"It's a warning, I suppose, to people to be vigilant, not to be bystanders, but to speak out if they encounter bad things, or evil things."



"We've been working with a group called 3GNY. And it is the grandchildren of survivors who are being trained to tell their grandparents' stories. We did talk about, what does it mean to pass on your story? OK, because we're not on this world forever. So what do you leave behind?"



"People ask me, how do you feel that you survived and other members didn't? You know what I answer them? I say God needed a witness, someone who can tell the story."

Today is the birthday of A.A. Milne, known best for writing two novels of the Hundred Acre Wood, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.   For anyone who remembers the friendship between the boy and the animals of the wood, including Piglet and Eeyore, the gentle stories of happy times and saving each other from dangers (and from themselves) were wonderful childhood experiences.

The novels were episodic.   Meant to be told briefly as a series of stories, the stories were written to soothe Milne's son, Christopher Robin, who was introduced in the stories as the boy who went into the woods.   Milne modeled the Hundred Acre Wood on Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England.   Milne had grown up in the English countryside, first writing scientific articles, then essays filled with whimsy, and later working as a playwright.   But his stories of silly verse and comedic moments modeled after his son's toys, where the boy became a benign master of animals over Edward Bear and the other soft-hearted animals, were his most enduring legacy.  They became a staple in nurseries around the world as parents read the two books to their little ones at naptime or bedtime.

A.A. Milne was inspired to write about bears not only by his son's teddy bear, but also by a real-life experience of seeing a "Winnie" bear who was tamed by men.   A fateful whistle-stop encounter with a gentle bear cub begins the historic friendship, when a veterinarian named Colebourn buys the cub for 20 dollars. Though officers in Colebourn's division were initially aghast, they were quickly won over by her irrepressible charm, and the bear, named Winnipeg after their hometown, became the division's mascot. Winnie accompanied the soldiers all the way to England, where Colebourn eventually took Winnie to the London Zoo to keep her safe from going into battle. --There Christopher Robin met Winnie and the rest is literary history.

For years following the publication of the books, their world and philosophy was debated.   Some scholars picked up apart the complicated relationship between Christopher Milne and his father A. A., others noted the incredibly limited revisions that A.A. made over the years, grounding the stories in their original form as almost perfect in a way that his relationship with his son was inevitably not.   A few studied the psychology of the friends, others the Disneyfication of the stories.  Still others looked at the legacy of Winnie the Pooh as a archetype for children's fascination with the world, in a way that adults forgot to trust.   In 1982, there was even a book - the Tao of Pooh - where it was written that everything in life you needed to know was already spoken or done by one small yellow bear at the edge of the Hundred Acre Wood. 

So, happy birthday to Mr. Milne.  His most famous creation lives on in the hearts of children -- making everyone's favorite day, today.

New ACE Tutors!

We are thrilled to welcome Kimberley Music and Paul Thompson to the ACE crew as our newest tutors/library specialists. You may have seen them around since just before Thanksgiving.   This spring marks the first full semester when their expertise will be available to students.  Here's a brief blurb about them:

Hello, my name is Kimberley. I recently graduated with an Associate of Science from BSCTC and from high school. I completed my junior and senior year of high school taking courses on the college’s campus as a member of the Floyd County Early College Academy. I plan to continue completing coursework with BSCTC to increase my subject matter knowledge. You can find me at the ACE on the Prestonsburg campus. 

Paul Thompson earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Montana State University and then went to work in the semiconductor industry as a photolithography engineer. After leaving the semiconductor plant, Paul earned his PhD in inorganic chemistry at Oregon State University studying the crystal structures of newly discovered compounds. One of the new materials he synthesized was converted by another team of scientists into a chromium-doped laser crystal. Paul went on to teach chemistry lecture and lab here at Big Sandy.  Paul  is happy to assist students with math and chemistry homework, or any other help he can provide. Having written several publications as part of his doctorate, Paul is able to proofread and edit student essays and papers on a variety of topics, including guidance in MLA and APA formatting and citations. 

Our ACE centers are open for either walk-in or scheduled sessions with our students.  Kimberly works at the Prestonsburg campus, and Paul works at the Pikeville campus.  You can find their contact information here.

The Library and ACE are open for the Spring Semester.   Please remember that we're not the same dept as the bookstore --- they'd be happy to help you get your textbooks.