And in he walked.....

With eyes slightly opened as the sun beams down
A man walked into our lives with pride in his heart
He stood there ensuring us that we shall not fear
We should not place danger onto ourselves anymore
But, we should stand together as a NATION and fight
Fight for our hopes and dreams
That everything is possible if we live our dreams
Wasn't the dream thing accepted a while ago by another famous man
Although, he was killed before he could really help our nation
He was gunned down in broad daylight by one of his own, "or was he?"
And still to this day we pride ourselves in "living the dream"
So I say stand up and clap your hands for a man that:
Saw race as just another characteristic of a man
Believed in our great nation
Helped us accept and be accepted
Paved the way for our NEW President

I say, Thank you Mr. Kennedy
Thank You.

UNLEASH ME

Throw me down and rake my hands over the words?
Bind my will to break free of the norm?
Allow me no free will to release my knowledge?

Or you can watch me help those in need
Praise me when its time to, or be critical of my failures
The norm is obviously not working for them
Inside I have been filled with ideas and questions
Questions to question the question and the answer
Sometimes my techniques are unorthodox
Then again sometimes they are right on the money
So please unleash my fury
Unleash my knowledge
Unleash my will
Unleash my intensity
Unleash my desire to show you its ok to be different

Dia De Un Reyes

Another year passes by and we age
Leaving behind another year full of happiness and rage
You have poetic rage towards life
Causing your poetry to cut like a knife
Your wisdom is more than anyone I've ever known
And my love for you is more than can ever be shown
I have over time held you at my highest standard and praise
For this strong boy into a man you helped raise
Forever the cigar smell will remind me of being a little boy
And those crazy car rides after school, oh what joy
Time after time you were there to take care of my needs
Even when I got poison ivy from walking in the weeds
I thank you for always being there for me when it counted
Especially when my lifes pressures mounted
Today is the day of the Kings as you know
But I celebrate it as your birthday, for the man that helped me grow

Standing Tall

How many times do you see a chicano standing tall
I've searched many places even in the mall
Proud of who they are and where they're going?
Instead I find slumped shoulders with no emotion showing
So I wander around searching for a friend in my raza
Pero aqui estoy un chicano muy fuerte en mi casa

I glare at my dark eyes and know that they windows
I gleam at my skin and know its different
I peer into my soul and know where its been
I look into my future and see no end

The reflection is all they see
The reflection is not just me
The reflection is just a door
And hidden in the reflection is much, much more.

Did Cotter Ever Leave to Grant a Welcome Back

As Vinny would sit there with a dumb look and say "WHAT"
Freddy "boom boom" Washington glared in a woman's eyes and say "HI THERE"
I sit and glaze at my sweathogs in today's classes
There still are those kids you call on and they say "what"
And there still are Arnold Horseshack's with hands raised, "O,O,O,O,O,O,O,"
So am I Gabe Cotter with my cheap 70's suit and curly man fro?
Hippest teacher who was once a Sweathog
Well if I am then here I am, willing to attempt to make a difference
Solving problems 45 minutes at a time
Trying to prove to the kids that sometimes, if they pay attention......
Sweathogs may be ruling this Country!

Don't give up. Don't ever give up

Jim Valvano was diagnosed with bone cancer in June 1992. In July, he found out that it had metastasized. Shortly before his death, he spoke at the inaugural ESPY Awards, presented by ESPN, on March 4, 1993. In that speech he had many moving points, including the following:

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special. Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all!


I choose to add this to my blog for the simple fact that, even though I have never had to fight a battle such as the fight against cancer, I do live by those 7 words each and every day(dont give up, don't ever give up). I always want to make myself better and to LIVE life not just survive, BUT TO LIVE IT!!

School Ties

Today I called my wife between classes to "Vent" about a situation I had with a student and them not following the rules of our campus. About 30 minutes later she sends me a message that I should read her blog. So I did and this was what I read:

I'm wondering if you have walked
inside a school today,
to see the rules they follow,
and the games the students play?
They know the tricks and secrets
to make things go their way,
and this is exactly what I saw
when I went to school today.

I saw a teacher yelling,
telling students to go to class.
I saw a student roll their eyes
and tell her to kiss their ass.
I saw the teacher make a face
as if they want to say,
"Do you know what I go through
when I go to school each day?"

I walked into the office
and saw students by the bunch,
some were tardy, some were sick,
some were waiting for mom to bring them lunch.
But, all of them were laughing
and playing by the way,
because this is how they spend their time
at school every day.

I went into a classroom
and saw a teacher head in hand,
it seemed no student cared about history
except the history of their favorite band.
I even saw some listening to music,
iPods neatly tucked away
because this is what they do in class
and at school every day.

I heard a noise out in the hall
and ran to take a look
I thought some kids were fighting
or that someone dropped a book
I saw a teacher take a bag, a no no by the way
but it seems that Johnny carries one
at school each and every day.

I followed little Johnny
to his locker for a peek
I wanted to see if Johnny would be strong
or fall to peer pressure and be weak
He did not put away his books, he gave them to a friend
and said, that teacher doesn't know what he just did
that teacher will meet his end.
For Johnny's mom is the head of the PTA and dad a CEO
and how much Johnny has gotten away with, the world may never know
but Johnny took out his cell phone, called mom and gave a grin
said, "Mom, a coach just took my bag, I can't have it taken away again."
I don't know what Mommy said, but Johnny smiled and smirked
"Thanks, Mom, you're the best. This school is run by jerks."

I walked back to the office and saw Johnny's mother running in
She said "I need the principal. That same teacher is after my boy again."
They closed the door behind him, a smile on the principal's face
and I knew that in that moment, that teacher had run his final race.
Little Johnny had his bag, by eleven o'clock that day
but that's just what happens when Mommy comes to school
to help you break the rules each day.

I don't know what will happen
to our country or our world
but I know that it depends on the education
of each little boy and girl
and this is being challenged
by the parents and TV so I say
walk into your childs school and see what you can see today.

By: Lori Gonzales