When Irene Clements and her husband, Billy, decided to create their family through foster care and adoption, they threw themselves into what became a lifelong labor of love. Irene and Billy fostered 127 children over the many decades of their marriage. They adopted four children, including sweet Melissa who is a special-needs member of the…
A Caring Couple Who Fostered 127 Children Proves That Love is Thicker than Blood
Service Learning: Nurturing Children’s Sense of Charity in the Classroom
April 21, 2022
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It was mid-December, shortly before Christmas vacation. The elementary and middle school students had just finished their annual Christmas carol performance at the local senior center. Teachers handed cards to their students, and the children started visiting people in the audience. I proudly watched one of my students, an 8-year-old girl, hesitantly approach an elderly…
Hard Times: Lessons From the Great Depression
As readers know, citizens in the United States—and for that matter, most of the world—are getting pummeled in the wallet right now. Gas prices are through the roof. Rents in many cities are soaring. The cost of groceries jumps every few days, and our president recently warned that we may experience food shortages. Unlike other…
Rural Studio: An Architectural School Where Learning and Helping Others Go Hand in Hand
April 17, 2022
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“The initial sketch is always an emotion, not a concept.”—Sambo Mockbee As you drive along the two-lane highway into Newbern in the heart of Alabama’s Black Belt, you might experience a massive shift in your perception. There is something different about the architecture of the buildings downtown. The facilities along Highway 61 include a city…
Meet an Alabama Farm That is Partnering with Local Schools to Make Learning Fun
Outside Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, the typical scenery is there: cars filling the parking lot, made from tons of concrete, and cars going for miles on a highway of asphalt. What is atypical nearby, is a vast patch of collard greens. The farm adjacent to the school is loaded with greens and vegetables. The…
On This Rustic Alabama Family Farm, Simple Living is the Secret to Happiness
The Rora Valley Farm sits on a few acres in east Alabama, where the hills and meadows blend and stretch forever, and the mornings are chilly but soon give way to a warmer day. The sun rises slowly over the farm, tearing through the darkness, waking up the animals, and bathing the vegetable garden in…
A Simple Technique That’s Been Proven to Turn a ‘C’ student Into an ‘A’ Student—With Minimal Time or Cost
In their quest for the Holy Grail of teaching techniques, educators and parents alike have tried—and to their credit, are willing to try!—it all. Increasingly it is technology that schools are turning to for breakthroughs, though often at significant costs to the pocketbook. Only time will tell whether it provides the panacea many hope for….
Dear Next Generation: Life Is Wonderful
I heard one time that life is like a coin. We can spend it any way we want, but we can spend it only once. If life is like a coin, it must, like a coin, have two sides. How could it have two sides? Well, the answer is that life has many sides. It…
Dressing Fashionably for Easter Sunday Is Traditional, Not Theological
by Micha Green The Baltimore Sun BALTIMORE — From the days of early Christians, fancy Easter Sunday clothes have been a cosmetic commemoration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Now, churchgoers don social media post-worthy outfits such as frills, lace, head-turning hats, stylish suits and dresses as well as color coordinated looks for the whole family. While…
How to Be a Great Sibling
Our brothers and sisters can be an amazing support group as we make our way through life, always there to lend a hand. However, this relationship has to be fostered rather than taken for granted. Be There Our siblings have witnessed most of the important events of our lives; in many cases they know us…
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