By Diana Hadley
Executive director
I appreciate and enjoy IHSPA members’ Facebook postings.
I appreciate the discussion of educational issues and the camaraderie of everyone as we navigate challenging times for our schools.
I especially enjoy photos of weddings, pets and everyone’s children from babies through Halloween costumes, first-day-of-school, soccer games, prom, and commencement.
Some of the children’s photos remind me of the days I picked up my daughter after kindergarten and brought her back to school to color while my yearbook or newspaper students finished a deadline. I have fond memories of my staff members coloring with Lindsay as they unintentionally modeled good humor, character, teamwork and scholarship. When Lindsay was in middle school one of her teachers said Lindsay seemed more like a sibling from a large family than an only child. Lindsay probably would agree that she grew up among dozens of teenagers who seemed like family.
As Clark and I await the birth of our first grandchild and I hear from advisers who are awaiting the birth of their first child, I am touched by the overlapping circles of the generations our members represent and the different challenges we face as we try to be all things to our students and the different phases of our families.
Now, instead of balancing my schedule with a child’s orthodontist appointments or school activities like some of you, I juggle my mom’s doctor appointments and discuss new personal “old challenges” with those members in my age group.
That brings me to the privilege of attending the celebration of Florence Cripe’s life on Monday. Like many friendships in IHSPA, Dennis Cripe and I have known each other through many years. We have worked together through and for IHSPA from our early days at Ben Davis and Mooresville, respectively. For approximately four decades we have compared our parallel universes of schools, students, biological children and parents as an almost seamless evolution of commonalities.
I had never met Florence, but I had heard about her many times, and I had seen the video Dennis had produced about her. Thanks to all he has learned about photography, interviewing and storytelling, Dennis was able to produce a moving and lively tribute to his mother’s life as his mom, the co-editor (with his dad) of a small town newspaper, political enthusiast and IU fan. He has given me permission to share it with you. I’m sure you will appreciate it within all of our mutual interests of good journalism and valued family.
