topics topic

Please suggest a topic for next year's class and include a movie title to fit this suggestion.

discussion for exam period

In your opinion should President Truman have authorized the use of the A-Bomb at the end of WWII.
Write your answer on the WFG blog.  It should take your 1:30 to 2:00 minutes to read your answer to the class during your exam period.

Cookies

Happiness and Cookies!!!

Question on WWI and Crash Test

Advanced US History Assignment:

Pick one of the following and write a paragraph on this blog regarding why you feel it is a significant reason for the US entering WWI on the side we did when we did.  To listen to me explain this assignment simply click on the Vocaroo icon below.

1. The Unrestricted use of Submarines by the German Navy.
2. The Transatlantic Cable
3. The Zimmerman Note
4. The $$$ extended to the Allies in credit.
5. The commonality of the English and the American Culture
Record audio or upload mp3 >>

Why Berkshire

One of the good people in our Development Office at Berkshire School asked me for a quote regarding why I love to work here--the following was my answer:

I have devoted my life's work to Berkshire because in each of my 34 years the student body has been awesome.  Our alumni as well as our current student body is exciting, friendly, compassionate and fun.  Helping our school continue to support the greatness of the Berkshire Bears is an honor.  We are proud of our accomplishments: but most of all we are proud of every generation of Berkshire student .  Go Bears!   (Proud father of Brian '97 and Daniel '99 

pride

I am proud of my son and our daughter in law:  Some people in our world are not in it for money - they are in it to do good.

 

 

 

 

 

Dan Gulotta

9 hours ago ·

It's now official. Camille, Eric and I are moving to Naivasha, Kenya for one year next September. Camille is going to be the Chief Resident at Naivasha District Hospital, and I'm going to teach, get my masters, and run from hippos. Wish us luck!

Mother Nature

March 8, 2013 the second day of a coastal storm the the Cape Cod Times headline got just right, "RELENTLESS".  The wind cuts through any thoughts that mother nature has lost her power, as it has become a constant reminder that man is a visitor on this planet.  I watched a 10 foot square section of dune float through a breach in the section of dunes that protected the Sandwich march and famous boardwalk. Walking down the path alongside the canal towards the Cape Cod Bay was an intense experience.  Snow, freezing rain, and salt spray hit me at  50 miles per hour and let me know that I was alive.  The tide was high-high-high and the surf was wild-wild-wild.  It is humbling to witness this weather, but be alive to do so is a blessing that we should never take for granted. 

33 years ago!!

Two Berkshire Boys will try to recreate the Herb Brooks 
pregame speech before the 1980 Ice Hockey Game
vs the USSR.

”Great moments are born from great opportunity.

And that's what you have here tonight, boys.

That's what you've earned here, tonight.

One game.

If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine.
But not this game. Not tonight.
Tonight, we skate with 'em.

Tonight, we stay with 'em, and we shut them down because we can!

Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world.

You were born to be hockey players -- every one of ya.

And you were meant to be here tonight.

This is your time.

Their time -- is done. It's over.

I'm sick and tired of hearin' about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em! This is your time!!

Now go out there and take it!”

Vaughan
Record and upload audio >>
Audio and voice recording >>

We Shall fight on the Beaches

Vaughan
Audio recording software >> Ben
Audio recording >>

Pro Vita Homework

Audio recording >> Homework for Pro Vita-

By clicking on the vocaroo icon above you can here me talk about this assignment. Check out your home town Fire, EMS, or Police emergency responders.  Let us know if they are volunteer, professional, or a mix.  Does your community have mixed jurisdictions?  Is it county or local or state police?  Find out if your place of residence is well protected. Write a paragraph that we can all read by clicking on the "comment" option under this post.  Write your name within the post so we will know who you are.

thanks kids

Record music and voice >> Teaching is sharing your life and your life experiences with kids.  What an awesome privilege it is to spend time with the students of Berkshire School who amaze me everyday.  One "hi Mr. Gulotta" in a hallway can make my day, and at Berkshire it happens 100 times per day.  Live, Learn, Laugh, and Love.

Progressives

BLOG ASSIGNMENT: 
What was the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives?

Sane???

I actually played golf on Feb. 1 in Mass.  Sandwich Hollows Golf Course was not busy, but off we went and a miracle happened as I birdied the first hole: do not worry I had an eight on the 18th. Golf in the Winter at 29 degrees: CRAZY?

Most important is the fact that a rest from teaching, or any other job for that matter, is welcome and it will help me remain fresh upon return.

It is 26 today and we our playing at 11:15am. Still crazy after all these years.

Cape Cod Bound:

Cape Cod Bound:  Going to our house on the cape in the Winter is awesome! We dress warm and enjoy the solitude of the empty beach.

Eric

Love and distance create a difficult family dynamic.  With my wonderful little grand-son a bit under the weather in Seattle, I found myself constantly wishing I could be with him and his parents.  Modern society offers many options that separate families and are exciting for our children, but the miles of space between us are emotionally taxing.

Labor union question

Answer Blog questions--Has the need for labor unions passed?  Please include the rise of labor unions when they were needed in the post civil war era, and then answer the question regarding today.

Advanced US Assignment 1 of semester 2

First Amendment Rights V the KKK

In a one paragraph answer do you think that the the United States Government should allow organizations who advocate the distribution of rights based on race and religion to exist? Should the history of the organization have any bearing on the government's actions? Does the KKK have a right to legal protection?

1st Amendment to the US Constitution
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition" the Government for a redress of grievances."

Preamble of Constitution: The purpose of the US Government's existence.
We the People  of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

grand kids

These kids want to know what you think!

Eric

Liam

Summerly

Happy New Year Students:

Blog assignments are not meant to limit you to comments on those entries alone.  Feel free to offer your opinions in appropriate ways to any of my postings.
Mr. Gulotta

message to all

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Greatest Speech of the 19th Century

The Gettysburg Address Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863 On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner commented on what is now considered the most famous speech by President Abraham Lincoln. In his eulogy on the slain president, he called it a "monumental act." He said Lincoln was mistaken that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." Rather, the Bostonian remarked, "The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech."

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

First Paragraph of Causes of Civil War

First Paragraph of Causes of Civil War
Due Thursday December 6 for E and F
Due Friday December 7 for A

Con Law Briefs

Con Law Briefs--Good Luck
This is due November 30, 2012

On Blog- Pro-Life or Pro-Choice?

This is due Saturday December 1,2012

F. Period Blog assignment

"The first, the quickest, and the most bloodless battle of the war was over. It was not a fair sample of what was to come."
  
This is the last sentence of chapter 12. What do Boorstin and Kelley mean?

This assignment is due Saturday first period,  November, 17.

one last time up Mt. Washington

One more time I had the varsity runners of my cross-country team run up Mt. Everett on Mt. Washington Road starting in Egremont. They made the 3.1 miles in fine fashion.  After 34 years of coaching runners I feel good about turning the program over to Coach Anderson who will do a great job.

Our French team Memeber's report

Hi,

 

This is the final email before I come back.

on the 31st of October, we won our 4th game in a row against China, and this allowed us to be assured of the fisrt place o fthe tournament but also it gave U18 Team France a qualification ticket to the Division 2  world championship in Switzerland.

It is Amazing. We were unsuspected but we played very well and had a great team spirit.

Even though we lost against Italy, our last game, I had an amazing time, and I am so happy I will be playing for team France in January again.

 

ids

review for Jackson test

Conlaw blog assignment-Desegregation

"Lady Justice is pictured as blind, her daughter the law ought to at least be colored blind." (Albion Tourgee: lawyer for the plaintiff in Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

 THE "EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW" WAS GUARANTEED BY THE 14TH AMENDMENT IN 1868.

So why did the desegregation of schools, and the equal access to public facilities for all races take so long after the Brown vs The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954)  case?

Roast kurma/sweet potato & garbanzo/chickpea salad

Hey this New Zealandish concoction was pretty good--it went very nicely with a summer ale and I imagine that a cooled white wine would also complement it well.  Love it as a supper after spending time near the ocean and I believe that my great wife Debbie should make this often when we retire to Cape Cod

Mandarin-organge cake

I suggest that you try something other than Mandarin-orange cake--say maybe fasting would be better.  It is not poison but it is not very exciting unless you need something for mouse traps.

next recipe from One World Veg. Cookbook

Piperade--is  AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife made this egg and pepper and tomatoes dish and it was a fantastic taste explosion of delight.

Add hot sauce--don't add hot sauce -- serve it with Caesars salad or serve it with an ice cold beer, or even serve it by itself---just eat and enjoy.

I am now ready to try new things because these new recipes are so much fun to experience.  Eating is the second best thing to do on earth and Piperade is one of the reasons.

second message from French Goalie

Jeanne Morin	Oct 28 (2 days ago)
to me

Hi,

I am sorry I was not able to answer you faster, but our internet is not free and right now I will only be able to use it for 24 hours.

We played two games so far. the first one against Slovakia and the second one against Kazakhstan. I play the first game fully and we won 3-2, but I did not play in the second even though we won 5-0. Kazakhstan was not a strong team, and as a team we did not play very well. Everyday we have a muscular warmup at 8:45am and a Breakfast/ brunch before our game. On top of this we have individual meeting after every games and team meetings after and before every games. We are playing G.B. tomorrow.

The web site with everything about the tournament is linked at the end of this email.

Jeanne Morin

http://www.iihf.com/competition/312/statistics.html

My last home meet

On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 9:36 AM, Bill Gulotta <bgulotta@berkshireschool.org> wrote:
10/27/2012

Berkshire vs  Gunnery, Salisbury, and South Kent  @ Berkshire

Berkshire 29  Gunnery  26,
Berkshire 15  South Kent  50
Berkshire 20  Salisbury  43

In our last home meet of the season the Bears ran awesome.  22 out of 22 Berkshire Boys ran their fastest time of the season improving by an an average of 30 seconds on the same course that they ran one week earlier.  The courage that was on display by these harriers was inspirational for they took the pain necessary to succeed for each other.  Selfish behavior never brings the joy one receives when one sacrifices for another, and on this day the determination to perform at the highest level was achieved by young man sprinting the last 300 yards until they virtually collapsed upon completing their run. The highlights I will now mention in no way are meant to belittle the effort on the teammates that I do not mention.  Wes Lickus arrived at the meet a bit late due to an academic commitment. Without the proper lunch or warm-up he went to the line and ran the best race of his 3 year running career at Berkshire.  Sam Sabin had been sick all week, yet he finished 5th out of 57 runners and improved his time by 30 seconds, while Dylan O'Connor finished 3rd in the race and 1st for the Bears on his sore knee that kept from doing the regular workout for 10 practices in the last 2 weeks.  Spectators were thrilled by the amazing final Sprints of Sasha Podolsky and Peter Giordano who ran step for step with competitive opposition runners and nipped them in the end. The biggest improvement by a varsity runner was accomplished by Nate McKenzie who dropped 50 seconds from his previous best on the Berkshire Trail. Congrats to a tough, yet sportsmanlike Gunnery team who defeated us by running an excellent race.  Our victory over Salisbury and South Kent are nice, but it is the effort of "giving it everything you had for the team" that made this a memorable day.  Thank you boys for an exciting day under the mountain!!