The Road a GPS Doesn't Know

Recalculating...recalculating.


When you hear that word, all you want to do is scream, "Can't you just tell me where to go?" Trust me; it will  usually get you there. You may have to give it a second; stay patient. But a GPS can't always tell you where you're going.

Sunday, January 22, 2012, started like any other Sunday. Sleep in. Go to church. Plan on watching some playoff football. I had just completed the second week of my last semester at college. Just two days prior, I had completed and submitted my first application for a math teaching opening in St. Joe. As I was putting my laundry away, that's all that was on my mind: getting that call, receiving a chance at an interview.

What can I bring to their school? What would I wear? How long will it take for me to hear from them? Do I have my homework done for tomorrow? Wha...


My phone rings. It's one of my two teachers I student taught under. With no expectations, I answered...

Hey, Tricia. How are ya?
---Well...not too good really...Are you sitting down?
Um..yeah. What's going on? What's the matter?
---Dale died of a heart attack this morning.


Silence. Shock. Dale was the other teacher I student taught with/under. We had become pretty close. The conversation continued with my disbelief, her explanation of the situation, tears shed by us both, consolation for one another, back and forth it went.

My thoughts were immediately to my last time seeing Dale, my concern for his family, for the school. Those were the only thoughts; then more information was brought to me.

They want you to fill in his position for the rest of the year.


I scrambled for words. Tried to sound strong, confident. They wanted me to think about it and let them know that night. I hung up the phone. That was the first time I broke down. I got on my knees and prayed. I prayed for Dale's family, for the school, and for God's direction for my life. I called and talked to my dad, my brothers. Called one of my professors at the college to see what I could do. Called the school to tell them I would do it. That school needed me. Those kids needed me.

So it began - the very next day. I was now a full-time teacher. A full-time college student. The manager of the local country club. Three weeks from my 22nd birthday.

Overwhelming? Absolutely, but in a way you wouldn't expect. Sure there have been days I've been absolutely exhausted. I've come home, went to my room and cried on a few occasions. Always followed by a prayer of thanks and for strength. But, the stress/scheduling of being a full-time teacher and full-time college student at the same time hasn't been the overwhelming part; it's been the support.


It starts at the top with my Lord and Savior. I'll finish up with that in a bit.

Next it goes to my parents - I honestly can't describe the love they've shown. Overwhelming.

My brothers and their wives. Unending support, advice, prayers, etc from them. Overwhelming.

The Maryville High School administration and faculty. Every day several of them stop and ask how I'm doing or what they can do to help. Overwhelming.

The Maryville community. People I don't even know. People whose kids aren't even students. Overwhelming.


My friends. I know most of them really don't understand it all and I know that many of them feel like I've shut them out or abandoned them. I promise that's not the case. They've been so supportive even though I'm hardly ever around any more. Overwhelming.


Northwest Missouri State University (especially Dr. Christine Benson). You want to know why to come to Northwest? They care about their students. In my biggest time of need and some real trials, they stepped up. They went to bat for me. They made a ton of special arrangements so that I can do this and still graduate in April. Overwhelming.


Dale's family. At the visitation they stood there grieving and kept expressing their support for me. Be strong. Be strong. That was their message. Overwhelming.


Lastly, my students. They bounce back better than anyone. They are resilient. They are battlers. I know there are days when I'm not great, but I would give it all for those kids. They are able to get past my "new teacher struggles" and help me get through. On my second day, one of my classes gave me a card signed by the entire class. It included notes such as: "We wouldn't want anyone else," "Thank you so much," "We are so glad you're here." Overwhelming.


I led off speaking of my God. The road He has paved for me is one that no GPS will ever be able to give directions to. I have been blessed beyond words. Just last week, it was made official that I will be teaching math as well as coaching baseball and basketball at Maryville High next year. The story just keeps building. I'm so undeserving; I'm a sinner. But God has blessed me with a lot of talents and has now started me down this road. He's called on me to be here. Nowhere else except for here. It's a dream come true. I've wanted to be here since late in my freshman year of college. Here I am. Closing no doors. Asking God daily for directions. He's better than any GPS; trust me. Overwhelming.

Again, thanks for all the support. I leave you with this. Colossians 3:23-24: And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.


I work for the Lord. I pray that He continues to use me in a way that brings Him the glory. I pray the same for each of you.

Another Day, Another Scholar

Okay, so maybe the actual saying is more like "Another day. Another dollar." And sure, we have to make money to make a living. Trust me; I know. However, I make it a point to go into my day a little differently. I have created this spin-off I like to refer to as "Another Day. Another Scholar."


Cheesiest thing I've ever heard.


Definitely a bit cheesy, but if you want, just stop reading. I go in to each day looking at the opportunities I have with each person (student, teacher, or other faculty member). How can I help them learn? or How can I make their day a little bit better? It's not a terribly easy thing (especially the learning part). But it's worth the effort.

I had a moment while teaching the other day where I had just had enough. Students had been a bit restless that day; oh well, that's teenagers for you. But I had heard the statement, "I'm not good at math," (okay, it was probably more like, "I suck at math," but that's just details) far too many times. This was said as I was doing a problem with the class on the board (topic that we were spending our third day on due to failure to grasp or master the concept). As soon as I heard this student say that, I just stopped mid-problem and chucked my marker straight into the air (right or wrong, it got kids' attention). I instantly went into big-time fiery speech mode.

I was all fired up, but surprisingly not in an angry manner. I saw this as a moment to dig a little deeper and work extra hard to motivate those kids that day. I asked several students what they liked to do or were good at doing. After receiving their answers, I asked them why they enjoyed it. I got answers such as:

Competition, fun, challenging, etc...


Then I asked them what they did to get better at those things. Predictably...

Practice, effort, time, etc...


From that moment, all I did was ask each of them to apply those characteristics to math. I told those who enjoyed things that challenged them to look no further; math is a challenging subject. Conquer a problem. Do anything necessary to solve something you have to struggle with.

For those who were of the competitive spirit, I told them to challenge one another. Don't be happy with letting your friend next to you get a better grade. Don't shoot for a 3.0 when you can do better. Don't let that problem scare you; beat it.

As I concluded my speech (this had lasted about 5-10 minutes) I told them what we were going to do. We were going to conquer this topic through practice, effort, time, and belief. My final line was one similar to that of San Francisco 49ers Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh. "Who's got this better than us?" Nobody!

The kids have worked their tails off. And have mastered it. They come to class with a little pep, a little swagger. I realize we can't always take multiple days on a specific lesson, but I honestly feel that we (yes, myself included) learned more than just one lesson throughout this process.

I'm blessed, folks. Blessed with the opportunities I have. And with our God in control, who's got it better than us?

NOBODY!

Number of the Day: 214

Why in the world is your number of the day 214? I'll get to that - chill out. Let's show some much deserved respect for this number first by doing a little discussion about it.

214 is...

• The number of millions of international migrants worldwide
• The number of bones in the human body
• A number with prime factors of 2 and 107
• The area code for the Dallas, Texas area
• August 1st, 2012 (214th day of the year)
• The digits for Valentine's Day
• A combination of Allen Craig and Yadier Molina's uniform numbers
• 111 years more than the Chicago Cubs World Series drought of 103 years (so maybe you don't suck so bad Cubs fans - eh, don't kid yourselves; they suck)
• Dave Duncan's career batting average in the Major Leagues

Oh, and by the way (sticking to the baseball theme and the reason it is relevant today), it's the amount (in millions of dollars) that Prince Fielder's new contract (signed today) with the Detroit Tigers is worth. Let's break it down a bit more.

• $23.7 million per year
• $148,834 per game (if he played all 162 games in each of the next nine years - which he won't)
• $216,507,349 more than a teacher in the state of Michigan (where he'll be playing) would make in those nine years if they made the state's average salary of $54,739
• $7 million more than Albert Pujols will make in the next nine years (yes, Pujols will make an additional $30 million 10 years from now)

Okay, okay; I'm done with all the number crunching, but isn't it kinda neat to look at and think about. I mean, that's quite a commitment. Think about your life in nine years? (it'd probably be a bit different if you had $214 million coming your way over that time period) But seriously. Where will you be? What will you be doing? You don't know. Prince Fielder doesn't know. I sure as hell don't know. None of us do. In 214 minutes I'll be at Applebee's Trivia Night (we'll probably lose for the 14th week in a row; classic brilliance at it's finest). But even that's not a guarantee. Just saying, when things like this come up it makes me really take a step back and think of time and what is or isn't promised to us. There's a time, His time. And by the way, I don't happen to care if I have $214 million or $2.14 to my name when it is time. Why not? He doesn't care either.

**One last fun fact about the number 214 (this is kinda cool for Cardinal fans). 214 days from today is August 25, 2012. On August 25, 2011, the Cardinals began their historic comeback run to a World Series title. Cool day. Cool fact.**

Thursday, August 25, 2011, 8:15 pm , Busch Stadium III Attendance: 36,503, Time of Game: 3:11
Pirates 4 61-69 ⇐ Lost 1 ⇒ 4th, 16 GB Clint Hurdle	at	Cardinals 8 68-63 ⇐ Won 1 ⇒ 2nd, 9½ GB Tony LaRussa	W: Edwin Jackson (10-9) L: Charlie Morton (9-7)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Pirates 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 1 Cardinals 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 X 8 12 1

Frame It, File It, or Trash It

• Game 6 of 2011 World Series - Framed. (I've seen highlights of this game over 100 times. I've gotten goosebumps EVERY time.)
• Mike Jones' tackle in Super Bowl XXXIV - Framed.
• The first time a student said "Mr. Kurz, you're awesome! You should teach here!" - Framed.
• The day I was baptized - Framed.
• Carrying the casket of my grandparents - Framed.

Every moment in time that passes, every day that happens, every word spoken or heard. All have to go somewhere. Some - like those above - are framed. Some are filed away. Some are trashed. How that process works is sometimes a mystery..

Like why in the world did I file away the memory of the 1996 MLB Playoffs (yes, I was only 6 years old) when the Cardinals collapsed and blew a 3-1 series lead in the NLCS to the Braves? Yes, i have that memory filed away. However, I can't remember how to do some important things in upper-level math that would be helpful for Abstract Algebra (I'll give you a moment to wash up after barfing at the sound of that class).

The majority of the information I've ever been taught in school has been trashed. The majority of the rest (yes, I know that's probably not politically correct) has been partially filed away. Just a tiny little bit has been framed. Each of us has different criteria for framing. What's important to me may not be as important to you. I wish I could convert more of the files to frames.

The quadratic formula - Framed. I can see Mrs. Conlan at the front of that classroom signing away. Still. And EVERY time I need to use the quadratic formula - BOOM! - her voice pops into my head. That lady inspired me. Yes, she was quirky and pretty doggone nerdy, but I learned as much mathematically in that one class as I have to date. She was a framer. She made a point of being a framer; it was her goal. It was her passion.

Coach Chance running/jumping/flying/(insert any other form of excitable, quick movement) to tell us we'd gotten 2nd place at the State Cross Country Meet - Framed. To be honest, it has very little to do with the fact we got 2nd. Honestly. It's the pure joy, happiness, sense of pride in us that coach had. That meant so much to him. To this day, I would go out and run a 5k for him (trust me, it'd be much slower than it was in 2004). He framed that moment for me. Why? Helping us succeed, teaching us to be great, and inspiring us to do the unthinkable (we had "absolutely no shot" on paper to challenge for a state title) was his passion. 

People caring enough about me and my success to go out of their way to help me understand something or be great at something is more than enough to meet the criteria of framing in my mind. Passion is a magnetic trait. Not enough people have a passion or show passion for anything.

I have failed at a lot of things; I have made a lot of mistakes. I know I will be down and fail again. But there is one thing I promise that you cannot accuse me of: not being passionate about things I love and those whom I love. When/if I am blessed with the opportunity to have my own classroom, it will be my daily mission to be a framer. I will work as hard as I can, using the strengths God has given me, to frame things of importance in the minds of my students.

P.S. I am currently reading (by force, not choice) Great Moments in Mathematics: Before 1650. I have a feeling that my trash can just might become a bit more full in the near future..

It Doesn't Always Take a Whoopin' Stick

As a kid, I raised cattle. Many times (whatever the circumstance) we would have to corral the cattle and get them up in a certain pen, different pasture, etc. In this transition, I (not just me, I was no all-star cowboy) would have to use a stick and smack or poke the cattle to prod them along. Constantly. Hey, you stupid cow, don't you understand that I won't hit you if you'd just walk?!

I would venture to say that it is frowned upon (at best) to use a "whoopin' stick" or "prodding stick" on a person to get them to work towards something, so what the heck are we supposed to do with those around us who balk and won't move without a push? How do we get them to work hard? The starting point is pretty doggone simple: care about them. If that doesn't apply; don't read on. You won't help anyone unless you genuinely care for them. Let me explain.

Care about them
I wish to become an educator is so that I can do everything in my power and use my God given talents to help students reach their full potential. All through school, sports, and life, one of the things that has frustrated me the most is people who don’t reach their potential because no one cared. It is my belief that as an educator you will fail unless you genuinely care that your students succeed. When I say succeed, I don’t necessarily mean get an "A" grade. Success is much more than a letter. Success is about working hard, thinking deeply, finding meaning in complex situations and places, improving one’s self, etc. Sometimes it takes putting your job, your relationship(s), and your reputation on the line all as an effort to help kids develop and move toward reaching their potential. When an individual sees you make it personal, they feel the support. Personally, when I know that someone believes in me I go out there and give it my all and prove that they're right. Give people that feeling. Believe in someone you know is struggling. Believe in your students. Believe in your friends. When you believe, you care. When you care, you will stay with it and push them because you truly want a great outcome. And you'd be absolutely shocked sometimes at what can happen.

If you believe in them, it gives them a reason to believe in themselves. And when that happens, possibilities are endless...

For those of you reading this, I don't know what you're going to do with your life. But I do know there are others in your life. And believe it or not at least one of them needs you. Right now. Tell them you care. Show them you care. Do what is necessary to help them. Trust me, they won't be the only benefactors.

Letter to Me

**I found this on my computer. Written in fall 2010 for my Adolescent Psychology class. Some interesting thoughts**

Letter to Me

Jason Kurz

            I feel a little bit like Brad Paisley writing this letter. In his song titled “Letter to Me,” he tried to give himself advice and support. The phrase from that song that I like the best is, “You’ve got so much up ahead, you’ll make new friends…these are nowhere near the best years of your life.”

Dear Me,

After this semester, there are definitely some things I wish I knew the importance of then that I do know now. The most important thing had to deal with my identity. It’s something that I have realized since I left high school, but during this class this semester, it opened my eyes even more. In high school, I really let my activities guide who I was. I just played the part of the jock, big-time high school athlete. Why? Because it was comfortable, and that’s what my fellow athletes did. When I was by myself, that’s not the person I was. Yes, sports were/are still one of the most important things in my life; it’s in my blood. But, the “jock” persona was not mine. I did this to increase my sociometric status, which our textbook defines as “the extent to which children and adolescents are liked or disliked by their peer group.” That was what was important to me at the time. But there were instances, such as in class and in the community, where I feel like I became what our book calls a “controversial child.” Many times, my peers got frustrated by my success in the classroom and things of that nature. Late in my senior year, I finally came to the realization that Brad Paisley talked about. When I go to college, I will make new friends. It will be my chance to re-identify myself as the person I want to become. The true self-identification process was helped by the fact that I was the only one from my graduating class to attend Northwest. And since I’ve gotten here, sociometric status has had no effect on me. That would’ve been helpful to realize in adolescence.

One other thing I wish I would’ve been better about was appreciating my mom more and arguing with her about the small things less. I always was and am very close to my entire family. Though we are really spread out, we remain a very tight-knit group. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always appreciated the blessing of my family. However, as an adolescent, I tended to take a poor approach with my mom on a lot of occasions. It usually started with my tone. And the majority of the time, our disagreements had nothing to do with anything important. I just got worked up and got into the frame of mind that I was embarrassed by my mom and that she was just clueless when it came to the issues I dealt with. A mixture of things helped me to realize that that wasn’t the way to go: maturation, being away from my parents, and more reinforcement gained from Chapter 8. Since I’ve come to college, I have been able to get a better grasp on how truly blessed I am to have a complete, close family. Friends and people I’ve met don’t always have that. The book talked about the struggles of adolescents in rough family situations, and it’s hard for me to fathom. The movie Bang, Bang, You’re Dead also helped me gain appreciation because his parents were, in my opinion, awful.

            Appreciate what you have, appreciate who you are, and keep your priorities in order.

God Bless,

Older (better looking) Me

Having a Passion

It hurts me to see people go through life without a passion; honestly, there are those who seemingly only have a pulse and nothing else. This is a problem I've never been accused of having. Never. You know who else you can't criticize for having a lack of passion or things to be passionate about? Tim Tebow. Take the following two pieces as an example...

A friend of mine came up to me last night and said, "You've always been the one in our class who is the most passionate about teaching and wanting to teach. Hands down." That was super meaningful to me. I hadn't necessarily thought about that, and not to sound arrogant - but he's right. I don't do it as a gimmick; it's not an act. I want to teach. I want to coach. I want to be a positive influence in the lives of kids and in the lives of those around me. Period. 

I got the opportunity to speak to some of my fellow classmates before their student teaching experience begins. And my last statement to those classes was this: "If you help a student or do something that leads to the improvement of a student and you don't get absolute chills or at least get some awesome feeling from that, then we don't need you in the teaching profession; do something else." After that statement I received some interesting looks. And yes, I know it sounds harsh. But it's the truth. I spent my Friday night last week watching a high school girls' basketball game. I said it; girls basketball. It wasn't about the basketball (although that helps) but it was about the kids. My students out there. I was so in to the game not because I'm passionate about basketball and sports (which I am) but because I care for those kids. I want to see them succeed. Shouldn't that be our focus towards all people?

In my lifetime, I shamefully admit way too many times when I have not been a kind person to a stranger or even those I know. That absolutely pains me to say that. I have mentioned numerous times how the last few months have been some of the best of my life. One of the reasons is that I've had that change in focus. God has worked on me; it's been awesome. Some probably see it as "just a phase" or whatever, but this is me now. I'm growing up and making some major shifts in my life. Going in to similar situations with a completely different mindset.

My gorgeous niece, Hannah turned 4 this weekend; I missed her birthday; my equally perfect niece, Kendall had her first dance recital this weekend; I missed that. I have missed way too much in both of their lives. I can't express how much that kills me inside. I just hope they know - just like I hope my entire family, my students, etc know - how much I love and care about them. I'm on a mission to better the lives of those around me and let them know what I'm all about and how much I care; I've truly been blessed.

I leave you with this: Have a passion. Put every bit of yourself into something you love. But also look and think about what you can do to bring joy, happiness, or just a better day to someone else. God will truly bless you for it.

Systems of Inequalities

In honor of tomorrow being my last day of student teaching, it's time for a piece of what I teach for a living!! I promised there was going to be some math on this blog!! Duh, read the title ya'll. This blog is actually for those of you who obviously don't read my blog, but stare at the system of inequalities on the background of my blog homepage. I know that you - just like me - have been curious about what the area of the solution set is...so as any completely normal human being (and by normal I mean completely, ridiculously nerdy and distracted) I found it...

This region is formed by two triangles and one rectangle. To find the area of the entire shaded region, we must find the sum of the areas of the two triangles and the rectangle. The area of the small triangle is (2 x 2)/2 = 2. The area of the large trianlge is (6 x 3)/2 = 9. Lastly, the area of the rectangle is (2 x 4) = 8. Thus the area of the shaded region is 2 + 9 + 8, which is equal to 19 square units.

I thought about posting a video with me talking through this instead of typing it out, but I know you enjoyed suffering through that. Happy mathing, world.

BREAKING NEWS: I love sports even more than I thought

My Mizzou Tigers are 8-0, ranked 10th nationally, and are coming off of another big win in the national spotlight. Albert Pujols is rumored to be getting closer and closer to re-signing with the Cardinals. College football bowl season is about to be underway. NFL playoff races are heating up. Fantasy football season is becoming intense. People are signing left and right at the MLB Winter Meetings. Even my favorite wrestler (pride of Frankford, MO) Kane, is rumored to be returning with a vengence. It's a virtually unending list of WOW. So what in this group of pure awesomeness in sports am I most excited about??

None of the above.

(If you survived the heart attack or sudden loss of breath you suffered after reading that last line, you can read on and give me a chance to explain.)

I'm most excited about the opportunity to coach high school sports. I went to Maryville High's home girls basketball games last night. As I sat in the stands, I caught myself so in to the game that I scared myself. I was analyzing this, visualizing that. My cooperating teacher was making fun of me today talking about how engaged I was. I have never wanted to be on the sidelines more in my life. We have some talented kids on that team. I left that gym feeling like if I had a month to work with a couple of those kids that I would make that team exponentially better; I have the itch, I can't wait to coach. This whole student teaching experience has been awesome; I love making kids better or helping them succeed. I've gotten that opportunity in the classroom and can't wait to continue that. But I also can't wait to continue to do so on the court and/or field, whichever is necessary..

And that's the final buzzer. This blog is over. I was the winner. And whoever suffered through this probably not so entertaining or important blog post, you, my friends, are the losers :)

It All Starts With One

Priority ONE

God
             - Through Him, all things were made. I believe I was put on this Earth for ONE reason; glorify Him. I look at and re-read this verse at the beginning of everyday - Colossians 3:23-24: "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord.

ONE Amazing Family

They truly are amazing. 

             - The best parents a kid could ask for. They've loved, they've cared, they've pushed, they've driven hundreds of thousands of miles. I miss them everyday; I wish I could make it home more often.

             - My brothers? Equally awesome. They paved the way for me. With them being so much older, it's been like having three additional parents at times - which I've needed - yet my best friends, playmates, and so much more as well. I look up to all three of them. I hope to be half the husbands and professionals they are.

             - Sisters. People ask if I have sisters; I used to respond, no. I mean, technically I don't, but with my brothers all being married (and have been for quite some time), I feel like I have three of them. I mean they just fit. Like my parents and my brothers, they would do anything for me, give me any needed advice (especially about girls; they are borderline stalkers when it comes to my dating life or lack thereof). 

             - Last but not least are the nieces and nephew. Six gorgeous little people. I absolutely love them all. It's tough to duplicate the joy I get from them. They say the darnedest things, have the cutest laughs, play well together. I guess you could say I kind of embrace the single "fun uncle" persona so far. I can't wait until these kids are changing my kids' diapers while I do a whole bunch of nothing :)

(Left to Right) - Mom (Kathy K), Dad (Timmy J) and Reagan, Me, Brad and Caleb, Sara and Kendall, Katie and Hannah, Brian, Sarah and Payton, JR and Kennedy

My favorite # 1 - Ozzie Smith

He's the reason I wanted to be a shortstop. Like he did, I threw and fielded thousands of balls on the patio for years, trying to develop into the best. His career was pretty well over once I was old enough to remember, but I could sit and watch Ozzie Smith clips for hours. He was an artist on the field; truly "the Wizard."

"That's a winner!!" -- Jack Buck

Other random information pertaining to the number ONE that I feel the need to share:

• Number of Super Bowls the Rams have won in my life time (1999-2000 Greatest Show on Turf)
• Number of semesters I have left in college
• Number of days until tomorrow
• Number of chances you get at a first impression
• Number of random acts of kindness it can take to make someone's day

In the words of Porky Pig, "Th-th-that's all folks!"