Christopher De Vinck

Christopher de Vinck: It’s my turn to be a grandfather. I give thanks to a gruff general who tended marigolds.

March 10, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.

I thought I knew how a grandfather ought to act. At first, I thought grandfathers were gruff, silent and strict about tucking in your shirt. Ogden Nash, the famous witty...

Home Depot, Lowe's and other big box stores have doomed many a family-run hardware store.

The fading of America

May 31, 2019 at 9:25 p.m.

“The hall light bulb is out,” my wife said this morning. “Maybe you could go to Jones’ and buy, oh … that’s right. The hardware store is gone.” Not only...

Students arrive at Orchard Knob Middle School on the first day school in Hamilton County on Aug. 8, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Feeling a twinge of sadness about the first day of school

May 31, 2019 at 9:20 p.m.

Students and teachers across the country are returning to school, and I am sitting home wondering if I did the right thing. One year has passed since I retired as...

Special education room at Wells Community Academy High School in Chicago on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016. Chicago Public Schools open their doors to start the new school year on Tuesday, September 6.

The end of my journey as a teacher

May 11, 2019 at 9:05 a.m.

After 40 years as a teacher and administrator in public education, I am retiring. A friend recently asked, "What images stand out the most from your many years in school?"...

Teachers bring the world to life in classrooms across America. It's time for them to rise up against the scapegoating they endure for society's problems.

Stop blaming the teachers

May 11, 2019 at 7:24 a.m.

Where is the single, national voice of the teacher in the United States decrying the fallacy that teachers and teachers unions are destroying American education? I have been, for the...

This season, let's join Linus in believing in the magic and delight of the pumpkin.

Pumpkins: 90% water, 10% magic

May 11, 2019 at 6:51 a.m.

Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoon strip, wrote a little story about a boy who believes there is such a thing as the Great Pumpkin. Linus believes in...

A sled ride through the past

December 24, 2018 at 12:10 p.m.

There was a time when snow was the most important part of my life. Boys don't often tell their secrets. Mine was a fascination with snow. If there was a...

Embracing the spirit of gift-giving

December 24, 2018 at 7:03 p.m.

In Dylan Thomas' famous tale, "A Child's Christmas in Wales," he wrote about useful Christmas presents: mittens, scarves, pictureless books. He also listed a few useless presents: Jelly Babies, a...

From war to roses: Interpretations of peace

December 25, 2018 at 1:08 a.m.

"Give peace a chance." John Lennon In July of 1914, during World War I my grandfather, a career soldier in the Belgian army, was so severely wounded in his left...

In praise of teachers

December 24, 2018 at 7:24 p.m.

It is time to stop bashing teachers. It is time to admit that teachers are not the problem in our schools. I could argue the problems in education rest in...

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