A special responsibility

"Our daddies and mothers, as well as the teachers, want to know that when we leave our homes in the morning to go to school, that we will come out safe when our lessons are over." -- Carolyn Jones Frei,  March 25, 1937 speech she gave as fifth grader Carolyn Jones to the Texas House of Representatives.

"School officials have a special responsibility for the children in their care.  They are responsible for their safety, and their safe return to their families." -- Schools and Terrorism, A Supplement to the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism Recommendations to the Secretary, August 12, 2003.

One injury can change a worker’s future forever; an accident that kills a construction worker affects a family for a lifetime. “ --Senator Stephen Lynch (D.- Boston)

Painters, employers make safety job one  "…worksite safety can do more than just save money; it can save lives and a family’s future… " -- Robert A. Jordon, Boston Globe Oct 21, 1997.

 “We want every employee to go to work, work safe, and come home to their family every day.”  -- Alan Kasow, president and owner of the M I McDonald Painting Co.

Blackboard found in the rubble.

 

Wright Room 102  5 D   March 18, 1937  

     Oil and natural gas are east Texas’ greatest mineral blessing.  Without them this school would not be here and none of us would be here learning our lessons.

Silence

Silence begets silence. The bigger the silence, the more powerful it is. Silence can become so  all-encompassing that one is not even aware of it.  In such instances, entire constellations of thoughts, questions and conversations simply do not arise.  Or, if they do, the pervasiveness of the silence makes them seem dangerous. Perhaps the last person who tried to break the silence got in trouble, perhaps she became a pariah, perhaps she lost her job. --  BEYOND ERIN BROCKOVITCH By Sonja Biorn-Hansen, in RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS #815, http://www.rachel.org  April 14, 2005 Published April 28, 2005.  Sonja Biorn-Hansen an Environmental Engineer with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.