Why She’s a Trailblazer: Congresswoman Terri Sewell is the first African-American female elected to Congress in Alabama, and is the only Democrat in the Alabama delegation.
Did You Know? Congresswoman Sewell is the only current member of Congress that knew both President Obama and the First Lady before they knew each other.
Biggest role model:  To this day, my mother is a tremendous role model for me. She was the first African American female to sit on the city council in Selma, Alabama. Because of her guidance, I never thought I could not accomplish something because I was Black or a woman. It was my parents that made me believe that I could accomplish great things. It was growing up in the midst of such a strong Black woman, like my mom, that I learned the value of the female perspective.
Best lesson you’ve learned in your career:  The most important lesson I have learned is to be true to yourself. Do not let others define who you are. You must define yourself, for yourself! If you don’t, the world will often define you by superficial factors, and you will be limited by the boundaries established by other people. Don’t be afraid to fail. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It is life’s disappointments that often teach us the most meaningful lessons.
Advice for future trailblazers: The greatest tool you will have in your arsenal throughout your career is the friendships and relationships you form with others. Never do anything to compromise those relationships. Never be too prideful to ask for help and advice from others. Learn from those who went before you.
Personal Theme Song: “I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? The power of teleportation so I could visit ALL of my constituents in my super large district more often.

The Real Learning Starts At Home

Whose responsibility is it to teach our children, and where should they receive their primary education? It is grading time for many school systems and regardless of our children’s conduct and if the grades are poor or soar, these questions remain unanswered.
So often we point fingers and place blame when we feel that our children have been improperly or inadequately prepared for their next level in life; be it their transition from preschool to elementary school, elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, from college to career or from life to the next stages of life. Unfortunately many adults feel ill prepared for the next stage in their lives educationally and socially.
Because much of what we perceive, understand, know and become stems directly from our experiences At Home, it is our responsibility to build a foundation for our impressionable little ones. Everything from manners and hygiene to colors and how to write a check can be part of At Home learning.
My mom was not a degreed teacher but she had the greatest impact on my early learning. She taught me how to tell time at our kitchen table with a white paper plate and a black crayon while in the midst of frying chicken, and she accomplished both tasks effortlessly. She simply drew the numbers to resemble a clock and made me count the dashes between each number. I learned colors by doing laundry and numbers by counting change in her purse cooking with her. I grasped phonics as she required me to sound out words and to speak and read properly At Home.  It was her insight, persistence and patience that prepared and established the groundwork for my development. I trained my son through these same methods. He is now 17 and graduating from high school in May. He is smarter and speaks more articulately than I do – Thanks Mom.
It is incumbent upon parents and the ever increasing number of grandparent guardians to be the primary teachers and provide reinforcement to the secondary educators (those in our school systems) when it comes to shaping and molding the minds of our children.
You may not feel qualified to be your child’s or grandchild’s primary educator, but much of what you know comes from the parental figures in your past and a wealth of personal experience, and be at ease knowing that there are also resources to help you with those things you were never taught or just plain forgot. The real education begins At Home.

“I may not have all the answers, but I know the One who does.”
If you have questions or a topic of interest email me at athomewithshellie1@Yahoo.com  or  find me at www.athomewithshellie.com  I would love to hear from you!

by Charlene Holmes

Do not believe the fallacy that all young African American males are sag busting drop outs, gang bangers, drug dealers, jailbirds and selfish ne’er-do- wells.
Maybe years ago, slavery was intended to strip the Black male of his manhood and make him feel inferior, but not all African American males subscribe to that way of thinking. It has been said, as a man thinketh, so is he.
Case in point – Mr. DeMark Bennett. Mr. Bennett is not a drop out. He is a clear thinking, mild mannered young man, he has a legitimate job with benefits and he honors his mom. He breaks the stereotypical mold that has haunted the Black male for years.
Mr. Bennett had no choice but to develop a good work ethic early in life. He explained, “My mother was a single parent. She was both mother and father to me. I worked hard to help Momma pay the bills.”
He was educated in the Bessemer City Schools District and yes, Mr. Bennett did graduate from Jess Lanier High School (now known as Bessemer City High School) in 2002. Upon graduating, Mr. Bennett accepted a job at a Bessemer City School where he has worked for the past 12 years. Hard work and honesty lead to job longevity and job security and being happy where you are  because promotion is on the way.
“I did not get to go to college because I was trying to help bring money into the house,” Mr. Bennett said.
He continued, “I love my job. I love working with kids. They brighten my day – every day.”
Mr. Bennett shared advice for today’s youth. “Stay in school.  Stay out of trouble.  Have your own mind.  Don’t be a follower.  Always be a leader. Respect yourself and other people. There’s nothing out there in the streets but trouble.”
He added, “Just because you have made mistakes does not mean you can’t change your life. Pick your friends wisely. You can not be friends with everybody. As long as you are alive, you can change your life for the better.”
He said he loves to work. “I am not the kind of person who likes to sit and do nothing.  I keep my mind occupied and try to live a peaceful life.”
Mr. Bennett says when he is not working, he likes to go to the movies and eat out occasionally.
“But really, when I am not working, staying home and watching movies is what I really enjoy doing.”

(NAPSA) – Finding ways to save and turn problems into profits is a key quality that’s shared by successful small businesses that have found a way to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
To help you and your business do the same, here are some tips.

•  Shine a light on savings by making sure to turn out the lights in areas of the office
that are not being used. Another option is to install motion sensor lights that will
automatically turn lights on and off when people enter or leave a room. The
savings in your utility bill will soon be visible.
•  Cut back on waste and save on mailings by cleaning up your mailing list. Start by
making sure that the materials you are sending out are being sent to active
accounts. Get rid of bad addresses, inactive customers and undeliverable mail.
•  Print it yourself. One way some businesses maintain control over printing costs –
and their brand – is to do their printing in-house whenever possible.
For example, thanks to a new app, iClickn’Print, a growing number of businesses are finding they can now maintain more control over the look of their stationery and business materials by doing their own printing.
That’s the word from Mafcote, the company that created iClickn’Print. The app is designed to let business owners design their own branded business materials, such as stationery, business cards, envelopes, letterhead, and posters and signage, from their own computers, then print them from their own printer.
To make the process even easier, businesses can purchase printing paper and templates that are compatible with the app made by Geographics or Royal Brites branded paper.
In addition to saving money, the app also gives a business more control over where and when the printing gets done. Plus, the application works from your computer’s Internet browser. That means there’s no need to install the program onto your computer.
•  When it comes to communicating what your brand is and what your business is
about, do all that you can to stay focused on your message. Keep your
statements, both verbal and written, simple and consistent, and make sure they
reflect your key messages.
One way to do that is to make sure your name, logo and graphics-including signage-communicate your brand.
That means you need a logo and color scheme that complement your verbal message and create a cohesive presentation for all your materials and website. This can help to create savings by cutting back on printing excess materials that don’t reflect the brand.
•  Savvy small businesses know how to save by knowing where and when to
spend. For example, many small businesses see money spent on marketing and
promotions for the holidays as an investment, whether it’s to attract new
customers or to reward existing customers for their loyalty.

To learn more, visit www.iclicknprint.com.

One way to maintain more control over your brand is to do as much of your own printing as possible. The key is to have professional-looking results.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Growing up, Brian Allen would spend countless hours with his father in their small shop tinkering with electronics or learning the basics of wood-working tools. He loved working with his hands, and the Commercial Music major was soon rebuilding and refinishing drum sets and guitars.
It wasn’t long after Allen began playing bass guitar at Tennessee State University that the 23-year old decided he could build one of his own. And it wouldn’t be just any bass guitar. It would be one that incorporated his love of working with native woods of Tennessee.
It all started in high school when Allen’s band director gave him a set of drums to refinish. He completely removed the wrap from the shells, and refinished and stained the wood underneath.
“I enjoy the process of taking things apart to see if I can put them back together while improving them,” said Allen. “I love bringing back to life what other people discard using basic tools.”
A musician for the better part of 10 years, Allen plays percussion and bass guitar, and, he added, dabbles in beginner guitar. He soon made a decision to put his skills to the test and try to refinish his first guitar. Walking into the local Goodwill store, he left with a low-end 12-string Kay vintage acoustic guitar he purchased for $140 to see what he could do by “playing around with it.”
“It was difficult, to say the least,” Allen joked. “It was really harder than I thought to disassemble and put back together. The body was in pretty bad shape and a little warped.”
After sanding to bare wood, Allen set about building a new bridge out of Honduran rosewood, something that he had never done before but a skill that would come in handy for future projects. Allen estimates he has nearly 100 hours in the refinish, but it taught him the basics of guitar building and he was ready to tackle his next project. After learning basic repairs and building a lot of confidence, Allen decided to build his own bass guitar.
“I figured I could build on my skills and create something that no one else has ever built,” he said.
After much research and on the advice of a close friend, Allen decided he would pay homage to his home state by building the guitar out of the seven native woods of Tennessee (Red and White Oak, Poplar, Pine, Cherry, Black Walnut and Maple).
“My mom has a rocking chair that served as the inspiration for the body,” Allen said. “A friend suggested I use the same hard wood as the chair and build it in the shape of the state of Tennessee.”
The first design was drawn on a simple white board in his kitchen and quickly morphed into a more elaborate design. Using simple algebra, Allen and his friend, an engineering student also attending TSU, decided the length of the guitar should be 29 inches, proportional with the length of the state at 429 miles.
He cut the different woods into 1 3/8 inch strips, glued them together and cut to create the shape of the state. After multiple coats of a protective finish, he installed the neck he got from an old bass guitar. The build was finished after he installed the electronic components.
“This build really kept me on my toes,” he added. “It was both awesome and a little scary building the bass this being my first time attempting anything like this. The plans changed a few times, as we hit some snags along the way, but in the end I think it is a guitar that I can be very proud of.”
After two-and-a half months of work, the guitar, the only one built in the shape of the state of Tennessee to his knowledge, was ready to make its debut not only in the classroom, but also as his senior project. That is when people started to take notice of his creation, Allen said.
Dr. Mark Crawford, associate professor and coordinator of the commercial music program, helped grade the project, and remembers that put in the hands of a musician such as Allen, it was an exciting project because he had the tools to create something “awesome.” Like many artistic people, in addition to Allen’s musical abilities, Crawford said, he has other creative skills. In his case, it includes working with his hands.
“He has an innate ability to fix things or build things, all which require creative problem-solving skills,” said Crawford. “I was aware of this when Brian enrolled in his Senior Project course. He approached me with the novel idea of building a bass guitar in the shape of Tennessee, and I decided this would probably be the best kind of project for him. Once he finished the bass, he used it as he performed with the Commercial Music Ensemble. Through the groups’ travel, Allen’s guitar was seen in four different states, including audiences at the BB King Museum, Holiday World Theme Park, Nashville Sounds baseball games, Nashville Shores and other venues.”
Just as impressed was Dr. Bob Elliott, head of the Music Department, who thought the guitar was “an excellent example of a boutique build” and an indication of the type of work taking place in the Commercial Ensemble program.
“Brian has an excellent future ahead of him,” said Elliott. “Our program is designed to not only help the students learn how to play music but also how to find a niche in the music industry. Nashville is full of jobs that are not only in the music industry, but those that support it. Should Brian decide to pursue a career in instrument repair or the building of one-of-a kind instruments, his training at TSU and his musical background will serve him well.”
So what’s next for this budding guitar builder? Plans are already in the works for another bass guitar made out of Mexican Purple Heart wood with the neck fashioned from Madagascar rosewood. It will be, Allen said, one of the most exotic builds he has ever attempted.
But even more than building guitars, he is also looking forward to graduation this spring so he can start his career, either playing music or building guitars, or attending Luthier school for guitar building.
“My ultimate goal is to hopefully get on with a company such as Gibson, and learn guitar building from the ground up,” Allen said. “Then I’ll take what I’ve learned not only at TSU but whatever company I work at and turn that into possibly a custom-guitar building business or repair shop.”