I’ve always tried to live my life in a way that minimizes contact with authorities. However, managing stores for Woolworths inevitably brought me into contact with local police. In the mid-’80s, there was a bit of a crime problem in the neighborhood where I worked, specifically at the Montview store in Aurora.…
People often reminisce about their first job, and the memories associated with it vary widely. Some cherish the experience, while others resent the time spent in that role. Many, however, find themselves in the middle, holding both positive and n
egative memories.
Working for a decade at the Woolworth Corporation gave rise to a plethora of captivating anecdotes. Amid numerous opportunities to bolster the company and foster customer loyalty, none proved as potent as the art of price-matching. However, amidst these tactics, there were occasional encounters with customers who harbored unfeasible expectations.…
This is the completion of my official retirement blog. I did exactly what I said I would do. I have a story for every student contact day. I will be branching out a little bit because I still have many stories to share.…
The Beach Boys’ song Graduation Day is fitting for the last week of the school year.
Another good song: Graduation by Vitamin C
My wish for the kids by Lee Ann Womack
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If you know my daughter, please don’t tell her I wrote this story about her in high school. All children lie to their parents a little. No matter how virtuous they are there is a fib here and there. My child is no different.…
We are in our last week of instruction. This is a time I reflect on what went well and what needs changing for next year. This year I don’t have to plan for next year so I will take time to reflect on thirty years.…
These 2 songs were important during my years of high school. We always looked to be free and so we sang Freebird a lot. The other one for this week is the song played by every high school student sing its release in 1972.…
The is nothing more sacred to a teacher than the opportunity to use the restroom. We hold it dear and do not want anything disturbing our routines. When I got to Rangeview I was in my early 40s and was one of the younger people in our area.…
When I look at my last year of high school for the second time, I get nostalgic about my life. I tend to remember the things from my first trip through high school. It was not the joyous romp that is often portrayed.…
Bantering with students is a way that teachers make connections with students. I think I have used many catchphrases over the years and some take on a life of their own. It culminated years ago in one of my students creating a poster of things I was not allowed to say anymore.…
The escapades with my hair continue. A few years after the leg waxing incident, I decided to do another homecoming hair challenge. I knew that the legs were off-limits this time and so I went with shaving my head bald. The good news is that after every time I have done this, it has grown back.…
One of the fun activities in high school is the annual homecoming. As a teacher, I felt it was my responsibility to participate and show the students the value of school spirit. I mentioned the dress-up days previously but I want to highlight getting deeply into the spirit.…
This story is reported from my perspective and memory. I know people have had other experiences so I am speaking just for myself. There are students that have a huge impact on their teachers but not many transcend as much as our theatre spirit.…
I want to take some time and do some stories from my years in theatre and performing arts. I mentioned very early in this blog that I got into the Theatre Department because the principal in my interview talked about the activities I did in high school.…
Working with umpires is a delicate balance between diplomacy and losing your mind. I need to say that the overwhelming majority of the umpires we have had were outstanding and did their job well. There were times that I didn’t agree with them but that is to be expected in a game.…
This will be my last post about the German Exchange for a while. This one I am writing this one now instead of using a previously published story.
Relationships are the most cherished memories from the exchange. The friends I have made make me long for a return visit.…
Of the trips I have taken, this was the hardest day. We went to the Struthof Concentration camp. Prisoners here worked at a quarry about a kilometer away. The post was short but the pictures were more powerful. I have added a link to the website for further information.…
I love to walk and enjoy nature and sites. I was to learn that a walk in Germany means something completely different. Here is a post I did in 2009:
June 22, 2009, By: Randy Mills I was informed this morning of what is considered a short German walk.…
This is a post from the 2009 trip. It was a day in Strasbourg France. It hit all the right spots: food, international politics, and my fear of heights!
June 17, 2009 By: Randy Mills
Monday, June 15th found us in Strasbourg, France.…
We are getting to the end of the quarter and like the students, I am going to recycle some stuff. This is a post from our first German exchange talking about the school.
Our next big adventure was to attend school with the students.…
As an American teacher, I am used to having an office for my job. I loved my desk in the business office and it was a place to relax and not be stressed for a short time. It was very important until it was taken from us a couple of years ago.…
The relationships you develop over the course of an exchange are lasting. Dawn and I have developed a relationship with our German counterparts over fifteen years. It is a bond that goes beyond just partners for academic activity. We have spent a great deal of time with many teachers over the years but we have a family that we are especially close to and have contact with until this day.…
I am going to start doing some stories from our part of exchanges at Rangeview. Bud Blauer & Patrice Dovas-Hudson had very strong programs. Bud had a school in Kazakhstan to support the Russian language program. I loved having the students in my classroom every year and as a result, I received one of the most prized souvenirs of my teaching career.…
During the Presidential Inaugural in 2009, there were millions of people on the National Mall and the surrounding areas. At this same time, our DECA chapter was starting some new businesses as a part of the class. They had all kinds of clothing, scarves, and jackets.…
With the crowds at the 2009 Presidential Inaugural, It was important to plan, scout, and choose wisely. I don’t want to hear any argument about crowd sizes but I know I was in a big crowd. Me and 2 million of my closest friends.…
BRING TOILET PAPER AND HAND WARMERS. It is not often that you see a headline like this. In 2009 we had a group of students attending the Presidential Inauguration in Washington DC. The trip had been planned for many months without regard to who the winner would be.…
Today is my birthday post. With that in mind, let’s talk trash. One of the joys of teaching is seeing the artistic skills of some students. I casually was speaking of how the big new trash cans we got were bland.…
The sights and sounds of a high school are sometimes the most amazing sounds you can hear. I live in the community where Rangeview is located. From my bathroom window, I can see the school. One of my most vivid memories during the summers was the Marching Band.…
342 is an important number to Rangeview and almost everyone who passes by the sign has no idea what it means. The number changed how the building and external amenities were placed on our site. Rangeview has one of the smallest land footprints in the state for a 5A high school.…
Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. holiday so I have a short week. One of the great mysteries at Rangeview is
the white dots on the walls on the first floor. Most people go through their entire 4 years as a student and don’t know they are even there.…
Being a class sponsor for the freshmen and seniors over the years was a blessing and a curse. I loved working with the kids and doing big projects and making the school better for everyone. One experience was to be at all of the dances over the years.…
I am going to recycle a post I did several years ago. It is a post about tragedy but also about why I teach and accept the good and the bad.
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We were given the question at an in-service about the day that we wanted to quit teaching.
The story for today isn’t about my time at Rangeview. It is about my time at Vivian Elementary in Lakewood growing up. As we pass into the year 2023 I am reminded of how far away the year 2000 is. It is as far from my high school graduation as the year 2000 and I remember thinking about how far off that was.…
Last day before break. This is a bittersweet day. I am tired and need the break but I know that after three days I will be chomping at the bit. Vacations are a time to evaluate and prepare. The one lesson I have learned in thirty years is that no matter the planning, there will be things that change it and shuffle things.…
This is a thank you and one a secret about our building. In Aurora, we have been lucky with the community passing bonds for school improvements. In my tenure in APS we have passed them all. I will later tell some stories about being on the committees that passed these bonds.…
Being a computer teacher has its advantages. I often will get things before anyone else and get to try them out for others. Earlier in the blog, I spoke about the introduction of laptops to our itinerant staff and how we were unprepared for them as a district.…
Today is the 81st anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing to force the US into the Second World War. With that in mind, I will do my favorite veteran. This person is not a staff member at Rangeview but was as important a part of my work as most of my faculty colleagues.…
If I am going to be honest, there is one person that I have spent many hours with that has been a big influence. Tammy Strouse has been a steady force at Rangeview for the entire time I have been there.…
Every now and then you run across a storyteller with exceptional skills. Rob Schurich was one of these in the Business Department when I got to Rangeview. His favorite courses were his law classes and a class he did for Intersession.…
We have just completed the Thanksgiving weekend and I will take this time between this and the winter break to be thankful for colleagues. I am a strong advocate of focusing on the students but colleagues build your environment and create or destroy a happy workplace.…
Yesterday I told a story of inspiration from a student at Rangeview. Today I will tell the story of one of my students. We had a wheelchair-bound student with a deteriorating muscular disease. He was interested in art and graphic design.…
Our employee number is used for an immense amount of record keeping. The most telling is when we use it during employee meetings for staff development. When I give mine I am usually met with: “No honey, the 5 or 6 digit number you use for payroll.”…
A teacher has a lot of choice in their environment. I did cause a little problem my first couple of years when I moved my room. The class was all in rows with the computer facing the front of the room.…
Intersession! This was one of the greatest ideas we ever had at Rangeview. Our principal felt that we needed something to spice things up a bit. It was also at a time when the first semester ended in January. It was a strange three weeks.…
One of the joys of working at Rangeview was the Business Department team. Cindy, Rob, Tom, and Ingrid were a joy to work with. We had fun and still were leaders in the building. None of us took ourselves too seriously and enjoyed the relationships with the students.…
I have been near-sighted for as long as I can remember. It was discovered in junior high school by a wonderful English teacher. John Glover discovered that when I sit in the back I just goofed off and was a class clown.…
Starting at Rangeview was a new start and a new challenge. I was working with a new staff and learning new systems. The first thing I discovered was that a staff of almost 150 is very different from an elementary school.…
