Return of the Blogger

Today I have a very special treat for people who have been reading edublogs for a while. One of the original FoLMeGs (Friends of Learn Me Good) has been convinced to come out of "retirement" and write a Guest Post.

Many of you remember the wildly popular Education in Texas blog which surprisingly and sadly went dark last April. I am happy to say that I have been able to keep in touch with its gregarious author, Mike in Texas, and I asked him to submit a post.

Mike's post doesn't fill us in on what he's been doing since Education in Texas or what he's doing now, but it does address a glaring hole that he observes in the national educational system -- the lack of corporate sponsorship in schools. I'm totally with him, and I've posted similar suggestions in the past!

Here is is, ladies and gentlemen, the latest and greatest scribblings from the Blogger Formerly Known as Mike in Texas. The title is, "Corporate Sponsorship, Or Maybe I Should Just Pay A Little Better Attention."

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As a teacher I’m enthralled by anything that is:

1. coffee related
2. free

So it’s my good fortune to have a relative in the healthcare business, where she is inundated with items from pharmaceutical companies, including coffee cups, which she kindly passes on to me.

Many mornings I grab a last cup to drink when I get to work and I end up with several coffee cups sitting around my room, as I usually forget to bring them home.

Several days ago I was having a severe case of heartburn so I asked a student to take a coffee cup, wash it out, and fill it with water. Without really thinking about it I grabbed a cup off the shelf and sent her on the way.

About 10 seconds later my brain realized what I had done; I had just sent a 10 year old girl down the hall to fill a coffee cup emblazoned with the VIAGRA logo!!

At first I was horrified by my own carelessness but then I began to consider the possibilities of corporate sponsorship. After all, I recently read about a teacher who sold ad space on his tests. Many school districts have sold naming rights to buildings, stadiums, sports arenas or even on the sides I’ve school buses. I’ve also heard of people selling space on their bodies on EBay, so why not a little extra cash for me?

Are you listening Viagra, because I have some great ideas on how you can sponsor my coffee breaks. Who would be able to forget, “This stiff cup of Joe brought to you by Viagra!” or “Need a pick-me-up? Viagra!”

Networks are constantly inventing new ways to sell advertising during sporting events, like “Time for the Preparation H Dump Off Pass of the game, brought to you by Preparation H”. Everyday millions of school kids are taking commercial free recesses when they could be viewing a message saying, “This recess brought to you by Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs”.

Why stop with there? I have several extraneous body parts I’m hardly using.
First, there’s my bald head. Are you listening Rogaine?

Then there’s my ever expanding mid-section. As an added bonus I’ll gladly agree to eat more Popeye’s Fried Chicken to increase the surface area available for a company logo.

“Popeye’s! Over 2000 calories per meal served!”

If I happened to leave my PDA at your business feel free to stamp it with your logo before sending it back to me.

You’ll have to excuse me now, the coffee’s brewing and there’s money to be made.
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Big Tex says hi

Once again, Mike in Texas has put together a spectacular Carnival of Education! Go check it out, and click on every single hotlink you can get your grubby little cursor on! You know you want to!!

Midway is open

Once again, Mike in Texas is hosting the Carnival of Education!

There, you will not encounter any NFL quarterbacks betting on dogfights, immature starlets arrested on DUIs, or jerks posting spoilers to The Deathly Hallows...