Jill, Derick & the Kids: Moving On!!

[JoanArc]

14 minutes ago, Trillium said:

I hope he’s not there to push some ultra conservative agenda.

Of course he is. He wants to be an abortion lawyer, FFS. His whole life is a revenge fantasy.

[Absolom]

32 minutes ago, Trillium said:

Derick tweeted he’s on the PTO at Iz’s school.

That doesn't mean any more than he paid the dues.  I'm a member of the PTO/PTA at my grandkids' school.  I normally attend two events a year and neither determines any policy.  This year I'll get my card and that will be it.  

[Genevrier]

Well, that’s Derrick all over. Trying to make what is literally the least you can do as a school parent sound important.

[Zella]

33 minutes ago, JoanArc said:

His whole life is a revenge fantasy.

Bahahahaha It totally is. Like a budget Batman without the costume. Or a Batmobile. Or Alfred. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Zella

[Genevrier]

14 minutes ago, Zella said:

Like a budget Batman without the costume. Or a Batmobile. Or Alfred.

Or Batman’s muscles. Or brains. 🙂

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, Genevrier said:

Or Batman’s muscles. Or brains. 🙂

It's a long list! 🤣

No Robin either. 

Batman's got better interpretive dance moves too. 😉 

[CalicoKitty]

Good for Derick for being on the board.  In every school where I have taught, it was difficult to get parents to serve.  That will also show Iz that school is important.  With his accounting background, Derick will know how to keep books and will be able to read the school district budget.  Two important things and many parents (and teachers) cannot do.  It is a lot more complicated than one would think.

[irisheyes]

1 hour ago, Trillium said:

Derick tweeted he’s on the PTO at Iz’s school. Seems like that might have been a better thing for Jill to take up since he’s in his last year of school himself. I hope he’s not there to push some ultra conservative agenda. I’m happy for Jill and making progress but I still think Derick is a bit self righteous. At least they have seems to stop the long winded blog posts where they try to teach us all to live, so who knows. Hopefully his involvement is to be supportive and not a know-it-all asshat. 

We sign parents up at Open House Day. Lots of schools try to get as many parents as they can to join. It’s like $7. 

[Jenniferbug]

1 hour ago, Absolom said:

That doesn't mean any more than he paid the dues.  I'm a member of the PTO/PTA at my grandkids' school.  I normally attend two events a year and neither determines any policy.  This year I'll get my card and that will be it.  

Yep! I pay dues every year because I don't mind them having the money to do things (like ordering pizza for teachers during conferences), but I've attended exactly one meeting. They prayed before it started, and I was so weirded out by praying in a public school that I decided it was probably not a good fit for me. It's entirely possible that the group at their school also leans religious and is a great fit for Derrick. 

[Absolom]

57 minutes ago, CalicoKitty said:

Good for Derick for being on the board.

What I read that he posted only said he joined not that he was on the board.  It's too early in the year to have held board elections. 

[CalicoKitty]

Just now, Absolom said:

What I read that he posted only said he joined not that he was on the board.  It's too early in the year to have held board elections. 

Thank you for the clarification.  I hope he does get involved at the school.

[BigBingerBro]

[JoanArc]

2 hours ago, Zella said:

Bahahahaha It totally is. Like a budget Batman without the costume. Or a Batmobile. Or Alfred. 

 And Robin sent to conversion therapy. 

[JAYJAY1979]

If having a child in public school helps teach Jill about structure and schedules..it will be a plus.  

 

[SMama]

On 8/27/2020 at 3:30 PM, Trillium said:

Derick tweeted he’s on the PTO at Iz’s school. Seems like that might have been a better thing for Jill to take up since he’s in his last year of school himself. I hope he’s not there to push some ultra conservative agenda. I’m happy for Jill and making progress but I still think Derick is a bit self righteous. At least they have seems to stop the long winded blog posts where they try to teach us all to live, so who knows. Hopefully his involvement is to be supportive and not a know-it-all asshat. 

Jill does not have the basic daily life and social skills to join the PTO. 

Edited September 1, 2020 by SMama
Life and live are different words.

[crazy8s]

to be fair Derick did not say if Jill joined or not, and she has made no comment on the PTO. maybe she joined or not. that is her choice

 In my experience with PTO, you joined on back to school night. sometimes they had a list of activities for the year and wanted volunteers to sign up for say, school fair, decorate bulletin boards, donate prizes for reading month, serve lunch on teacher appreciation day and such things.

Edited August 29, 2020 by crazy8s

[iwantcookies]

Jill sounds completely different. It’s like she had been deprogrammed or something. Go Jill go! Keep going forward!

[floridamom]

Jill should join the PTO. It would do her a world of good. I enjoyed my time there when my boys were in elementary school. I met a lot of very nice parents there and I got to know the staff better. It made things a bit easier for my boys while they attended that school. 

[GeeGolly]

31 minutes ago, floridamom said:

Jill should join the PTO. It would do her a world of good. I enjoyed my time there when my boys were in elementary school. I met a lot of very nice parents there and I got to know the staff better. It made things a bit easier for my boys while they attended that school. 

Me too. From Room Mother in nursery school and PTO member in elementary school, I made a lot of friends and was able to support my kids' schools. Fond memories for sure.

[BigBingerBro]

Baby steps.  Think about it, aside from going to a school with MEshell as part of a TLC stunt years prior, Jill never set foot in a school.  Not hard to understand why she wouldn't feel comfortable immediately joining the PTO.  After a year of Israel going to school, she'll learn the ins and outs of public education, plus I'm sure she'll be a shadow with Deertick.  She will perhaps feel more comfortable getting involved in a few years.

[GeeGolly]

28 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Baby steps.  Think about it, aside from going to a school with MEshell as part of a TLC stunt years prior, Jill never set foot in a school.  Not hard to understand why she wouldn't feel comfortable immediately joining the PTO.  After a year of Israel going to school, she'll learn the ins and outs of public education, plus I'm sure she'll be a shadow with Deertick.  She will perhaps feel more comfortable getting involved in a few years.

Jill is much more social than her siblings and I don't think she's ashamed or embarrassed of being homeschooled. Nor do I think she thinks homeschoolong disadvantaged her. If she hasn't already joined or volunteered for something at the school I think she will sooner, rather than later.

[lookeyloo]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Jill is much more social than her siblings and I don't think she's ashamed or embarrassed of being homeschooled. Nor do I think she thinks homeschoolong disadvantaged her. If she hasn't already joined or volunteered for something at the school I think she will sooner, rather than later.

I think so too.  She might meet another similar mom from Izzy's class and strike up a friendship of sorts and they could volunteer together for something.

[ginger90]

Around here, PTO members have to have clearances, as do people who come to assist in the schools. Perhaps Derick’s are current, and Jill needs to get hers. No clue if this applies to their school district.

[Absolom]

That's unusual.  Generally the only requirement is to have a relationship with a student or teacher at the school and pay your dues which are usually $10 or less.

To go into the school and do anything requires a TB test and a basic police check here.  Simply joining the association doesn't mean a person will be doing anything related to the students.  Most people who join don't sign up as volunteers. 

Arkansas isn't like the "big city" in most things so I don't think there is any requirement just to join except paying the dues.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Absolom

[doodlebug]

18 hours ago, Absolom said:

That's unusual.  Generally the only requirement is to have a relationship with a student or teacher at the school and pay your dues which are usually $10 or less.

To go into the school and do anything requires a TB test and a basic police check here.  Simply joining the association doesn't mean a person will be doing anything related to the students.  Most people who join don't sign up as volunteers. 

Arkansas isn't like the "big city" in most things so I don't think there is any requirement just to join except paying the dues.

Even if Jill never joins the PTO, she will find lots of opportunities to volunteer and work with other parents. She could drive on a field trip, help organize a class party, work at a school book sale...  There are endless possibilities, at least, there will be once the pandemic is over.  If nothing else, she is going to get to know Israel's teacher,  someone with a college education and a very different view of public schools than Jill was taught.  I'm sorta hoping that Israel's teacher is a gay agnostic person of color, but, will settle for a straight white mainstream Protestant.

[absnow54]

19 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Around here, PTO members have to have clearances, as do people who come to assist in the schools. Perhaps Derick’s are current, and Jill needs to get hers. No clue if this applies to their school district.

Like a DoD issued security clearances? That doesn’t seem right. Do you mean a background check?

[ginger90]

PTO members and others, are considered volunteers. As such the school district (PA) requires Child Abuse History, and State Police Criminal Record Check. Like I said no clue if this is the case for the Dillards.

[crazy8s]

that is not the case everywhere - i helped in the grand kids' classrooms last year. I had to check in at the office, sign my name on a check in sheet and get a volunteer name tag, that was it.

[Zella]

I was looking on my phone, which isn't my preferred medium for sleuthing, but I've looked at the FB page for the school PTO and their website, and I couldn't find any membership rules/requirements, which leads me to believe that joining is pretty easy. Looks like all the officers are women and one of them appears to be a WOC. Not sure how involved the Dillards will be, but the group was posting about Zoom arrangements for their meetings, so it seems like if they want to participate in the meetings, it's a fairly low-key way to do so.

[GeeGolly]

School volunteers in my area need to be CORI checked before they're allowed to be in the school with the kids. This wasn't the case years ago, but it is now.

[Zella]

6 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

School volunteers in my area need to be CORI checked before they're allowed to be in the school with the kids. This wasn't the case years ago, but it is now.

Yes I wouldn't be surprised if they had stricter rules for people who actually volunteer at the school. I actually don't know how a PTO works, but I assume a lot of people join but don't actually do anything beyond paying dues. At least that is my experience with volunteering. Lol

I did wonder if Derick joined as a way of bolstering his opportunities for community involvement and networking, especially if he intends to remain in the area after law school, which seems to be the case. I remember reading that back in the 30s as a newly established lawyer, Richard Nixon was encouraged to join a variety of community organizations for that very reason, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's still true. In my rural counry, the young attorneys do seem fairly civic-minded and have been pretty good about getting involved in local organizations, though that could also just be their personalities too. Wonder if any of our lawyers on here got similar advice? 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Zella

[doodlebug]

55 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

School volunteers in my area need to be CORI checked before they're allowed to be in the school with the kids. This wasn't the case years ago, but it is now.

Catholic schools use a system called VIRTUS and I know anyone doing ongoing volunteer work has to undergo a background check as well as take a training course.  I doubt someone stopping in on grandparents' day is required to do it but I know my church makes all adults who work with the PSR (parish school of religion; religion classes for kids who go to public school) do it.

Years ago, one of my nephews, who was 18 or 19, got hired to do lawn care and maintenance work at a local Catholic high school during the summer.  Even to mow the lawn, he needed VIRTUS; which, according to him, taught him to 'never speak to any student, ever, for any reason and 'stay at least 100 yards away from all girl students'.  I don't think it was really that strict, but he got the message.  He also wasn't a perv and the thought of messing with a 14 year old skivved him right out.

Of course, the Catholic Church wasn't always so careful. 

I'd imagine Jill might actually benefit from a course like VIRTUS where the rules are laid out clearly and there is no acceptance or tolerance of deviant behavior since that is not the message she got from her parents.

[CalicoKitty]

In my school district, anyone can join PTA, but anyone who comes on campus to do work with students must have a background check.  Parents and volunteers are not allowed to be left alone with students.  A school employee (teacher, administrator) must always be present.  So for example, a grandparent can come every week to work in the classroom (after the background check is on file), but cannot be left alone with students. Same for driving for field trips.  Parents must have proof of insurance, and a background check.  It is surprising how many parents who want to volunteer or drive don't pass the background check.  

[Mountainair]

Personally, I’m jealous they get to send their kids to an actual school building at all! We are all virtual here. 
I have been a parent volunteer at my kids charter school in the past years. I had to attend an orientation meeting one time and then each year I have to renew my volunteer badge through something called BIB. They do a background check and it costs me something like $20.00. All field trips were done by bus and parents weren’t even allowed on the bus. We had to drive our own vehicles.  I was frequently left alone with the children in the classroom so the teacher could use the restroom or key copies, etc. I found it very rewarding because I would also be given my own group of about five or six kids that I would work with independently on reading or math, etc. 

My renewal email came this week and I didn’t even bother because who knows when my kids will even be back to real school. My youngest is four and her preschool is closed. Not even a virtual option. I purchased a preschool curriculum and starting tomorrow will have my two nieces plus a preschool friend here at my home 3 days a week to do at home preschool. Every kid deserves an opportunity to learn 🙂

[DangerousMinds]

41 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

Personally, I’m jealous they get to send their kids to an actual school building at all! We are all virtual here. 
I have been a parent volunteer at my kids charter school in the past years. I had to attend an orientation meeting one time and then each year I have to renew my volunteer badge through something called BIB. They do a background check and it costs me something like $20.00. All field trips were done by bus and parents weren’t even allowed on the bus. We had to drive our own vehicles.  I was frequently left alone with the children in the classroom so the teacher could use the restroom or key copies, etc. I found it very rewarding because I would also be given my own group of about five or six kids that I would work with independently on reading or math, etc. 

My renewal email came this week and I didn’t even bother because who knows when my kids will even be back to real school. My youngest is four and her preschool is closed. Not even a virtual option. I purchased a preschool curriculum and starting tomorrow will have my two nieces plus a preschool friend here at my home 3 days a week to do at home preschool. Every kid deserves an opportunity to learn 🙂

Your kids and you are probably safer with virtual right now. Just because people are tiring of the pandemic doesn’t mean it’s getting any better. And winter is coming.

[Mountainair]

12 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Your kids and you are probably safer with virtual right now. Just because people are tiring of the pandemic doesn’t mean it’s getting any better. And winter is coming.

Don’t believe that but thanks. Now all these kids are going to get every Illness known to man because they haven’t been exposed to any germs in months. Pumping everyone with Vitamin D, C and a multi daily. The education system is a joke right now so yea- I’m with the Dullards on this one. Kids need to be in school. And now I’m probably banned 🙂

[crazy8s]

12 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

Don’t believe that but thanks. Now all these kids are going to get every Illness known to man because they haven’t been exposed to any germs in months. Pumping everyone with Vitamin D, C and a multi daily. The education system is a joke right now so yea- I’m with the Dullards on this one. Kids need to be in school. And now I’m probably banned 🙂

i don't believe anyone gets banned here for stating an opinion as long as they stay within the site rules

but on your point of kids not being exposed to germs - how does that fit with the duggars and others that exclusively home school? would those children not always have the same risk due to lack of exposure

probably further conversation on this should move to small talk

[GeeGolly]

I think every person, including Izzy, is probably safer being in a small bubble. With that said, my kids are grown, I haven't been with them 24/7, for months, nor do I have to manage homeschooling and work. While I think I would keep my kids home, I don't really know. 

So I'm going to try and withhold judgment on whatever decision parents make regarding their school age children.

[realityfan26]

1 hour ago, Mountainair said:

Don’t believe that but thanks. Now all these kids are going to get every Illness known to man because they haven’t been exposed to any germs in months. Pumping everyone with Vitamin D, C and a multi daily. The education system is a joke right now so yea- I’m with the Dullards on this one. Kids need to be in school. And now I’m probably banned 🙂

Taking my response to small talk. 

[DangerousMinds]

A lot of schools that have opened have quickly had to shut right back down again. Universities also having lots of issues. And it’s not opinion that our numbers are still growing daily in this country. Facts do not equal opinion. Pretty important to make that distinction.

[galaxygirl76]

20 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

A lot of schools that have opened have quickly had to shut right back down again. Universities also having lots of issues. And it’s not opinion that our numbers are still growing daily in this country. Facts do not equal opinion. Pretty important to make that distinction.

My kid's school opened on Monday and had to close on Thursday due to a positive case. I'm so happy to be virtual. 

[Quilt Fairy]

I would think that elementary schools have the best chance of staying COVID free, since the students aren't going to bars and frat parties after class. 

[ginger90]

 

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, ginger90 said:

 

I presume he is referring to unborn people and conservative Christians.  I don't think Derick thinks the rest of us are getting taken advantage of; we're getting what we deserve in his estimation, I suspect.

[lookeyloo]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

I presume he is referring to unborn people and conservative Christians.  I don't think Derick thinks the rest of us are getting taken advantage of; we're getting what we deserve in his estimation, I suspect.

Really.  don't see him going into Legal Aid or public defender.

[CalicoKitty]

I thought he might be referring to people "taken advantage of" like Jill; children forced to work and children abused in the home.  It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

[GeeGolly]

Exciting news! Jill and Amy met at a thrift store.

[emmawoodhouse]

2 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Exciting news! Jill and Amy met at a thrift store.

And Jill can never have too many baskets! 

[Madtown]

19 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Exciting news! Jill and Amy met at a thrift store.

Just when Jill takes 3 steps forward, she takes 2 steps back. She and Amy were looking at Easy Bake Ovens and Jill said... "Being 2 boy mom's, we can't do this." UGH! I was actually hoping Amy would have taught her otherwise.

Jill, if you are reading here...YES, your boys CAN play with an Easy Bake Oven! They would probably have a lot of fun with it. They even had different colors and some being "boy" colors.

[Westiepeach]

1 hour ago, Madtown said:

Jill, if you are reading here...YES, your boys CAN play with an Easy Bake Oven! They would probably have a lot of fun with it. They even had different colors and some being "boy" colors.

Bobby Flay, you know, the CHEF, received an Easy Bake Oven when he was young. And look where he is now...