ASAP - Mile 24

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: We are now teaming up with Inland Valley Hope Partners in Pomona. New shoes will be donated to two children living at this shelter home. On behalf of a 14-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy who will receive these shoes (in Corral #4), I again thank all of our generous donors. I received the shoe sizes this morning, purchased the shoes this afternoon, wrapped them tonight, and should be able to deliver them tomorrow. With this donation, we are now serving homeless children in three cities/communities: La Verne, Upland, and Pomona. More to follow.

Varsity Baseball 2017

New year, new gear. Thank you, Coach Pine. Good luck to our baseball team as they kick off the season this weekend. Love this new hat.

League Champs - Varsity Boys Basketball

Thank you, Coach Godley, for the team calendar. Congratulations to our varsity boys basketball team for another successful league championship season.

ASAP - Mile 23

[Image/Calculations done using Desmos.com]

Geeking Out: Just for fun, I 'ran' a linear regression model for my shoe charity project with several computational violations noted below. X is the number days since 2016 when the shoe deliveries were made (donations were made on the 23rd, 37th, and 54th day of 2017). Y is the cumulative number of pairs of shoes donated on those days (we started with 3 pairs in Corral #1, added 6 pairs in Corral #2 for a total of 9, and just delivered 3 more pairs in Corral #3 to bring the total up to 12). The slope is about 0.29, which means that the project donates, on average, just over a quarter of a pair of shoes each day in 2017. That's not bad, it's more than half of a shoe a day. The y-intercept of about -2.88 is not meaningful in this case. It translates to the project donated a negative 2.88 pairs of shoes on midnight of New Years Eve.* The model predicts that by the end of the year (365 days into 2017), 101.6 pairs of shoes will be donated.** There is a strong positive correlation of 0.96 between days since 2017 and the number of pairs donated. Lastly, about 92% of the variation in the number of pairs donated is accounted for by the number of days since 2016. With only three data points, however, it may not be appropriate to use a linear model, rendering this analysis meaningless. But thanks for reading.

*I promise that I did not remove 2.88 pairs of shoes from those in need on New Years Eve.
**Extrapolation is committed. Using the limited existing data to project a value far outside the range of our x-values leads to unrealistic and inaccurate predictions. It's impossible to donate 101.6 pairs of shoes, let alone by the end of the year. The number of pairs of shoes should be an integer value. An ambitious goal of 101 or 102 pairs is also extremely unlikely. The residual (actual value - predicted value) will likely be negative on New Years Eve 2017.

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/qw4m3fzi5w

ASAP - Mile 22

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: We just set a new PR! Our new Project Record of delivering 12 pairs of new shoes to children who are less fortunate was set on Thursday afternoon. Thank you to Shauna and Megan from Foothill Family Shelter in Upland for the work they do for local struggling families. Shauna, in particular, helped by collected shoe sizes from the families for this project. As always, thank you to all of the donors and supporters of this project.

Saucony Grid Stratos 5 for a 13-year-old boy.

Adidas LK Sport 2 for a 7-year-old girl.

New Balance KJ720 V4 for a 12-year-old boy.

ASAP - Mile 21

A Shoe Adoption Project Update - We will be delivering our third batch of shoes this week!  Through a family shelter in Upland, I have located three more children with needs.  These shoes will go to a 12 year-old boy, a 13 year-old boy, and a 7 year-old girl in Corral #3.  More to follow soon.

ASAP - Mile 20

Thank you, Ricky, for supporting this charity project with your donation. You are an incredible and inspiring athlete. On behalf of the homeless/foster children who will be receiving new shoes very soon, thank you.  More to follow very soon.

ASAP - Mile 19

Thank you, Carolyn, for your kind donation. You truly have a huge heart, no wonder you run so well in all of your races. =)  I just received a lead to donate to three children through a homeless shelter.  More to follow very soon.

ASAP - Mile 18

After telling my friend Daisy about this charity project, she said it reminded her of a children's book (she is a teacher and a mom with two daughters). The book is titled Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts (2009). I may have been that kid on the right.

ASAP - Mile 17

Thank you, Sunny and Cathy, for your donation. Your contributions take this charity project to a new plateau. Sunny is a Paris Marathon finisher and a two-time LA Marathon finisher. Cathy is a local charity 5K specialist. I was given the honor of being the officiant for their wedding about ten years ago.

Student of the Month - January 2017

(Heather and me, with Anders chilling in the background)

Congratulations to my Student of the Month nominee - Heather. In a school with 2,000 students, Heather was selected as the High Achievement Student. She was honored during lunch on Thursday and walked down the quad with the band and cheer team performing. We were both served with a very special lunch. I had the pleasure of having Heather two years ago in Geometry and again this year in Pre-Calculus. Heather's a respectful and kind student who is a junior national figure skating champion with a 4.5 GPA. That's all. Mic dropped.

The making of a champion is often not as glamorous as one would think. While eating together, Heather shared with me her demanding practice schedule. Several times a week, she has three-hour long practices (two on-ice plus one off-ice). Additionally, twice a week she would wake up at 3:30am to make practices from 4:30-6:30am before returning to school. The figure skating off-season lasts only about a month each calendar year. I know Heather works diligently with a math tutor also. It's an impressive undertaking for a high school student to maintain. Way to go, Heather, you're a true champion.

Old Pencils

I found a bundle of old pencils in my classroom the other day.  These two stood out since they were from my own elementary and middle schools.  Classics.

ASAP - Mile 16

On Thursday, I emailed two local nonprofit shelters that serve homeless families and children: Foothill Family Shelter in Upland and Inland Valley Hope Partners in Pomona.  I offered to them our donations of new shoes.  Within the hour, I received replies from the directors from both organizations.  They will communicate with their respective lead case managers to get the proper shoe sizes for the children in need. More to follow.

Desmos

Thanks, Mr. V., for the cool note pad and sticker from one of my favorite websites.   www.desmos.com

Here's a great activity, play with the Cannon Man's Graph:
https://teacher.desmos.com/carnival/walkthrough#cannonman

ASAP - Mile 15

I met my student Michelle's dad, Jon, during last Friday night's boys basketball game.  We chatted briefly about running as we're both runners.  On their way home that night, Michelle told her dad about this shoe charity.  Yesterday, Michelle (who is one of the best students) gave me a note from Jon with a very generous donation to the shoe charity. In the note, he said "It's great to learn about a teacher living out 1 Corinthians 9:24!"

Naturally, I had to look up the verse:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

It may be interpreted as one who works diligently with self discipline.  Thank you, Jon, for your kind words and generous donation. It is the mission of this charity project to use 100% of the any donation received directly towards children in need. More to follow.

ASAP - Mile 14

Thank you, Cathy, for your contribution to this charity. Cathy is a teacher/runner friend. We "ran" into each other at the Surf City Half Marathon Expo this past weekend. That morning, Cathy earned a placed finish at the Chino Hills 5K. She also does wonderful work serving the special education students at her school.

ASAP - Mile 13.1

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: I gift wrapped each pair of new shoes and added a simple note to encourage the kids to do their best in school. Yes, runners, I know there's a big difference between 13 miles and 13.1 miles. =) Now I feel compelled to go back and add 3.1 and 6.2 mile markers...

ASAP - Mile 13

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: In just over one month, the charity project was able to donate nine pairs of new shoes to local foster/homeless children in my school district. Thank you to all of the donors and supporters of ASAP. You have made a positive difference. My school liaison told me today that the first pair of shoes went to a middle school boy (we'll call him "Chase") who happens to be super speedy in PE. He may be the next Usain Bolt. =)

ASAP - Mile 12

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: The six pairs of shoes have been gift wrapped and are ready to be delivered tomorrow. Thank you for everyone's support and encouragement. There's more work to do.

ASAP - Mile 11

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: These are the shoes that we will donate! We added a sixth shoe recipient (a boy) to the five girls in Corral #2. These foster children are living in youth group homes within my school district. They are often perceived as outcasts and have come from difficult backgrounds. I was able to make the entire purchase in one stop this morning. After telling the store manager about this charity project, he gave us a 10% discount and we have exchanged contact information for potential future volunteering opportunities. I'll get to work on the gift wrapping. More to follow very soon.

ASAP - Mile Ten

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: In January, the first group of shoe recipients (in Corral #1) were three homeless brothers. Today, we identified the second group of recipients (in Corral #2). It will be a group of five girls who live in local youth group homes. I just received their shoe sizes. More to follow very soon.

Winter Sports Rally 2017

Thank you ASB, for another awesome rally last Friday. All sports teams and performance teams did a great job. I participated in the Pictionary Skit this year. A huge shout-out to the teachers, staff, and administrators who took part in the lip-sync performances. Fun times.

A respectful audience enjoying the rally decorated with many artistic posters.

Go D-Street: Our dance team always puts on a great show for the crowd.

ASAP - Mile Nine

A Shoe Adoption Project Update: I gave Mrs. W. a small gift set for helping with my shoe charity project.  Thank you, Mrs. W., for your help with the foster/homeless youth group. The process of the donation could not have gone so smoothly without her assistance. Mrs. W. is our school community liaison for the foster/homeless youth group. She is essentially serving as the advocate for over 30 students who come from less than desirable backgrounds. She calls these students her "babies" and continues to fight for their needs in and out of school.