The Sandra Seeley Column

It's hard to believe, but the fifth grade students I taught in 1969 at Waianae Elementary School are now around 56 years old. Soon to be Senior Citizens with children and grandchildren of their own. How is this possible? Thanks to mental instant replay, I can travel back in time and see myself as I once was, forever twenty-three years old. I'm living in a furnished teacher's cottage. Just a quick stroll across the playground, and I'm in my classroom, or vice versa. No rush hour traffic jams for me! My rent is $12.00 a month which includes water. Gas or electric for heat is not necessary. My three roommates are from California and life-long friendships are being formed. The campus of Waianae Elementary School occupies fifteen acres of land with 1,350 students from grades K-6 (six sections per grade). Every two grade levels share a two story building. It reminds me of a collection of motels. I'm on the upper level of the 4th/5th grade building. Every classroom doo...

I just finished reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne for the third time. The first time was around nine years ago. I decided to just play around with the Law of Attraction according to the basic premise of The Secret : I can attract something to myself through the power of my mind. Thoughts operate on different frequency levels and can be measured. Like a human transmission tower, my magnetic thoughts are sent out into the Universe attracting all like things on the same frequency, and then returned to me. Thoughts become things. The Law of Attraction is always working, whether I believe it or understand it or not. The Bible also tells us, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22) So the Three Step Plan in both books seems to be: Ask, Believe, Receive. I asked for a Lamborghini and 20/20 vision. I also asked for  a red horseshoe magnet as tangible evidence of the Law of Attraction. The red magnet idea came from a man, who a...

From the 1960's to my personal 60's (spanning 50 plus years), from Peter, Paul and Mary to Keith Urban, from protest marches to gratitude for just being able to walk, this wannabe musician is finally taking guitar lessons again. (I took lessons for about a year in my flower child days.) You can find me every Wednesday afternoon jamming (or trying to) at From the Top Music Shop in Monongahela, PA. Bill and Renee Teck, owners and instructors are top of the line musicians. My instructor, Bill, is patience personified. I don't know what he says to Renee about me when I leave, but he gives me praise, confidence and motivation. In other words, the ideal teacher. My Yamaha acoustic guitar has weathered the years well. It responds to classical, folk and rock commands equally, depending on the skill of the person playing. YouTube makes it possible to practice with any musician, living or dead. I recently practiced with Mick Jagger, The Beatles, Crosby, Stills & Nash a...

Pokai Bay Waianae, HI Landing at Honolulu International Airport after midnight in the summer of 1969 was a quiet experience. No lei greetings. No girls dancing the hula. No ukulele music. No principal's wife to meet me and drive me to my new home. Just a tired 22 year old 5th grade teacher who due to an air traffic controllers' strike had been stranded in San Francisco for 12 hours, thereby arriving on Oahu long after my arranged meeting time. The skies of United Airlines were rather unfriendly that day. Morning One opened with the promise of tropical sensory delights. The smell of the Pacific Ocean reached me on a primal level. It surrounded me as it surrounded the island, enveloping both of us in rhythmic hugs. The northeast Trade Winds lifted my hair with a lover's touch. The exotic flowers of plumeria, hibiscus, birds of paradise, orchids, bougainvillea and my personal favorite, anthuriums dazzled my eyes and spritzed my pulse points with their blended ...

After one and one half years of retirement from the Pittsburgh Public School District, I'm calling an end to my self-imposed (possibly district-imposed) vow of silence. There are some truths that need to be told. Perhaps administrators and law makers will take heed, and the children just may benefit. I wrote my article, " Future Champions " in 2007. What I didn't disclose to my readers was after that amazing breakthrough and connection with my students, I was forbidden, yes forbidden, to do anything like that ever again.Why? Because it was not part of the curriculum. Had I been allowed to continue motivating and challenging the students in my own way, I would not have had the discipline issues and low test scores that were so prevalent. I was told by Principal X that the coloring portion of the lesson was totally pointless. However, I knew in my heart that this would keep my students calm while meditating on the passage they had just heard. My thinking was valid...

 A Modern Day Fairy Tale Once upon a time, back in the day and in the hood, there were two principals, one male and one female. They wore their fancy clothes, lofty ideals and arrogance like a cloak of immunity. Meanwhile, the teachers of the realm toiled in the fields of despair, extended day after extended day. They wept with deep sorrow over their dangerous classroom conditions. They skipped lunch. And the principals profited from their labor. Out of the masses, arose a small group of old-timers who remembered a long ago time when children did not run the schools. They actually remained seated. They did not hurl expletives and desks with equal force. This little weary group of rebels longed for the time to come when they could speak freely without repercussions. They believed in Martin Luther King's Dream and had some visions of their own. Many years and tears later, their brightest moment came. It was decreed that they were RETIRED! Whether retirement was forced ...

After watching Dr. Robert H. Lustig's 1 hour 29 minute 36 second lecture titled: Sugar: The Bitter Truth , I learned 2 bitter truths. Truth Number 1: Dr. Lustig pronounces the "fruc" in fructose to rhyme with "truck". Therefore we are consuming copious amounts of fruck-tose. Truth Number 2: Stop eating it today! I knew fructose was bad for humans, but was mesmerized by Dr. Lustig's presentation, even the biochemistry segment. My brain was able to metabolize all of his information. (Unlike our bodies which metabolize fructose as fat. Fructose's fraternal twin brother is Ethanol. So if you want to know what happens to fructose in your body, just think about how your body reacts to several of your favorite alcoholic beverages with only minor differences. Only the liver can metabolize fructose, therefore it's a toxin. To quote the good doctor, "Fructose is ethanol without the buzz." I want to read every food label now before purchasing pack...