So many of us have not been in a classroom for many years, we have matured, our children are grown, we see our grandchildren and neighborhood children but we are far removed from the schools. After experiencing a great opportunity to re-engage with the school district I live in and reflect on what I hear from so many individuals in the community about our schools, I am compelled to share some thoughts.
Recently, I was blessed to actually walk into classrooms
and observe teachers and their students in the midst of a full day of
educational opportunities. It certainly
had no resemblance to the classrooms I attended, or in a multitude of ways, to
the classrooms my children participated in.
What I witnessed was not teachers demonstrating their authority and children
silently sitting in a very stoic controlled atmosphere. I witnessed real learning, where teachers
were respectfully guiding the children while encouraging them to be in control
of themselves. Teachers keeping the class focused in a thoughtful, engaging
manner that recognized the different learning styles and methods for achieving
answers. I saw children increasing their
reading skills using a computer program that helps them learn the words,
practice reading and then be scored as to their comprehension and timing that
would have taken hours for a teacher to accomplish with each student. I saw children, very young children, learning
the basics of math through games and play, and then I saw the next grade up
using what they had learned previously to actually complete math papers. And, I saw children joyfully learning and then sharing their knowledge and understanding carefully with peers to ensure they
understood the process as well. When my children started kindergarten, it was encouraged that they know their ABC’s, and could count and recognize numbers to 10, knew their colors and shapes. Today that just isn’t enough and we need to make sure they have the resources to be prepared to learn. And, that’s not enough either, we have to educate ourselves, we have to realize that our children today are stepping into a world where information is at their fingertips and they will be expected to access that information, utilize and disseminate it rapidly. The only way we can do this is to make sure that our schools have the resources they need to do this important work.
Right now several of our Pierce County school districts have
bond levies coming up for vote in February. The majority of these levies are
replacement levies – which means they are not more money they are just
continuing the money the school had received for a designated period of time that
now needs to be renewed for them to carry on. Some school districts do have
additional levies requesting Instructional Technology, or capital levies and
they have done their homework before bringing these to you. It’s easy to get your ballot and say no, but
today I ask you to take a better look. Do you realize that the government looks
at third grade reading scores as part of the calculation used in deciding how
many jail cells will be needed in the future?
Yes, that’s what data has shown for years. But, your vote “YES” has the
opportunity to change this. You can make a difference for your community for
the children living on your block, and for future generations by saying YES to
schools. And, you don’t have to take my
word for what’s happening at the schools in our communities – make an
appointment and go see for yourself, then you’ll know what it takes to Change
the Story for our children and for the future of our community.
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