A LETTER TO A PRINCIPAL FROM A "BAD" TEACHER

Dear Principal Weiner,

I just had to tell you thanks for making my years in Anywhere Middle School so enjoyable and in many ways so surprising. I really thought that in that first year that you were named principal (after 1/2 year of teaching) that you were really going to be tough, and that scared me. When you introduced all those programs that the district loved, I was worried! But happily, as it turns out, you had no intention of actually doing anything but looking good to the school board and the administration. I didn't do one of them, and after about 6 months no one else did either. I didn't do "Charms", or "Bold" or "Loveable" and never really understood what they all meant.


I didn't care. I simply went on doing what I usually did. was absent every Friday and sometimes Monday (but gratefully, you were too...getting your faux doctorate, and taking trips paid for by the district to NYC to recruit teachers, when our district was letting teachers go) I showed many movies...some were R-rated and worse, but it didn't matter because all the other teachers gave me the worst kids, whose parents wouldn't care. I was supposed to teach math I think, and somewhere in the room, there were some old math books, but I wasn't ever sure where they were. I gave some homework out of an old English book that I found. No one ever did it, and I wouldn't have known what to do with it anyway. When grades were due, I flipped coins and gave A's to almost everyone, and yeah, I occasionally had a little sip of something too.

But that's not the point Dr. Weiner (that Dr. seems to be important in this district). The point is that I had a great 20 years with you...although I'm not clear what you look like, as I almost never saw you on campus, and you never came in my room. I was stunned about you not coming in my room after almost every teacher in the school begged you to, and once in a while even some parent who's kid got in my class by mistake, begged you to get rid of me.

Once in a February all the teachers even signed a petition to fire me. And then again every year for the next 10-15 years petitions were signed, Superintendents were written to, (but as we all know, superintendents come and go and they never seem to leave notes about anything in the past), and once you even sent me an email....I didn't read it. But nothing ever happened. You successfully avoided even coming down my hall, let alone to my classroom. Did you know where it was?

I just kept right on doing what I was doing and really not caring and frankly after the first year with you, I knew that I had nothing to fear, because you were as lazy as I was, but you were just better at looking good.

So Dr. Wiener thank you so much for those excellent years of avoidance and denial by you. I've got to say that I WAS SURPRISED to hear you interviewed for the LA Times complaining about how hard it was to get rid of BAD teachers, but you were always good at lying.

THE OBAMA INFLUENCE?

Could it be that we are changing...that the world is changing, just in the past three months? Without being too narcissistic, I notice that I no longer want to watch "The Family Guy" or "Two and a Half Men" (not that I ever did, really), am not glued to the news, or read my snarky political emails. Although I gave up Hannity, Limbaugh, and the rest of that group a long time ago, (even as black comedy), I now find that I'm having a hard time watching Olberman, Mathews, and listening to Air America.

It came to me the 10th time that I watched Susan Boyle sing, and teared up for the 10th time, it occured to me that the world might be sitting around waiting for kindness and hope to "come in on little cat feet".

Perhaps it has snuck in a little. It's not Obama really; it's the thought of Obama...what he says, what he stands for....the obligation that we have to help, to think of, to not hide from the rest of the world. Is it that he has pointed the way for us to follow, and we are "taking baby steps" in that direction?

Everyone is wondering why we all responded to Susan Boyle in that wonderful moment. The underdog syndrome, the surprise element and all those theories are no doubt true, but maybe, just maybe, we are growing up and putting away childish things. Maybe....

And maybe American Idol and Britains Got Talent could be the new fore-runners of this new attitude by forgetting about making fun of people and actually let talent speak for itself...even if it comes in the form of a plain woman with funny eybrows, unbelievable posture and a twinkle in her eye....

Newport Beach teen dies of cancer in Maui

Lucas Campanaro, left, opens a care package for his trip to Hawaii in 2006.

Brother describes him as having so much love to give and having a strong will to live in the time he was allotted.

By Joseph Serna
Updated: Monday, March 30, 2009

Lucas Campanaro, his loved ones say, lived by the credo, “When push comes to shove, One Love.”The motto alluded to Bob Marley’s song, which calls for strength and companionship in the face of adversity and despair.Reggae was a source of strength for Campanaro as he faced hard times, his brother JJ said, and, in turn, miraculously Luke was a pillar for his family to lean on before he died on his 18th birthday.“There was never, ‘I can’t.’ It was always ‘I can,’ with him,” JJ said of his brother. “He was radiating this type of casual ... it was so beautiful to watch him be so strong in the face of the heavy storm. He had so much love to give everyone and he gave it every day.”

On March 24, he succumbed to rhabdomyosarcoma, cancer of the connective tissues. Up until the end, JJ said, his younger brother had enough strength for everyone, and he died with his family by his side in Maui, as they held his hand and listened to his favorite music.“He had it all planned out. He died on his 18th birthday and there was no holding him back from anything,” JJ said.“He did it his way this time. He achieved it with flying colors ... he’s not restricted anymore because of this disease. Now he’s as mobile as he wants to be and we’re happy for that.”

Luke’s story first gained local attention a few years ago when the surf-loving Newport Harbor High School student was diagnosed with cancer. The school rallied around him, just a freshman at the time for a month on campus when his family got the prognosis. Relatives said his spirit was unyielding, and when it would be understandable for him to seek pity and feel sorry for himself, he didn’t.“He had such a strong will to live in just the time he was allotted,” JJ said. “We were able to say our goodbyes. He had strength all the way up until he took his last breath.”

Newport Harbor’s Make-a-Wish club was able to fund a trip for Luke and his family to Hawaii in 2006, a time when he was able to paddle out into the surf while the disease was in remission.The disease’s ebbs were only temporary, though, and after frequent chemotherapy and offers from hospitals across the nation to try various new, radical treatments on him, Luke decided he would take control of his life, his disease and enjoy as much time with his family in Maui as possible.

Luke’s family will honor him Sunday at A Street near the Balboa Pier beginning at 3:30 p.m.A paddle-out ceremony will begin at 4 p.m.

The family is inviting anyone who cared for Luke or who was touched by his life to the ceremony, and to his favorite restaurant, Newport Rib Co., 2196 Harbor Blvd., at 6 p.m.

He is survived by his mother, Jennifer, and his brothers, Cole and JJ.