city.

I always heard that people locate where there are strong schools. I didn't think much about that in my 20s or 30s (when I moved to my current location). Seeing our local public school corporation get weaker, it's important to step up and try to bring improvements to public education. We'll keep you posted on that.

Meanwhile, I'll be back to regular posting. Enjoy.

Entrepreneurship is the new old thing

Ever wonder how our local institutions got their start? Same way Ford and Microsoft and others began: an idea, a little money and a lot of hard work.

Whether they are serving pulled pork or pulling teeth, the people who start uniquely local business all fall into the same category. They are all entrepreneurs.

We wouldn't have Main Streets and shopping centers and corner grocers with this breed of people who - despite failure and other risks - devoted their lives to their business ventures.

Individually, these businesses may not have a tremendous impact. Collectively, they have the power to influence the local and regional economy by providing goods and services and jobs to an area.

A century ago - heck, probably not even a generation ago - there was little formal training for entrepreneurs. The business owners attended the School of Life to prepare them for their venture.

That's changing for the next wave of entrepreneurs who hope to tackle bigger and more complex new business opportunities.

Purdue Research Park recently finished it's second annual Entrepreneurship Academy for high school students. In many cases these students are high achievers in science and technology. The academy introduces these youth to a product already developed by PRC firms.

In less than one week, the teams of four or five students must research the product and prepare a pitch to investors, which are comprised of business leaders who judge the presentations while peppering the students with tough questions.

The academy is no mere summer week camp. One of its goals is to equip today's bright high school students with the tools they'll need if they choose to be entrepreneurs.

Is there a Bill Gates or Henry Ford among them? Who knows? But judging by students' responses following the week-long introduction to entrepreneurship, the seed has been planted. We'll see what grows from that.

In my day...

What do karaoke machines, GPS navigation systems, and NC-17 have in common? They are all things that the collegiate class of 2012 has always known, according to the annual Belot College Mindset List.

The annual compendium of pop culture and ways of life helps serve as an aid to college professors to help them understand their incoming freshmen.

Those of us in our 40s (and up) know - or at least have heard of - the Warsaw Pact, Pee Wee's Playhouse, and Roseanne Barr's horrid rendition of the National Anthem. But to incoming college freshmen, that's ancient or unknown history, unlike always having things like Caller ID, free soft drink refills at McDonalds, and Nintendo.

The list wasn't around in 1986, when I was heading to college. If it had it may have included such nuggets as:
- Ronald Reagan is a politician, not a movie star.
- People did not need a local operator to connect their phone calls.
- The Dodgers have always played in Los Angeles and the Giants have always played in San Francisco.
- TV shows have always been in color.
- The Surgeon General has always said smoking is hazardous to your health.

Back to school is an investment

My memory might be a little fuzzy, but I recall school supplies a generation ago consisting of a pen, a pack of filler paper, maybe a pencil box and a permission from my mom for the nuns to use the paddle as necessary if I got out of line.

I also remember classes starting after Labor Day, no air conditioning on hot days and walking to school in chest deep snow (and did I mention it was a five-mile uphill walk both to AND from home). But that’s a story for another day.

The 2008 list reads like a geek scavenger hunt. And I have to wonder what the teachers are planning when they ask for 10 glue sticks and a box of Ziploc bags per child and erasers only in the color pink.

With four kids (three elementary, one preschool) school, the outlay of supplies and books for free and public education approaches the Gross National Product of Luxembourg (or at least a few hundred dollars). That’s better than the Piper household’s former Gross Domestic Product, which consisted of dirty diapers until 2007.

The economy being what is it, I wouldn’t be surprised in some kids with August birthdays get their gift list and school supply list merged.

Little Sally: “Uh, thanks Grandma for the plain pocket folder. This will go great with my Fiskar scissors, five-subject collegiate notebook with its own folder, and my pack of 3x5 index cards.”

Mom: “Alright kids. Let’s see who can bust open the piñata.”

Kid No. 1: “Is it filled with candy?”

Mom: “No, but it’s loaded with No. 2 pencils, red pens and paperclips.”

Kids (in unison): “Awwwwwwww.”

You can’t blame schools, though, for turning to students to help subsidize the supply field. Budgets are tights everywhere. I’d hate to see what classrooms would be like without funding from local organizations that provide funding to classrooms as well as provide school supplies to low income families.

State government lends a hand in some regions. Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia were among states with “sales tax holidays” last weekend that applied to certain school supplies.

But if your kids are blessed by having excellent teachers (as ours have had so far), that box of crayons or dozen ink pens is a cheap investment if the outcome is a quality education.

Although I’m still wondering what they do with all those plastic bags …