WIOA
Have you noticed that WIOA is a four-letter word?
Not that I’m judging, mind you
Or comparing WIOA to other four letter words
I don’t like those other four letter words
Did you know my Mom used to wash my mouth out with soap when I said four letter words?
She did.
It was very unpleasant
Soap is not meant to be eaten or tasted or put in ones mouth
Trust me on this.
It cured me of cursing though
Every time I’m tempted to swear, I think of Ivory soap
And I do not use Ivory soap to this very day.
So pure it floats.
W is an interesting letter
It reminds me of learning to write cursive as a child
All those loops and swirls
I think my second grade teacher, Ms. Jones, thought a lot about retirement when she saw me
trying to write cursive
I didn’t realize it at the time but Ms. Jones was a brave woman
She was the only African American teacher in a lily-white school district
That took some guts on Ms. Jones part
She had a really cool Afro.
I wonder how my hair would look with an Afro
Or painted bright red.
Ms. Jones was an amazing teacher
She helped me believe in myself
I don’t think they teach cursive much in school these days.
It’s becoming a lost art
Speaking of lost, I wonder whatever happened to MsJones?
I would love to talk with her again and hug her neck.
And tell her what I brave lady she is.
Her first name was Adrian – maybe I can find her on Facebook
When I think about the last three letters in WIOA, IOA – it makes me think of the state of Iowa
We drove through IOWA one time on our way to Idaho
Iowa is very flat.
Corn grows well there – it must like the humidity
I wonder how many ears of corn are planted each year in Iowa?
Probably billions.
It seems we only hear about Iowa once every four years during Presidential elections
Why is Iowa so important in choosing the President?
As corn goes, so goes the nation? Hmmmm
When looking at the candidates running for office this year,
I believe I would rather vote for an ear of corn.
And I love corny jokes.
Did you know there is a university in Minnesota that has corn as a mascot?
It’s true
Concordia University in Minnesota
It was founded by Norwegian settlers
Those pioneer settlers were tough people
Amazingly tough.
We complain when our cable goes out.
They battled blizzards, tornadoes, dust storms
Plagues of locusts, floods, droughts, blazing heat, bitter cold.
We complain that our wireless is slow
They were made of sterner stuff, those Norwegian immigrants
They helped make America what it is today
Why did they go to Minnesota, I wonder, when the rest of the US was available?
Norwegian makes me think of my favorite college professor, Dr. Litcher
He always called me Schmidtnik
Even though I stunk up the classroom as a student teacher, he was so encouraging
Dr. Litcher was from Minnesota
He loved to tell Norwegian jokes about Sven and Ollie
Dr. Litcher was an amazing man and one of the big reasons I became a teacher
He encouraged technology in the classroom.
Of course technology in that day was an overhead projector.
Overhead projectors were big time, except when the bulbs went out
Anyway Concordia University mascot is Kernel Cobb
He looks like an angry ear of corn.
What does corn have to be angry about?
Well, if somebody was going to roast me and slather me with butter and salt, I guess I would not be
too happy either
Anyway Kernel and Ms. Cobb had a little baby
His name is Niblet.
Or is it a her? I’m not sure.
WIOA
We owe a
That reminds me of debt
I hate debt – debt is slavery
One of my dreams is to be out of debt
It will be nice to wake up knowing we owe nothing to anyone
Someone could come up to me and say, UOIA
I could say, no I don’t owe anything!
And I owe it all to WIOA.
Steve Schmidt Institute 2016