REI and Summer Reading

After Xavier broke the second pair of sunglasses in the last month... I headed to REI to see if they had something made out of titanium, with spring hinges and indestructable lenses. Alas, no luck with the entire list of requirements, but we did run into one of the teachers from my older son's school.

This couldn't have happened at a more perfect time, as we had an argument earlier in the day about how much reading Ethan hasn't done over the summer. Well... the dear Mr. Rubin was kind enough to take time out from his REI sales duties to explain to Ethan that yes, indeed, he did still need to read over the summer, and that's how he would get a head start with third grade in the fall compared to some of the other kids that will be in his class. Now, after having that argument earlier in the day, Ethan wasn't necessarily the MOST receptive to the conversation, but because Mr. Rubin is a "tech guy" and Ethan is really into computers and science, he has now been reading for the last two days and has already finished a book. YEAHHHH! I feel as though I should swing by REI and thank him. :) Sadly, he won't be continuing at Ethan's school in the fall, and will be changing to a new elementary schoool. Ethan was really hoping to get him at some point... whereas, I was hoping that we could keep his second grade teacher, Mrs. Hutteball, FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER (although she's probably glad to be rid of him... :))

While I was so excited to get this little bit of help from him, it made me kind of sad to realize that our teachers are working two and three jobs to make ends meet, and how underappreciated they really are... it is awful that some of these CEOs make millions and millions of dollars, and while yes, I'm sure at one point they worked very hard to get where they are, now their time is spent on islands and vacations, while the people that are responsible (unless they have private tutors, because even at a lot of private schools teachers are vastly underpaid) for educating their children are struggling to make ends meet. The teachers that are working with the most challenged children, whether it be financially or academically are shoved by the wayside, and who knows... perhaps one of those kids winds up being the next president... all because a teacher who was moonlighting at REI or a coffee shop told them that yes, they need to read over the summer.