No debate about it, Josie’s headed to Washington

Josie holds her medal on stage after winning first place at the National History Day competition in Columbia, Mo.

Josie is headed to Washington, D.C.!

Last Saturday, she took first place in the junior individual performance category at the statewide National History Day competition in Columbia, Mo. Her project is titled “Frontiers in History: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.”

The national competition will be held June 11-15.

“I’m glad I was able to be there with my friends,” Josie said. “It was an exhilirating experience, and I was very surprised when I won.”

Josie’s not alone — several of her classmates at STEAM Academy Middle School either won special awards, or placed high enough to advance to Washington.

Josh takes notes about an 1858 letter at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ill.

Josie has spent many hours researching, writing, editing, and performing her project. After advancing in her school and regional competitions, she traveled with her family to the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Ill., where she read first-person accounts of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and even handled a document from 1858 written by a Republican committee in Galesburg, Ill., in which they promised that “our champion [Lincoln] understands the ‘little dodger,’ [Douglas] and will no doubt pin him to the wall as he has heretofore.”

I drove Josie out to Columbia early on Saturday, and we stayed there until the evening. This was NHD’s first in-person competition in several years, and it was fun to see creative costumes and props as students crowded the halls waiting for their turns.

It was fun to walk the campus and the city. Besides seeing Josie compete and win, the next best part of the day was our visit to Cafe Poland. It’s a tiny place with authentic, homemade food that was even better than I hoped. I ate the bigos (stew with sauerkraut and meat), Josie had crepes, and we brought home some pierogies to share. One of my favorite all-time dining experiences.

The mystery of the missing clarinet

Joseph plays his clarinet on Thanksgiving for a school assignment.

Last fall, Joseph began playing clarinet with the STEAM Middle School band. This was a new instrument for Joseph, and for our family. We accepted an offer from Mary Ann, a friend at church, to use her daughter’s old clarinet, a beautiful old Buffet Crampon model made in France.

To our delight, Joseph has learned very quickly, making enormous progress since the fall. We enjoy hearing him practice, and it’s been fun to see him in the fall and spring concerts.

But disaster struck on a recent Thursday.

When Joseph and Josie came home on a recent Thursday, Joseph didn’t have his clarinet.

Yoli was certain she had seen him leave the house with it early that morning. Joseph, meanwhile, insisted he didn’t have the clarinet with him when he walked into STEAM Middle that morning.

A thorough search of our house didn’t turn up anything. When Yoli checked with the bus driver, she hadn’t found it. Nor was it in the school’s lost and found.

We began to feel desperate. Joseph needed to practice for his spring concert, which was just days away, and would count for a grade.

It was time to go full-on Inspector Morse … or Lynley … or Foyle … or Miss Scarlet. (We watch a lot of British inspectors)

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‘Truth isn’t dead’: My John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award speech

Josh and Yoli hold the Press Freedom Award.

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, Yoli and I attended a gala at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. where I was given the domestic John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award. It was my privilege to accept the award and speak briefly about my experience.

Since then, several people have asked for the text of my remarks, so I’m publishing a transcript here for posterity. Below I have also included a video excerpt of me at the event.

I encourage you to also make time to watch the story of persecuted journalist Rana Ayyub, the other John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award winner.

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Joseph earns a bike

Joseph’s final BWorks class, where he earned a new bike.

In June, Joseph earned a new bike through the BWorks program. Joseph tells the story:

At BWorks, we learned the parts of the bike and how to change tires. I decorated my bike helmet.

One time we did a slow race where the slowest person wins, but you can’t let your feet touch the ground.

We got pick out bikes. The green one was already taken, so I picked a blue one. It didn’t have a kickstand, which made my life harder until they installed one for me.

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Joseph gets a new bedroom

This panoramic photo shows the results of the first of framing.

This year, we constructed a new room in the basement for Joseph to move into, giving each of the kids their own room. It was a long road to get here.

Joseph tells the rest of the story:

I have a new bedroom. It’s in the basement, so the ceiling is low.

It all started with the sounds of drilling in the night. There were builders at our house! I went downstairs and there was a bunch of wood studs instead of our old TV room.

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It’s World Press Freedom Day — and National Teacher Day

Most readers of this blog are already familiar with the story.

Last year I was persecuted politically by our state executive after I reported on Missouri’s failure to protect teacher information.

So today is an interesting convergence for me: It’s both World Press Freedom Day and National Teacher Day.

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Farewell, Nan

Josh opens presents with Nan, including a Tomy toy computer.

Growing up, it felt like I often had to start over — moving to new houses, switching schools, losing grandfathers.

One of the rocks I could cling to amid the sea of changes was Nan.

Her house at 5118 Village Lawn in San Antonio was like my lifelong second home. I can’t think back to a time without it, without her.

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