Golden shoes have glittered throughout history.  From the 2500 year old gold shoes that were discovered in the tomb of a Celtic Chieftain, to the golden racing cleats worn by US Sprinter Michael Johnson when he won gold at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

Which bring us to the Talaria, or golden, winged sandals worn by the Greek deity, Hermes, messenger of the gods.   Borne by his flying, gold shoes, Hermes was the god of transitions and boundaries.  He moved between the worlds of the mortal and divine, living and dead, and among travelers, shepherds, orators, thieves, athletes, poets, inventors and traders.

So, gold shoes at a graduation make more than just sartorial sense.  Graduation is really just a waypoint, a transition from one time and place to others, some as yet unknown.  And as the graduates of 2013 set out to cross boundaries from one world to another (and then others), hopefully they remember to pack their own Talaria to help them in their travels — the love of learning, curiosity, creativity in the fields they pursue, and the ability, like Hermes, to be an emissary on behalf of others and for themselves.

And in the spirit of Hermes, here is one last message, on behalf of those who attended the Graduation – a golden thank you to all of the parent volunteers who created the lovely Olympian bacchanalia that followed the graduation, including Maria Alvarez, Mamie Bittner, Angela Campbell, Darlene Como, Jessie Degryse, Olympia DeRosa, Donna and Peter Donnellan, Addison Greenwood, Judith Krones, Nancy Markus, Susan Okun, Cathy Osman, Joe Palca, Greta Rosenzweig, Bruce Speigel, Diane Thompson, Roberta Ujakavich, Joe Vellioux, Ellen Wilson, (breath…) and, of course, Sherri Jones, who led the entire effort with her usual aplomb and all-purpose talaria!

A handwritten sign on the door conveyed the news to disappointed customers.

It is unsurprising that Starbucks would fall victim to nautical mishap: its name derives from a character in Moby Dick.  From Monday, November 12th, at 8 AM, until Thursday the 15th, at 11:30 AM, the Starbucks Coffee in Van Ness, a regular haunt of Burke students and teachers alike, was closed for “plumbing issues.”  A water pipe elsewhere in the building collapsed, leading to a failure of the various plumbing installations in the building.  The fallout from this incident was rumored to be disastrous.  The floor drains, supposedly, began to regurgitate dirty water, and Starbucks’ district manager, Lauren Esveld, would not speak in detail about the conditions in the restrooms.  It will suffice to say that it was “gross.”

This calamitous event was not only gross, but inconvenient.  The closure led to the loss of an estimated $10,000, and countless customers were left disgruntled and groggy.  Lauren, the manager, said that they were mostly understanding, and happy to receive the free coffee that diligent employees gave out during the day.  Although there was free coffee, it might have turned to ashes in some people’s mouths because it was not a Pumpkin Spice Latte, the most popular item on the menu.

Throughout the closure, customers would peer in the windows anxiously while shadowy figures moved around within, perhaps preparing to reopen, or perhaps doing something more nefarious; it was impossible to tell.  The only part of Starbucks where you could see clearly what was going on was the pastry cabinet, where gloved and ungloved hands (disembodied) would reach in and adjust the pastries.

Chris Jones, a self-styled “Starbucks-aholic,” describes how difficult it is to be deprived of Starbucks.  He once spent an entire year, as a New Year’s resolution, eschewing Starbucks.  As soon as a year passed, Chris immediately slipped back into his Starbucks habit.  Melanie Brill, a student, performed a small, joyous dance maneuver (Beyoncé inspired) when she saw that Starbucks had returned to business.   Clearly, overpriced coffee deprivation is more challenging than you would expect.  Any hot beverage enthusiast will assure you that coffee at 7-11 is simply not as good.

The closure is not without its benefits.  One passerby admitted that they smoked fewer cigarettes because of the closure. By both addicts and dilettantes, the re-opening of Starbucks was heralded with delight.

A delightful young voter conducts some last second candidate research.

Watching the people in line outside Burke, waiting to vote in the 32nd precinct, I noticed that almost everyone was on their Smartphone.  I even witnessed one individual asking Siri who to vote for. What has this world come to when voters are making their decisions right before entering the voting booth??

The editors on the precipice of … something digital. Astride the digital divide, so to speak

Henceforth, The Cageliner will now post online! Rejoice, plebians, for no longer must you search for the print issue. Keep an eye on this space.

Jeffrey & hood

Jeffrey Robb (Burke ’10) was a lotta fun while at Burke.  Such fun included his excellent Burke-themed comic strip – The Organization, which you can find right here on Burke.Word (he’s still waiting on those royalty checks).   Unnamed sources (meaning I can’t say who’s mom told me) now tell your humble scribe and school yenta, that the tradition of fun continues as Jeffrey concludes his second year at Muhlenberg College.  Jeffrey is a company member of a somewhat rogue comedy troop called “Fun With Science” (you can tell their roguishness by the number of beards in the troop).  In one of their recent videos, Fun With Randy, they somehow extorted the President of the College, Peyton Randolph Helm, to come play with them outside.  Like most things Jeffrey does – you’ll love it.

2012 Middle School Softball Champs!

With apologies to Queen:  We are the champions, my friends.  We kept on fighting ’til the end.  We are the Champions.  We are the Cham….” Well, you get the picture.

2012 is a banner year for the Burke Middle School Softball Team!  Last year, this scrappy team came in a promising second place in what turned out to be a harbinger (AP English word) for this year’s run through the playoffs.  From spring training, until the final out on a long throw from Valerie to Sophia filling in for Esme, this team and this season has been special.  So special, in fact, that Sports historians, softball sabermatricians, and Burke graybeards are all looking into whether this is the first Sports Banner ever for a Burke Middle School team.

Final out on a long throw from short to first!

The wind-up… and the pitch…

With seven strong innings by pitcher, Catherine W…. and

She’s in 6th grade?!?!

Patient, solid hitting against a very strong Sandy Spring pitcher…and

Clockwork-like fielding, Burke played it calm and cool, like it has all season, to bring home the win, 6-1.

The season-capping win came before an SRO crowd comprised of parents, friends, many alums, and a bleacher-full of softball-loving faculty fans, including Bob K., Ginger, Monica, Susan, Guy, Judith, Michelle (and Chase), Wendell, and Daniel (channeling Casey Stengel).

Special thanks for such a special season go to all the coaches:  JD, Sam, Shala, and, of course, coach/team mascot Adam K.

Last, but not least, thanks for all the great action photos go to Holly Johnson!

Reggie!

In 1995 Reggie Wills, Burke Dir. of Equity & Inclusion, was teaching in a local elementary school.  One of his 5th grade students was Nathan Fleming.  This January, nearly 20 years later, Nathan somehow found Burke.Word, saw an article about Reggie that had been written a year earlier in 2011, and took the time to write a comment about Reggie on the blog.  Regrettably, I overlooked Nathan’s comment, and didn’t see it and post it to the site until today.

Here’s what Nathan had to say:

Reginald Wills is by far the greatest teacher I have ever had. It is truly noble for a man of his capability to dedicate his life to teaching others and promoting principles of equality and justice. If you ever read this Mr. Wills, please know that you forever changed my life, and I’m sure the lives of countless others.

Nathan Fleming
Former 5th Grade Student (1995?)

Pride can come in many forms, earned and unearned.  But, Nathan’s comment is a reminder about the nature of  lasting pride, the kind of pride that actually produces an almost physical reaction in your heart or catches your breath or tingles your skin.  And that pride is not just about words you hear, or a score you might get, or an award you earn, but is about the acts one does that live on in the lives of others who have been changed for the better.  Nathan’s comment, the work that Reggie has done/is doing – and the work that Burke (and other schools) does in the lives of people in the building and outside of it is something to be proud of.

PS – Reggie is among the humblest of men… so, I’m probably in a heap of trouble w/ him about now…

Burke MS Softball Bengals ’12

The Capitals beat the NY Rangers last night to deadlock their Eastern Conference Series at 3 a-piece.  Ho-hum.

The Nats dropped one to the Pirates, but still stand a-top the National League Eastern Division…. zzzzz.
The real buzz among the DC sports cognoscenti from Capitol Hill to Capitol Heights is the continuing march of the Middle School Softball Girl Bengals to the PVAC Championship Finals with a breath-taking playoff win over a very strong Covenant Life team.

With storm clouds threatening, and the game see-sawing back and forth, these Tigers pitched and hit their way to the final.  Kate S. and Catherine W. continued their solid performance off the mound this season, by holding down a powerful CovLife lineup that defeated Burke in the Finals last year.

All 10 Burkies contributed at the plate and on the basepaths.  Albert Pujols may be struggling at the plate, but Sofia and Aya stayed hot at the dish with key drives during the game.  And Catherine, helping her own cause turned in what proved to be a game-winning triple toward the end of the game, driving in the go-ahead runs.  But for your humble scribe, the play that should be on Sports Center rotation today was the game-saving, championship-earning, all-star, last-second, breath-taking, running-catch by rookie Natanya S. of a  frozen rope fading liner that would have put CovLife back on top in the last inning!!  Last, but certainly not least, Esme won a spontaneously given Good Sportsperson Gatorade from Covenant Life for helping one of their teammates after a collision at First.

The Championship match is at home this coming Monday against Sandy Spring.  Come on out to the old ball yard, there may be a few seats left, and see the team that everyone in DC is talking about!!

Go Bengals!!!

A special thanks goes out to the Coaches: JD, Shala, Sam and Adam K. for an exciting, great season!

Thanks to photo-journalist and dad, Jeff Taylor for the action photo.  Thanks also to veteran sports reporter and conga player Danny Weiss for the reportage.

["50 More Years of Trotsky!!"]