For such an excellent, progressive school district Grand Blanc sure does like its Big Brother toys.
The school board previously adopted a computer use policy allowing the district to punish students who posted nasty, libelous comments about the school/teachers/fellow students on the internet from the home computers.
The district announced this week that its new web environment will have a special feature: parents can access their kid’s information. The goal is a good one — to let parents keep track of their child’s school work and make sure assignments are getting completed. Does anyone know of a junior high or high school student who wants their parents looking over their shoulder and having access to emails from classmates and teachers? Kind of takes the fun out of the race to the mailbox to see who can grab the report card first.
Yet there is an interesting special security feature of the web environment: kids actually have to approve their parents’ request to access the accounts. Sorry mom and dad, you’re blocked.

• Congratulations to the Tartoni family and all the friends and former colleagues of Bob Tartoni who attended the athletic center dedication at Grand Blanc High School last Friday. (See page B-1 for more.)
The athletic center will be named after the late Robert Tartoni, a beloved teacher and community member (He actually tied with his wife, Sally, for nicest person in Grand Blanc).
The outpouring of emotion and recollections about Tartoni illustrated how much this man touched the lives of the people around him. Everyone — and I mean everyone — who knew Tartoni says he was the kind of person who always brightened everyone else’s day. He’s a true example of how a man’s good deeds live on.
• Tartoni also had a habit of calling guys “buddy” and women “dolls,” as in “hi doll.” I tried this with some of the women in my office. It didn’t go over so well.

• For those of you who made it out to the Grand Blanc Family Fun Fest and the Good Times in Goodrich festival last weekend: Thank you. These are the kinds of community events that that make a place something more than just streets and stop lights on your way out of town. Both festivals had great turnout when I visited on Saturday (Except for the Fun Fest “Entertainment Tent,” which should have been called, more appropriately, the “Beer Tent.” Profits from the tent went to Grand Blanc Parks & Rec. Dept. programs, which I don’t think is going to see the kind of proceeds it had anticipated.)

• It’s great news for businesses and car lovers in the area that next year’s Rollin’ Cruise is going to be a two-day event (see page A-4). The inaugural Rollin’ Cruise, a moving car show basically, was a great success leading into the Back to the Bricks weekend activities.

• “Always forgive your enemies: nothing annoys them so much.” — Oscar Wilde

More Tips