Skullastic - SHOP SCHOOL SUPPLIES, T-SHIRTS & COOL STUFF

A Life Lesson.

admin — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 20:09:06 +0000

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large
and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the
entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed..

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—-your family, your children,
your health, your friends and your favorite passions—-and if everything else was lost and only
they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter
like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else—-the small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is
no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you
will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children.
Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first—-the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’ The beer just shows
you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room
for a couple of beers with a friend.

Cheers!

“Let It Go” from “Frozen” goes back to school!

admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:13:30 +0000

Idina Menzel (or, as her not-so-close friend John Travolta refers to her,
Adele Dazeem), Jimmy Fallon and The Roots took to the classroom to
present a rollicking rendition of “Let It Go” from the movie “Frozen”.

The playfulness and joy reflecting in this video is presented to you as a reminder that music in
the classroom is critical. Not just for its educational merit, but also because it’s just…plain…fun!

FUN FACT: The L I G (for Let It Go) wooden blocks that Jimmy is holding in the video?
Those were graciously donated to the shoot by Jimmy’s daughter, Winnie.

“It Doesn’t Get Better”

admin — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 01:29:17 +0000

We created SKULLASTIC because we loved school. Sometimes wish we were still IN school!

So when we found this parody of the anti-bullying “It Gets Better” videos, we had to share. Remember
the super popular kids? The ones with ALL the charm, looks, athletic ability, and rockin’ confidence?
The ones with the world at their feet? Some of them are here to let you know “It Doesn’t Get Better”.

POETRY YRTEOP

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 02:32:28 +0000

14 year old Jordan Nichols wrote a poem.

Sounds pretty hopeless, right?

Now, read it in reverse:

Unless we turn things around
That might be true,
People thought we couldn’t come back
We knew that
Was a joke.
Working hard
Was how we handled our problems.
Giving up
Is something we never did.
Changing our world for the better
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Forgetting about that time,
Is a dumb thing to do.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is the way to go.
Living only for money and power
Is a waste. And we know
We actually succeeded
Thinking that
Our generation was a failure.
That is wrong, the truth is
We were the peak of mankind.
Never will anybody say,
Our generation will be known for nothing.

Never underestimate the power of a child’s ability
to see a world we do not see. Bravo Jordan. Bravo!

Celebrity Spelling Bee!

admin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 21:51:17 +0000

Tonight is the Schoolhouse Supplies Celebrity Spelling Bee at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon!

We are mega fans of spelling bees. Have you seen Spellbound? If not, Netflix it and you’ll buzz for bees too.

We are very excited about this year’s event because last year’s winner, Zia McCabe will be defending her title.
Zia is keyboard player and super cool chick from our favorite band, The Dandy Warhols. Last year’s win
was a bit of a shock to her, but word on the street is that she is P-O-I-S-E-D to take the title again this year.

She’ll be facing off against Cupcake Wars winner and owner of Kyra’s Bake Shop, Kyra Bussanich,
news anchorman and reporter Reggie Aqui and Portland Trailblazers high profiled rookie, CJ McCollum.

The annual event is the big fundraiser for Schoolhouse Supplies, a non-profit organization that supports
public education in Portland by giving students and teachers free classroom supplies. 100% volunteer run,
they operate Oregon’s only Free Store for Teachers which is stocked with supplied donated by the community.

To learn more about Schoolhouse Supplies and the Celebrity Bee, click here.

Good luck to tonight’s celeb spellers! We’re rooting for you Zia!!!!

The Skullastic HONOR SOCIETY

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 03:05:01 +0000

This week, we honor Agnes “Granny” Zhelesnik, teacher at the private Sundance School in New Jersey.

Last Friday, Agnes turned 100. She is believed to be the country’s oldest working teacher.

Zhelesnik was a homemaker until the age of 81 when she became a full-time home economics
teacher and started teaching students how to cook and sew at the North Plainfield school.

She’s still there 19 years later.

Why? She likes the kids! Her daughter teaches at the school as well.

A birthday celebration was held in the pre K-5 school’s auditorium for Agnes last week.
Students, faculty and administrators sang “Happy Birthday” to her.
She also received birthday letters from Governor Chris Christie and President Obama.

At 100 years and still working, we think Agnes Zhelesnik is a class act.

ZOMBIE ETHICS 101

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 02:50:19 +0000

If the zombie apocalypse came tomorrow, a group of Norwegian
high school students would be ethically prepared.

Tobias Staaby, a teacher at Nordahl Grieg High School, has
developed a class using Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead.

The teacher wants “a good catalyst for discussions about ethical theories and dilemmas.”
He picked great material. The Walking Dead Game (based on the AMC television show)
features intense narrative that is heavily influenced by player’s choices. The sophisticated
nature of the game helped it to win over 90 Game of the Year awards in 2012.

The class plays through the game as one, pausing every time the students must
make a choice to proceed. Then, each student votes anonymously for how he thinks
the situation should be navigated. Once the resultsof the vote are in, the class
discusses the dilemma and the various ethical approaches that could be taken.
Finally, they advance the game according to the solution with the most votes.

Staaby thinks that the game has been an effective teaching tool. “The students are motivated
and committed,” he said, “and when one is engaged in the subject at hand, one will learn better.”
The students agree. Stated one “It’s not normal that I remember everything after a lesson …
but now I feel that I know the subject very well.”

Staaby hopes that in five years, his approach to teaching ethics will be more commonly used.

Mortarboard Billboard For Sale

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 02:23:30 +0000

Meet Alex Benda. Entrepreneur. In debt college student.

Alex is graduating from the University of Flint-Michigan this spring with $31,000 in student loan debt.

To help pay some of that loan bill, he’s decided to sell ad space on top of his graduation mortarboard.

Last week he launched his campaign via GoGetFunding.com. No donation is too small and every
donation gets rewarded. A $1 donation gets you a high-five from Alex should the two of you ever meet.
$10 gets you a hand written thank you note. A $300 donation gets you a 1″ square ad on his graduation cap.
If Alex can sell 100 1″ square ads, he’ll eliminate ALL of his student loan debt and be one glad grad.

As of 6pm on Wednesday, February 22 he has 32 backers and has raised 9% of his goal ($2,851.00).
So far, he’s sold four 1″ ads for his grad cap. Oh…and just so you know… you can put ANYTHING
YOU WANT on that 1″ ad on his graduation mortarboard. As long as it’s not sexual, offensive or crude.

All donations must be made by Friday, May 2 at 11:59pm. If you want to support Alex, click here.

aMAZEment!

admin — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 19:56:25 +0000

Over 30 years ago, a man created THE most complex, unbelievably detailed hand-drawn maze.
The maze is 34″ wide x 23.3″ high and took him 7 years to complete.

Art connoisseurs are going crazy over this maze, recently published by the artist’s daughter,
both for its artistic brilliance as well as the fact that NO ONE has been able to solve it.

But the most fascinating fact about the maze drawing is that it was not drawn by
a mathematician, a scientist or a professor. It was created by a university janitor.

Due to high demand, the maze is currently on back order.
If you’re interested in taking a crack at it, you can buy it here.

Michael Jordan’s college transcript for sale

admin — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 22:06:47 +0000

Before he became the greatest player in the NBA, Michael Jordan was a college student taking
Beginning Tennis and Elementary Portuguese his freshman year at the University of North Carolina.

MJ’s entire course load will likely be displayed on someone’s wall sometime soon since this valuable
piece of paper and other documents from his time in college are now up for auction. These documents
once hung on the walls in his “23″ restaurant in Chapel Hill until the business closed in November 2003.

The items were put into storage until the storage space bill wasn’t paid and then became property of a
“Storage Wars”-type dude who sold the contents to New Jersey-based auction house Goldin Auctions.

In addition to his transcripts, two 1980 recruiting letters and an original copy of the diploma he received
from UNC in 1986 are being auctioned. Jordan’s academic records indicate he was a Geography major.