My daughter sent me a photo of her
classroom today. It’s her first. She has funny, motivating posters around and
thoughtful photos. Also a wooden nameplate with Ms. Danielson on it given by
her older sister. The room reminds me of her mom’s kindergarten class minus the
stacks of picture books and kid’s art. Knowing Cassie, it will look similar
soon enough. For those who have classrooms – and for those who used to have
classrooms – the end of summer is an interesting time of anticipation and
hopeful optimism. Veteran teachers are determined to make this year better than
the last. Cautiously hopeful that most things will fall into place this year,
but fully aware of the surprises that await. New teachers are just praying they
can DO all the things teachers are asked to do, things they are not even aware
of yet. (Like having a student pop into your classroom just after the end of
school to throw-up on the floor. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t make it to the bathroom
and you’re my favorite teacher.” Sure.) I know my veteran friends will reach
out at every opportunity to support their young colleagues and I hope parents
will do the same. We need our schools to be successful.
Lots of educators and historians,
far wiser than I, have authored excellent books and essays about the critical
importance of education in our society. I can sum up what they say by quoting a
poster I had in my classroom: “Life is Hard. It’s Harder When Your Stupid.”
(Yes, you’re was misspelled.) Every one of us has witnessed someone making life
hard – and often dangerous – because they did not have accurate information, or
they had problems with critical thinking. (Have you ever said to yourself, “How
could I be so #*!# stupid?” I thought so. Me, too.) We humans have always tried
to help our kids learn the things they need to know to make life easier, safer,
and more satisfying. And even though we have regularly debated about the
essential things people should know and be able to do, we have agreed that more
informed is better. As we discovered new things about our world and our lives,
we even created a system, a “scientific method,” to make sense of our experience.
America, in order to make knowledge available to everyone, has created one of the
most successful public-school systems on earth. We need to keep improving. Here’s
where you can help.
Like many of the community-based
services we have come to expect, we often take them for granted. You can help
support our schools by being a partner to what they do. Even if you don’t have
children in school, take time to stay informed about your local schools. Attend
school events, talk to teachers, parents, students. Follow local education
reporters and read about your school districts mission to educate our kids. If
you do, you will understand why most American citizens are satisfied with their
local public schools. They understand, as do all educators, that education is a
continual work in progress, but their school is doing all right. You will
understand why students – years after they have left school – will write
letters of appreciation to former teachers. You will better understand why high
school students will come up to their former kindergarten teacher and say, “I
love you, Mrs. D.” Why high school classmates will come together decades after
graduation to celebrate their days in school. In many places, especially in
small towns, the public school is the very heart of the community. Don’t
misunderstand – there have always been serious, sometimes raucous, discussions
about school issues. In general, however, fair-minded people know the enormous
service our public schools provide. They understand the skill and dedication our
teachers bring to their profession. We have difficult and dangerous problems to
solve in America and in our world. We also have millions of curious and hopeful
kids who need our support and encouragement. We don’t want to let them down.
In his book The Constitution of
Knowledge, Jonathan Rauch writes, “As Lincoln hoped, by using their hearts
and their heads, Americans have kept their experiment alive long past the age
when democracies die.”
Have a good year, Cassie.
