If not a Village at Least an Entire District

On Thursday, as I was watching the Bank Iowa award Challenge Cup ceremony I was struck by how many people were involved in the school receiving this beautiful crystal cup.

Mr. Trager had all the students stand up who were involved in the sports and/or activities that were included in the competition.  Students who were in just one event stood up, students who were in two events stood and raised one hand and students who were in more than two events raised both hands.  Even without last years seniors it was a pretty impressive sight.

I thought of all the sacrifices that these students had to make in order to perform at a high level both in their activities and in the classroom.  The early morning and late evening practices.  The rush to get showered and changed after a sports practice so that they could make it to speech or music practice, hoping to catch a bite to eat somewhere along the way. The hours spent on homework while riding in a school bus, or sitting in the bleachers just to be ready for the school the next day.

I thought of the parents/guardians of those students and the sacrifices they had to make in order for those students to attend all the practices and games/events required to be successful.  The miles put on vehicles the money spent on equipment, gas and admission to the events.  The family time that needed to be sacrificed so that their child could have those experiences.

I thought about the coaches and advisors for these events who pour their heart and soul into their programs to make them successful, yet are willing to sacrifice and share those student(s) who want to be involved in other activities.  Coaches and advisors who allow students to leave practice early, come late or set aside personal time to practice with busy students whenever the students can squeeze it in to their schedule. Doing so without complaint so students can have a wide range of experiences while attending Audubon Community School.

I thought about the teachers who work with our busy students.  Teachers who sacrifice prep time and personal time to encourage and push students to perform at a high level in the classroom.  Teachers who know that the future of all of their students depend on them having a strong academic background. Teachers who expect performance in their classroom, but yet understand that students who develop deeper connections to school through participation in activities almost always perform at a higher level than those students who are not involved.

It reminded me of the old African proverb, "it takes a village..." in this case it may not have taken a village for us to win the Iowa Bank Challenge Cup, but it certainly took an entire district.

Education for All Matters More Than Ever

As the school year gets started and as I start attending meetings around town representing the school I often hear from patrons, usually my age or older, who always remember the "good old days" of education when they were in school.  Now I'm old enough to have attended school in the 1960's & 70's.  I've also served as an educator for the past 32 years and I'm here to tell you that those, "good old days," of education will no longer cut it for our current students.

When I graduated in the 1970's I had many classmates who had no desire, or need, to attend a post-secondary school.  They went home to work on the farm, took over the family business or moved to a city where they could get a factory job.  Those classmates of mine who couldn't or wouldn't finish high school simply fell back on the new volunteer military to give them a job and a career.  Those days are over!!

At no time in our history has it been more vital for us as a country, state or community  to be committed to learning for all students.  Here are a few facts to back up that statement:

A high school diploma does not guarantee a middle class job.

• In 1970, only 28% of jobs required post-secondary education.
• By 2015, 67% of jobs will require post-secondary education.
• In 1970, 74% of the middle class was high school graduates and dropouts.
• In 2007, only 23% of the middle class was a high school graduate, and only 8% were dropouts.
• In the same period, the percent of middle class Americans with college degrees increased from 26% to 69% (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010)

There are serious implications for those who fail.

• Students who fail are three times more likely to be unemployed (Breslow, 2012)
• These students are more likely to live in poverty (Breslow, 2012)
• Students who fail school will earn 33 cents for every dollar a college graduate earns and are four times more likely to be uninsured (Olshansky et.al, 2012)
• High School dropouts are 63 times more likely to be incarcerated (Breslow, 2012)

I know some of you are wondering why you need to worry about this as your kids, like mine, are grown and no longer in school.  But let me share one last fact with you, that will hopefully make you, as a taxpayer, very interested in making sure that all of our students are able to learn.

• On average, each high school dropout costs taxpayers $292,000 over his or her lifetime (Breslow, 2012) 

As I stated earlier, our commitment to learning for all has never been more important than it is now.  How we educate students is undergoing major changes in the state of Iowa and at Audubon Community school. The success of those changes will have an impact on the financial future of all of us.