It's September, time to head Back to School with GCP! Here is our Checklist of To-Do's and Don't Do's for all of you busy parents: CLASSROOM TO-DO's: • Meet the Teachers: If your son is in a single classroom all day, have you met his teacher(s)? If he is a middle or high schooler, do you know what he [...]
We celebrate Labor Day, the first Monday in September, as the end of summer, and the return to work or school. But how did it come to be? Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It was established in 1894 as a holiday to pay [...]
I began this process as I do with so many things for my youngest: follow the same game plan I worked out with my older two, minus the stress of trying to figure it all out. So off we went to Bed Bath & Beyond, list in hand, to collect the things he needed to make his college dorm [...]
Greetings GCP'ers! I'm back from a break from regular posting. This has been quite a busy time: Two of my three children had significant graduations in May: one son from high school, the other from college. The youngest is headed off to college in August, the other has already started his full time job and is moving to his [...]
Just writing this title makes me weary and sad. Yet again we must figure out how to talk to our sons and our daughters about the acquittal of a police officer who stopped and killed a Black man for no justifiable reason. As you undoubtably know, yesterday the jury in the manslaughter trial of Officer Jeronimo Yanez acquitted him [...]
In honor of this being the first day of African-American Music Appreciation Month, Thoughtful Thursday is dedicated to poetry about Black music. We've got a tribute to the blues by Langston Hughes (and yes, that rhyme was on purpose); award-winning poet Quincy Troupe commemorating the day Duke Ellington ascended to the pearly gates; and poet and composer James Weldon [...]
The youngest son in my family is graduating high school tomorrow. So proud of this guy! In honor of all the graduates on this Thoughtful Thursday, GCP would like to dust off an old favorite, "If for Boys" by Rudyard Kipling. The words of this poem never fail to inspire, and its wisdom is timeless. Enjoy. Congrats to the [...]
Last weekend Wharton MBA's graduates heard an amazing speech from their fellow student Dante Pearson '17 at their graduation ceremony. And now you can too. Click here and listen to this thoughtful and insightful speech from this young brother. Such a level head, commanding presence and great thinking from such a young man. Look out for him--we will hear [...]
Not much good news has been coming out of D.C. lately, but today's inspiring story comes from Northeast D.C., where 36 year old Benjamin "Doc" Williams runs the all male Ron Brown College Preparatory High School. The only public single sex high school in D.C. opened its doors in September 2016 with 100 ninth graders and plans to add [...]
While we at GCP have never been super hyped for the "Hallmark Holiday" aspect of Mother's Day, we certainly believe that mothers should be heralded, and not just on the second Sunday in May. So, we will take this Thoughtful Thursday opportunity to pay tribute to mothers with the poetry of two of our legends, Langston Hughes and Nikki [...]