One of my favorite teachers in high school was Mr. John O’Dougherty. I vividly remember the day in class when Mr. O’Dougherty handed back our midterms. He had a formal way of announcing and celebrating his students’ success. On this particular day, he acknowledged everyone’s hard work, but took a moment to highlight my results. READ MORE
A few years ago, I was on an airplane with my four-year-old daughter, Tess. She was in the seat next to me when it happened: the oxygen masks dropped down. Over the loudspeaker, the captain assured us we were safe, but that the plane had temporarily lost cabin pressure and that – for our safety – we were to put on oxygen masks. The pilot then reminded us to secure our own mask before assisting anyone else with his or her mask. READ MORE
Perhaps one of the worst nights in Minnesota high school history happened at a St. Louis Park High School (SLP) hockey game on a cold February night many years ago. St. Louis Park is a community that has a large Jewish community (for Minnesota). Some of the fans from the other team thought it would be “funny” to throw bagels (a traditionally Jewish food) at the SLP hockey players. What was so tragic about that night was not that some rowdy teens were disrespectfully throwing bagels at the SLP hockey players, it was that the entire crowd just sat and watched. No one stood up and told them to stop. READ MORE
I am relatively new to marriage. Jane and I are approaching our 13th wedding anniversary. Many of my friends have been married for over 25 years and many of my mentors have been married for over 50 years. Thus, in some ways, I am a rookie. Today is Valentine’s Day — a day when it is nearly impossible not to reflect on your own love relationship. I am acutely aware that my marriage to Jane is Tess’ most significant model for love and relationship. READ MORE
This blog post was written by Jane Leyden Cavanaugh, School Relations Representative and Joe Cavanaugh’s wife.
A couple of years ago, I overheard a conversation Tess was having with her friend. Tess said, “Daddy always says yes to me. Mommy always says no.” This comment really shocked me, but then I took a step back and thought about my recent conversations with Tess.READ MORE
Every year, I have the chance to get out of the office and lead a handful of Youth Frontiers retreats. Whenever I’m on retreat, teachers and administrators comment on how great it is that I get the kids to talk to me. The reality is that these kids often are not really talking to me – it’s more of a short exchange that I call the “10-second connection.”READ MORE