I made an author visit to the Eugenio Maria Hostas Charter School in Rochester today. It’s a school in two locations, one in the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help school on Joseph and the other one on Clifford near Hudson, also in a former Catholic School. It’s the ultimate recycling – repurposing old buildings for new use. When I stepped into the first building I was greeted by a huge spider in the hallway. Not to worry, it was part of a science fair going on that afternoon. This school was full of life – it spilled out of the classrooms and into the halls. The students were receptive and attentive – a guest speaker’s dream. Later I heard them read some of their own work, and I’m here to report that education in Rochester is alive and well.

Before my visit, I took a little time to learn about Eugenio Maria de Hostos, someone I had never heard of before. He was quite an interesting person. He was born in Puerto Rico, and his life’s dream was to see P.R. become independent – from Spain and then from the U.S. He envisioned a sort of island country made up of several of the Carribean islands. Eugenio never achieved his dream. He died in 1903 in the Dominican Republic, but has left instructions for his remains to be carried to Puerto Rico, should it ever become independent. However, Eugenio did have many accomplishments. He founded a normal school for training teachers in the Dominican Republic and taught at universities, a role model in this age when our leaders keep letting us down.

Day 161: 11,124 Steps YTD: 1,451,205 Steps  Goal: 1,518,000 Steps