This is the third and final column that explores different reasons why Christmas can be something other than merry and bright, using the three spirits described in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The column will appear in the Van Buren County Advertiser in the January 2, 2012 edition, which can be found online here when published: www.vbcadvertiser.com.

This is the second of three columns that explore different reasons why Christmas can be something other than merry and bright, using the three spirits described in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The column first appeared in the Van Buren County Advertiser in the December 12, 2011 edition, which can be found online here: www.vbcadvertiser.com.

Christmas certainly can be the most wonderful time of the year, as the carol proclaims, but for many people it can also be that time of year that is most difficult, for a variety of reasons. This is the first of three columns that will explore different reasons why Christmas can be something other than merry and bright. It first appeared in the Van Buren County Advertiser in the December 5, 2011 edition, which can be found online here: www.vbcadvertiser.com.

Perhaps the secret to success in school is what happens when school isn't even in session. The learning that takes place each summer can have a strong impact on student success when school rolls around again in the fall.

On the April day taxes were due this year, a snowstorm dropped three inches of snow on SW Michigan. Forty miles away Benton Harbor experienced a different kind of storm. The author attempts to connect the three separate events.

Good care is one the most important asset in a child's life, and the author is grateful that it includes great daycare for his pre-school aged child. 

 This column addresses the reason for my several month absence, and announces that we're back in business.

Good teachers are also always students of the profession. For the author, his connection to the Third Coast Writing Project and the National Writing Project has meant a continuous-improvement approach to the profession of teaching.

Relationship violence is the subject of a new book "The Events of October": Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus, written by my Kalamazoo College mentor Gail Griffin; it tells the tragic story of one girl murdered by an ex-boyfriend, but also points to disturbing facts of this national epidemic of physical violence in romantic relationships.

Dick Johnson was asked to give the Memorial Day address at the Gobles (Mich) ceremony at the Veteran's Memorial at the city park in Downtown Gobles. His address remembers friends he served with, and the life-long repercussions of serving our country at a time of war. Dick and his son-in-law, Corey Harbaugh, worked together to put Dick's memories and message together to serve as the Memorial Day address.