Books, books and more books!!!!

To begin with, hello to Ashley in Wooster. Feel free to continue to blog with us. I hope all is well. To those who like to criticize Mrs. Perrin on the blog, please find a new hobby.

My daughter made fun of me this past summer because I constantly had a book in my hand. She called me an addict. I am addicted to reading. Everywhere I go, I have something to read. The summer is the time when I read all of the books I have been waiting for during the school year. I try to pick a book that is considered by the academy as academically sound and then I fill the rest of the reading time with what I want.

How do you pick what to read? Do you only read what the teachers dictate? Do you pick because your friends recommend a book to you? Or do you read the backs of books to find what would interest you?

My favorite book is Atlas Shrugged and I love it because it makes me think about my place in the world and the role of "the mind" in the way society flourishes or fails.

Synopsis--from Barnes and Noble

"Who is John Galt?" is the immortal question posed at the beginning of Ayn Rand's masterpiece. The answer is the astonishing story of a man who said he would stop the motor of the world—and did. As passionate as it is profound, Atlas Shrugged is one of the most influential novels of our time. In it, Rand dramatizes the main tenets of Objectivism, her philosophy of rational selfishness. She explores the ramifications of her radical thinking in a world that penalizes human intelligence and integrity. Part mystery, part thriller, part philosophical inquiry, part volatile love affair, Atlas Shrugged is the book that confirmed Ayn Rand as one of the most popular novelist and most respected thinkers of the 20th century.

Write about your favorite book and why? What does it make you think about, dream about, or what action does it make you want to take?

Education

I have always lived by the belief that "education is the way to reach dreams and make them come true." As a little girl, I can remember my mom saying every time my father left for his three weeks military training, or any other military training that he did out of duty, "What will happen to us if he doesn't come home or his plane crashes and we are left alone. We have no money, and I have no skills that would provide for five kids." I knew at a young age that the song she sang when my dad left was a song I never wanted to learn. I wanted to grow up and be educated well enough to not have the fear of not being able to support myself. As a child, all I saw was that those who had an education were the ones who had more and could do more. This motivated me to push myself to acquire an education.

For as long as I can remember, a debate has begun in our country about the best type of education: public, private without religious ties, or a parochial school. I always wanted, as a kid, to attend CVCA--Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. My parents could not afford it. Instead I attended Akron East High School, a public city school. Oh, the stories I could tell. I do not think I got the short end of the stick. I learned so much from the many different cultures I was involved with and I was able to see life from some very different goggles, not the rose colored kind.

Think about all of the opportunities that you have been privy to by attending a public school, living in a world that is so unpredictable, and meeting the many people who walk in and out of your life. In Sheepskin, by Fisher, a battle of what it means to be educated arises. Where do you feel your education comes from and where will that education take you? How do you see your idea of education changing over the next several years? What would be your school appropriate mantra about education?