Amazing Person Connected to my Family Roots and His Work for the March on Washington: Mathew Ahmann.

When I was a very young kid during the 60's I remember some things that were not normal for a girl growing up in a very small, all white community, in the Midwest.

There are several very vivid memories that I have in regard to race that never made a great deal of sense to me, BUT I am pleased to remember them and talk about them.

1.  In a Catholic community with a few Lutheran's many Catholic children were literally not allowed to play with Lutheran children.  I remember playing with Lutheran kids and asking my parents why so and so said they were not allowed to play with us when we were with those kids.  Yep it is true.  Crazy but true. 

My parents said to ignore those comments and it was o.k., we are all the same.

2.  I remember my Dad sitting me down and talking to me about race.  He talked to us about skin color and how others would say people are not equal if they were a different color.  He made a point of discussing negative terms and that we should not use them and correct others when they used them.

I did hear others use the "N" word and I did correct them although it was not all easy.

3.  I remember my Grandparents giving us a "Julia" Barbie like doll for Christmas.  This was a likeness to Diane Carroll who played Julia on T.V.  She was a single black mother that was a nurse.  My sister and I loved those dolls.  I wish I still had mine.

4.  I remember my dad insisting we do cultural things like visit reservations to see and be a part of pow wows in Minnesota long before others did so. 

I believe that my parents were rather forward in their thinking because of the work of my Dad's cousin.  I never really put things all together until recently.

My Dad's father is from a very large family that was pretty close (10 siblings).  As adults all of the siblings would gather on Sundays at their parents home which included their children.  The cousins became fairly close.  As most of the cousins went to college, some stayed in the area and others moved away to do great things.

On October 14th my Dad's cousin Mathew Ahmann will be receiving a posthumous award, from St. John's University, in Collegeville, MN,  for his work in civil rights and the organizing of the "March on Washington".  At first I was reluctant to speak of him.  Even though his work was great, he was very humble, and did not try to draw attention to himself but the cause.  Who am I to claim a person that I only met as a child.  I know I could never live up to such greatness.  But as I have mentioned him to others; I am reminded that is also important to show that it is good to share about those that helped a cause that is progressing but still not fully complete.   A cause that has been going on for over 50 years. 

We often hear about the "Big 6", which were the original black organizers of the Freedom to work March.  Later 4 members were added representing faiths around the United States.  Matt Ahmann was one of those 4 men, representing the Catholic Church.  Here is a link to a recent story in the New York Times about the white involvement of the March. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-march-on-washington-white-activists-were-largely-overlooked-but-strategically-essential/2013/08/25/f2738c2a-eb27-11e2-8023-b7f07811d98e_story.html

Below is a picture of the organizers for the March.  Matt is the skinny one in the back left with the bow tie.

The following is a link to 11 of the main organizers for the march.  If you click on their picture it describes their involvement.


http://billmoyers.com/content/meet-the-march-organizers/

There are some great museums around the United State depicting the Civil Rights movement.  If you have never been able to visit them, do make a point of doing so.  I was lucky enough to chaperone a group of black students on a "Black College Tour"  several years ago.  During that time we took the students to see several museums.  Not only was it wonderful to visit these colleges but also see the students awakening while they absorbed the history and struggle of the civil rights movement. 

It is always important to move forward in a positive direction but sometimes we have to look back to remember how we got to the present day.  We need to look back to create a better future and example for those that follow us.  It is so nice to find a positive piece of history in a fairly remote family connection.  But really I can only smile and say, "HOW COOL IS THAT!"

With Love from your retired FACS teacher,

Jane

Why don't I feel bad about my choice? Could it just be the right one?

The school year is in full swing.  Homecoming, at my former school of employment is over.  I have subbed as a teacher about 2 days a week.  Just enough to throw me off and not get much of anything done around the house.

Most everyone asks me how I am doing.  Do I feel bad?  Do I miss it?  Do I regret it?  On and on the questions go.  I pause because I do not fell bad, I do not miss it and I do not regret it?  Then I begin to wonder, if I don't feel bad, I don't miss it and I don't have regret was a bad teacher for wanting to leave early?

I hope not.  Because while I was in education I did care about the children that I worked with and I made friendships that I will always remember and embrace.  I had often said, "I just want to teach. I do not want the politics of education."  Those feelings of never getting caught up, from former paper work, turned into computer work that was suppose to make a life easier started giving me anxiety.  I am a girl that used a telex for communication during high school.  We had to go to the library to type our papers with erasers and white out during college.  Everything I learned on the computer was pretty much self taught and I really do love technology but not all of the programs made sense or my life easier.  I had 5 different programs that "made everything easier".  An example of a waste of time would be my collaboration group. We spent so much time figuring out how to record what we did last year that we only got things recorded.  (We were not the only ones.)

My point from all of this whining is that teachers need a break.  I know it is important to measure kids progress but if teachers have to spend so much time to figuring out how to measure they will not have time to do what they do well and that is relate with kids and teach.  I am not against change and progress.  In fact I think that I am rather forward thinking with some things.  The cycle of education is always spinning but never really changing, and it really is scary sometimes.

Those reasons stated above and others made me take a step back and take a look at the full picture.  I will always have a passion for the Family and Consumer Sciences content that I taught during my teaching career.  I will always remember the relationships that I built with my students and co-workers fondly.  But in my heart, knowing it was time for me to take a step back was the best thing that I could do for my personal well being.  And I think, it doesn't make me a bad teacher, it just makes me smart and lucky.

I have been subbing and it has been pretty relaxing.  I just can't let myself get caught up in past and new politics.  I have to let it go and enjoy that I only have the here and now to worry about. 

Man that feels Good!

With love your former FACS teacher.

Jane

Using a pastry blender for a crust and apple pie

I love making pie.  I am pretty good at it.  I don't often talk about things I make because baking and cooking is an ever basic thing that a great deal of people do well.  But, everyone has a specialty.   This happens to be my specialty.

I use shortening in my recipe because it has the least amount of moisture.  You can use butter if you do not like those solid hydrogenated fats. 

I believe in making things from scratch because the processed pre-made foods are so full of chemicals that we do not need in our bodies.

I did 3 different clips related to making (Hear the Northern accent?...pretty darn close to Fargo in some spots....embarrassing!)

a.  The pastry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqgjR-tWsLk

b. Rolling the crust and the filling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4WFkcZB7M

c. Rolling the top and fluting the a pie crust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiPuz25T2EQ




The finished product

 Double pie crust recipe

2/3 cup shortening or butter
2 cups flour
1 t salt
use pastry blender to blend into pea size chunks

6-8 Tablespoons water (add using pastry blender until moist enough to hold dough together)

Apple pie filling (Mix all together but butter.  After pouring in the crust dab with the butter and cover with your top crust.)

6-8 peeled and sliced tart apples
 (lemon to prevent brown)

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 nutmeg
2 T Flour to thicken filling
1 T and 1 t butter to dab on top of filling


With love from your
retired FACS teacher, Jane

A Family Wedding Kept Me Busy....Seasonal Tomato Salad.

I hear I was suppose to emotionally miss the opening of the school year.  I retired early in June and many questioned what I was doing.  Financially it may not have been my wisest move but emotionally I know it was right.

My husband's niece chose to marry August 31.  Her parents are from out of town so I offered to host a family gathering and some of the over night guests at our home.  This seems easy until you realize there are seven children in my husbands family along with their children it tends to add up.

And you ask, what do the two have to do with each other? This lovely celebration helped me focus on family, cleaning, entertaining and moving on with my own life.  I spent days baking for the dessert bar and the breakfast foods for each morning.  I made a special blanket for the new couple and planned a menu that I hoped would be memorable. 

In fact I was so focused on the family gathering that I did not even think about the beginning of the year workshops until a couple of friends emailed me about the start up of the school year. 

So thank you to the new couple for picking this time of year to start their life together.  I know that I am in the right place and I will find a new direction for the next journey in my life.  Spending time with family is always a reminder of how lucky I am and to cherish the time that I have with each of them. 


This is the tomato salad I made for the gathering.  This is so tasty and so easy.  Use as many different tomato types you can find.  (Easy at the farmers market this time of year).  Chop fresh basil and sprinkle over the tomatoes and sprinkle with aged balsamic vinegar.  Looks lovely and is oh so quick.  (P.S.  many questions about the purple tomatoes.  They had great flavor and added so much color.)

 My family:  Husband, our sons and number 1 son's girl.

 My husband, his siblings and his mother.

With love from your retired FACS teacher, Jane