I’ve got a big birthday coming up and I’d love for you to celebrate with me. Join me on Periscope for a series of live broadcasts from my 40th birthday party on August 29th. You can meet my family, friends, and neighbors who have gathered at my house in Council Bluffs, Iowa. If you install the free Periscope app for iPhone, iPad, or Android and follow me (@tonyvincent), you’ll get a notification each time I begin a broadcast.

I want to use the broadcasts to help raise awareness and funds for my friend Bob Sprankle. He’s a brilliant teacher who needs our help. Sadly, he had to resign from teaching because of crippling pain. It started after an operation to repair a hernia. Polypropylene mesh was implanted. It’s now been discovered that this mesh is linked to severe chronic nerve pain in some patients. Bob struggles with pain every minute of his life.

Another struggle Bob faces is that the state of Maine has rejected his application for disability benefits three times. Because teachers in Maine are required to contribute to Maine Public Employees Retirement System, he can’t apply for benefits under federal Social Security.

You can help Bob and his family by donating to Teacher Bob Sprankle Needs Your Help through YouCaring. Donating is quick and easy. While $40 would be a great gift to celebrate my birthday, donations of any size are very much welcome. Please help Bob if you can. And thank you, thank you, thank you for doing so!

Read more about Bob Sprankle’s struggles:

Bob was one of the first teachers to podcast. Check out some of the podcasts he did for teachers and students:

  • Room 208 Podcast is the weekly podcast from his 3rd and 4th grade students in Wells, Maine.
  • The Bobby Bucket Show is a podcast for kids to help them enjoy books and practice reading skills.
  • Bit by Bit is a podcast by a teacher, for teachers, talking and reflecting about the use of technology in instruction.

Take a step into Bob's classroom from a 2005 local news broadcast...

 

And watch Bob's students explain how they plan and record their Room 208 podcast...