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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
quilting message board “Sew What’s New,” which was
retired in August 2007. It is being provided by
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From: lendube
Date: 03-01-2007, 10:01 PM (1 of 20)
Read and saw about the tornado. I can't imagine what that's like.  Is it anywhere near you? How's your weather? Are you having any tornadoes? Hope you're alright.  Lennie 
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User: lendube
Member since: 08-06-2006 Total posts: 1548 |
From: Bama
Date: 03-02-2007, 07:38 AM (2 of 20)
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Enterprise is in south AL. I live in the north central part of the state. We had thunderstorms and were under a tornado warning for several hours, but none touched down near where I live. School was dismissed early in most counties around here. The last I heard on the news, there were 5 killed in Enterprise high school when it was hit by a tornado. They said one was a teacher. I don't understand why they were not dismissed early too. All morning long on the radio we were hearing of early school closing across the state. We had been hearing how bad the weather would be for a couple of days. It's so sad. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116 
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From: DorothyL
Date: 03-02-2007, 08:05 AM (3 of 20)
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Bama -- On NPR they reported that school officials were worried a tornado would hit while people were going and coming from the school if they dismissed early so they decided to shelter in place. It is a heart breaker. I thought of you as soon as I heard. Glad you got on here early to let us know you and yours are alright. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: PaulineG
Date: 03-02-2007, 08:53 AM (4 of 20)
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Glad you got on here early to let us know you and yours are alright. Dorothy I second that. Thanks Bama. A feeling that will echo through the boards I'm sure. What is it with women and borrowing trouble anyway? Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: Addicted2Sewing
Date: 03-02-2007, 08:59 AM (5 of 20)
| I'm glad to know you are ok Bama. I have been through tornadoes and it's such a tragedy. My heart goes out to those that were lost and their families. |
User: Addicted2Sewing
Member since: 02-01-2007 Total posts: 133 
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From: pretnichols
Date: 03-02-2007, 09:41 AM (6 of 20)
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Glad to know that you & your family are safe. How heart-breaking for those families who lost someone. The weather has been weird here too. March is truly sticking to the theme we were told as kids: "March roars in like a lion, and out like a lamb!" Hope these storms pass through soon! Be safe everyone. Peggy
So little time, sew much to do........... |
User: pretnichols
Member since: 10-16-2005 Total posts: 342 |
From: lendube
Date: 03-02-2007, 11:47 AM (7 of 20)
So happy to find you here early and safe.  Thanks for letting us know. Lennie 
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User: lendube
Member since: 08-06-2006 Total posts: 1548 |
From: plrlegal
Date: 03-02-2007, 03:30 PM (8 of 20)
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Sometimes you can be right with a tornado and sometimes you can be wrong with a tornado. There is no absolute accurate way to predict where, when or what a tornado will or will not take out. I live in "tornado alley" and if we have a day where there are dark clouds and thunder storms predicted, pretty much everybody keeps an eye and/or an ear on a weather station somewhere/somehow. The people at the school in Enterprise, Alabama did what they thought would be best for their students, but unfortunately, the tornado did hit the high school. They hit things and places here in Oklahoma that the weather people were stunned when it hit because they didn't expect them to hit that particular building/area, etc. Even with their best tracking and predictions, tornadoes will fool the best of weather people sometimes. They hit and are gone so fast there's often no time to react. Patsy Patsy
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User: plrlegal
Member since: 05-19-2001 Total posts: 318 |
From: Bama
Date: 03-02-2007, 05:25 PM (9 of 20)
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Thanks for thinking of me everyone. I thought some of you might have heard about our weather yesterday, so I checked in on the boards this morning. Now they are reporting 8 students killed at Enterprise High School. Such a tragedy. My heart goes out to the whole community. There were others killed in the same town, and a little girl in another county. I'm sure that school officials did what they thought was best at the time. I just wonder if we should have been at school at all yesterday. We are quick to take a weather day for snow flurries here, but have a wait and see attitude when severe thunderstorms or the possibility of tornadoes is issued. The meterologists here had us on a high alert for severe weather yesterday. They started talking about it last Sunday. One meterologist said that only 10 alerts like this have been issued for this area in the past 18 years. Each time there was devastating weather and loss of life. We had a superintendent a few years ago that would never cancel school for severe weather and only once dismissed early when we were expecting tornado warnings. I asked him why and he said because so many kids here live in mobile homes and he felt they were safer at school. I just don't see it that way. If school was cancelled because of bad weather, parents should have a safety plan on where they and their kids will be. That seems safer to me than having 1000+ kids bunkered down in one location. Other people argue that not all parents can leave work to pick up their kids if they're let out early. When school begins each year we fill out a paper telling the school what our plans are (do your kids ride bus home as usual or wait for you to pick them up?) if this should happen. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: siwian
Date: 03-02-2007, 06:10 PM (10 of 20)
| That storm was headed our way when it left Alabama yesterday. We dismissed school early, for a change. Our Superintendant doesn't believe in letting out early either. The weather was scheduled to hit at 3:30. Well, we got the kids out (teachers had to call parents that pick up their children to come early.) and no storm during the afternoon. It hit at 12:25 am in our county. One small town is still without power this afternoon. 20-30 homes were damaged/destroyed. The town that made national news is about 80 miles from us. |
User: siwian
Member since: 12-27-2001 Total posts: 114
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From: PaulineG
Date: 03-02-2007, 09:47 PM (11 of 20)
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I feel terrible for those who lost loved ones in Enterprise and the other losses of people and property in surrounding areas. I also feel very sorry for the person whose responsibility it was to make the decision about whether or not to dismiss the students early or cancel school. It probably did seem like the right decision at the time for whatever reason and now they will have to carry the guilt with them for the rest of their lives. If I was put in that sort of position (which I probably wouldn't allow) I think the kids would spend half the time at home "just in case". And if I was a parent in that sort of area I think I would make my own decisions about whether or not it was safe for my kids to go to school in that weather. I can only count myself as fortunate not to have to deal with that sort of weather issue. We'd probably live in a underground house and home school. Bama and Siwian I hope your unsettled weather has passed now for a very long time. Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: esrun3
Date: 03-02-2007, 10:05 PM (12 of 20)
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Bama, glad you are doing ok. My sister missed the worst of it in MO and my niece in WI too. Lucky all around
Lyn
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User: esrun3
Member since: 12-02-2004 Total posts: 2345 |
From: Chrysantha
Date: 03-02-2007, 10:53 PM (13 of 20)
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Enterprise is just across the state line from 'us'...so a lot of our police, sheriff's and fire depts are gone today.. We were all told to stay off the roads and inside, which is why I don't understand why they didn't close the schools. We managed to get the tail end of all the storms, but we still had a LOT of rain and wind damage. I'm so sorry that Enterprise got the worst of it...those poor people. Whata mess.... 
Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414 
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From: Bama
Date: 03-03-2007, 12:11 PM (14 of 20)
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One young man that was killed was a 17yo senior whose father was in Iraq. The father is supposed to be home today. I hope this will change the policies here for cancelling school due to forcasted severe weather. Unfortunately, parents can't always keep children home when bad weather is coming unless school is officially cancelled. If students here miss more than a certain number of days without a doctor's excuse, they and a parent have to go before a judge. Parent's written excuses are only good for so many days. If your child has already been out sick several times, they may not have any days left to miss. Chrys, glad to hear you're okay. Did your house have any damage? We just had tree limbs down. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: PaulineG
Date: 03-03-2007, 02:37 PM (15 of 20)
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If students here miss more than a certain number of days without a doctor's excuse, they and a parent have to go before a judge. Parent's written excuses are only good for so many days. If your child has already been out sick several times, they may not have any days left to miss I'm often surprised at some of the differences between our lifestyles etc. but I think this one stuns me most of all.  In her first year of school my dd missed about 26 days of school as a result of sickness. Most of these times she was not under a doctors care because there is nothing a doctor can do for a virus. I would just write "unwell" on a note and send it along. Thankfully she's gotten stronger as she has gotten older. I just don't think I like the concept of somebody else knowing better than I what is good and/or safe for my kids. I guess it's what you get used to. One young man that was killed was a 17yo senior whose father was in Iraq. The father is supposed to be home today. What a terrible return home.
Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: Bama
Date: 03-03-2007, 04:59 PM (16 of 20)
I think it is 10 days here that a student can miss without a doctor's excuse before they have to go to court. After 6 or 7 you get an early warning letter through the mail from the courts. Been there, done that, twice with my son since he started high school. We had to go to an early warning lecture at the court house. I and other parents were told we could be arrested if our kids missed more than 10 unexcused days.  I think it's ridiculous. A bad cold or stomach virus can keep a child out of school for several days and going to the doctor doesn't really help. Plus it costs unnecessary money since the doctor doesn't do anything I can't do at home anyway. Thankfully, our doctor knows how the school system is and is good about mailing me a doctor's excuse if needed now. It all boils down to money. The school system gets a certain amount of money for each student, each day they are present. That's why all the kids here get so many coughs and colds each winter. So many come to school sick. 
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User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: siwian
Date: 03-03-2007, 07:21 PM (17 of 20)
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The attendance laws are a response to the No Child Left Behind act/law the President put in place. Schools are required to make AYP-Adequate Yearly Progress. One of the "indicators" is that a certain percentage of students, in each subgroup, miss less than 15 days per year. However, decisions to cancel school or let it out early don't have to affect AYP, schools would just have to make up the days at a later time. |
User: siwian
Member since: 12-27-2001 Total posts: 114
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From: PaulineG
Date: 03-03-2007, 07:37 PM (18 of 20)
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That's why all the kids here get so many coughs and colds each winter. So many come to school sick. That is just wrong. I moved my kids from one school to another halfway through the last school year. It was more to do with issues of my son being bullied at the first school but one of the happy unexpected results was the decrease in illness in our family. Their new school has a totally different "feel" to it and although both schools have exactly the same expectations (sick kids should stay home) those expectations are fulfilled at the new school. It's not the school as such but the difference in parental attitudes. It's much more of a community minded and caring school and it shows in so many different ways. I know at the old school some of the time it was an inability of the parents to miss work while they cared for their kids - and I have problems juggling this one too on occasion. However there were also far too many who just didn't want them at home if they could be elsewhere. I was stunned sometimes to see how unwell some of these kids were when I was helping out in the classroom. Both of mine combined had a total of 4 days absence in the second half of last school year - this included 3 days off for my son after some minor surgery. It really does make a big difference. Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: Chrysantha
Date: 03-03-2007, 09:30 PM (19 of 20)
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No we're fine...(my car is in the shop and my husband was at work, down in FWB) so all we had was garbage and leaves everywhere...(of course it had to be garbage day and everyones BIG green trashcans were rolling all over the streets..). I just feel sorry for all those kids and their families.... I missed 2nd and 3rd grade due to illness( I had all the childhood diseases one after the other...) they sent my work home and I passed through, so I don't understand why there isn't some 'leeway' with sick kids...it's not like you can prevent every illness in the world. Kids here in FL get 2 sick days, they have to have parents go into school or write the school a LETTER detailing why they're out...it's crazy...a Dr's note should suffice. Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414
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From: Bama
Date: 03-03-2007, 09:57 PM (20 of 20)
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It is crazy. If the kids make up their work, I don't see what the big deal is. I'm sooooo looking forward to ds graduating this year. He's 18, can vote, and had to register for the draft, but still has to have a note telling why he stayed home sick. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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