By Henri D. Kahn

I am indelibly and positively impressed with my grandson Trey's teacher, the principal, assistant principal, special education teacher, the office personnel, the school nurse, the kitchen staff, and UISD for their attitude of devotion to "help the school children."
Trey's now former inappropriate behavior was diagnosed as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, thanks initially to the suspicion of his teacher and professionally by a physician specialist.
The medication prescribed by the physician is in pill form. One look at the pill and Trey shut his mouth defiantly after saying, "No way!"
A friend of ours told us to hold his nose, place the pill on his tongue, and give him a favorite drink to swallow the pill with. He gagged,spewed out the pill and grape drink all over his grandmother's crisp yellow slacks, and ran for the hills (his room).
Next day the school nurse came to the rescue. My wife, Jo-Ann, the grandmother, explained our predicament to the nurse and she smiled with that smirk of confidence when we know the know.
That clever nurse called two cute little girls, Trey's age, to her office and in front of God and the two cutie-pies, gave Trey the pill and water, which he took bravely in a savoir faire manner, placed the pill in his mouth, drank it down, smiled at the girls, and strutted down the hall to his classroom. How about that for a school nurse who has her act together?
Trey's overall reading skills improved but his writing continued to be disorganized and sloppy, so a teacher specialist was called in to diagnose his problem via a battery of tests and her professional observation.
Jo-Ann and I were present at a meeting with the principal, his first grade teacher, and the teaching specialist to review the results of his tests and recommendations to (and these are the key words) help him.
Jo-Ann, my wife, was an elementary school teacher when I wooed her and later married her 36 years ago. She would always tell me that teachers continually get a bad rap for student failures. An incredible number of parents point the fingers at teachers, blaming them for their children doing poorly in school.
The majority of these finger pointers rarely get involved in their children's education. They don't help them by reviewing their schoolwork, meeting with a teacher to discuss the child's learning problem, never attend a PTA meeting, and have the audacity to expect a person or organization to take all of the responsibility for their children's preparation to cope with the demands of a private enterprise system.
That, to me, is like not taking care of your home, car or business, because, after all, "I have insurance for that." With that type of attitude you will definitely have losses and your premium will eventually increase due to your excessive claims.
I can't thank the dedicated people at Col. Santos Benavides School enough for helping Trey and all of the other students as well.
This is a coincidence, of course, but I am a direct descendant of Santos Benavides on my mother's side and attended a dedication ceremony some time back along with other members of his descendants and founding families of Laredo.

I can't end this article without:

Facts, Lies, and Idiocy:
The Cat is Out of the Bag
I am truly sorry that I have been absolutely right in my assessment of George W. Bush and staph. Oops, I mean staff, of course.
Knee jerk decisions, incredible stretches of the truth, idiosyncracies, economic inefficiency, disdain for poor but hard-working people, and favoritism with subserviency towards the rich, just to name a few of their debacles.
Global positioning, lust for oil, action to distract us from worsening national economic conditions, revenge for trying to kill papa, perhaps, but military action to flush out a hot bed of terrorists, liberate the people of Iraq, and save the U.S.A. from mass destruction delivered by Saddam Hussein . . . uh-uh!
I have stated in previous articles that George W. Bush is a fake, a joke, an omen of ill fortune for this country, and I am right on target.
I urge you to vote this bad news guy into political retirement when you cast your vote during the next presidential election.
I apologize for nor presenting my "Healthcare for the People" idea this time. I will definitely show it off next month.
Pray that peace, rather than guns and bombs, invades the Israelis and Palestinians.

(Please send your insurance questions to Henri D. Kahn, c/o LareDOS, 1812 Houston St. 78040; fax 791-4737; or e-mail laredos@swbell.net.)