Finally Caught Up For 2009!!!!

Yesterday I started driving my new routes with The Peacebus. Since Joanne and I recently moved to the west side of London I had asked my supervisor to give me routes that were closer to where I live. This saves me a lot of driving time and saves the company a bit of money as I’m using less fuel to get around. The Earth smiles as I’m polluting less, as well!


I imagine that in a week or so I’ll be sharing stories and artwork about the new students that are riding my bus. For today, I thought that it would be a good idea to share the last few artworks that were presented to me, by the students who rode my bus in 2009.

Since the beginning of the year I have witnessed many changes in the students that rode my bus… changes for the good! When the school year began, Jessica (in senior kindergarten) was a very quiet and shy little girl. Every day I would welcome her onto the bus with a smile as she walked past me with eyes lowered to sit in her seat where she sat in silence for the rest of the bus ride. This went on for almost two months when suddenly Jessica changed.

I first noticed this change when she was getting on the bus, after school one day. On this day, she was smiling and as she got closer to the bus she looked at me through the window and waved a greeting. When she got on the bus I said (as I had been all year), “Ahhh, bonjour Jessica! Comment c’est va?” I was really surprised when – for the first time – she replied, “Tres bien!” Then she handed me some artwork to decorate the windows of The Peacebus.

From that day, until the end of the year a new Jessica rode my bus. It was wonderful watching her shyness disappear as a livelier little girl began to emerge.


Near the end of the school year, Jessica handed in another drawing for me. It put a huge smile on my face. It was a picture of The Peacebus and she drew it driving through the subdivision where she lives!!!!


As I’m sure you can imagine, the children didn’t always behave like angels! Sometimes Mr. Jim had to separate students who were bickering and occasionally a student was sent to the front of bus for misbehaving. The day after I had to move Jason to the front of the bus, he got on and handed me this drawing, “I wasn’t very peace-like, yesterday, Mr. Jim… I’m sorry!” This apology was very thoughtful for a young boy in grade 1 and I was glad that I could reduce his ‘front of the bus’ sentence!!!


I’ve shared quite a bit of artwork created by Patricia, also in grade 1. In fact, at one point she had handed in so much artwork that I wrote one blog just about her! After a while Patricia started finding more and more ways to be creative. Instead of simply handing in a peace of her artwork, she started to put her artwork into envelopes that she also decorated with peaceful images.


When I opened the envelopes all sorts of artwork would spill out! Sometimes she would draw full-page images to decorate the ceiling of the bus and other times she would fill the envelope with window decorations for the bus.


The students who rode my bus must have shared a lot of stories (and my peace Stik-ers!) with their friends. Whenever I happened to be in the school, before bus loading time, students who I didn’t know would walk up to me and say, “Peace! Mr. Jim!” This always made me laugh. Several students who didn’t ride my bus would still hand in artwork. They would give it to a student who did ride my bus and they would hand it in to me. I received about five window decorations and this little peace pillow.

I thought that all of these peaceful interactions were great! Without even trying I was inspiring other students to think of peace!!!

The thing that surprised me most was how I had inadvertently affected the fashions of the children who rode my bus.

At the beginning of the year, I had announced that Fridays were to be ‘Peace T-shirt’ days. I explained that any T-shirts that had pictures of flowers, birds or other animals would be considered ‘Peace T-shirts’ cuz they showed the students love of Nature. Blue T-shirts were accepted as they represented the sky and the oceans. Green T-shirts were also accepted as they represented trees, grass and Earthly things. Also, T-shirts that said things like “I Love Canada” were accepted as they show how the student loves their homeland.


Nearing the end of September, I had created my own Peace T-shirts to give away to the students, as prizes, for their participation in an art contest I had created. I handed out six T-shirts and every Friday the students wore them to school. The principal of the school even shared some positive comments with me about these T-shirts.

One day, a young girl told me that she had gone shopping with her mom. Then she opened her jacket, slightly, to pull out the peace necklace that she had bought. I thought that it was great!

A few days later, an older student was excited to show me the peace bracelet the she had just bought.


Over the next while the students shared with me many stories about all the peace symbols that they had seen. Some had seen a car with the words ‘peace’ and ‘hope’ graffitied on it, some told me about peace posters they had seen, or peace images that they had found on the internet.

It made me feel very happy to know that I had turned on these children’s imaginations to draw peaceful images and I was overwhelmed to realize that I had opened their eyes to witness the peace that surrounds us everyday!!!!

I thought that it was delightful that I had inadvertently influenced the fashion that these students wore. These are their T-shirts…


Well… I’ve finally done it – got caught up with all the artwork and stories that I’ve wanted to share with you. Now, that I have a busload of new students, I’m sure that new stories and artworks will be written about very soon!

I really, really, super really enjoyed all the adventures that I shared with my former students and I’m looking forward to a great 2010 filled with all the wondrous delights that life has to offer!!!

Jim

Mr. Jim Is Fun!

Hello! My name is Mr. Jim and I’ll be your school bus driver for the rest of this blog!!!

What a blast I’ve had, over this last year, driving my big yellow bus and making lots of new friends with the world’s future leaders! Some days we sing songs together. Some days we share stories about detectives and magical pizzas. Some days the students bring me wonderful drawings inspired by thoughts of peace…


It’s been very interesting for me, to see how all the silly things that I do affect the students who ride my bus. I’ve witnessed a few of them turning into ‘peace’ monsters – LOL!


One day a student told me that I had inspired her to do a school project about recycling. She had found this picture on the internet and she used it in her project. She made a copy for me to decorate The Peacebus!


Another students had given me this picture to use as a decoration, as well. I’m always delighted to receive these images… especially when it’s from a student who doesn’t feel confident with their drawing ability. It shows that they’ve found a different way of expressing themselves by simply sharing images that they like.

This August, I spent a week driving kids to summer camp. I learned a few of their songs. One of my favourites was called ‘The Moose Song’. It had a simple beat and it was easy to change the words to write songs about any subject. Since then, I wrote this song for the students of my regular route. It is a repeat after me song, so when you’re reading the lyrics bellow try to image me, poorly singing one line, followed by thirty kids screaming out a repeat of that same line…

The Bus Song

We ride the bus to school
Where we learn the golden rule
We ride the bus to school
Where we learn the golden rule

Singing Way-ay-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!
Wayyyy-o! Wayyy-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!

We pass stops and signs
And thoughts that really blow my mind
We pass stops and signs
And thoughts that really blow my mind

Singing Way-ay-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!
Wayyyy-o! Wayyy-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!

Oui! C’est bon! Tres bien!
Well that’s all the French I know
Oui! C’est bon! Tres bien!
Well that’s all the French I know

Singing Way-ay-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!
Wayyyy-o! Wayyy-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!

Mr. Jim is fun
Singing songs with everyone
Mr. Jim is fun
Singing songs with everyone

We sing Rock’n’Roll
The music really lifts my soul
We sing Rock’n’Roll
The music really lifts my soul

Singing Way-ay-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Way-o!
Wayyyy-o! Wayyy-o!
Way-o! Way-o! Way-o! Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-o!


So… you’d think that I would have already run out of stories and art by the students of The Peacebus…but I still have more!!! Tune in to my next blog entry to learn how Mr. Jim “Busdriver Extrodinaire!” has made PEACE a fashion statement……..

Mr. Jim

My Christmas Story

This was a very special time for Joanne, me and our families. Since we just bought our first house everyone was expecting that we would be hosting this year’s family gathering… and we did!!! We all had a great time and enjoyed lots of delicious food, music and conversation.

Joanne’s parents live fairly close, so they came by just for the day. It’s a beautiful, though rather long journey for my family to venture to London, so they stayed for a few days.


I’m not sure who’s idea it was, but suddenly Thursday afternoon my dad, sister and I found ourselves at the top of the tube slide at nearby Boler Mountain – nicknamed ‘The Boler Bump’ cuz it’s not really very high!


After a few runs down the slope we found that the best way to go down the hill was in pairs. This created a very large turning radius for spinning around and around.


There were lots of rubber mats at the end of the run, to help you slow down and stop. They didn’t always help… several times we watched young children reach this stopping zone, they would almost stop and then they would end up sliding back down the hill. There were staff members on sight and when this happened they would run after these rogue tubers to help them stop and to make sure that they got off the course safely.


And then… it was time to get back to the top of the hill to do it again! They had built a moving sidewalk to get you to the top of the hill. You had to focus to keep your balance as this conveyor system was a little bumpy at times!!!

There was a lot of activity on christmas morning, when Joanne’s parents arrived. Our dog, Koly, had to let the whole neighbourhood know that we had company. Packages of food and yummy sweets were being unloaded while Jo’ began preparing a wonderful brunch. She made a huge batch of pancakes loaded with blueberries that we had picked ourselves, last summer, at a nearby farm.

Sharing these moments together is what really makes this time of year special for all of us. You won’t find any of us at shopping malls buying presents for each other – we stopped doing that many years ago. The few presents that we do exchange are more personal – mostly hand made – and they don’t make things like that in China!


This is a pencil drawing that my mom created for us. It was inspired by a photo that my mom took a few hours after Joanne and I got married, in July. We had returned to the cottage we had rented, changed into our regular clothes and left our dress clothes hanging in one of the bedrooms. My mom thought that this simple collection of our wedding outfits, hung up, looked full of expression and she became inspired to create this very personal present for us. Jo’ and I both love it and we’ll be finding a special place to hang it very soon!

You’ll notice one christmas card with a picture of a young boy holding a goat. Inside the card we read that by purchasing this card, our friends who had bought it for us, had also supported a food initiative in a country not as wealthy as ours. Three packets of seeds will be sent to a developing nation to help provide food for a family. Somehow presents of this nature seem more meaningful and giving and they fill me up inside.

Joanne and I tend to try to stray away from the Santa Claus themes and religious themes associated with this time of year. Sure the stories of ol’ Saint Nick are kinda funny, I’m a huge fan of The Grinch and his voyage to discover the capacity to feel love in new and surprising ways and they make me laugh, but somehow I can’t seem to understand all the misleading stories that we entice our children with. Religion – well that’s a ‘blog series’ in itself and I’m not going there today! Ha! Probably never go ‘there’ – I try not to talk about something that I know little about. Now – how my spirit feels, the joys I embrace with my heart and the fun adventures I experience with Nature are things that I do know a lot about…


What Jo’ and I do enjoy, in the way of seasonal icons, are snowmen! Ummmm… maybe I should say snowpeople!!!! The thought of the spirits of ‘love’ and ‘joy’ coming to life in creations made of snow just puts a silly smile on my face.


This was our presents display and you can see that it did not take up very much room, as we don’t do a lot of gift giving. There are a couple of boxes of chocolates, locally made and distributed out of Stratford – about 40 km away, a mug filled with assorted flavours of hot chocolate, some herbal teas, a big tin of caramelized popcorn that was bought to support the local Boy Scouts of Canada, and the small gift bags were filled with handmade winter hats and placemat settings for our dining room table from Jo’s mom.

The few gifts that we do buy are usually locally manufactured items that help our local economies – things that can be shared when family is visiting to make our time together enjoyable.

I wish that I had the photos of my dad wearing his handmade winter toque, to show you. He wore it around the house all day… “It keeps my bald spot warm!” – LOL!!!


This is a photo of where we did all of our feasting. Since we’ve just moved in, we don’t have a lot of furniture, so we tried to make this room comfortable by hanging some of my artworks on the wall. The placemats that Joanne’s mom made, are in the bottom of the photo. The ‘wine’ colours are very nice and the stitchwork (that you can’t see) is really funky and full of life.

And soon, it was time for a light lunch. Last time Jo’s mom came to visit she had brought with her a very large Butternut Squash that had been grown in her friends garden this year. I love the delicious soup that Joanne makes with these squashes and that – along with some bread and sliced pears – became our afternoon meal.

Everyone was more than generous with their offers to help in the kitchen, but as I’m sure you can imagine a few, “Too many cooks in the kitchen!” announcements were made as Joanne and I kept busy with all the washing of the dishes!!!!


I don’t have the greatest camera in the world and with all the different intensities of light, flashes, etc I found it hard to get a focused picture of our feasting. But… I thought that I would share this ‘spirited’ pic anyway. It just seems to capture the essence of friends and family enjoying a festive meal – with all the movement and energies that we all bring to the dinner table.


After deserts and an initial quick clean of the dinner table I thought that it would be a nice thing to fill the air with a bit of homegrown music. I got out my guitar and played just two songs. The second song I performed was an instrumental and you can enjoy this by linking to my youtube account - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5srmo8SvKU&feature=channel_page . I’m steadily working on a video for the first song, but I can share the lyrics with you here and now…

What The World Needs Now

What the world needs now
Is a new kind of breath
Not the sweet kiss of death
But a time to be best.

What the world needs now
Is a dream without end
There’s no thoughts of revenge
When everybody’s a friend.

You know
We’ll have to rely on our instincts
Our future
Doesn’t come with a well laid plan.
Yeah!
We’ll have to rely on our instincts
When we make our stand
Against the lie of the land.

What the world needs now
Is the will to believe
That one heart pounds the beat
For our army of peace.

What our army needs now
Is the will to be strong
You know
There’s never a wrong
When your heart is a song.

You know
We’ll have to rely on our instincts
To break the chains
The chains that hold us back.
Yeah!
We’ll have to rely on our instincts
You know we’re never down
Even when the odds are stacked.

Jim Kogelheide
Summer 2008

So… our first official family dinner in our new home was an enormous success. The food was tremendously great, the company was superb and the spirit that surrounded us all was enlightened!!!


I’m sure that everyone who was present would agree that Joanne’s efforts more than entitled her to ‘The Woman of The Hour’ award. I would have suggested ‘woman of the day’, ‘year’, or even ‘lifetime’ but I didn’t want it to go to her head!!!!

Laughing Out Loud (and unable to stop!!!!) – ha! That’s for you Pat :P !!!!!!

Jim

The Best Christmas Present Ever!

Twas two weeks before the winter break
And Mr. Jim’s dining room table was a muss
As he assembled his presents of art
For the children of The Peacebus!!!

After Joanne and I had moved to the west part of London, I quickly realized that I had a further distance to travel with my school bus during my afternoon break. A further distance means that I am using more diesel fuel and we all know that that is bad for the environment! I talked with my supervisor about this issue and soon we had an agreement that will see me driving bus routes closer to my home, in the new year. My new routes will be saving me about 30 minutes of travel-time each day. This will also save Murphy Bus Lines a few dollars in fuel costs each day and of course the amount of exhaust pollution coming out of bus’ tailpipe will be decreased, as well.

Unfortunately, this also meant that my time with the elementary school students that I had gotten to know so well, would soon be over.

I was thinking about this… and thinking about a fun way to end our time together – with christmas approaching – when it suddenly occurred to me that my students had never seen any of my artwork. I began to work on a solution for this problem!

I spent one afternoon going through some of my old art files. I wanted to create some new art prints from images that had never before been turned into hardcopy prints. These are the four images that I had selected…


Oops! Did I say ‘never’??? Okay! Okay! This image had been turned into a print, just once before, but at about half this size. I just love this painting so much that I had to revisit it, clean up the colours a little bit, re-do the title and border, so that I could share it with a new audience.


Haaaa! Did I say ‘my artwork’??? While I was getting this image ready I realized that while my desire was to share ‘my’ artwork, I was actually sharing the artwork created by students that I had taught in previous years.


I guess that I wasn’t tooooo far off the mark, as I was the one who had created and laid out the designs, mixed the paint colours and gave direction to the students.


One out of four ain’t too bad, though – eh!?!!! Yes – this art peace is one that I had created on my own… and this was the first time that I had ever created prints of this image. I wanted to show the students a different way of creating art. This image was created using ‘cut-n-paste’ techniques, using many small bits of magazines all cut out and glued together to create this image of a Temagami pine tree.

And as per the ‘Mr. Jim’ way of doing things, I also decided to add little surprises to these packages, as well. I added poems, Stik-man peace stickers and a news story that related to each painting. I also wanted to decorate the envelopes that I was putting all of these things in.


I used Jason’s christmas peace art drawing to create these stickers that I put on the front of the envelopes – with a small message saying “To be opened christmas morning some time after a yummy breakfast!”


I also used some cool artworks that I had collected from the internet to create nametag stickers for each of these envelopes.

Now… my plan was to give one of these packages to each student who rode my bus, but I didn’t tell them that. I told them that if they wanted a special surprise from me for christmas that they had to create one more peace of art for The Peacebus. I handed out a fun activity sheet for them to work on during their spare time that involved the creation of visual art and poetry art.

Over the next week many students handed in their completed art sheets. When an assignment was handed in I gave the student one of my packages. When the other students saw this happening they became excited to get one of my presents, too and soon more and more artworks were handed in.

I thought that it was great to see that many of the student’s parents had helped with these assignments. I could tell when a grade 3 student handed in his poem with the line “Typhoons are common on the other side of the Earth!” I smiled as I thought how my simple art sheet was being used to bring parents and children together to discuss environmental issues and creative art expressions!!!

This is a collection of some of their artworks and poetry…


It was only a few days before the winter break and a few sad faces came to talk to me. Some of the students had told me that they had lost the art sheets and they were upset because there was no time left to redo them. Quickly I had to make my announcement to the students, as I did not want one single sad person on my bus. I simply told them that if they had lost their art sheets, or had been too busy to do them that they were not to become upset… because every student would be receiving a special present from me. The bus filled with cheers and everyone became excited. By the end of this day I had handed out all of my presents!

Over the last three days the artwork still came in…


One boy told me that although he had lost his art sheet, he still wanted to hand in something peaceful. He had gone onto the internet and printed this cool picture for the me and the bus!


Two brothers were a little sad to know that I wasn’t going to be their bus driver after the holidays and so they had created a special ‘thank-you’ card for me. Inside it said “Mr. Jim – you are #1 bus driver. We will miss you!”


Danielle handed in one more art creation. She told me that although she had already handed in her art sheet and had received her gift that she wanted to make another peace of artwork especially for me, to thank me for being so much fun! She was really excited to point out how the Earth in her drawing was also the ‘o’ in the words ‘don’t destroy’. I told her that was a very clever idea, indeed!!!!

During the last two days of the school year I was surprised and delighted to receive a few other gifts from my students. I received another ‘Good-bye’ card, a box of chocolates, a few gift cards, a mug filled with packets of hot chocolate and a small envelope with a letter inside.

After I had dropped the students off at school I went home, made myself a cup of hot chocolate and lounged on my sofa surrounded by my two cats with Koly at my feet and Mikayla’s letter in my hand…


To say that this was a touching and thoughtful letter barely scratches the surface. It truly warmed my heart. This young girl in grade four had shown me (and now that you’ve read it – the world!) that the best presents are not store bought and wrapped with paper, ribbons and bows. The best presents are made from the heart and wrapped with love!!!

Jim