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2013

PUBLISHED BY JONATHAN EWELL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VOC. ED PROGRAM

Hope Tech

Gazette

Note from the Editor: This will be our third issue, the second in October, and we are still sticking with the theme of spooky. Halloween is right around the corner. What is your favorite thing about Halloween? I love the costumes and parties; you get to see everyones creativity with their costumes. Happy Halloween everybody!

Getting to Know Our Principle

Featured Author: Jonathan Ewell I was able to sit down with our principle, John Taliaferro, and got a window into his life and why he became an educator. Jonathan Ewell: How long have you been an educator? John Taliaferro: I, wow I started in education in 1976 which means Ive been in education, 24 plus 13, years is 37 years. Now, 4 or 5 of those I actually wasnt around a school, I was doing work with HOPE, but I have been around since that time. JE: Were you always a principle? JT: No, I spent time in the classroom, a lot of time in the classrooms, almost 20 years. I taught kids from 2nd Grade through Middle School. When I was in Elementary School I taught everything and when I was in Middle School I taught Science. JE: What motivated you to be an educator? JT: When I was in school I hated it. I didnt like classes and I didnt like to be at school. Growing up I guess I just wanted to, you know I didnt like the way it went, I didnt like the way school went. So, as I got older there were several jobs I thought about, I thought about being in the medical profession, I thought about being a doctor. I thought about being a teacher and my mom, who was a big influence on me, was a teacher and I always enjoyed helping kids, I always enjoyed being around kids, and so I made up my mind as I entered my twenties that it would be better if I was a teacher rather than a doctor because I liked what teachers did. I love what doctors do because both of them help people. So I went and got my education and started teaching. The thing I noticed was there were a lot of kids that hated school, and so my goal in life became how am I going to run a classroom, how am I going to run a school program, that kids will enjoy and kids will learn in and so that was very easy to see myself going into. I was trained as a High School Science teacher and the first class I taught was a Second Grade class. So I was just as scared and I didnt know anything, just like they didnt, so we kind of learned together. Continued on page 2

Comic Strip
A regular helping of the funnies

JE: Thats great. It leads a bit into the next question, who have been the biggest influences in your life? JT: You want names? JE: Yes. JT: Ok, the first big influence as a teacher was my mom because she was always dedicated to helping people learn. She always thought about how to understand the world around them. The next big influence was a woman who gave me my first job, her name was Marge Thompson. She was a friend of my moms, she was a principle and she believed that schools should be for learning, for students and, even back in the 70s, she believed kids should have some choice in how and what they learned and she also believe that learning was active, you learn by doing not by listening. Those two had a huge impact on me in my first years of teaching. I also taught in a gifted center, thats for kids who have an extraordinary ability to learn cognitively, and one of my teammates, Gene Gimgoshin, loved kids and believed kids should learn deeply and learn a lot of stuff, it should be their passion. She was the one who helped me learn that kids have a desire to work with and learn new things and learn it deeply and thoroughly. The last, was something I just picked up, I dont know if I could put it to one person, I was taught kids learn together. I started to teach in 1976, that was the year the Individuals with Disabilities Act came out and so we were teaching all kids in the same classes. Then they would go out to recess, that

had not been done before. I was raised in education that everyone should always belong. The first kid, the first child that was included in my class was a sixth grader who was 510, 511, 180 lbs I was teaching 5th grade but because he had struggles learning[he was placed in my class] and he was a big kid. Because he had struggles learning I wound up with a 5th/6th combination but the 6th grader was 511, 180 lbs. he was as big as I was. That was interesting, but I believe everyone should be in a classroom. That was a long answer, huh? JE: It was great. What is the most important thing you want to pass on to your students? JT: To love to learn and learning is very important. JE: Good and simple, I like it. Where has been your favorite place to visit, in the world? JT: Visit? My family. I have never taken a vacation to go on vacation. We always travel to go see family. JE: Is there any place in the world you would love to visit? JT: I dont know, maybe China, because Helens, [my daughter-in-law], family comes from China. I would like to see where she is from. I would also like to go to Central America. Three most important languages in the world: English, Spanish and Chinese. JE: Great, thank you for your time. JT: Oh, you are welcome. Thank you for asking me.

JORDANS POETRY
CORNER

Halloween Acrostic

Happy hats hairy Apple acting acrobat Lucky lost lion Loose lift loggers Octagon ogre on Wicked witch west Eerie eager evil Endanger eater excellent

Nice nickel nasty

Famous Quotes I'd rather give my life than be afraid to give it. LYNDON B. JOHNSON

A Joke to Put a Smile on Your Face Q: What's black and white, black and white, black and white? A: A penguin rolling down a hill!

Word of the Day: Halloween

The night of October 31 when children dress up as ghosts, witches, monsters, etc., and go to houses to ask for candy

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2525 E. Bayshore Road Paolo Alto, CA 94303