Archive for the ‘Summer Vacation’ Category

I am thankful for Tom Poole, My First Boss. One Man, Four Lessons, An Immeasurable Impact.

22 November 2009

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my first boss, Tom Poole, who died a year ago.  A quiet, unassuming Down Maine’r, as a young man Tom left the Pine Tree State first to fight for our country and then to make his mark on the business world.  In his retirement, he returned each summer to his cottage in northern Maine.

Tom taught me four lessons — about hiring, making unpopular decisions, buying a cottage (in Maine!), and taking vacations — that have had an immeasurable impact on my life and, by association, the lives of many around me.  Each lesson has its own story which, (more…)

Posted in A Better Way?, Burroughs, Cottage, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, First Boss, Greenville Maine, Hiring, Maine, Summer Vacation, Thanksgiving, Tom Poole, Vacation Time | 6 Comments »

Six Things Irish Schools Do Well; Should America Adopt Them?

31 May 2007

school-bus.jpegToday school children in Ireland start their three-month long summer vacation. They enjoy a longer break than their American counterparts due to a more efficient school calendar, one of six things Irish schools do well that American schools should consider adopting.

When we moved to Ireland in 2001 from the top-notch public schools of Lexington MA (Lexington’s schools had just been selected as the best in the northeast) we were pleased to learn that the Irish schools were equally as good. The quality of public education – a key focus of the Irish government for thirty years – is one of the three factors behind the Celtic Tiger boom; in less than a decade the Irish economy became the healthiest in the EU, with the Irish now enjoying the highest per capita income in Europe. (The other two drivers of the Irish economy – a dramatic increase in the number of women… (more…)

Posted in A Better Way?, College Admissions, Des Pieri, Desmond Pieri, Dublin, Europe, Ireland, Irish, Irish Schools, Leaving Cert, Less Stress More Success, Marilee Jones, School Uniforms, Summer Vacation, Teachers, Tenure, The Economist | 8 Comments »