This isn't my classroom.  Instead, this year, the legacy is being passed on to Mrs. Hoggatt.  That's right:  she has taken a position at Neosho Christian School, teaching high school algebra, geometry, and chemistry.  You may recognize some of the decorations in her classroom and lab.

Neosho Christian School is a Pre-K to 12th grade school in Neosho, Missouri.  They are beginning the school year with a Creation theme, so Mrs. Hoggatt made this scene with animal silhouettes for the hallway - not bad for a first-time teacher.

It came to a point when she couldn't walk without assistance, and the school was scared enough to send her home every day.  When she went "out" on time, she scared a substitute teacher enough that he ran into the hall and almost took out the lab rats that were learning to run through mazes.  COVID didn't matter as much as learning how to walk again and finding the right medication and counseling - even hypnosis - to get her through these other issues.  

Naturally, her grades suffered, but, though she may have wanted to, she never gave up.  Her greatest accomplishment for her senior year was serving as a drum major for one of the largest high school band programs in the area.  Even though she would collapse repeatedly on and off the football field, she marched throughout the season, leading her group to victories in competitions.

Her dream was to march and play her flute at the university level, so she auditioned for the Pride of Oklahoma, in hopes of getting into the Music Education program and attend the University of Oklahoma.  The wait for results was agonizing and slow, and her brain decided to try some new techniques, not wanting to shut down some of the emotional responses like it normally should.  She started exhibiting physical tics and even began to have some pretty intense-looking non-epileptic seizures.

By the time the results of auditions were reported, she didn't think she could wait any longer, but the reports were favorable:  her name was on the list.  She qualified not only to attend the school, but to march on the field with the 300-piece OU band during her freshman year at the school.

That means she is off to college four hours away from home, out of state, without her parents or any of the things that could stabilize her emotions.  She's off on her own in a strange place for the first time, and her mother and I pray daily for her security, balance, and well-being.  This young lady has all the tools she needs to be successful, but we pray that she remembers to use them.  She has already started training intensely with the Pride, and it's a lot of extra work.  No doubt, she's going to be exhausted.

When we moved her into the dormitory, last week, we had the typical, tearful moments, but for our daughter, I think those moments mean something much deeper.  Not only is she far from home, but her journey has brought her far from where she was a couple of years ago, too.  If she can overcome the things she has overcome and still achieved the scholarships and prestige that she currently experiencing, who knows what else she can do.  Unfortunately, she expects perfection from herself, and she is always afraid of failure.  I keep telling her, as I do with all of my students, that mistakes are opportunities for growth and that they are part of the process, but I know how much she expects of herself.  She shouldn't ever be afraid of failing to live up to my expectations, but I know she does.

We wish for her to be independent - to be able to take care of herself - but we also want for her to find a strong peer group that will support her quirkiness and her passions.  Mostly, we want her to remain faithful to her beliefs, to face any challenges that college life throws into her path and overcome them.  I suppose we love her a whole lot, and like any respectful parent, we only want the best for her future.  At the same time, we really don't like being this far away from our firstborn.  It's just as much of an adjustment for us as it is for her.

She has reportedly been quite active in her first week, marching for hours with the freshmen members of the band, going through behavior expectations and security protocols with the band, taking part in the peppy introductory activities of an orientation of sorts, participating in ice-breakers and team-builders, celebrating the newness of university life, working with the campus outreach center for the church, checking her mail, and doing laundry.  It has been enough to wear her out, resulting in her step count has been somewhere between 10,000 a day to over twenty thousand, and school has yet to actually begin.  Tonight the entire band will form and broadcast on social media with the "first boomer", that is, the actual first public performance of the Boomer Sooner fight song.

That is not to say that there aren't hurdles and difficult moments ahead of her.  We realistically expect mistakes and setbacks to occur along the way - just like there will be for all of these students - but we also appreciate, so far, that she seems to be thriving with this shift of focus.  She loves her roommate and all of the new acquaintances she has made so far. 

​With more than 4,700 freshmen starting in the school, this year, they have set records in number, in grade point averages, and in minority enrollees.  In short, we wish them all well, and we pray for their continuing success.  We also hope for positive outcomes to their lives beyond school.

With all of the archaeology at Historic Jamestowne, it was inevitable that human remains would be discovered.  As it is, there were burials here, and some of the evidence even allows the experts to make educated guesses as to the actual person's identity.

For some of these digs, the skeletons are on display in the Archaerium, with impressive evaluations made by the scientists themselves.  Perhaps you can see the Indian arrowhead that was imbedded in the man's leg.  That's just one clue to the man's identity, but it's still incredible to me that human remains from 400 years ago - without DNA - can be identified with reasonable assurity.

One special case is the skull that was located in the kitchen and not in the regular gravesites.  With study, the skull was determined to be that of a 14-year-old girl.  Scientists named her "Jane" so they would remember that this was a human being.  With modern technologies, her face has been reconstructed, again with reasonable assurance of its accuracy.  Looking her in the face in a model and then seeing the physical skull mounted nearby is one of those moments in the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute that I hope to never forget (more on that in the future).

Jane's skull was found in the trash with other bones.  These were the cast-off bones of animals that were prepared for eating during a period known as the Starving Time.  Nothing illustrates the desperation of this time more than the presence of a human skull with evidence of blunt force trauma and the markings of a butcher knife.

Jane has an amazing story to tell, and she is relatable as a real human being.  We take too many things for granted in this world, but when we stare this teenager in the face and respect her situation, we must pause to appreciate the smallest things in life.

Read more about the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute.

The church tower is an original, 17th Century structure, still standing at Historic Jamestowne (The rest of the building was rebuilt in 1907.).  Understandably, the tower is a location of interest, and the archaeology site inside has been left open to educate the public.  After my experience at Mount Vernon, I knew to look at the details in the brick.  It didn't take long to find some graffiti scratched into the bricks (It looks like it says 1886.).  A glance to the right also revealed a square nail protruding from the grout, which just begged me to touch it.​

The museum on the grounds has hundreds of artifacts that were located on the grounds.  The contents of the well and other locations are in the structure known as the Archaearium, which is an elevated building that sits above dig sites.  Inside, the visitor may look down through a glass floor at a dig.

The artifacts demonstrate life in the fort and in the colony.  That pretty green jug pictured above is much like the discarded beer can of today.  It is the weaponry, however, that reminds us that there was reason to keep an ear to the ground.  Swords, spears, muskets, cannon balls, and more give us an idea of the arsenal and training for soldiers at Jamestowne.  Those spiky items that look like a child's game of jacks were scattered in a field around the fort to slow down the enemy and cripple their horses.

The room that catches my attention the most must be the room with skeletal displays, but I'll save that discussion for another report.

One cannot mention Historic Jamestowne without including John Smith, the self-proclaimed hero of the settlement.  I have no doubt that Smith did some amazing things while governing at Jamestowne:  he managed to implement the famous, "He that will not worke, shall not eate" rule.  He also balanced politics and cultural differences between the working class, the gentry, and the Indians.

​When we studied the map during the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute, we found many details that would have eluded us with a more cursory look.  The reader might notice some of the details as well.

It might be difficult to do without having the map in hand, but you may notice the presence of John Smith - perhaps his attempt at conveying himself as the hero once again.  That's his coat of arms in the bottom corner and his encounter with the Powhatans at the top.  Clearly, he wants his readers to see the Indians as passive and friendly, desiring to bring more business to the land without fear of aggression.

There is a lot to notice in such a simple map, so I won't put it all in this article.  It would be a great addition to a teacher's instruction about Jamestowne.  I like the idea of giving students sections of the map in pieces before handing them the whole thing.  Conversations could last for an entire hour-long class period if a teacher was willing to devote that much time to it.

That's exactly how tall (104 feet) the memorial obelisk reaches into the sky.  The monolith itself was built over a hundred years ago, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Jamestowne landing.  It rises in a prominent position to welcome visitors to the site.

Jamestowne is a history that is but a blurb in elementary school textbooks, but its rich story, including the mistakes, miscalculations, and cultural idiosyncrasies is one worthy of sharing.  Here is the beginning of our nation in its primordial state - the sludge of its birth.  Here lies the need and desire of female companionship.  Here is the start of ugly and lasting legacy of radical, racial slavery.  Here are the building blocks for government.

There is little documentation to inform us about life in this working British colony.  Only in the last few decades has much of the tale unfolded, due to an enormous and ongoing commitment to archaeology, peeling back the layers of time, past modern usage, through antebellum levels, and far back into the 17th and 18th Centuries.  We now know many things that were hidden when I was a child.

Here, of course, is where John Smith and others governed, where James Read blacksmithed.  Here is is where Pocahontas married John Rolf.  Here is where whites clashed and lived alongside the Indians who hunted in the same area.  And here is the place where the people struggled just to stay alive during hard times, including "The Starving Time", resorting to cannibalism.

Through the years, there have been attempts to mark this area with commemorative signage and memorial markers, but the best testament to the place is the display of archaeological evidence.  The story is best told through the eyes of the scientists who have carefully catalogued millions of artifacts, including the skeletons of some of the citizens buried within and outside of the walls of a fort, the position of which was itself long assumed to be taken by the river when it was actually right under our feet the whole time.

Stories in Jamestowne will continue to come to light, and we will never understand all that took place, but our interests are piqued after spending just one morning on this property.  Curiosity will keep us coming back, whether in person, virtually, or in our memories to this historically fertile soil.

Even with a bunch of teachers and a couple of fishermen on the shore, this place was peaceful.  I didn't want to stand around talking shop, but rather wished to capture the moment for when I returned and wanted to share the experience with others.

Alas, soon it was time to climb back into the 21st Century...but not for long:  soon we would be on another nearby shoreline, pondering the first successful English colony in North America.

In the interest documenting the entire experience of our 2022 session of the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute, I wanted to record the SWAG (Stuff We All Get) participants received while in attendance.

It is to be expected that there will be a nametag, but on the back was included a week-long ticket that would gain entry to all of Williamsburg's demonstration venues during the day.  Without the ticket, a person must be resigned to stay on the street wondering what kinds of magic were being conducted inside the buildings.

The 18th Century gardens are lovely, and many of them are open, inviting the public to stroll through.  The gates are quaint and the flowers have to weather the nearly 100-degree heat of a humid Virginia summer.  I was especially interested in seeing pathways layered with seashells instead of gravel.  The shells hold up unexpectedly well and are not nearly as fragile as someone from the Midwest may expect.

I needn't be late for orientation with the rest of our teacher institute crew, so I waited for a bus back to the hotel, satisfied that my little venture would be dwarfed in the coming days by much richer and more informative moments.

In the interest of fully documenting the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute experience, I present to you the Woodlands Hotel and Suites, which sits directly adjacent to the Visitors Center.

This was a great facility, offering everything I needed for the week - a place to sleep and a place to eat breakfast. My roommate, SAM, was from Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he is currently the librarian for a school containing only the primary grades up to third.  We were a great match, getting along quite well, and easily communicating.

The room itself was inviting, with colonial-style wallpaper, tightly made beds, a desk, and a couple of chairs.  The photographs on the wall were of the historic area and kept me in the mood for exploring my American roots.

About the only complaint anyone had about the Woodlands Hotel itself was that second night when we were all awakened at 3:00 am with an alarm that told us to evacuate the building for an emergency situation.  Swiftly dawning more clothes and shoes, we rushed to the parking lot where flashing red lights strobed.

​This comes after the May Disney trip for the 50 Teachers Celebration began with the plane slamming into the runway and a cluster of oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling in the middle of the aircraft. I texted him with a picture of that, as well.  "Hit the runway a little hard in Orlando," I sent.  "Adventure!"  "Holy cow," he responded.  "Good thing you love adventures[.]"

As a matter of fact, I do.  These little features that pop up really add flavor.

An early morning flight means I had to wake up early in the morning for a car ride to Springfield.  The first flight would take me to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the first time.  After watching the sunrise out of the right window, I was soon dropped off at the front door of the airport.

I knew I had some time, so I looked around at some of the displays before proceeding through security.  There were some wonderful biplanes above my head and a red fire jeep that has been decommissioned.

I am always interested in what I am flying over, so seeing the Mississippi River (below left) was particularly interesting.  Having been on and around this river in at least four areas of the United States (in Missouri/Illinois, in Tennessee/Arkansas, and in Louisiana, I really do consider it to be lackluster.  It has been so manipulated by man in the two centuries that it's hard to imagine what it must have looked like to early explorers.  The second river below looks to be a little bit wilder and more natural than the Mississippi, so there might be more aesthetic appeal there.

Those last two photos (above) display the Appalachian Mountains, a true treasure of the United States.  It was interesting to fly over this extremely large parcel of land that, to the human eye, sports no evidence of humanity - no buildings, no automobiles, no pedestrian traffic visible from the air.  What a testimony as to the vastness and beauty of God's creation!

Once in Charlotte, I was able to find some of my fellow attendees for the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute. We were able to stick together when the gate was changed for our next flight, a short one destined for Richmond, Virginia.

Unfortunately, there was not enough room in the first airplane for my carry-on luggage, and the attendants made me check it to my final destination.  I don't have good luck with checked luggage, so I'm always apprehensive when I have to check it.  Sure enough, once at the luggage carousel in Richmond, mine was not on the belt.  A visit to the office finally revealed good news and bad news.  The bad news: my suitcase had been loaded onto a different flight.  The good news:  the other flight landed before mine, and the suitcase was being held ten feet away from where I stood.  One of the other participants was not as lucky and had to have her bag delivered to Williamsburg later that evening.  Thankfully, the shuttle driver (Steve) held the bus for us, along with about 17 other participants.

Let's Think:
​The writer, Luke, records words describing a married couple, dating the account with the words, "In the days of Herod."  The reader has never heard of this couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth:  they are new characters, and as such, they must be described.  Luke does so in a significant manner.  Not every figure in the biblical record can be described like these.  First, he lays out their family backgrounds.  Zechariah is a priest; his wife is a daughter of a line of priests.  Therefore, they are probably important to the religious atmosphere of their community.

Next, we must note that they are "righteous in the sight of God" and they walk "blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord" - both statements being something every Christian should desire on his tombstone and or in her eulogy.  The point is, they are good people.  They pay attention to the guidelines that God provides for His people.  They walk upright.

But in one way, perhaps they are shunned or at the very least pitied:  they have never been able to conceive and bear children.  Now, it would seem, they have grown too old for pregnancy to even be naturally possible - a shame since every indication implies that they would raise a child to also respect the laws and requirements of the Lord. Right away, the reader also pities Zechariah and Elizabeth, and we must wonder what the future holds for this aging couple.