Whole Grade Sharing – Part II

We are North Fayette Valley!  Now what?  Since the two school boards signed the agreement, we have been off and running.  In the seven days since that January 21, we have held four half-day meetings with teachers in the core content areas working on course content and alignment for middle and high school.  We have had a meeting pulling together administrators and AEA personnel to assess special education needs for both districts.  We attempted to have a meeting with business teachers, but due to weather conditions, that was postponed, as was an ad hoc meeting for the extracurricular folks.  Oh yeah, the morning after the agreement we spent a couple of hours with 54 students working to resolve the school colors!  In addition to all of that, I have had numerous meetings face-to-face with Mr. Willhite, Mr. Imoehl. Mr. Clark, and Mr. Nuss about matters relative to the sharing program.  I have spent countless hours working in collaboration with Mr. Clark in preparation for course selection and registration, as well as time on the phone and via email with staff at Valley arranging for meetings with students and putting a transition plan in place.  We have created a calendar for all of the meetings and activities that we anticipate needing over the course of the next four months to transition students, orient parents, and to make certain we get every thing done.  We have come up with question after question, and I anticipate there will be more!  And, I have attempted to do all of the other parts of my job!

So, where are we?  Headed in the right direction!  We knew it was going to be busy, but thankfully we started on this effort way back at the start of the school year.  I am tremendously excited about the new opportunities that are going to be created for our students.  A new structure to our Language Arts and Social Studies programs will be implemented that I think is great!  We will roll out more details on that in the near future.  I also recognize that there are going to be bumps in the road, and there will be some things that happen that will be upsetting to some.  Change always brings with it some pros and some cons.  Productive and positive change sometimes takes a little while to bear fruit.  With that said, the students at North Fayette Valley are going to find themselves in a much more comprehensive academic environment, starting next year.  And, it will continue to grow.  School reform has been discussed at great length for the better part of my 16 years as a principal.  Now, with the Iowa Core, our focus on technology, and the attention we are giving to this opportunity, I can start to see some of this shift.  It will be great for kids!  Did I say I was excited?  I’m excited!

It Is Time To Do Something

With the new Congress in place and having averted the fiscal cliff, it appears that a number of gun control bills are going to be presented.  In the past 24-hours I have read three different articles relative to this topic, and all referencing the massacre at Newtown.  Matt Carver, SAI Legal Services Director, wrote at length in our organizations monthly newsletter.  I read a column in Sports Illustrated.  And, this morning on abcnews.com, I read about Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly’s interview with Diane Sawyer.  I know that as a public employee I am a servant of the taxpayers, and when I say something, it is scrutinized by “all of my bosses.”  I also know that when I say something it carries some weight because of the position that I am in.

Immediately after the shooting at Newtown, a number of prominent individuals spoke out right away about the issue of guns in our society.  I am glad that people finally have.  While they were doing this, I wrestled with whether or not I should.  I can certainly handle the criticism as I recognize that on many fronts, people are going to disagree with what I say.  I have had that many times in the past.  There will be those who would say that in my position I shouldn’t be taking a position!  However, at the same time others will expect me to take a one.  The public certainly would expect me to take a position on drugs in school, or on the topic of harassment or bullying.  So why is a position on guns any different?  I don’t think it is.

We have laws that prohibit guns on school campuses unless they are in the possession of a law enforcement officer.  With recent changes that have been made with concealed weapons in Iowa, the law still prohibits them on school campuses.  I am a strong advocate of this law.  We do not need guns on school property, and arming volunteers as the NRA executive vice president suggests terrifies me.  Arming teachers, as a congressman in Texas advocates, could create chaos.  In both instances I see disaster.  I don’t need someone like George Zimmerman, the rent-a-cop from Florida, volunteering to be on our school grounds to protect us.  I had a teacher remark the other day, “Heck, I forget where I leave my coffee cup some days.  What if I forget where I set my gun?”  More guns at school will result in more shootings.  There have been armed security personnel at some of the schools where shootings have taken place and they did not prevent the shootings.  At Columbine there were armed security personnel and they were not able to stop the two young men that put school shootings on the front page.

We have the Second Amendment in our country and while I am not a hunter or a gun owner, I respect the rights of people to own guns.  However, that amendment was written when people carried muskets, not when people have had access to AK-47s and high-compression clips.  People do not need to have those kinds of weapons in their possession and we need to do a very thorough job getting them off the streets.  In addition, we need to put forth a very strong effort to put in place universal background checks.  And, of equal important, resources need to be poured into mental health care.  It is an embarrassment that our nation does not address this.  The time is now to address all of these problems.  I for one believe that we can live in a better place and will work hard to bring that about.

My Questions In Light of Sandy Hook

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School has been covered from every conceivable angle, and like many of you, I have read nearly everything that has been written.  It’s not that I have a fascination with what happened, rather, I read because I am trying to glean some kind of insight as to how this can happen in the modern world.  Many people are piecing together bits of information trying to figure out why that young man committed such an atrocity.  There will be an explanation from experts, but like most of the times when something like this happens, the best witness – the killer – is not alive to tell, assuming they would be capable of explaining why they would do something so unthinkable.  Brenda Ann Spencer, one of the first school shooters, was taken alive and explained that she did it because “I don’t like Mondays.”  The why is important, but so is the how, and that is what is occupying my thoughts as I keep thinking about this, ten days after it happened.

How, in a democratic society, free of war on its soil for over 150 years, do we have people that arm themselves with weapons of war?  How does anyone in our country have a mindset that governmental tyranny is just a step away, thus a need for individuals to amass small arsenals of weapons?  How is it that a country that has made tremendous advances in medicine in the past 40 years done so little to address mental illness?  How have we advanced beyond a bloody civil rights movement in the middle of the previous century, yet maintain sometimes extreme intolerance of people that are “different?”  How have we as a nation lost our sense of community and perhaps humanity?  How have we become a country that in some places puts up gates to keep others out?  How does a young man, the son of highly educated parents, not receive effective treatment for obvious mental issues and also have such easy access to military grade weapons?

We are a nation of laws.  We are a nation of freedoms and responsibilities.  We are a nation that still considers itself the “caretaker of the world.”  We are a nation that is made up of people of every race, creed, color, nationality, religion, and ethnic background.  So, how do we as Americans come together to ensure that people do not need to worry about sending their children to school, going on a date to a movie, or shopping at a mall?  What I know first hand is that we have a severe lack of understanding about mental illness, and especially in rural areas, horribly little access to mental health professionals.  It is a national disgrace that we spend millions of dollars on unnecessary cosmetic enhancements, yet we come nowhere close to helping those who need professional help for mental illness.  I also know that access to military weapons by civilians is not necessary.  I do not object to people owning guns, but I fail to see any reason for people in a civilized society to have the kind of weapons used in the recent massacres that have taken place in our country.  I also know that in our country we have tremendous fears of people that are different, which is perhaps why people feel a need to arms themselves.  What happened to the “kinder and gentler nation” President George H.W. Bush referred to in his Inaugural Address?

Whole Grade Sharing -- Part I

The process of working together with folks from the Valley school district, as well as North Fayette patrons and students has been exactly what I expected: a challenging, exciting, interesting experience.  Talking to fellow principals that have gone through the same experience, I was told that there would be bumps in the road, and in the past couple of weeks, we have had the bumpy part, or at least our first bumps.  However, I think we have navigated them well and I am very confident moving on that we are going to have this agreement in place soon and we can get down to the planning for next year.  However, even though we’re still a long way from finished, there are some things that standout so far.

First off, I have been impressed by the common goal expressed by so many on the three committees I serve to pull together and create more positive learning opportunities for our children.  That is the focal point and for the vast majority of people, creating the best academic program possible is very important.  Yes, there are some loud voices out there that seem to care a lot more about things that are not quite as important.  But my experience on a daily basis is that a majority of people cares a lot about what we can do to put together a strong school for our kids.  Contrary to many of the rumors floating around, there is a commitment to make this work in both districts.

There have been a lot of emotions expressed on some topics, but I do maintain the best decisions are made when one takes emotion out of the equation.  Because of that, I am encouraged that we are going to take some more time with the school name, mascot, and colors.  I am absolutely convinced the students from both districts will be able to come together on this, and what is now a very divisive issue will be one that unites our kids.  In my opinion, it is a lot more important that our kids are united as one moving forward, and I think the majority of people agree, than what our colors are.  I have tremendous faith in young people because in reality, we need to find a balance between tradition and a new beginning, and the kids are capable of doing that.  What we have not done so far is communicate, and going forward that will happen.  We have some very talented students in both of our schools and we will see how effective our young leaders can be. 

I often pose the question “Are we preparing our kids for our past or their future?”  There is only one right answer – their future.  School, while the centerpiece for many communities, is about the students and we need to keep that are the front of all of the decisions we make.  

What Say You?

Hunh?  ‘Sup?  Dude!  Duuuuuuuudddddddee!  Nice!  ‘Cuz.  It seems that our English language is shrinking!  Listen to a group of high school students have a conversation and they have evolved with the ability to communicate in one-word sentences.  Throw in a little inflection and they can change the context.  Toss in a little emotion and they can change the intent of their message.  Of course, that is if you can actually be so lucky to hear them talk rather than just communicate with their thumbs across the table from one another with their portable electronic devise in hand!  In reality, it is not just the kids today.  Our English language has changed a lot over the years, and part of me questions whether that is a good thing, but more important, are we just more efficient in regard to expressing ourselves? Or, are we not as smart?

A few years ago I watched the movie remake of True Grit.  I am a huge western buff and love the genre.  What has struck me about westerns in recent years is the attention that the directors and producers pay to detail, making certain to make it as realistic as possible.  In True Grit one of the things that stood out to me was the language and how “fancy” the characters spoke using words and phrasing more like I read in Shakespeare than what I hear spoken today.  And then it struck me: the characters in the movie were for the most part uneducated individuals, or had a lot less formal education than we have today.  For example, take a look at this statement by 14-year old Mattie Ross, one of the main characters:

I had hated these ponies for the part they played in my father's death but now I realized the notion was fanciful, that it was wrong to charge blame to these pretty beasts who knew neither good nor evil but only innocence.  I say that of these ponies.  I have known some horses and a good many more pigs who I believe harbored evil intent in their hearts.  I will go further and say all cats are wicked, though often useful.  Who has not seen Satan in their sly faces?  Some preachers will say,  well, that is superstitious 'claptrap.'  My answer is this : Preacher, go to you Bible and read Luke 8: 26-33.

At another point in the movie, another character answers a question posed by young Mattie about possible individuals that she may contact to help her find her father’s killers:

I would have to weigh that proposition. There is near about two hundred of them. I reckon William Waters is the best tracker. The meanest one is Rooster Cogburn. He is a pitiless man, double-tough, and fear don’t enter into his thinking. He loves to pull a cork. Now LT Quinn, he brings his prisoners in alive. He may let one get by now and then but he believes even the worst of men is entitled to a fair shake. Also the court does not pay any fees for dead men. Quinn is a good peace officer and a lay preacher to boot. He will not plant evidence or abuse a prisoner. He is straight as a string. Yes, I will say that Quinn is about the best they have.

Highbrow educators will say that we have “dumbed down” the English language, and when you sit and listen to teenagers talk sometimes, it is hard to argue with that.  Knowledge of vocabulary among school age kids is not near what it was, which is troubling because words give meaning to our culture, our civilization.  How can we have a learned society if we do not know the meaning of language?  But then you look at the fact that we have streamlined every aspect of society that we can with fast food and Quick Lube, why shouldn’t we streamline our language?  Skilled “texters” do not even spell out the entire work, using “how r u” rather than taking the additional two seconds to write “How are you?” 

I didn’t need a dictionary to understand the conversations when I watched True Grit, though I did have to listen very close so that I didn’t miss what was said.  However, I am not sure that is the case for younger generations.  Is that a bad thing?  Well, when so much of our history is passed down through written and spoken language, I think it is.