The Sattler Series: The Reason Behind Boo's Appearances

This is the last post for the Sattler Series. I hope you have enjoyed it - I sure have loved looking back at Dave's cartoons, Boo, the worm story (um, maybe not quite so much), and more.

This last post explains the underlying reason why Boo began appearing in Dave's editorial cartoons (and still does although sweet Boo passed away years ago.)

It was really interesting to me to discover that Boo played a much bigger role than I'd realized, one that made a lot of sense. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2013

Finding Boo

Yet again, I found Boo this morning in Dave Sattler's editorial cartoon. (Picture posted on blog with Dave's permission.)

You have to look for him, but he's there. (See the end of this post if you can't find him.)

Dave and I were talking via email about Boo last week - Boo had gotten his own cartoon in Kid's Ear, the first time ever he has been the topic, and as the fictitious Boo Fan Club president, I emailed Dave to thank him.

Dave had some interesting thoughts about Boo and his role - he told me he thought most people saw Boo as just part of the scenery. I explained that, when we moved back to West Lafayette in 2006, Boo was one of the first things I'd noticed, and that I usually looked for him first before reading the cartoon for its point. I also pointed out that I thought others looked for and loved Boo, too.

Dave responded:

 I always thought Boo was only known to "insiders"... friends and family. Maybe not. The purpose of adding him, other than he's my buddy, is to have a constant character in the cartoons. He becomes our representative in the scene. Boo (you and I) was on the scene in last week's cartoon talking about issue A and here he is again this week in issue B. He always stays the same. Boo is US!!

The only time he isn't in it is if the scene isn't really a scene. For example, the one about Coach Hazell and recharging the phone. It wouldn't have made any sense.

So that's the story. I'm glad to know Boo has fans out there. I'll let him know.

Lucky me - I have met Boo personally. He is a beautiful black cat with a very silky coat. Sadly, I did not get Boo's pawtograph when I had the chance. 

(If you could not find Boo, look in the car. He's peeking out a window!)

---

And that's a wrap! 

Stay 'tooned!

The Sattler Series: Worms & the Hershey Editorial Cartoon

The students were coming in from recess and stopping by the water fountains outside my classroom door to get drinks when the screaming began. 

A student came running into my room and cried, "Mrs. I, Mrs. I!! There are WORMS in the drinking fountain!"

What?? Surely not. Had I not heard the screams, I would've thought the child was pranking me. 

I stepped out into the hallway to investigate, and OH MY GOSH! THERE WERE WORMS IN THE DRINKING FOUNTAIN!

I called the school office and reported the issue. My call was met with confusion and, "Worms? Worms!! How could that be? I'll be right down!"

I stepped into the hallway again and scooped up a few of the worms into a paper cup, handing it to the school secretary when she hurried down to my hallway. The look on her face when she peeked into that paper cup! (I think it matched mine.)

Within 24 hours the worms in our drinking fountain had made the national news. 

Dave's editorial cartoon for that week looked like this:

A clever idea, but appalling to those of us who were there. Including Dave's wife, Nancy, whose classroom was next door to mine.

Out of respect for her and the school, he agreed to draw another editorial cartoon for the week and not use the PTA bait one. But he did make prints of that same cartoon and gave them to any teacher who asked to have one.

Of course, I was all in on that, even though I had been the teacher who'd first found the worms. 

A disclaimer on the cartoon carried a note that this editorial cartoon had never been published.

I was glad, especially since Hershey's name was on the cartoon FIVE times.

Dave caught the kids' reaction to finding worms in the drinking fountain with this image of a rather sickly green student.

The question we all had was, where had the worms come from? 

The answer was that school was built in 1964 and the drinking fountains were original to the building. The worms were drain worms, which are not uncommon in sink drains old or new. (Ever had a tiny insect buzzing around the drain in your kitchen or bathroom sink? It's most likely a drain worm.)

As such, drain worms are not IN the water source, they come from where the water goes after the tap has been turned on. And that is the drain, hence the name.

Luckily, the worms the kids and I were seeing were coming out of the drain and not the faucet. (Not that that made me feel any better.)

The principal told me that he'd taken care of the drain worms. I was NOT comfortable when I watched him pour bleach down the drain and call it good. Sure enough, later that day more worms were in the bowl of the fountain.

So, I privately took matters into my own hands.

I called a well known entomologist at Purdue - Tim, as in my barn owner. I explained what I had seen and captured, and that the problem had been handled by pouring bleach down the drain. I asked if that bleach would handle the problem.

Tim felt as I did - the fountains needed far more than bleach.

"When were the fountains last replaced?" he asked me.

"Never. They are from when the school was built in 1964." (Which was about 50 years ago at that time.)

A very long pause by Tim.

"Bring me that sample you have. I am pretty sure that they are just drain worms, but I'll look at them just to be sure. And, I served on the school board for years. I'm gonna make some calls. Fountains that are so old that the drain worms are crawling up the pipes is unacceptable. The fountains need to be replaced."

And Tim was as good as his word. He examined the worms I'd brought him and yes, they were drain worms. Harmless and not in the water we'd all been drinking. The fountains outside my classroom were turned off and had yellow "Do Not Cross" tape placed over them and the kids had to hike to another hallway if they wanted a drink. (If I remember right, bottled water was provided during this time to those of us who were in that part of the building.)

A couple of weeks later, three shiny new fountains were installed, and then during the summer the entire school also received new fountains.

Five years later when I retired, I still had not drunk the water at Hershey - be it from a drinking fountain or from the ice machine in the teachers' lounge. Never again - I brought bottled water from home.

And that is the worm story that I promised to share.

Stay 'tooned!

 

The Sattler Series: The Caricature That Was Hidden Away

Second Post of the Day

After my mother had passed away, I was going through her things when I came across this:

A caricature of my mother?! I didn't need to see the artist's signature; I knew that that had been drawn by Dave Sattler! But why was it hidden away? Why had she not framed it and hung it in her home? 

Dave had done a great job of including things that were important to her.

On the floor by her chair was one of the many books she had authored.

A basket of apples represented our orchard.

And her work in the television industry of writing scripts and press releases was included.

She's even wearing her 18th century hat to represent her work at The Feast of the Hunters' Moon.

This was so cool, but why was it hidden away?

I was already pretty sure I knew the reason, but I still showed it to Leslie and asked her.

"Mom disliked that picture because it made her look so old."

And it did. I can understand her feelings in that regard.

My mother was well known in our community and when she retired, Dave was asked to draw a caricature of her as a thank you gift. It was a big gift and a thoughtful one, and I am sad that she didn't like how she was portrayed. But I do understand how she felt about it.

Currently it is in a stack of things I plan to have framed and then I will hang it in our home. I'll have the framers put a little history on the back, too, so whichever of my kids ends up with the picture knows the story behind it.

Tomorrow we will get to the Dave Sattler worms story.

It even made the national news. 

And I inadvertently played a big part in it.

Stay 'tooned!

The Sattler Series: Dave's Visits to My Classroom

First Post of the Day

Dave was kind enough to visit my classroom several times.

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SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012

Cartoonist in the Classroom!

As part of the preparation for our Reaction Art Museum, I invite guest artists to speak to my students about their artwork and to explore how art can be a reaction or response to a certain event. The final component is looking at Superheroes - did you know that Superman was created in the 1930s as a response to the rise of Hitler, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, etc.? The world needed a hero, some hope, and Superman fit the bill. (Take a look at early comics of him. See who he fights?)

You can also see the rise of technology and cultural changes through Superheroes, so we look at 10-12 of them, see how they reflect the cultural mores of their times, and then look at how they change as society changes. (It really is quite fascinating. So many cultural markers that can be traced - who we fear, racism, feminism, urban trends.... Superheroes truly do reflect us.)

Dave graciously agreed to visit my classroom this week and to talk about his work (which is a reaction to newsworthy events in our world.) I thought his clean-line drawing style would help my students draw their own Superheros which they are creating in response to a current issue of their choice in our culture.

 Part of Dave's discussion centered on how to communicate your ideas by zeroing in an an aspect - for example, a longer nose indicates an older character while a button nose a younger one. Facial length was another good indicator. Here he shows how he illustrates youth with a short face. 

And he even drew Boo, although he started by just drawing the outline of Boo's head and had them guess what he was drawing. It's a football shape, and that is what they guessed. Boo's #1 fan, aka me, knew exactly what Dave was going to draw!

Dave certainly delivered! He really gave the children things to think about as he discussed how he comes up with ideas, how his editorial cartoon is a reaction or response, and how it reflects us and our culture. Dave's presentation was spot on to what we were learning and thinking about!

Here he shows us several stages of his weekly editorial cartoon - how they begin, what they look like when he sends them to the newspaper, what is added in at that location, etc.

A picture with the students. They were so excited about having him come and what they learned. I cannot wait to see what their Superhero characters look like now that they are chock full of ideas and inspiration!

---

And from another visit, this one in April, 2010.

Dave generously created a cartoon just for us. Knowing we were studying conflict and that I was trying to bring it down from a global/national level to a local/individual one, he asked the kids what conflicts they faced. Naturally HOMEWORK came up. Dave then asked the kids what sort of symbol might work in a comic for homework. Suggestions included a backpack, a notebook stuffed with papers, and a happy teacher. (Ouch!! Surely not!)

Dave got to work with a pencil, sketching out the figures, and then using a marker to finish. The end result? A schoolgirl staggering under the weight of an enormous book labeled "Homework" with Boo the cat sitting on top! The kids and I were absolutely delighted, especially when he signed it and presented it to us! 

Thanks, Dave! You're the best! (Even if you leave Boo out occasionally.... :D)

---

More to come tomorrow - will it be about worms? Or will it be about the portrait caricature that the recipient hid away from others?

Stay 'tooned!

The Sattler Series: The Story of Boo

Second Post of the Day

Originally published in Teachinmama, this sheds light on why the black kitty, Boo, appears in the portrait that Dave drew of me.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012

The Cartoonist versus the Teacher: A Sunday Morning Tradition

(All cartoons are shown with Dave Sattler's permission.)

Lafayette is fortunate to have its very own editorial cartoonist. For forty plus years, Dave Sattler, a lifelong local resident, has been drawing wonderful cartoons for the Sunday newspaper that comment on (and sometimes skewer) the ins and outs of life in Indiana. Opening the Sunday paper and reading his weekly cartoon is something I very much look forward to. (You can see them on Friday if you go online for a sneak peek, but I always wait!)

Dave is married to Nancy Sattler, a friend of mine who teaches at Hershey in the classroom next to mine. One day a couple of years ago, she was talking at lunch about their diabetic cat, Boo, who required daily shots of insulin. A fellow teacher asked in a derisive sort of way, "Why go to all that work and expense? Why not just put the cat to sleep?"

And Nancy drew herself up and responded frostily, "Because that cat allows my grandchildren to put diapers on him!" (He willingly acts as a baby when they play house.) She then proceeded to tell us some of the things patient, loving Boo tolerates from her six grandkids. Later, Nancy also told me that Boo kept Dave company in the early hours of Friday mornings when he works under deadline to draw that week's cartoon. Apparently Boo follows Dave down into the basement and hangs out with him by the drawing board while Dave creates.

Who wouldn't love a wonderful cat like that? I have been a Boo fan ever since.

Dave occasionally included a little black cat in his editorial cartoons. Sure enough, that was Boo, Nancy confirmed when I asked. Seeing Boo in the cartoons was a treat, and I began finding myself disappointed when Dave did not include the kitty.

One Boo-less Sunday, I decided to email Dave and, in a tongue and cheek manner, protest and tell him how disappointed the President of the Boo Fan Club (i.e. me) was that her favorite kitty had not been included in that week's cartoon. I said something along the lines that, if deer could be on campus, certainly Boo could be, too.

Dave responded quickly, telling me that Boo was in the cartoon and hiding behind the newspaper box.

And that started a nearly every Sunday correspondence between the two of us. On Sundays when Boo was included, I would comment on Boo's activities for that week. When he wasn't there, I would "protest" and ask Dave to reconsider.

Recently, on the second Sunday in a row without a Boo sighting, I emailed Dave "complaining" about another Boo-less editorial. Dave replied, "Look closely." So I pulled out the newspaper and did:

 The Boo Fan Club President hung her head in shame when she saw that she had overlooked her favorite kitty in the lower left-hand corner. "Okay, Sattler, game on!" I thought. "You won't fool ME again!"

 The following Sunday, I again had to look hard, but I spotted Boo in the passenger seat of the car. Those two little black ears were tiny but unmistakable! (Apparently Nancy asked him why Boo was in the car, and Dave responded that he knew I would be looking for him.)

Today's comic was very, very clever. Not only is Boo himself hidden, but he is present in another way, too. (The background on this cartoon is that a family is suing a local school district. Their 13 year old son was asked to remove a "Save the Boobies" wrist band that he claims is in support of breast cancer awareness and the family claims the school district is suppressing his right to free speech. I am with the school district on this one!)

In addition to the cat hidden in the hair of the character on the right, see Boo's name all over the place? I wrote Dave the following email:

Boo barrettes! What a concept! As fan club president, I should have thought of that one myself!  

I am not sure about using the BOObies bracelets as fan club memorabilia, though. The teacher in me shies away from that one. ;-D

As always,

Signed most respectfully yours,

Lynn, Boo Fan Club Prez

Here are some of my favorite Sattler cartoons (many without Boo, but that's the way it goes!)

I like this one because Boo plays a central role and actually gets some dialogue:

It is in response to a community art project where artists (including Dave) signed up to humorously paint dogs under the theme "Dog Days of Summer." The dogs were displayed all over town. Boo got his own 15 seconds of fame! (Not sure who his friend is.)

 The girl-geek in me LOVES this one:

Downtown by the courthouse is a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette. Apparently his sword was broken off the statue. Dave suggests replacing it with a light saber! (See Boo?)

And being married to a teacher, how could Dave not reflect on some of the things that happen in education? 

Most Indiana educators are appalled at what our governor, Mitch Daniels, and state superintendent, Tony Bennett, have done to education. This cartoon is hanging on the wall in the Hershey librarian's office.

The next cartoon actually happened at Hershey as well as at several other schools in the state. After a LONG list of mandates as to how the ISTEP tests MUST be administered, and in-your-face comments bordering on accusing teachers of cheating... (the state of Indiana actually counts erasure marks on a test - too many, and the teacher is accused of cheating. Happens a second year in a row? Your name WILL BE PUBLISHED in your local newspaper. Even if you did not cheat. I kid you not. Some of us were in tears over this.) ... there was a SLIGHT problem.

After following ALL the mandates, familiarizing ourselves with ALL the rules, ensuring that EVERY child was assigned a computer, and that THEY WILL NOT use ANY OTHER COMPUTER for the duration of the testing...

 ... the test itself proves faulty, and children are kicked off randomly throughout the testing period. It was a HUGE fiasco and the state had well-deserved egg on its face. Dave memorialized our frustration at the double standard to which we were being held. (Teachers must be perfect; the state, not so much.)

One of the cartoons that touched me most:

 That's Dave and Nancy standing in front of their home. The original cartoon was published the Sunday after 9/11; Dave reprinted it on the tenth anniversary this past year.

Craig had a question about this one: "Does Nancy know that Dave wrote about her?"

 Yes, that's Dave and Nancy in the new Mackey Arena, and yes, she knew he'd written about her. (Not sure she was super excited about it...)

And finally, my most favorite of all. The one that I clipped when it came out Father's Day, 2009, and is taped to the computer in my office:

 For me, that last panel reflects the joy we feel when our kids call us. Whether it's early in the day, afternoon, or evening, whenever the phone rings and it is one of our children, that happiness is the emotion. Dave captured it perfectly.

I told Nancy about my feelings for this editorial, and she laughed and said that Dave had gotten tons of comments about it. She then told me that he had struggled that week to find a topic, and that he felt this one was a bit lame. He was surprised to discover just how many people, like me, connected with it.

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Next up? Dave visits my classroom.

Stay 'tooned!

The Sattler Series: An Introduction

First Post of the Day

Dave Sattler is an artist who drew editorial cartoons for Indiana as well as many other news outlets across the country for 50 years. He is still drawing now.

I am lucky to have been "Sattler-ized" and this caricature of me hangs in my bedroom. It was drawn from a school photo of me, one I did not know he had access to, so it was quite a surprise when I received it.

Dave signed his work and he also added Boo, the cat that appears in most of his art.

He was kind enough to also give me the digital file of the artwork and permission to use the picture as I wished. What a gift!!

Dave's picture of me graces my original blog, Teachinmama.  

And, I used the digital file to create post-its and notepads to use in my classroom. 

The notepads included the classroom motto that a student had coined, "Flying high with Mrs. I!"

I even have some spiral bound journals that I used both when I was teaching and here at home.

As you might imagine, I treasure that picture that Dave drew of me. It has great meaning to me and is even more unusual since Dave only very rarely will do a portrait of someone. All the more reason why I was so surprised when he gifted the caricature to me.

So, how did all this come about? Well, this is the kick-off post for a new short blog series titled, The Sattler Series. (I know, imaginative title, right?) I'll explain how I became Sattler-ized and also share the story of Boo the kitty that I mentioned in this blog post.

I think you will enjoy the stories. (Teaser: Worms, anyone?) A second blog post is coming this morning so...

Stay 'tooned!

Word Play with Word Nerd Lynn

Second Post of the Day

Adding a few labels to a blog post helps with future searches, for me and for readers. And when I am adding a label, Blogger will suggests words it thinks I am writing.

Rarely do I pay any attention to those and simply finish my own typing, but recently the suggestions were popping so fast and with so many, that I ended up taking screen shots.

The word I was adding as a label?

Ian. 

As in my grandson. 

And here is the long list of words Blogger suggested that I might have intended to write:

As I think about it (the teacher in me has awoken!) I remember that the suffix "-ian" is a very common one. But I hadn't realized how much that three letter combination was also embedded within words and not as a suffix. (Dalmatian: suffix; piano: vowel arrangement within a word.)

I really do love the nuances of our language and how vowels and their placement affect pronunciation and even meaning.

The most fascinating many-voweled word I know, though, is not an English word even though it has become a part of our language, especially in Indiana. It's a word that means "place of the people of the whirlpool" and it refers to the area along the Wabash where the Wea people lived.

The word is "Ouiatenon." As in Fort Ouiatenon.

Four vowels in a row with a total of six vowels in the word! I used to challenge my students to find another word with four consecutive vowels and then, if they accomplished that, a word with six vowels in it. (No internet searches were allowed, at least not for the first 24 hours of the challenge.)

By now you may be thinking, "Whoa! Lynn was right - the teacher in her has awoken" and perhaps your eyes are even rolling up into your head. Sorry/not sorry!

Words, word play, their etymology and how they are used... I love them. Thanks for playing along with me today.

Picture of me at my desk in my classroom drawn by Dave Sattler. An unexpected surprise, he gifted it to me after a visit to my classroom to talk to my students about drawing and it is framed and hanging in my bedroom. The kitty has its own story.

Stay 'tooned!