Washington, DC
Saturday, July 14th

Mixed emotions. This is really the only way to describe the day. This morning kids started leaving as early as 6:45am and the last one left around 6:30pm. The difficult thing for the students is that the process takes so long. Every couple of hours someone else left. If everyone just left at once then it would have just been one tramatic experience not a series of then. In the end it was time for everyone to go home. Although I enjoyed every minute of the program I was looking forward to having time to myself without a schedule or students to supervise. I was sad to see the kids go. They were a special bunch.

Each time that I finish a program like this one I always wonder whether if it will be my last time. This was my third year with the program and I have learned a great deal. I have a great deal of time before I have to decide anything one way or another but I need to figure out if I will beack next year. The nice thing is that they definitely want me back. Why not, I love DC in the summer and learn something new each year. I get to see friends that I normally do not see and on a regular basis. On the other hand what else is out there? Is there another program that I can do? Maybe I just need to spend a summer doing nothing. Other teachers do that, why shouldn’t I? Maybe travel. We shall see.

Here are some programs that I am interested in doing. I also may try to take a class, the H offers summer endowment money for study. Maybe I can find something like a program or class, either way a shorter time out of town or the country. If anyone is aware something like that let me know.

Seeds of Peace

Fulbright-Hays Program

Glimpses of China

Washington, DC
Friday, July 13th

For all of you paraskavedekatriaphobics this is a bad day, so I wish you all the best. It only seems fitting that today we took the students to see Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix. Why see a movie? The students who have been working particularly hard this past month needed to relax on their last full day of the program. I have too shamefully admit that this was my first theater watch of Potter film and really the first time I have watched one through in its entirety, lots of HBO starts and finishes. I really enjoyed it. The hard core Potter fanatics stated the movie was OK but like most of them it does the book no justice. There are limits because of the Rowling’s book mammoth size.

The rest of the day they will be packing and cleaning up their space. While this is going on the staff will conduct an exit interview with all the students in order to give the program a proper evaluation. It is always important to see what did and did not work so changes can be made were necessary. I wish more schools/programs did this in order to get a true view of how they were doing. Their were a few typical responses such as more free time and one ridiculous that stated that we should have cable TV and video games available. In the end the overwhelming responses were positive. One girl stated that she learned more in this month than she in her last three years of high school. She felt her high school robbed her. I’m not sure if that is because her high school is that bad or SPS is that good. It probably is an even measure of the both.

SPS 2007

In the evening we had our final dinner and graduation at the Cathedral College of Preachers which is located on another part of the Close of the National Cathedral. It hosts various religious programs and is quite beautiful. It was a fantastic dinner. The students and faculty gave thanks and toasts to each other. We then watch a slide show set to music done by the director. There were plenty of oohs and ahhs, a good deal of laughter, and a few tears shed. It was a very nice way to end the program.

Walking into the Cathedral College of Preachers
Walking up the steps near the National Cathedral

The final dinner

The students were given free time after the evening program. Most went to Thomas Sweets a great ice cream spot in Georgetown. The kids like it because it gives them a place to hang out. Al of them were home by curfew, midnight. It is a testimony to the kids at this program that the biggest discipline problem was a student playing too many online games at night and falling asleep in class. (We unhooked the router at midnight each night) Guess which kid that was. Judging from Friday evening’s goodnight session tomorrow is going to be a very emotional day for many of these kids.

Washington, DC
Thursday, July 12th

It was an early wake up call in order to be on time. Today was Capital Hill Day. Over the last three weeks the students have been calling and e-mailing their Representatives and Senators in Congress to schedule appointments for this day. The goal is get a meeting that amounts to more than a simple photo opportunity. They usually discuss an upcoming bill, an issue in their district/state, or to advocate for a cause of their own. You should see these seasoned, for at least four weeks, young people work their magic.

The whole group was meeting with Senator Evan Bayh (D) – IN around mid morning. Most of the student’s individual meetings were later in the day. Three of the students had meetings first thing in the morning. I took these three on the Metro down to the Hill. The kids got a kick out of being recognized by someone they had met earlier in the program when we were switching lines on the Metro. A young Dub, Niamh O’Keefe from Dublin, of the Washington in Ireland program, recognized the students. We ended commuting with her because she was also heading to the same place one of the kids for her internship, the Cannon Office building on the Hill. They thought being recognized was “cool”.

Capital Building on a sunny day

I went with the two Houston girls from YES Prep to their morning coffee with Kay Bailey Hutchinson R – TX. I’m not a big fan of hers but they did say coffee and I needed a fix. There were many other constitutes there so we figured it was a photo op cattle call. The girls were a bit disappointed but they were good sports and waited in line for their photo with the Senator. There sweet smiles belied their confidence though. After the photo one of the girls held the Senators hand after the hand shake with both of her hands and asked about the immigration bill that Hutchinson recently voted down. She stated in a quick as 30 second sound bit that she and her mom are citizens of the US but they both learned about how the US government works from her legal but on citizen father. Hutchinson was clearly not pleased with the question. She smiled and began to move on but the girl said again, politely but definitively, “What should tell I my father?” She had no response. This is what it’s all about. I was not proud, I was inspired.

The Yes Prep girls before the handshake.

After I got the students oriented to the different Senate and House Office buildings I headed over to the Rayburn Office Building on the House side of the Capital for some coffee and the Washington Post. The rest of the SPS students were coming around this time and I would hang out there for anyone who needed directions. As young can probably guess from the above story, the students did not any help from me.

I left around 1pm to meet Norm for lunch. We went to this little carry out taco place about a block from the Capital Building called Taqueria Nacionale (Review). It was awesome and cheap, by DC standards. We took the food and ate under some trees on the grounds of the Capital Building. It was a beautifully moderate day, even a bit chilly in the early morning, so the scene was quite relaxing. I took the metro back to school and took a nap. Yes I know that coffee and lunch do not seem nap worthy but remember the euchre from the previous night and it might make sense. Ok, I am lazy and wanted to nap. It was a good one also. I woke in a pool of drool and did not know where I was for what seemed like a five minutes.

View of National Mall from the Capital Building

After my nap it was time for my last game for the Ugly Mugs of the season over in Anacostia. We played quite uninspired softball. The Mugs managed to pull out an 8 to 7 victory over a very bad team. Oh well, the mini burgers and pizza rolls more the made up for the largesse on the softball diamond

Washington, DC
Wednesday, July 11th

The morning went slowly for me. The topic de jour was Hurricane Katrina. The day follows the basic SPS curriculum. Introduce the students to the topic, give them a crash course in the basics, process it in class, and then let speak to experts. First they met with Bob Muse, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Minority General Counsel, who spoke with them about the Katrina investigation in the Senate. They then heard from Todd Miner, who was contracted to coordinate relief efforts fro displaced persons in Arkansas in the months that followed the Hurricane. Todd is the program manager for SPS and St. Albans faculty member. When Todd was hired to do relief work he had just returned from a stint with the Peace Corps in Mali and FEMA put an all call for recent Peace Corps alums because they felt they would be uniquely qualified for that work.

All dressed up.., with some place to go.

The lads chatting up the Ambassador of Guatemala

I helped the faculty and staff get ready for the Ambassador’s Dinner that SPS was hosting later that evening. The ambassadors from Tanzania, Moldova, Guatemala, and Malaysia were guests for the evening. We worked on preparing the students to give toasts and proper protocol for each individual Ambassador. I prepared a four page brief on each country and a bio of each guest. When the guests finally arrived the students did a wonderful job of making conversation and having talking points in conversations. The meal consisted of asparagus, a seafood risotto, Chicken topped with crab meat, and some great cheesecake for dessert. I sat with some students and the Ambassador to Malaysia, Her Excellency Dr. Rajmah Hussain. She is a career diplomat. She had a great sense of humor. She was an advocate for her country while politely answering each question the students posed, even the one about the use of capital punishment as a penalty for drug trafficking.

His ExcellencyJose Guillermo Castillo Villacorta of Guatemala

My table with the Malaysian Ambassador

After we put the kids the bed, I can not believe I can actually use that phrase, we hung out on a quasi secret patio of the school that has a great view of the city. We played Euchre till pretty late but we were the only two teaching faculty that were there were done teaching so who cares.

Washington, DC
Tuesday, July 10th

Today I taught my last class of the summer. I still have dorm responsibilities but the classroom duties are over. I will miss that part. The best part of teaching is the sharp kids, they do all the reading and they actually discuss with each other what going on. The word engaged is a definitive understatement. The other part of the way we teach the case study that I truly enjoy is NO GRADING!!! I do not know anyone in education who really likes that aspect of teaching. I could truly make a case that the giving grades is a true impediment to education. That’s a rant for another day.

The case study that I taught today was Hurricane Katrina: Responding to an “Ultra-Catastrophe” in New Orleans. In essence of the case goes into the lead up to Katrina heading to New Orleans the preparation, or lack there of, for the hurricane, and how various NGO’s, city, state, federal agencies worked together to respond to the crisis and its aftermath. It is an excellent case to shed light on the failures and successes of inter and intra agency cooperation in the face of a national disaster. I think anyone who followed the events can guess the overall grade for interagency cooperation. Contrary to popular belief there were some examples of great work. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Coast Guard’s search and rescue operations evacuated over 60,000 people who were stranded in and around the city. I loved teaching the case.

The United States Naval Academy

The students headed to back to Annapolis to visit the United States Naval Academy. After a tour they met with Dr. Stephen Wrage, who teaches military ethics at the Academy. He discussed the Captain Rockwood case in Haiti. He is quite good and he was brought in to teach at the academy specifically to deal with ethics issues. His class is now a required course there. The students had favorable things to say about his presentation.

Here are some photos from Busboys and Poets

I did not go with the students. I took care of housekeeping duties and then went to a bookstore in the Shaw district of DC called Busboys and Poets, 14th NW and U Street. I came here on the recommendation of Bill and really enjoyed the place. Where the other bookstore, Politics and Prose, centered on Politics and Public Policy, the focus of Busboys and Poet’s collection specializes in the poetry and specifically the African-American story. One of the performance rooms is named for Langston Hughes. It is more coffee house than bookstore. Either the way the place has a great feel. It acts as an anchor in a neighborhood that is historically a cultural lighthouse for blacks in the US. Howard University, a historically black college is right around the corner. The neighborhood is one of the most rapidly changing, for the better, but it is coming at price. Gentrification is a major problem. Many of the longtime Shaw residents are being forced out as the property taxes rise astronomically. This place helps preserve the culture and improves the neighborhood at the same time. If you ever in DC it is a must visit.

More Photos of the Coffee House

The Langston Room of Busboys and Poets

Washington, DC
Monday, July 9th

Today we were busy from tap to buzzer. In the morning the case study was, The Accidental Statesman: General Petraeus and the City of Mosul, Iraq. Eve though I was not teaching this one I sat in on the classes. The case centers on 101st Cavalry led by Gen. Petraeus in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. At 58 pages it is the longest case study but I think it is by far the most interesting. The case centers on how the mission of the 101st Cav changes very quickly from that of fighting to that of state building.

Petraeus and his troops have to rebuild and in most cases, build from scratch, the infrastructure in Mosul. He had to balance the ethnic and religious tension in the area. That is quite difficult considering there are ethnic Kurds (two factions), Sunnis, and Arab Shiites. The case details the painstaking manner that Patraeus and his staff design and enact structures that enable the different groups mentioned above by into the rebuilding of Iraq. Patraeus’ people are quite impressive at doing tasks that they were NEVER trained to do. The incident that sticks out in my mind is in the inventing of an election process they were translating 7th grade civic textbooks into Arabic to try some sort of democracy education. In order to have balance among groups competing for power in the new Iraq Patraeus named the process (s) election instead of a pure election. Things ran quite smoothly until the de-baathification under Paul Bremer’s directives. I could go on for a long time; it’s a long case study. Gen. Patraeus is now the Commander of the Multi-National Force (MFN-1). Check out his biography and this article in Newsweek about him and is plans. I think that the plans in Iraq were lost early but the only thread of chance has is this guy. I just hope that the administration lets him cal the plays. When they, Rumsfeld and others, got in he and his troop’s way in Mosul things fell apart pretty quickly.

General Patraeus

The next speaker was David Aufhauser, who currently is the General Counsel for Global and American Affairs at UBS but was the general counsel for the Department of the Treasury. His topic was on fighting the financing of terror. He spoke at length about the role finance plays in terrorism. The talk was extremely informative. He and the students willingly short changed their lunch time for extra Q and A. On a side note the book Aufhauser told them all they must read to begin to understand the situation in the Middle East is a book I use a great deal in my world history class, Islam, A Short History by Karen Armstrong. That makes me feel good about my research and materials for my class. I have also included a link from testimony that Aufhauser gave at a Capital Hill Middle East Policy Council.

The students heard from Stuart Holliday, Ambassador and Alternate United States Representative in the United Nations for Special Political Affairs. In plain English, he is like the US Ambassador to the United Nations. I did not hear the talk. I took off some time to get some coffee and do some reading, which morphed into a long power nap. The rest of the day was relatively uneventful.

In the evening the students heard from Rob Knauer, an Albans alum, and Marine Corp Infantry Captain who served three tours in various parts of Iraq. The students loved his talk and they were obviously quite informed after the previous two days curriculum. Capt. Knauer was a last minute addition; it is amazing how many speakers we get. I learned more about Iraq and terrorism in the last three weeks than I did the last three years, and I read a lot to try and keep up.

Marine Capt. Rob Knauer

Washington, DC
Sunday, July 8th

Today was freaking hot. So rather than drag the kids to the scheduled Arlington Cemetery and the Zoo in 95 + weather, we decided on a free day. Most went to Georgetown, some went to the National Archives, I love my fellow geeks, and some went to Pentagon City Mall. The faculty kind of scattered also.

I being the mature adult that I am went to see the new Transformers movie with Bill. The movie was awesome. Great special effects and the female characters were easy on the eyes. This irony is that I saw the original cartoon version of Transformers with Bill. There were four of us who saw it. We went with Phil and Dooz. In a way we felt like we were cheating on them. Our fascination with the movie stemmed with our child like love of being idiots. In addition, Dooz, Phil, and I took German together at Prep for three years and we convinced our Teacher, Herr Deaschner, to describe the conjugation of verbs in terms that relate only to Transformers lexicon. If you are wondering, yes we had dates and did hang out with girls.

One more Transformer related oddity. The theme song from the original cartoon version was classic 80’s cheese. The song was called, “The Touch”. Here is a YouTube clip of the song and a video of the cartoon. So what you ask. Well let me drop this bomb. The song did achieve its true fame until it appeared in the movie Boogie Nights, yes the Dirk Diggler’s story. The song is used when Reed and Dirk went to a studio, run by Michael Penn, to add musician to their porn resumes. Here is the clip from the movie. I think the whole thing is hilarious. Maybe everyone else already knew this. It was news to me.

Phil and Dooz we missed you guys. Long live immaturity in the face of overwhelming adulthood.

Later when all the students got back to campus we had them watch the documentary film, Gunner Palace. The movie follows an Army infantry group as they engage in patrols in Adhamiya, Iraq while they live in the bombed out palace of Saddam’s son Uday. It was quite informative. The movie was to give support to the speakers and case study that they will be studying on Monday. If you want a frank view of the Iraq War in 2003 without political rants, the director lets the soldiers talk, I recommend this movie. Just warning, lots of F-Bombs. War is H%#$!