Comments:
| December 27, 2003 Again, great job with your web site, Lance Seasons Greetings to all! Not a lot of changes from my last update 18 months ago Still teaching Global Studies and Int'l Relations at S Kingstown HS in RI. I advise the Model UN program there and we'll be hosting/running our 14th annual Model United Nations conference in March: 450 students from 25 different schools. Focus of the conference is Africa, with topics like Hunger, Land Mines, AIDS, Blood Diamonds, etc being debated I can retire from public schol teaching in 2 years There's a part of me that wants to continue and there's a part of me that wants to take the pension and go live in Costa Rica and run a bed n breakfast Speaking of Costa Rica, this summer we took 21 students to CR: had a fantastic time WW Rafting, Zip Lining thru the canopy, riding horses up a mountain, trekking in the lava fields of a live volcano, sea kayaking, snorkelling, karayoke-ing, and more. Time of their lives for most of the students! This summer the school trip is to England and Paris again My oldest, Brent, is now a Freshman at Connecticut College, interested in Int'l Economic Development Neal and Alison are still at home. Lots of time spent around school sports: soccer, track My parents, and 3 of my siblings have moved to Virginia, so we'll be heading there over Christmas vacation. Bonnie lives in KC, and Timothy is still on LI Nothing more to report Chime in! Cheers! Jim ****************************** July 7th, 2002 Summer Greetings to the communicants with this web site Wish there were more!! Great job, Lance!! Aside from the news in the previous Updates, I'd like to say (with great astonishment) that I am 3.5 yrs away from retiring from my public school teaching job! After that, I'll probably draw my RI pension, and teach in a private school or in Conn over the border: double dipping to increase my revenue! Just got back from England. I take students there every other year. Next summer, my colleagues and I are planning to take students to God's country: Costa Rica. I have thoughts of eventually retiring there! My oldest is a Senior next year and with over 1400 in his SATS, he has lots of options. I like to think I had his potential, but just didn't utilize it. In actual fact, he probably gets his smarts from my wife! I was recently addicted to the World Cup. I earned my stripes getting up in the middle of the night, not just for USA games, but sometimes for games like Sweden-Senegal!! I'm stll playing soccer on an Over 30 team - mostly Sweeper, where I can bark instructions a lot, and run infrequently. Passing thought: You know what! I didn't realize how rich we all were at the time. It amazes me how sheltered we all were; how fortunate; how pampered. I thought (at the time) that the way we lived was normal (until we read a few books like Manchild in the Promised Land in 11th grade) The more I travel, the more it impacts me as to how much of an obligation we have to use our vast blessings to help the 99.999 % of the globe who had less than us growing up. Anybody feel similarly?? ************************ Seasons Greetings to my classmates! Hope all is well with you! I continue to teach at South Kingstown HS in Wakefield, RI (Global Studies and International Relations) Additionally, I run a 350 student Model United Nations Conference for approx 16 schools from RI, Mass and Ct. Our 12th annual is this year, and the focus of this year's UN simulation will be the Middle East. I also coordinate an Exchange program with the school I taught at when I lived in the UK. So far, 3 groups of their students have come to RI, where they were hosted by area families. This summer I take 53 students and 10 adults to the other side of the pond to be hosted by them. We did this 2 years ago: 8 days in southern England and 3 days in Paris for $1450 (but free for teachers) Other news: Brent (my 17 year old) and I went to Costa Rica this past summer for 2 weeks. We enrolled in a Spanish immersion course which went from 8-12 in the AM. In the afternoons and on the weekends we hiked in the rainforests and in the lava fields of an active volcano; we zip lined thru the canopy 300 feet above the forest floor; we swam in pristine, vacant Pacific beaches; snorkelled in the coral reef; all the while hablando espanol. This is our second trip to Costa Rica (2 summers ago I brought the whole family) I'm a big fan of CR, and I've even thought of semi-retiring there. Anyone else been there? The food is excellent, the people wonderful; no mosquito problems either time (although they are more prevalent on the Caribbean side); the prices are fantastic especially in their rainy season (our summer; don't let it scare you; we had no problem with rained out activities) I could go on and on (and have!!) My kids are doing well: Brent (17) Neal (14) and Allie (11) They are all way better students than I ever was (and that's giving me the benefit of the doubt calling me a student. Sorry for all the times I was distracting to the class!) All three are As and Bs - two of them Straight As. They all run Cross Country. Allie and Brent play the piano. Neal and Allie play soccer, and I Asst. coach their Travel and school teams. And they're all nice to people - the most important thing! They get that from their Mom, Cindy, who is still a Nutritionist who spends lots of time on Church committees. Well, that's all for now! Hey, why don't we use this forum more?? What are you guys doing these days?? "Cheers" for now! Jim ******************************* Jim Buxton, his wife Cindy, and their children (Brent, Neal, and Alison : 13, 10 and 8) spent this past school year (Sept 97 to July 98) in Rottingdean, England where Jim was teaching, as part of a Fulbright Teacher Exchange. Jim taught History, Geography and Sociology at Blatchington Mill School. During the school vacations, they traveled to southern Germany (October), Paris (Dec), southwestern Ireland (Feb), Italy (April) and Norway's fjords/Netherland's windmills (May). While in England, they lived in a converted 17th Century stone barn and attended an 11th Century church across the lane. The kids attended English schools and had developed English accents by year's end! In Sept, Jim will continue at his original school, South Kingstown HS in Wakefield, RI where he teaches Global Studies and International Affairs (Why am I talking in the third person??) "Cheers" for now! Jim |
| Last Updated:12/27/2003 5:27:40 AM |
|
Home | Classmates | Missing in Action | Email Broadcast | Photo Gallery