Importance of Education

Questions on Primary Education

1. Why is it important that kids should receive an education in their lives? 
2. Should school districts offer more before and after school programs to help their kids?
3. How important is it for schools to accommodate students with disabilities?
4. What are some programs that can help students with learning disabilities?
5. Is a great education the key to success?
6. How does an education shape an individual?
7. What are the benefits of receiving an education?
8. Should parents have more say in their children's school curriculum?
9. Should individual schools and teachers have more impact in making decisions about the classes and topics covered during the school year (instead of all of the state requirements)?
10. Are there major differences between public and private schools?

Relationship between Friendswood and The Perils of Indifference

For the past two to three months, I have been discussing Rene Steinke's Friendswood.  There are many important major themes that Steinke brought into the story.  The themes included diversity, economic discrimination, grief, role of government, morality, etc.  Each of these themes apply to different characters throughout Friendswood.  One of the biggest incidents that occurs in the story is the bombing in Banes Field.  The bomb was set off by the protagonist Lee Knowles.  This bomb was meant to wipe "out the spine of the bulldozer" (Steinke 358). I couldn't believe it at first why she would do such a horrible thing.  However, Lee sett off the bomb to protect residents of Banes Field and Friendswood.  The antagonist, Avery Taft, was only concerned about making money on building houses on Banes Field's contaminated soil.  From my point of view, I think this was almost like a division between the wealthy and middle-class people in Friendswood.  Anyone who favored Taft's decisions was considered normal and people who opposed like Lee were considered insane.

There is another story that relates to Friendswood with themes of fighting for one's belief and categories of protagonist, antagonist, and witnesses.  This story is called The Peril of Indifference by Elie Wiesel.  In this story, Wiesel explains the theme of indifference amongst different groups of people during the Holocaust in WWII.  He stated how "indifference is always the benefits of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor - never his victim" (Wiesel 2).  One of the main points he brings in his story is the victims don't seem to get any benefits of being different.  Why are the antagonists being rewarded when they are considered indifferent from others? He writes "Indifference can be tempting...It is so much easier to look away from victims" (Wiesel 2).  Victims are people who are being harmed by others and are usually looked at as people just getting attention.  In these three categories, the killers and maybe witnesses should be the target for acts of crime.

Friendswood and The Perils of Indifference are similar for the reasons above.  They both share themes of victim blaming, morality, and even diversity.  Steinke and Wiesel incorporated that the protagonists are usually looked down upon from the rest of the characters throughout the story.  No one seems to care about their beliefs and things turn upside down once they listen to the other side.  People should understand that everyone has different beliefs.  However, that doesn't mean something is wrong with them.  Once people get to know each other, they will understand why making assumptions hurts individuals more than they think.

Ethical Decisions

Making the right decisions can either help town residents or hurt them.  In Rene Steinke's novel Friendswood, there is a small area called Banes Fields that is contaminated with chemicals.  This greedy estate developer named Avery Taft wants to build a new neighborhood in Banes Field.  It will bring a lot of money, but the area is contaminated.  Lee is trying to convince Mayor Wallen that it's not a safe idea.  In the US today, places like Newark are being affected with lead in the school drinking fountains.  The NJ governor claims there's no damage being done.  The group of people who are making ethical decisions are the residents.

Lee Knowles is the protagonist and environmental activist in Friendswood.  She is determined to stop Taft Properties from building houses on Banes Field.  Lee knows more about the chemical dumping in the field, but Ms. Dawson, Taft, and Mayor Wallen refuse to listen.  After all, in Friendswood, "property values trumped everything" (Steinke 71). At the city council meeting, she demanded to show Ms. Dawson the photos she took and "charts and data on the cancer rates of residents, most of them living within two miles of Rosemont.  How the hell can this not be a threat to human health?" (Steinke 89).  Mayor Wallen was shocked to hear that Lee trespassed into Banes Field, but she wasn't going to be defeated.  No matter how much trouble she can get into, Lee will continue to fight against the Friendswood community.

As I'm reading the two New York Times articles, I understand they have many things in common with Friendswood, between communities and environmental issues.  In the Newark schools, students and staff have found lead in the school's water fountains.  Water samples were tested, and "nearly 25 percent of those samples has lead concentrations" (McGeehan 2).  This problem has been going on for over 6 years, and there hasn't been much change.  Gov. Christie claims "there is no danger in Newark at the moment" (McGeehan 2).  However, Newark's mayor Ras Baraka will not let the problem be ignored anymore.  He wants to call Congress to pass a bill in which states would require safe-water programs for schools.  Just like in Friendswood, it seems that the town has ignored the problem for years and let it slide by.  It's similar to when Mayor Wallen told Lee the container was "buried at fifty feet.  It wouldn't come up so easily out of the ground" (Steinke 71).  The local government is stating the water is fine, but people are seriously being affected in the schools.  A problem like this should not be ignored.

The second article discusses lead contamination in West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago.  Calumet residents were working with the Shriver Center to relocate families to safer housing.  However, people still filed complaints about the high lead and arsenic levels in the housing complex.  The residents created community groups "to put pressure on state and federal officials; and sought a formal role in court proceedings between the EPA, Justice Department and companies held responsible for the contamination in the area" (Lyons 2).  In this story, people are blaming federal officials for not protecting the community. These actions sound a lot like what Lee is trying to do in Friendswood.  She is also complaining about the local EPA for not protecting Banes Field and allowing the soil to become polluted.


In conclusion, Lee and Chicago and Newark residents are the people who should be making ethical decisions.  They are gathering together to protest against EPA and local authorities.  Lee has proof with pictures and soil samples she collected.  West Calumet residents are filing complaints to ensure that HUD didn't give people enough time to transfer to better homes.  Newark residents want Congress to pass a bill stating that schools require safe-water programs and test the water.  All three stories make connections to chemical and lead contamination in their neighborhood.  There may not be a solution right away, but Lee, Chicago, and Newark will continue to fight for environmental protection of their communities.

Friendswood Questions Part 1

Friendswood Log Questions

1. Willa Lambert is a writer of the Lit Mag at Friendswood High.  Her parents are very religious and get upset when she jokes about the Devil.  Willa's little sister, Jana was wearing a red headband with horns on it.  Willa laughed out loud, "Finally dressed the part" (pg. 23)  Willa's father immediately shouted'"I don't like that fooling around with Satan, myself" (pg. 23).  She doesn't realize what she can and can't joke about. One of the interesting things about Willa is her visions.  However, she may not always be keeping track of her visions.  During class, she saw an elderly woman outside the classroom by a tree and wanted Willa's attention.  She couldn't pay attention to the woman, because she was in the middle of a lesson.. Steinke mentions how "If she didn't focus on the visions, it was almost like they weren't there" (pg. 57).  Based on this event, it's like Willa is the only one that can control seeing her visions.

3. Hal is the father of star football player Cully.  Hal is a real estate agent who takes his career seriously. from reading these past 60 pages, Hal has a passion for the real estate agency.  However, he seems to go under a lot of stress.  There are sometimes when he can be a little short with Darlene. Darlene is sometimes afraid to talk to Hal, because he can be aggressive, especially when he drinks.  The person that Hal really cares about is his son Cully.  They share a special bond and part of it could be from Cully's stardom in football.  Hal wasn't as amazing as his son, but going to his games is probably the best part of his day.  As a father, "Hal felt closest to his son when he sat in the stands, watching a game" (pg. 15).  Hal tries to be on his best behavior when he is around Cully and doesn't want his son to see his bad side.

4. Lee is the main character in Friendswood.  The significant tragedy that occurred in her life is the death of her daughter, Jess.  She died of a blood disease back 1993.  In the novel, Lee is looking back at memories of Jess in the year of 2007.  She became devastated after Jess passed away.  Lee misses her everyday and wasn't sure what she wanted to do.  Lee went to high school with Willa's mother years ago, and they used to be very close.  After Jess' death, it's almost like she decided to disconnect from her.  Lee is Hal's neighbor, and she is looked as a depressed woman to him.  He noticed how she rarely left her house.  Many people looked at Lee as a depressed woman and broke away from Friendswood.

5. Chemical dumping in Friendswood is a major part of this novel.  A lot of the chemical dumping happens over in Banes Field.  It's an area that's almost isolated from Friendswood.  Many people in Friendswood are eliminating chemicals by throwing them away in Banes Field.   On top of that, there is an oil refinery in Friendswood and releases a lot of dangerous toxins.  However, they don't understand the negatives of wasting chemicals.  It's causing a lot of damage to the soil and starts to spreading into the rivers/lakes.  Many people rely on EPA to clean up the chemicals and think the problems will be solved.  It's like EPA is more laid back on Friendswood's situation and doesn't make an effort to fix what's been broken.

6. Today in the US, there are some places that are struggling with environmental calamities.  For example, in Flint, Michigan, the water is being contaminated with lead.  The lead causes water to be extremely unsafe for people to drink from and other uses.  This started to happen after the town was attempting to save money.   EPA has delayed an emergency order for the past seven months.  The purpose of emergency orders is to protect the residents.  In Flint, they didn't create any type of sense of urgency and people were getting more upset.  residents are stating how EPA should be held accountable for failing to maintain their duties.

7.  EPA is characterized as Friendswood's cleaners.  People just throw away chemicals casually into the soil and water over in Banes Field.  EPA's job is to protect the environment and human health as well as enforce regulations.  However, they aren't great with cleaning the area.  Hal brought up a point to Avery by asking, "Didn't I hear something about the EPA clearing it again - for what, five years? Ten?" (pg. 47)  Rosemont, the old neighborhood next to Friendswood, went into the ground due to toxins from oil refinery spreading everywhere.  Hal brought up to Avery, "I don't think there was a single good reason for all those people to lose their houses.  Was there cancer? Yes.  But you know something?  Did you notice how people used to just die of it?  They didn't count it up the way they do now" (pg. 49)  From Hal's defense, it's almost as if EPA doesn't care so much about the town's environment.

Works Cited

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press, 2015. Print.

"Watchdog: EPA delayed emergency order for 7 months in Flint water crisis." (2016): n. pag. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.