William R. Boyer

Mar 29, 2023 | williamrboyer.substack.com | William R. Boyer

Cass Technical High, the esteemed Detroit magnet school with the fourth largest enrollment in the state, can now pad its preeminence with its first State of Michigan Class A Basketball title. The well-coached, well-balanced, high-energy team simply wore down Muskegon High 78-63 on a cold, rainy Saturday, March 25, 2023 inside a noisy Michigan State University Breslin Center. Go Technicians!(Yes, that’s their mascot-free nickname).

Mar 24, 2023 | williamrboyer.substack.com | William R. Boyer

When my weathered weather vane, bombastic barometer andsilent sounding balloonsstill signify love, hate and before,When the fallible forecast unthaws tears trapped under ice,declares buttons not yet undoneand makeshift shelters to explore,We will share blanket expressions, ceremoniously, like thrown rice,in summer fulminology,as I calculate the orbitaround your sensuous sun.

Mar 19, 2023 | williamrboyer.substack.com | William R. Boyer

“Nobody ever trained for this; we were just teachers doing what we had to do every day.” — Columbine Faculty, from The Columbine Wall of Healing MemorialSo where to begin about assault and battery — and worse — in America’s schools? Where do we go a month after the February 13, 2023 indiscriminate slaughter of three students with five others wounded at Michigan State University, my undergraduate alma mater?

Mar 14, 2023 | williamrboyer.substack.com | William R. Boyer

“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.”― Howard Zinn“You’re only as good as your record.” — Jello Biafra, Dead KennedysIn August of 1999, I abruptly quit playing amateur baseball (hardball, not softball), quit playing drums in any band, quit playing piano as a songwriter, quit eating fast food and perhaps most importantly, just quit playing around. For good. Or at least until I start collecting Social Security and a union-secured pension.

Mar 10, 2023 | williamrboyer.substack.com | William R. Boyer

Teachers naturally enjoy recalling students who supply fairly spectacular memories, who help remind us why we chose this strange profession. Some may leap to social media to post a rare artifact of appreciation, or share a moment of unexpected hilarity. Who can blame us? Every September marks an inaugural class procedure known as the Personal Student Inventory. The annual ritual asks teenagers to respond to a series of questions in one of many variable attempts at getting to know them.