Enough thought, time for action

I am in. The ways in which young leaders can help shape an amazing future for HRM are many. The reasons to run again centre around RESPECT. Respect will cover some main themes:
Diversity
Teacher/Student/ Family relationships
The environment
The future of the students, teaching them to live and work in the community, not just learn from textbooks
For the hard work of teachers and administrators and staff to make the system better
New ideas, leadership development positive reinforcement
Generational differences
Other students

I am working out campaign themes right now and getting ready for a fun 3 months of campaigning. Love to hear from you.

One more day in the thought process

I have had lots of time to think about running for school board. There are many pluses and minuses to running. I actually broke down by hour my week and if I can keep the board time down to 4 hours per week, then this is a manageable commitment. Of course, this is based on winning.

Here are some of the key issues I think would need to be addressed within the new board agenda: Bullying/ school violence, RESPECT for kids and teachers, diversity, greening of the economy, empowering family and teachers, technology, generational changes in learning and personality (attitudes), ways of learning and how students get ready for the job market and careers.

The biggest issue arises around time. If there is a commitment to educate people as to the what the school board's mandate is, then this is very manageable. I know I can make a big difference in the city and this seems like a great position to help influence the city and its' direction. I will make a decision today.

Halifax School Board- running?

It has been a few weeks since I have been on. Since I have been on, I have almost finalized my decision to run for the HRM School Board. I have been very impressed with staff at the Board and the current Board- Howard Windsor- seems to be an amazing leader. There are some key traits that he brings to his role that I see could translate into a new board. Decisive, broad thinking, energetic, intelligent and forthright will be key elements in the new board.

Halifax is screaming for new leaders and I feel that I can bring a lot to the table to help the School board grow. Some of my key elements I bring to this role will be strength, strategy background, negotiation, marketing and relationship development. The board needs leaders and there are reasons pro and con for running. If I make a final decision soon, it is going to be a fun ride.

Euro Final

This was a sight I was excited to see. After screwing England, and now working on ManU, it was great to see Portugal go out. I can't stand Ronaldo as an athlete, although I respect his talent immensely. Me first players don't lose all the time but they should!

My predictions for round two were way off. With the exception of Spain over Italy in penalties which I predicted, my picks went downhill. I was surprised at the Holland result, but they have been chronic underachievers for years. So my Spain v Holland matchup spectacular could never have happened. But the German team have been surprising with their attacking flair. Schweinstieger, Podolski and Klose have been working very well together. Two suspect defences in the Final may make for a better than expected final.

My prediction will have to be Germany to win. I can't see Spain shutting down their counterattack and Iniesta has been very disappointing. However, Torres could be the wild card if Spain can play to his strengths of attacking at pace. Germany is better equipped mentally for the occassion and I would expect a 3-2 or 2-1 game in their favour. PS, I would have predicted both semifinals correct if anyone was counting.

Euro 2008

Never one to toot my own horn.. I just want to draw attention to my picks for the Euro quarterfinals. 100% accuracy guaranteed, including my darkhorses the Russians and the surprise Turks who upset the Czechs in an amazing game. I usually can't get one game correct. The odds must have been ridiculous. Here are my picks for the next round:
Portugal in overtime against Germany. Should be fun watching them mass defend Ronaldo.
Holland over Russia 2-1.
Croats over turks in what will be a discipline free game.
Lastly, Spain over Italy in penalties..

Everton Complete Successful Year

A huge victory for Everton FC yesterday with a win over listless Newcastle. Minus Martins and Viduka, this Newcastle team was a shadow of their squad from even last week. Owen was mediocre and EFC showed another great example of what a good squad they can be. There are some changes that need to be made and hopefully 2-3 young players will establish themselves next year. That being said, 5th place and UEFA Cup is a big accomplishment for this squad, especially with how they have missed Cahill and Arteta this year.

Yakubu can be a great striker in this league, but he will need to prove that he can go day in and day out for the Blues to be successful. There is a great base to develop in this team, but there will need to be some cash spent to make the next leap. Everton needs 1-2 bona fide superstars to prove that they can be in the Top 4 and Champion's League. EFC need Cahill to play the system they played for a lot of the year, but they also need other options to break down teams on the wings. Right now there is no player like Ronaldo who is confident enough to beat players all day long. This is going to be an interesting offseason for Moyes.

Everton Season Drawing to Close

The last few weeks have been hectic in the football calendar. Everton have been producing poor form over the last few weeks. Coupled with some key injuries, the squad has shown its lack of depth. All the games have been competitive but we have lacked that killer instinct from the first six months of the season. Arteta and Ossie have been sorely missed while Aj's injury piled on the problem.

As I have noted previously, there is a need for more good squad players. We can't compete to win against the big clubs yet and results recently have put us needed a result in the last match. While I am totally confident this will happen, it would have been a lot better for many Evertonian's hearts to wrap this up a while ago. I said that Aston Villa were the squad to watch and they are definitely up and coming if they can lock down some good squad players. Similar to Everton in this regard and I think it will be the same teams locked in battle for these spots next year, depending on how loose owners are this summer.

Man Utd has been impressive as has Chelsea and these upcoming two games are ones to relish. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks and watching a exciting final from Russia.