Education and community comments

What is the purpose of Minonktalk? It is a very useful tool for getting information about Minonk--until we get to the comment section. One has to wonder if we need that kind of information. If the purpose is to put our community and school in a poor light--congratulations, we've succeeded! If it's to slam the school and individuals--great job, we did it! Dave's article did what any good editoral does whether we agree or disagree--it got people thinking and talking. Readers began to cross the line with comments attacking individuals either by name or innuendo.

I'd like to address the concerns of Minonk's elementary school becoming a blue ribbon school. Genetics, prenatal care, and rate of development are just a few of the first "contributors" to a child's education. Schools have no control over that! The first and most important teachers for a child are his parents.

Parents provide the stimulus of conversation and experiences that are so necessary for proper development. (Are you aware that some students have to be taught how to hold and open a book when they come to school?!) Parents continue to be the most important teachers for as long as the child remains in their care. Parents help determine a child's attitude toward learning. If Mom and Dad read a lot and are lifelong learners, children value learning. If Mom and Dad have nothing positive to say about school, teachers or subjects in school, students soon make that apparent in their attitudes and actions. (Let's give a non-academic example: If parents hate eating liver, do they serve it often and teach their children to like it just because it's good for them and rich in iron? Chances are, the children grow up knowing they would hate liver without tasting it.)

Now, let's do the math. A parent has a child approximately 1825 days before he sets foot in school. Even allowing for 12 hours of sleep a day, that's 21,900 hours of opportunity for learning. Let's take out another 2000 hours for a parent working a 40 hour week for 50 weeks leaving 19,900. There are 180 days in a school year and assuming that teachers have 6 hours out of the 7 hour school day to work with a child (and that's a stretch, considering time spent on lunch, recess, restroom trips, PE, music, getting into and out of coats, boots, gloves, children trying to find their "stuff", etc), that is about 1080 hours with each teacher. Parents, hopefully, are there continuously. Parents are ultimately responsible for a child's education--most of us knew that when we became parents!

Yes, teachers make mistakes--they are human! Parents make mistakes, too! Parents and teachers must be doing something right in this community for our school to achieve this very big honor! Do we really have to go to a website to put each other down?

NCLB is a great idea in that it pushes for the same opportunities for all children. The frustration is that it is not a level playing field for all due to some of the things I mentioned above (prenatal care, life experiences, home support, IQ, rate of development). It is unrealistic for all students to achieve the same successes at the same levels. It is also frustrating to compare one year's class to another year's class. We should concentrate on each child's growth. But for now let's celebrate that this success was made at the elementary level and hope that as these children move into Jr. High and High School scores will climb there as well.

It's very easy to be nasty, and attack someone anonymously. If you don't want to sign your name, perhaps it shouldn't be written! If you truly believe it...sign your name.

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