Charlie’s Story: Part Two

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Parker School Uniforms

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The following is the second of two blogs telling the story of Charlie Dina, the son of Parker’s long-time salesperson, Angela Dina.  For Part One, please link to: http://blog.parkersu.com/2013/05/03/charlies-story-part-one/.  Due to its length, we debated whether or not we should divide the story into three parts.  In the end, we decided we did not want to make everyone wait for the conclusion.  We hope you enjoy reading the rest of the story as much as we have enjoyed telling it.  – The Parker Blog

Americans love to root for the underdog.  We always have.  After all, our country is one of history’s biggest underdog success stories.  Americans also love sports.  Just think about the sports we’ve invented – baseball, basketball and, American football.  It makes sense then that almost all of us love to tell and re-tell our favorite stories of sports underdogs.  No sports fan can watch Hoosiers or The Blind Side without getting a little teary-eyed, especially because they are both based on true stories.  We love knowing that the little guy sometimes really does come out on top.

Charlie Dina is an underdog.  Not in a sporting sense, of course, but in a medical sense.  Doctors never attached a percentage to Charlie’s chances of recovery. In fact, they strongly suggested that his parents, Mike and Angela, NOT Google Neuroblastoma because they did not want the family to get discouraged.  Angela will tell you that she and Mike felt unspeakably overwhelmed as they sat in Texas Children’s Hospital after Charlie’s diagnosis.  Two things made that first night bearable — their faith in God and the support of two of their good friends who managed to sneak past security so they could be with Mike and Angela when they needed them most.  It was then, as Angela looked at their dear friends and felt so grateful for their presence, that the term “Charlie’s Angels” first popped into her head.  Number of Charlie’s Angels: 2.

In the first few days after Charlie’s diagnosis, another good friend of the Dina’s, Courtney Taylor, offered to order rubber arm bands for friends and family to wear in support of Charlie.  She thought that each time the wearer looked at the band, they would be reminded to pray for him.  But what should the band look like?  For input, Angela turned to Charlie.  For whatever reason, Charlie said he wanted the bands to be bright yellow.  What should the band say? The term “Charlie’s Angels” popped into Angela’s head again and she knew it was the right choice.  She also suggested they include a favorite verse of the Dina family: Phillipians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  The verse had taken on a new and powerful meaning since Charlie’s diagnosis.

With those decisions made, Courtney placed the first order for the prayer bands.  The Dinas handed them out to neighbors, friends at Charlie’s and Caroline’s schools, Parker employees, etc.  News of Charlie’s illness began to spread. On October 9, the day of Charlie’s first surgery, people sported Charlie’s Angels t-shirts and armbands all over town.  His preschool also posted “We’re praying for Charlie Dina” on their billboard, prompting people to ask, “who is Charlie Dina?”  Those of us who knew the family were encouraged by the groundswell of support they were receiving.  Number of Charlie’s Angels: 200 and growing fast.

Most people know the saying “truth is stranger than fiction.”  It is at this point that Charlie’s story becomes very strange in a very good way.   On October 20, after some debate, Angela and Mike decided to attend the #18 Texas A&M and #6 LSU football game in College Station.  Charlie was recovering well from his surgery and the Dina’s, both A&M grads, had been looking forward to going to the game for months.  It promised to be a “normal” day in the midst of all the craziness. Even better, with only two losses, A&M was playing surprisingly well despite having a first year coach and a 19-year old, freshman quarterback named Johnny Manziel.   While watching an A&M football game a few weeks before, Charlie had declared Johnny Football his favorite player.  Johnny was also an underdog.  A virtual unknown, he battled two other quarterbacks during spring football to win the starting job.

During the game, Angela just happened to find herself in line at the concession stand next to a neighbor from Houston, Rhonda Overbergen.  Rhonda is a loyal UT Longhorn fan, but that day, she was wearing A&M maroon jeans.  Angela couldn’t help but notice.  When asked about the color choice, Rhonda said that she wouldn’t think to wear the jeans were it not for the fact that her cousin was the A&M quarterback.  Surprised by the connection, Angela mentioned that Johnny Football was Charlie’s favorite player.  After some more discussion, Rhonda left Angela with one of the Charlie’s Angels arm bands in her purse and a promise to give it to Johnny later that evening.  A&M committed five turnovers against LSU and lost the game 25-19.  It would be the Aggiest last loss of the season.  Later that night Angela received a text from Rhonda who had met up with the Manziels after the game and shared Charlie’s story.  She wanted Angela to know that she had given the arm band to Johnny and that the entire Manziel family was committed to praying for Charlie.

One week later the Dinas were surprised to see Johnny wearing Charlie’s arm band during the Auburn game.  The bright yellow color made it hard to miss.  A&M easily won the game 63 to 21.  The following Saturday, #16 A&M faced #18 Mississippi State.  The Dinas were curious if Johnny would still be sporting the arm band.  He was, and the Aggies again won 38 to 13.  By the time A&M played #1 ranked Alabama on November 3, Charlie was finishing a long round of radiation treatments in preparation for his stem cell transplant.  Johnny Football turned in an incredible performance in the Alabama game, accounting for over 350 yards of A&M’s total offense, including two passing touchdowns.  To the euphoria of A&M fans, the Aggies won the game 29 to 24.  A&M finished the season with two more wins and Johnny went into the bowl season as the odds on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Behind the scenes, Angela had started writing Johnny letters of encouragement and Johnny sent Charlie a signed football and jersey for his 5th birthday.  The Dinas and Manziels had still never spoken in person.  On Friday, November 21, Charlie entered Texas Children’s to begin the grueling stem cell transplant process.  During the days leading up to the Heisman ceremony, Houston sportscaster and A&M graduate, Greg Bailey, got wind of the relationship between Charlie and Johnny and set up an interview with the Dinas at Texas Children’s.  They managed to find a few minutes to talk in the middle of what was turning out to be the absolute low point in Charlie’s treatment.  ABC Channel 13 ran the interview over a series of evenings leading up to the awards ceremony on Saturday, December 8.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhCx_nNQAgE

Fans of college football know that on that night Johnny Football became the first freshman in history to win the Heisman Trophy.  Most of us would assume that the Dinas were glued to the TV, but we would be wrong.  Charlie was so unspeakably sick in the hospital that Johnny’s win was a blip on their radar.  They knew it had happened and were happy for Johnny, but they had bigger worries.  It was the very next day that Charlie’s heart failed and the doctors didn’t know why.  During his post-Heisman interview, Johnny was asked about his Charlie’s Angel’s armband.  His answer spoke volumes about how much Charlie had meant to him during the season.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ5p3A6EmW8

Thanks to the Heisman ceremony, Charlie Dina’s name became known internationally.  Media calls started pouring into Texas Children’s from all over the world.  Requests for the Charlie’s Angels arm bands grew into the thousands.  Angela and Mike believe that all the extra prayers and support were instrumental in Charlie’s miraculous recovery.  Within days, Charlie’s heart returned to normal function, leaving doctors unable to explain what had just happened.  Number of Charlie’s Angels: 7,000+.

On February 24, just over three months after Charlie entered the hospital for his stem cell transplant, Johnny made good on his promise to bring his Heisman to his young friend.  The entire Manziel family visited the Dinas in their home and spent the day finally getting to know each other better.  What started out as a chance meeting at the concession stand had turned into a special bond.  No one can look at the pictures of Johnny and Charlie together without seeing how much they love each other.  The feeling is mutual between all the family members.  Even Johnny’s younger sister, Meri, has helped Charlie’s older sister, Caroline, work through what it means to have a brother who receives so much attention.  We love this picture of Charlie holding his T-ball trophy from last spring alongside Johnny’s Heisman.  Could there be a sweeter picture?

Both families are now committed to raising funding and awareness for Neuroblastoma research.  Angela and Mike are in the final stages of establishing the Charles M. Dina Foundation for that very purpose.  Last month, the foundation received its first donation of $20,000 thanks to a charity golf tournament held at Meri’s school, Allen Academy in Bryan, TX (http://www.allenacademy.org/).  Johnny and Charlie spent the day together happily driving around in a golf cart, just two underdogs enjoying a sunny day together with no cares in the world.

Last Wednesday, the Dinas returned to Texas Children’s to begin two days of scans to detect if there was any cancer left in Charlie’s body.  We are so excited to share with you their wonderful news — Charlie is CANCER FREE!  We can’t think of a better way to end our blog.  Charlie’s story will of course continue.  Every three months for the next year at least the Dinas will make the trip back to the hospital for more follow up scans.  The family will also turn their attention to how best to direct the funds from Charlie’s foundation.  The Parker Blog will keep you all updated as we learn more about how you can contribute to their effort.  For now, if you would like to order a Charlie’s Angels armband, please send your request to cmdfund@gmail.com

In August, Johnny Manziel and the Texas A&M Aggies will enter the college football season ranked by some as the preseason favorite to win the national championship. Around the same time, Charlie Dina will enter the front door of his school to begin his next adventure – Kindergarten.  After all, sometimes little guys really do come out on top.  We hope you will join us in cheering them both on from the sidelines.  Number of Charlie’s Angels: Only time will tell.

 

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Charlie’s Story: Part One

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Parker School Uniforms

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“I am Charlie, a four year old boy living in Houston, Texas. I am really a normal kid who loves video games, super heros, Legos, Star Wars, the Aggies, but most of all, I love spending time doing it all with my family. I had a pretty fun life until May 29, 2012, when it all changed forever. My parents took me in to the ER that day for a tummy ache that hurt very badly. They took a fancy picture of my body called an X-ray to see inside my belly. To their surprise, shock, and sadness, the doctors told them I had a tumor in my tummy and needed more pictures. I ended up riding in an ambulance that day to the main campus of Texas Children’s Hospital where they told my parents I have a yucky thing called CANCER. They used a big word called Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer that typically starts in the adrenal glands and grows quickly. That seemed so long ago, but I am a fighter. So far I have completed five rounds of chemotherapy, two surgeries, countless scans and other procedures, and I’m not even close to giving up.”  (Excerpt from Charlie Dina’s Caring Bridge page)

So begins the story of Charlie Dina.  Charlie is the son of our long-time Houston salesperson, Angela Dina.  We cannot begin to express the shock and sadness all of us at Parker felt upon hearing the news of Charlie’s illness just as school was letting out last year.  For those of us who had spent time with Charlie in the weeks and months leading up to May, the diagnosis seemed impossible.  In late January 2012, the Parker Blog visited Annunciation Orthodox School here in Houston (http://blog.parkersu.com/2012/02/13/school-lunches-done-right/).  Angela, who manages the AOS account, and Charlie were with us the day we visited.  It took sweet Charlie about 30 seconds to woo the front office ladies at AOS.  By the time the tour began, they were plying the seemingly healthy, very active preschooler with cupcakes and giving him directions to the playground.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  Those of us who know Angela love her for her sunny personality and quick sense of humor. Parker meetings and get-togethers have always been a little brighter with Angela in the room. What we couldn’t and wouldn’t know until Charlie became ill was the truly awe-inspiring courage, strength, and faith of Angela, her husband, Mike, daughter, Caroline age 10, and of course, Charlie.  Mike and Angela have spent almost a year now learning how to entrust Charlie’s well-being to the care of others.  Thanks to their unwavering faith in God, coupled with some of the nation’s finest pediatric cancer doctors at Texas Children’s here in Houston, they have made it through the year with joy and an incredible sense of thanksgiving.  Angela will tell you that she has had plenty of days filled with tears and “why me’s.”  At the same time, the Dinas have experienced how giving, how loving, and how graceful people can be.  Angela always gives credit to the doctors at Texas Children’s and their incredible network of supportive friends and family referred to lovingly as “Charlie’s Angels.”

Angela and Mike have kept all the angels updated, good news and bad news, through Caring Bridge and Facebook.  Anytime Charlie took a turn for the worse, they would send out specific prayer requests.  Immediately, Charlie’s Angels would get to work.  Time and again, the doctors were amazed at how quickly the problems would seemingly fix themselves.  Conversely, angels would flood the Dinas with well wishes whenever Charlie received good news.

After Charlie finished his initial chemo treatments and two surgeries, the first of which took 20-hours and required doctors to remove one of his kidneys, he got to return home for a few weeks before the second half of his treatment began.  During those weeks, he endured twelve radiation therapy sessions in preparation for a stem cell transplant.   On a much happier note, he also celebrated his 5th birthday.  The day after Thanksgiving, Charlie returned to Texas Children’s where doctors administered 7-days worth of the most aggressive chemotherapy treatment yet.  It was when Charlie was at his absolute weakest that doctors gave him his new, healthy stem cells and began the wait to see how his body would respond.  The chemo proved almost too strong for Charlie, who experienced cardiac failure on day 15 of the transplant.  As always, Mike and Angela sent out the prayer request and the angels got to work.  Amazingly (or just as the Dina’s expected), Charlie’s heart fully recovered and is now functioning better than before the transplant.  The Dina’s received the best Christmas present possible when Charlie was released from the hospital on Christmas Eve.

Doctors continue to monitor his liver and kidney function very closely, but as of now, 11-months post diagnosis, they are absolutely thrilled with his continued recovery.  Unfortunately, Charlie is not out of the woods yet.  He will be going in this month for new scans to determine if there is any cancer left in his little body.  Even if those scans are clear, Neuroblastoma has a relatively high rate of recurrence.  For now, the Dina’s continue to be grateful for every day with Charlie and Caroline and are focusing on their goal to raise awareness and research funding for this relatively rare cancer.  It is their efforts at raising awareness that will lead us to Part 2 of the story.  For you A&M fans out there (and all fans of college football), the second half of Charlie’s story has an unexpected and quite heart-warming twist.  Part 2 is less about the cancer and more about the special relationships the Dina’s have formed during this challenging year.  And isn’t that how life is?  It is often in our darkest and most hopeless moments that we discover some of our greatest joys.  In the meantime, we’ll leave you with a few more words from Charlie’s Caring Bridge website:

“That sure is a lot for a little guy like me, but I know I can do it. I have friends who love me so much and have been with me every step of this journey. More than anything, my family has GOD at the center of our home, and that makes us know we will prevail. I have a ways to go to beat this thing called cancer, but come the start of kindergarten in 2013, I will be cancer free with God’s help! I can’t wait to get back to living life just being a regular kid. On behalf of all kids with cancer and especially Neuroblastoma, thank you for reading my story. Love, Charlie”

 

 

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Looking Back at Back-to-School 2012

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Parker School Uniforms

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Parker School Uniforms Houston Texas
It is time to bid farewell to Back-to-School 2012.  As always, I want to send out a big thank you to our wonderful employees and customers.  Whether you shopped early in the season during our June Sale or waited until the last day before school, we hope that your experience with Parker was a positive one.  We work 365 days a year to make the months of June, July and August run as smoothly as possible.  I also want to thank everyone who either completed an online Customer Survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RG9LC5C) or posted a comment on Facebook. We love to hear all of your feedback – good and bad.  It is always our goal to improve our clothing, our stores, and our processes, and we cannot do that without feedback from our very important customers. And remember, shoppers who complete our online survey receive a coupon good for 15% off one item.

Before we officially bid goodbye to the current year, I’d like to take a moment to review some of our recent accomplishments and talk about a few of our current goals:

Things to Brag About

  1. Back-to-school 2012 was one of our best, both in terms of satisfied customers and in stock merchandise.  I am happy to report that back orders decreased for a second year in a row, down 20% compared to 2011.
  2. An ever-increasing number of our customers shopped early and saved during our annual June sale.  This year, our June shoppers saved over $330,000 company-wide.
  3. Over the past two years, Parker has rolled out stylish and functional updates to some of our best-selling merchandise including our new oxfords, polos, Boys pants, micro fleece jackets, super soft acrylic sweaters and socks with our Comfort Toe technology.

Our To Do List

  1. It is our promise to you that we will continue to update and improve our corporate technology to make the shopping experience even easier for our customers.  In the next year, we hope to offer a Parker app for your smart phones.
  2. Thanks to important new hires in our design department (http://blog.parkersu.com/2012/09/24/the-dog-blog-zoe-interviews-lucia-boss/), we will be reviewing all of our designs to ensure that they have the fit and feel that our customers expect.
  3. We will continue to listen to our customers!  We love to say that we are an upside down company — our customers are at the top telling us what they need and we are at the bottom making it all happen.  Please call, post, praise or complain!

I wish you all a wonderful 2012/2013 school year.  We’ll be here in Houston working away at next year so that we have plenty to brag about come next September.  Best Wishes!

Troy Pike, CEO

 

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The Khan Academy Experiment – The Final Update

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Parker School Uniforms

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It’s official.  I love Khan Academy.  Once I start, I have a hard time stopping.  As a parent, I believe there is a lot of value to be gained from the site on various fronts.

First, if you are a bit of a math geek, like I apparently am, Khan is just fun.  I spent the first day quickly going through various “easy topics.”  I tried to work as many addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems as I could without using any scratch paper.  It was sort of my own personal brain workout.  What amazed me was how quickly my eyes and brain got tired.  It gave me a newfound appreciation for the amount of time and effort it takes for my kids to do their homework.  I’m not sure I could do it.  I was also reminded of how easy it is to make simple mistakes in math, even if you understand the underlying concept.  Hopefully I’ll have more patience with my kids when they make “silly” mistakes.

Second, and more importantly, Sal Khan is a very good teacher.  You never actually see him and he does speak fairly slowly, but even so, I had no trouble staying interested in what he was saying/doing.  After I got tired of my brain workout, I started watching the beginner Algebra videos in hopes of boning up on the topic so I can help Hannah this year.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I remembered from when I was in school.  Having said that, I was amazed at how much information I learned from Sal about the Why’s of Algebra problems.  I’m not sure I ever had a teacher explain so clearly why we must divide/add/subtract both sides of the equations.  I knew TO do it, but, before Sal, I don’t think I could have clearly explained WHY we do it.  It makes me want to try to use Khan to learn Geometry, the subject I struggled most with in all of high school.  Maybe I’ll leave that goal for next summer…

Obviously I spent only a few days on the site this week.  From what I’ve seen though, I have to believe it’s a great resource for helping your child work through a confusing problem.  It’s easy to search for your desired topic and the videos are relatively short (anywhere from 2-10 minutes).  Listening to Sal explain a topic is much more helpful than trying to figure something out from a textbook.  Khan Academy will definitely be my “go to” tool for helping the kids with math questions during the upcoming year.

Away from the classroom, I love the tools that Khan provides parents and teachers for tracking their student’s progress.  It’s so easy to set goals for your students (or yourself) and then chart their/your progress over time.  And who says earning badges and points is just for the kids?   Jake thinks I’m a math genius because my 112,000 points have earned me the “Old Spice Man” avatar.  He actually stood over my shoulder yesterday and told me how smart I am.  Nice. On the flip side, I earned the Perseverance Badge this week because it took me over 30 problems to finally master multi-digit multiplication.  How sad is that?  Apparently kids aren’t the only ones who try to go too fast and make silly mistakes.


Who knows if Khan Academy or something like it really is the future of education?  I can’t imagine a video ever replacing a flesh and blood teacher.  Even so, the site is one that parents should know about.   Whether you have younger children, middle school and high school students, or you want to review some math topics yourself, I believe Khan Academy is a great tool.

 

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The Khan Academy Experiment – Update #2

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Parker School Uniforms

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We just finished our second week of the Khan experiment and, overall, it was a really good week.  I received very few complaints and the kids all seem to have an easy time navigating the site.  I was even able to get them to write up their own reviews.  (It was amazing how fast they wrote after I offered to take them back-to-school shopping as soon as they finished.)  Here’s how it went for each child:

Hannah: Hannah has no shortage of videos to choose from.  Once we get into the school year, I am confident that she will be able to go to Khan for help if she has problems with any assignments in Algebra II.  In terms of using the site on a stand-alone basis, she had the following to say.  “Overall, Khan Academy is a great website with excellent videos.  I’ve noticed this week though that the practice problems are not as difficult as the examples in the videos.  I’m not sure the lesson will stick if you don’t practice what you’ve learned.  I give it a B+.”

Isabel:  Before I start, I’d like to share Isabel’s password — “mymamamademedoit.” As expected, Khan is a great website for students Isabel’s age (older Elementary into Middle School).  We found no shortage of topics to practice.  The hardest part was deciding where she should spend her time.  She ended up reviewing a few topics like how to convert fractions into decimals and tips for long division.  Isabel had her tonsils out last fall and missed a couple of lessons on how to make long division easier/faster.  Khan was a great way for her to fill in some of those blanks.  Here are some of her own thoughts on the website.  “Khan is very well put together.  You choose a subject such as Long Division, watch a video that varies in time/length, and then practice what you learn.  You move on after you finish the subject.  It may take more than one set of practice problems to get to move on.  The videos are very organized, but I wish he would make it easier to listen to.  It is fact after fact after fact.  I give it an A-.”

Jake:  Jake had a good week this week.  We seemed to have better luck finding good practice problems for him.  I just made sure that I stayed with him the entire time.  Since his sisters wrote up their own reviews, he insisted that he get to do the same.  “Khan does not know my age.  But it is fun to make a goal or try to earn badges or points.  And it has hints to help you a little bit.  Sometimes there is a math lesson suggested for you that is very fun!  I give it a B.” Jake really is motivated by the points system the site uses.  You earn points by watching videos, working problems, etc.  Each user begins with a leaf avatar.  As you earn points, you can upgrade to different avatars with names like Spunky Sam and Purple Pi.  It’s a cute idea, especially for the younger kids.

Now that we have a pretty good idea of what we think about Khan Academy in terms of the kids, I have decided it’s time for me to try it out.  After all, wouldn’t it be nice for me to be able to help Hannah with her Algebra myself?  So, I’m making the commitment.  Next week I’m going to dive into Khan.  Here’s hoping I still have some of those math brain cells stored somewhere at the far reaches of my brain!  And, who knows, I might be surprised at how much I do remember.  I’ll keep you posted.

 

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The Khan Academy Experiment – Update #1

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Parker School Uniforms

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When I first signed up my family for this mini experiment, I was excited for a couple of reasons.  First, I’d heard a lot about Khan Academy and thought that it sounded like a great way to keep my kids’ brains engaged during the summer months.  Second, our very public commitment to the Parker Blog meant that we had extra motivation to follow through with it.  For several years now I’ve had good intentions of keeping my kids doing some brain work over the summer but, other than joining the library summer reading program, I never really did much with those intentions.  No matter what, I think this experiment is a great way to get a jump start on the new school year.

With that all being said, let’s get started.  During this first week, my eldest daughter, Hannah (14), spent about an hour reviewing some Algebra concepts and learning a couple of new ones.  My son, Jake (7), worked on things like telling time, one digit addition, and basic fractions.   My other daughter, Izzy (11), is off the hook this week because she is at camp.  Already we have begun to development some opinions (both good and not as good) about the site.  I’ll cover Jake and let Hannah describe her thoughts on her own.

Based on Jake’s experience this week, Khan Academy does not seem to offer as much for beginning math students.  Although the site has fun badges that the kids can earn and a great feature where parents can set goals for their kids, the site just doesn’t have many lessons or activities for kids Jake’s age.  He started off fast with some good age-appropriate problems but worked through those pretty quickly.  Like most 7-year olds, he’s pretty tech savvy so he wanted to do the “driving.”  Without my guidance, he often found himself on pages that were too hard and frustrating.  Personally, I prefer sites where you can search for problems/concepts by grade level.  It’s much easier.  Normally, I would have him move on to something else (like flashcards) but Jake wants to keep going at Khan because he likes earning the badges.

The next question then is what about older students such as High Schoolers?  For that, I’m going to turn the blog over to Hannah.  Here’s what she wrote:  This week, I’ve watched videos and practiced new topics and reviewed old ones.  In my opinion, Khan Academy is great when you are first learning a topic, because the videos teach at a medium to slow pace that is great when first being taught, but it doesn’t keep your attention when reviewing.  The videos are very good, and they make complete sense, but I was disappointed to find there weren’t practice exercises for every lesson.

Part of the problem was also that I didn’t feel motivated to work hard: I wasn’t being graded on it, so why should I even try?  Nevertheless, if you don’t try, then it’s just wasted time. However annoying it is when your mom makes you a guinea pig, it’s even more annoying to spend hours of your summer on math and not get any better. (Note from Connie: I was waiting to see if one of the kids would complain about having to do math over the summer, and there it is.  I have a feeling it won’t be the last time.)

So that’s it for now.  I’ll have Hannah and Jake work on more Khan Academy next week, and get Izzy started after she’s had a chance to catch up on her sleep.  I’m curious to see what she will think about about the site.  If I had to make a prediction, I’d say that Khan will be a very good fit for her math abilities.  We’ll let you know next Friday.

 

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The Next Big Thing in Education?

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Parker School Uniforms

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It is amazing to think that the Internet has only been available to the general public for about twenty years.  During that time, scores of companies have been billed as the “Next Big Thing.”  Some of them have lived up to that name (think Google and Facebook) and some have not (Napster anyone?).  Most of us have become quite adept at jumping on and off of Internet bandwagons.  That is why when we began hearing about Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/), a not-for-profit, on-line company being billed as the “Next Big Thing” in education, we knew we needed to give it a closer look.

We first introduced Khan to the Parker Blog in a recent post about St. Gabriel’s Catholic School and its 1 to 1 iPad program (http://blog.parkersu.com/2012/06/21/are-1-to-1-ipad-programs-an-effective-teaching-tool/).  Like many other schools adopting similar programs, St. Gabriel’s selected Khan Academy as an online complement to its more traditional math curriculum.  Over the past couple of years, multiple media outlets have covered Khan’s growing popularity and influence.  We found a March report on 60 Minutes to be especially informative (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7401696n).

As the story goes, founder Sal Khan received a request about eight years ago from his cousin, Nadia.  Nadia was having troubles with a math concept so she turned to the best source she could think of for help, her cousin.  A hedge fund manager at the time, Khan holds degrees from MIT in Math, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.  As if that’s not enough, he also has an MBA from Harvard. Khan was more than qualified to help.  Because the two did not live in the same city, Khan initially used Yahoo!’s Doodle notepad to create a personalized tutorial for Nadia.  The approach worked so well that the two continued the long distance tutoring.  As his friends and family began to hear about what he was doing and request similar help, Khan decided it made more sense to put up his videos on YouTube.  By 2009, he had gained enough confidence and traction to quit his day job and focus on teaching full time.   It didn’t hurt that he had the support of such notables as the Bill Gates Foundation and Google.

Now 3200 videos strong, Khan Academy has expanded from math into science, finance and the humanities.  The company is also running pilot programs in several California schools that essentially “flip” the teaching process. Teachers send students home each evening with a Khan assignment that includes an online video lesson and follow up practice problems.  Tools available to teachers on the Khan website allow them to monitor each student’s progress.  Classroom time is then spent reinforcing the online lessons and helping students who might be struggling with concepts.

Although it will be interesting to follow the results of these pilot programs, we have a feeling that most of our schools that do incorporate Khan Academy will do so on a much more limited basis, much like St. Gabriel’s.  But why limit Khan to classroom assignments?  Parents always seem to be looking for effective ways to either reinforce basic classroom concepts at home or help older kids with more challenging subjects such as Algebra, Geometry or Calculus.  Khan may be just what they are looking for.

With that in mind, we’ve decided to conduct our very own (very un-scientific) Parker experiment.  Parker employee, Connie, and her three children have agreed to serve as our guinea pigs: Hannah is 14 and will be taking Algebra II in the fall; Isabel is 11 and will be entering 6th Grade; and Jake is 7 and going into 2nd Grade.  Connie will work with each child and the Khan website during the month of August and give us her thoughts on the site.  We also hope to hear some feedback from the kids in their own words.  Needless to say, we are not equipped to test Hannah, Isabel and Jake to determine if they have improved their math skills from their time at Khan.  We are simply interested in finding out whether or not the site is helpful to parents and engaging for kids.  Watch for the family’s blogs every Friday this month to find out.  Who knows – we may just find a new bandwagon worth jumping onto.

 

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