Yesterday at Brendan’s gymnastics meet I participated in a “round bleacher” discussion about schools in general, with particular reference to Bryan, offering such a variety of choices, the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic are left sorely lacking. This came from the revelation that next year Bryan High will no longer have a gymnastics team. All but two graduate in May, so the program will be housed only at Rudder going forward. The coach was relieved because he’s had a difficult time juggling between the two schools and two teams. Hmmm, one head coach responsible for outcomes, two teams, two schools.
The discussion obviously opened with emphasis on athletics. Back when we parents were kids, there was football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, track, tennis and golf. Those are still around today, but added to are swimming, wrestling, lacrosse, bowling, soccer, softball, and gymnastics. What’s amazing is that more kids don’t participate than actually do. Sports coupled with band, choir, drill team, flag corps, drum line, drama, orchestra, cheerleading, ROTC, speech and improv offer something that ought to appeal to everyone.
Bryan ISD offers Bryan HS, Bryan Collegiate HS, Lamar Alternative HS, Hammond Oliver HS for Human Sciences, and the new-this-year Rudder HS. Bryan and Rudder are the only ones considered “traditional” campuses with district attendance zones. The others are elective, supposedly offering targeted students unique educational opportunities. Lamar is for at-risk students, while Hammond Oliver resides on the opposite end offering a challenging curriculum to those with an interest in health care. Funny, quite a few of my kids’ friends went to Hammond Oliver with zero interest in the health care profession simply because their parents perceived it to be a “better campus environment.” Here’s a unique thought….I kept my kids at BHS because they weren’t interested in pursuing health-related professions. New on the academic scene is Bryan Collegiate, created through a partnership with Blinn and A&M with the focus being college preparation. Alas, when we checked into Collegiate for Shay, we quickly discovered because we’ve been preparing him for college all along, he isn’t in the “target group” for this particular campus. He’ll have to rely strictly on dual credit courses for his assistance. To me, it’s a matter of Bryan not having one facility large enough to accommodate the number of students residing in the district.
While true, all felt this is a poor “excuse” for waning academic performance. By offering so many choices, teachers and funds are spread desperately thin. Some classrooms are too large, while others have relatively few students. Fear of lawsuits affords more disruption than is publicly acknowledged. In Rudder, students and teachers report having to observe a lesbian sophomore couple “groping and tonguing” each other outside a first period English class on a daily basis. English and remedial mathematic through advanced mathematic courses are offered, but are offered in multiple locations, multiple times daily. Get the picture?
While I agree, the basics are crucial, I remain a staunch supporter of athletics. Team sports promote self-confidence, cooperation and teach youth how to lose gracefully, as well as supply that critical life-skill you have to work hard to make the A-Team. Oh, that’s right; that was when we parents went to school. Due to the touchy/feely, children-should-be-pampered-so-their-fragile-egos-won’t-be-damaged, everyone-is-considered-equal, can’t discipline, we-have-no-standards era, it doesn’t matter how skilled or fat or dysfunctional you are, YOU can excel at EVERYTHING in the public school system, except maybe Friday night football! It’s still king in Texas.
One suggestion was the ever-growing, popular trend of private club sports. Mike and I recently attended a club volleyball tournament for high school students. I was amazed at the volume of participants from all over the state. They played hard and fast, developing the team sport initiative which formerly inspired our generation. What a wholesome environment. It can further assit with college tuition in the form of scholarhip potential. But it’s not a perfect solution. Competitive teams not only require a considerable outlay of cash, but also time and travel. A college friend of mine is committed every weekend—mom going one way with one daughter and dad often heading a different direction with second daughter. Expense alone is a huge limitation. If teams don’t offer “scholarships,” many youth are automatically disqualified from participation. There’s where the public school system picks up. Through school athletics, everyone is eligible to try-out. That’s the thing, though. Emphasis must remain on “try-out.” Not every student should make the team. In the real world, it’s all about winners and losers, perseverance and dedication. Today’s school activities don’t provide a realistic view of adulthood, thereby missing the mark for life skills preparation.
Equality of education is important, but there is a finite budget. A school can only do so much before something begins to suffer. Judging from US student performance compared to other countries’ performance, it’s academics that are suffering. According to one school of thought, US instruction is based on procedural rather than conceptual learning. We teach many things at once not focusing on specific areas or their practical application, i.e., students are taught to add fractions, but little emphasis is placed on the actual concept of fractions, while other countries focus more on how fractions relate to life/work. Translation, they teach fewer topics, but focus in more depth. The outcome is longer time spent on each subject makes it easier for the student to encode knowledge into long-term memory, and students have a more practical understanding of why the subject material matters.
What’s the answer? Public and professional opinion is as varied as our diverse cultural population. I believe a more back-to-basics approach to education is required. More emphasis on the three “R’s” and greater incentive to excel academically over the draw of the not-too-realistic $15 million dollar pro athlete salary is a start. Solid performance-based athletic and extra-curricular programs would provide the necessary integration/comprehension between performance and outcome vital to future employment success. The realization that teachers serve a most valuable function in our country and deserve compensation worthy of their entrusted task would appeal to those dedicated to making a difference. There must also be policy to weed out those who only draw a paycheck. Corrective action discipline must return. The teaching of values and respect have become a lost art form, and sadly, left only to the family unit, many will fail.
It’s obvious change is warranted. I don’t have all the answers, but we have to begin somewhere. I’m of the opinion my generation didn’t turn out too badly, even without exposure to the countless choices available today.
The discussion obviously opened with emphasis on athletics. Back when we parents were kids, there was football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, track, tennis and golf. Those are still around today, but added to are swimming, wrestling, lacrosse, bowling, soccer, softball, and gymnastics. What’s amazing is that more kids don’t participate than actually do. Sports coupled with band, choir, drill team, flag corps, drum line, drama, orchestra, cheerleading, ROTC, speech and improv offer something that ought to appeal to everyone.
Bryan ISD offers Bryan HS, Bryan Collegiate HS, Lamar Alternative HS, Hammond Oliver HS for Human Sciences, and the new-this-year Rudder HS. Bryan and Rudder are the only ones considered “traditional” campuses with district attendance zones. The others are elective, supposedly offering targeted students unique educational opportunities. Lamar is for at-risk students, while Hammond Oliver resides on the opposite end offering a challenging curriculum to those with an interest in health care. Funny, quite a few of my kids’ friends went to Hammond Oliver with zero interest in the health care profession simply because their parents perceived it to be a “better campus environment.” Here’s a unique thought….I kept my kids at BHS because they weren’t interested in pursuing health-related professions. New on the academic scene is Bryan Collegiate, created through a partnership with Blinn and A&M with the focus being college preparation. Alas, when we checked into Collegiate for Shay, we quickly discovered because we’ve been preparing him for college all along, he isn’t in the “target group” for this particular campus. He’ll have to rely strictly on dual credit courses for his assistance. To me, it’s a matter of Bryan not having one facility large enough to accommodate the number of students residing in the district.
While true, all felt this is a poor “excuse” for waning academic performance. By offering so many choices, teachers and funds are spread desperately thin. Some classrooms are too large, while others have relatively few students. Fear of lawsuits affords more disruption than is publicly acknowledged. In Rudder, students and teachers report having to observe a lesbian sophomore couple “groping and tonguing” each other outside a first period English class on a daily basis. English and remedial mathematic through advanced mathematic courses are offered, but are offered in multiple locations, multiple times daily. Get the picture?
While I agree, the basics are crucial, I remain a staunch supporter of athletics. Team sports promote self-confidence, cooperation and teach youth how to lose gracefully, as well as supply that critical life-skill you have to work hard to make the A-Team. Oh, that’s right; that was when we parents went to school. Due to the touchy/feely, children-should-be-pampered-so-their-fragile-egos-won’t-be-damaged, everyone-is-considered-equal, can’t discipline, we-have-no-standards era, it doesn’t matter how skilled or fat or dysfunctional you are, YOU can excel at EVERYTHING in the public school system, except maybe Friday night football! It’s still king in Texas.
One suggestion was the ever-growing, popular trend of private club sports. Mike and I recently attended a club volleyball tournament for high school students. I was amazed at the volume of participants from all over the state. They played hard and fast, developing the team sport initiative which formerly inspired our generation. What a wholesome environment. It can further assit with college tuition in the form of scholarhip potential. But it’s not a perfect solution. Competitive teams not only require a considerable outlay of cash, but also time and travel. A college friend of mine is committed every weekend—mom going one way with one daughter and dad often heading a different direction with second daughter. Expense alone is a huge limitation. If teams don’t offer “scholarships,” many youth are automatically disqualified from participation. There’s where the public school system picks up. Through school athletics, everyone is eligible to try-out. That’s the thing, though. Emphasis must remain on “try-out.” Not every student should make the team. In the real world, it’s all about winners and losers, perseverance and dedication. Today’s school activities don’t provide a realistic view of adulthood, thereby missing the mark for life skills preparation.
Equality of education is important, but there is a finite budget. A school can only do so much before something begins to suffer. Judging from US student performance compared to other countries’ performance, it’s academics that are suffering. According to one school of thought, US instruction is based on procedural rather than conceptual learning. We teach many things at once not focusing on specific areas or their practical application, i.e., students are taught to add fractions, but little emphasis is placed on the actual concept of fractions, while other countries focus more on how fractions relate to life/work. Translation, they teach fewer topics, but focus in more depth. The outcome is longer time spent on each subject makes it easier for the student to encode knowledge into long-term memory, and students have a more practical understanding of why the subject material matters.
What’s the answer? Public and professional opinion is as varied as our diverse cultural population. I believe a more back-to-basics approach to education is required. More emphasis on the three “R’s” and greater incentive to excel academically over the draw of the not-too-realistic $15 million dollar pro athlete salary is a start. Solid performance-based athletic and extra-curricular programs would provide the necessary integration/comprehension between performance and outcome vital to future employment success. The realization that teachers serve a most valuable function in our country and deserve compensation worthy of their entrusted task would appeal to those dedicated to making a difference. There must also be policy to weed out those who only draw a paycheck. Corrective action discipline must return. The teaching of values and respect have become a lost art form, and sadly, left only to the family unit, many will fail.
It’s obvious change is warranted. I don’t have all the answers, but we have to begin somewhere. I’m of the opinion my generation didn’t turn out too badly, even without exposure to the countless choices available today.
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