Christine von dem Bach

The decision to become a short sale specialist for some agents is a very personal one. For others it seems like a viable business opportunity. For me, it was a couple of reasons. One, the market in the Detroit area was declining at a rapid rate, and I needed to make an income. I also began to see the effect that decline had on honest, hard-working people. The economy shifted, corporations began laying people off in record numbers, and good people were losing their homes. I felt it was my duty as a real estate professional to do what was within my power to help them save their credit.

From a speaking standpoint, I saw an industry trend of seminar after seminar pop up teaching agents and investors how to take advantage or essentially steal people's homes. There was also an influx of companies out there claiming to be "Loss Mitigation Services," stating that they had relationships with all the banks. As a REALTOR®, I knew that just wasn't true. As a speaker, I wanted to teach agents what is true, and a step-by-step process for helping their customers in their market area out of a tough circumstance. In my experience, lenders prefer to work with REALTORS® rather than investors or Loss Mitigators for four reasons:

1. We are licensed by the state.
2. We adhere to a code of ethics.
3. We carry E & O (errors and omissions) insurance.
4. We have too much to lose. As licensed professionals we are less likely to commit fraud for fear of losing our ability to practice real estate

This was a great article with great insight

by Will Weaver

Ground broken for new school in Crestview

By Brian Hughes, Florida Freedom Newspapers 2007-05-02 08:30:00 The sun glinted off shovels Tuesday as more than 15 Southside Elementary School students - three of them to some shovels - turned the first batches of earth for the city's fifth elementary school.

The students, some of whom will still be Southside Tigers when their new school opens, relished their task.

"Kids like to make mud," said student Erin Saueressig. "We like to dig."

The Okaloosa County School Board searched for more than three years for the right location to build Crestview's new school. Officials believe the site off Okaloosa Lane near Redstone Avenue fits the bill.

"We see Crestview booming at the seams," said School Board member Cathy Thigpen, who represents the north county. "It's been a three-year process, but it feels like it's been a lot longer.

"This is a miracle," she said. "It's a dream come true. Once they start the bulldozers going, I'll be able to pinch myself and know it's real."

Southside Principal Donna Holloway will be the new school's principal. Going from Southside's tight location on Ferdon Boulevard between several side streets to the new site "is a dream," she said.

"Just think of the opportunities we'll have with all this space," she said, gesturing to the site's open field with a stately live oak spreading its shade in the center.

When it opens, the $29 million school's 56 classrooms will accommodate about 800 students.

The existing building is expected to be used for school district offices.

After the elementar y school's projected opening in August 2008, work is expected to begin on a neighboring middle school just to the west.

While guests at the groundbreaking stepped carefully around prickly pears and ant nests, the site east of town will soon be bustling with development.

"We're counting on being ahead of the growth" by opening the new schools where the city's expansion is considered to be most likely, said Deputy Superintendent of Schools Rodney Nobles.

In a front page article in the Wall Street Journal, Choctawhatchee High School was praised for its success in including special education students in regular classrooms. The December 31, 2007 article noted that 65% of Okaloosa students with disabilities are now fully included in mainstream classrooms, up from 55% in 2000. Choctawhatchee High School was singled out for its particularly high rate of inclusion, which is almost 80%. The national figure is about 54%.

The article highlighted the success of Choctaw graduate Adam Nystrom, now in the Army earning high praise from his first sergeant. Chelsea Clemmons, who successfully tackled an Advanced Placement US History class despite a reading disability, was also cited. She is a member of Choctaw's puppeteer group, "Kids on the Block," which entertains elementary students while helping them understand and accept differences in the classroom. Clemmons plans to continue her education after graduation and dreams of becoming a movie actress.

"Including students with disabilities in a regular setting raises expectations," explains Superintendent Alexis Tibbetts. "There were times when the curriculum was diluted for students who took classes in separate resource rooms. We want to hold all students to the same high standards to truly leave no child behind."

"We were the first county in the state to implement a policy of no social promotion from K-12," adds Deputy Superintendent Kaye McKinley, who was the director of special education when the policy was implemented in the 1999-2000 school year. "We raised standards for all the students. In the long run, it isn't fair to the special education students to expect less from them."

Okaloosa teachers are encouraged to use differentiated instruction techniques to reach students who have different learning styles. "It's important to have someone identify the special needs of students and provide instruction based on those needs," says Tibbetts.

One measure of the success of Okaloosa County in educating students with disabilities is the percentage of graduation waivers granted to special education students. While the rest of Florida granted waivers to 18% of students with disabilities in 2005-06, Okaloosa County granted just 8%.

The Journal noted that the cuts in overhead spending under the administration of the previous superintendent, Florida Senator Don Gaetz, increased funding to the individual schools. This gave the schools the latitude to decide how to best serve their student populations, with many of them hiring more psychologists, social workers and specialists in Exceptional Education.

"It allowed schools to be creative with the funds they received from IDEA," said McKinley.

Despite the challenges brought about by increasingly tight state budgets, Okaloosa is committed to maintaining low overhead costs and maximizing the academic potential of all its students.

After months of intense preparation and fundraising, the Niceville High School Eagle Pride Band greeted 2008 with a march through Pasadena, CA in the 119th Tournament of Roses Parade. The band's performance was televised on NBC, ABC, Univision, HGTV, Discovery HD and the Travel Channel.

Band Director Dan Wooten received dozens of text messages from friends and colleagues around the US, congratulating the band for its stellar performance. "I'm not sure words can describe what it felt like going down the parade," he said. "I felt a rush of huge pride and I felt blessed to preside over a group as good as ours. When we got to the grandstands where about 250-300 chaperones and boosters all in Niceville maroon leapt to their feet and started screaming, there were a number of kids in the band who started crying."

"That was really the best part of the parade," stated drum major Melissa Mccown. "When we saw that big crowd of maroon stand up, it was so wonderful. Our parents have been so supportive the entire time and we wouldn't have been here without them. It was like seeing our little piece of Niceville!"

The families were equally moved at the sight of the band. "When we saw the banner coming down the street and we heard the band off in the distance, it was just overwhelming," said band parent Laura Anderson, who headed the steering committee that organized the trip. "It has been an awesome, awesome experience!"

"We could see the big flag and could listen to them coming from far away," said Dr. Linda Smith, principal of Niceville High School. "We had just finished saying that we would be discreet, but that lasted about one second. When we saw them coming, we all stood up and cheered! A lot of the students told us that it gave them enough momentum to finish the parade."

The 263 students and six instructors marched five and a half miles down the parade route, playing for almost two hours straight. The television cameras were near the beginning of the parade route, around a mile and a half from the start. "When I got a call that we were on national TV, a wave of excitement came over me," said Smith. "All the people in our big block were getting phone calls. It was very exciting! My mom was watching NBC and my dad was watching ABC, flipping channels."

Mccown was excited, but "a little nervous," when she rounded the corner and saw all the cameras. "They got the three of us drum majors doing our salute to the crowd. It was our '15 seconds' of fame!" she quipped.

Wooten received a call from a friend in Cincinnati, telling him he looked like a "nervous band director" on at least one of the channels. "Yes, I was," he told his friend. He had learned the previous day that if there was too much space between the front of the unit and the horns, the broadcasters would cut to a commercial. "We didn't come all that way to miss being on TV, so I was all over that like white on rice!" he said.

"They exceeded expectations," beamed Field Marching Instructor Todd Carnahan. He was particularly pleased with a comment by a spectator at the end of the parade route, who told him: "You guys still sound great - you sound fresh!"

Another spectator along the parade route in a USC shirt congratulated the band, telling them, "I graduated from Niceville!"

Throughout their trip, the students received a lot of praise and attention. "We've been overwhelmed with compliments about our kids and about their performance. They've been great ambassadors for Niceville and for Okaloosa County," declared Wooten.

The day before the parade, the students performed before a packed stadium at Pasadena City College, with the Marine Corps band and bands from Missouri State University, El Salvador and Canada. "The kids loved it! It was one of the highlights," said Diana Thacker, whose daughter, Jessica, plays the flute in the band.

Update - January 7

The group had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe' in Los Angeles and saw a performance of "Wicked." They also visited the Knott's Berry Theme Park. They had a formal dinner dance on the Queen Mary Wednesday evening, with the Rose Bowl president in attendance. They flew back home Thursday, January 3rd.

To view NHS in the Rose Bowl parade, click here: http://ktla.trb.com/extras/ktla/roseparade2008/lineup/lineup2008-39-niceville.html

For more information about Eagle Pride and to view more photos of the Tournament of Roses trip, visit http://www.nhseaglepride.com/