Parents: Does your child give his/her teacher a Christmas gift?

8 comments December 8th, 2008

Just curious about something:

Does your child give his/her teacher a gift at Christmas?

Is this something only elementary-aged kids do?

If your child is giving a gift to a teacher, what kind of gift?

And are they giving Christmas gifts only to classroom teachers? Music teachers? Gym teachers?

Do any of the local schools have policies regarding this?

Do tell about what you think is appropriate.

What happens at the Entourage party doesn’t stay at the Entourage party

1 comment December 8th, 2008

Don’t worry, if you were one of the 300 people at the fifth annual Entourage party put on by developer Chandler Anderson and Mark Bonne, community development coordinator for Rockford Public Schools.

I’m not publishing any of the pictures here that were taken by a photographer that the duo had specifically assigned a photo-taking task at their November party at Anderson’s Brown Hills Road home in Rockford. Nor am I publishing here any pictures taken by a certain tall blonde who never goes to any party without her digital camera.

Why not, you ask? Well, I wouldn’t want to unnecessarily embarrass any objective news media types who might be hugging a school board president or anyone else who wouldn’t want to be seen with a drink in their hands or dancing all wild and crazy.

Which leads me to this question: I wonder if any of the dozens of movers and shakers in town — or any of the rest of us — who typically attend the party would be inhibited by what Anderson and Bonne are thinking about for next year’s Entourage party?

Here’s the plan: Bonne, who by the way said he filed papers today to run for 14th-ward alderman for the city of Rockford, said next year’s schtick could revolve around the opposite of Las Vegas’ catchphrase: “What happens at the Entourage Party doesn’t stay at the Entourage Party.”

(It’s called the Entourage is because you are supposed to arrive in a group with the person who was given eight tickets to hand out to their friends and family.)

Here’s how it would work: One of the rooms in Anderson’s home would be outfitted with video equipment that would enable the live streaming on the Web of whatever is going on in the room.

“It would only be in one room so that people would not feel inhibited by the camera,” Bonne said.

Bonne said he and Anderson haven’t yet decided if they’ll do the live Web show because of logistics and cost. In fact, he said he’s not sure that the two will host the party again because of the costs for booze and food. This is the second year that Steve Shannon, whose day job is morning show host at WZOK,  has performed DJ duties. And this year Anderson and Bonne added a temporary hardwood dance floor in one carpeted room.

But the two have said in previous years that they wouldn’t host the party again, and yet they do.

So my next question is, what if I were at the party “twittering.” I’d post short updates or “tweets,” text-based posts via instant messaging, about what’s going on starting at 9 p.m. and continuing every 10 minutes or so until 2 a.m. Of course, I’d use the utmost discretion in identifying the innocent and guilty.  Or not.

Sure would add to the “What happens at the Entourage party doesn’t stay at the Entourage party theme,” wouldn’t it?