Haley Goes to A.E.P. Submitted by: Jim Ford - 07/20/08 2:57 pm

Haley Goes to A.E.P. After years almost 4 years on a waiting list and 5 sets of straight A's, Haley has been accepted at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School. Her Mom and I are SO excited and I'm the proudest Daddy in the world! There's nothing wrong with her old public school at all. But at A.E.P., she'll have access to a planetarium, laboratory, and computer labs. Nestled into a corner of Louisiana Tech University and administered by the college of Education, the minimum requirement for teachers is a Masters, with several at the Doctoral level. The class size is limited to between 20 and 30 for the entire grade, not just her classroom size. The students get more attention and time from the teachers. They have excellent music, arts, physical education, library, and computer lab programs. Not to mention, this is where Haley's aunt, uncle, and Daddy went to school! Another Ford going to A.E.P.! Some of my biggest life influences were at A.E.P. Mr. Alec Laney, our 8th grade teacher was incredible. Never will you find again a more caring and compassionate, yet strict and tough teacher. I guess gone are the days when kids were afraid to walk in front of Mr. Laney with a shirt untucked or be caught not paying attention.... for fear of the long oak paddle with Mr. Laney's name in raised letters... ending up on our backsides or legs. Or our class trip to South Louisiana, or memorizing poetry, or being challenged by our teachers because they really cared about how we turned out. I'm hoping it won't be a tough transition. 2 of Haley's friends from Hillcrest are transferring along with some other family friends kids she knows. It means so much to know my girl is going to her old man's school. Go Haley and Go Bullpups!

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John Ford - 07/21/08 7:20 pm

Jim, Congratulations on Haley being accepted to AEP. It must be incredibly tougher to get in to AEP now. Congratulations on your persistance and Haley's acedemic excellence. I know it means so much to you and it does to me as well. I'm so proud of all my kids and their excellent training for life at AEP. FYI, it was no big deal when Rosemary and I got John Jr into AEP, I took it for granted as a perk of being a Tech faculty member, little did I know how difficult it would become later on. I do remember a few years later when it was time for either Jane or you, I think it was Jane, that she or you was not accepted. Rosemary may have told you something about this. I do remember, I wrote an impassioned letter to Robert Hearn and either Jane of you were accepted. I am so thankful that all three of you went through AEP. I grudgingly went with Rosemary to the parent teacher meetings and other dealings with AEP. I was so wrong and so short sighted. I'm glad she knew what was important and insisted. Your note today about Haley's acceptance to AEP made me think about "The Circle of Life" form the Lion King. There's a lot of truth in that song. Haley may be the last Ford to go to AEP but at least the circle will continue for another generation. Love you, congratulations to all ! ! ! Dad

Sunny Moon - 07/20/08 7:16 pm

Congrats - They have been opening up a bunch of spots lately - I think they are gearing up for that high school - Several people I know have been called in the last few days - What fun! sunny

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