Our NeighborHood is Strong: We must Grow our own High Achievers!

It has been suggested that we should have as a goal to bring back those who have deserted our troubled public schools. The idea is that we will work hard on improving ourselves so they will want to return to town and committ themselves to learning in their own community with the rest of us.

We worry ourselves over the 23 new Charter Schools in NJ.

If you visit the NJ State Department of Education website you will note that we are basically encouraged to open a Charter. Why? Divide and conquer is not a new concept to us. There is one reality that may have slipped our notice. To quote from a letter to the editor in the Suburbanite, "Charter Schools are simply private schools funded by public money."  The taxpaying public pays for Charter Schools. Who governs them in NJ? In some states, it is the local board of educaiton.  Take the highest scoring students from a district and put them in a Charter School and notice higher test scores. Abra Kadabra! Where is the hidden magic? Of course the test scores will be  higher. Anyone can teach those students. Something is at work here that has nothing to do with children. Look deeply and learn. Some athletes leave the public schools, because low achieving athletes are showing them up on the football field, on the basketball court and the list goes on. Face it, many times the great athletes are not the best students. Start earlier in the life of the athlete. Make sure he/she learns to READ and WRITE IN ENGLISH. THE TESTS THAT THESE ATHLETES AND OTHERS DO POORLY ON ARE ADMINISTERED IN ENGLISH, NOT MANDARIN AND NOT SPANISH.

Use the links here. Read and stay informed on what our Governor and his cohorts are doing to public education. This did not just begin. It is a plan that has been gestating in the womb of deception for quite a while now. We do not need anymore surprises.

 (Will Charters always be free for students?)

How did we allow this to happen? When did we go back in time? Did we not pass this way before?

This is the most perfect example of how history may teach us some very valuable lessons. When my home county of Warren, North Carolina was integrated circa 1968-69, after I left, little Christian Schools sprang up all over the place. Did we just learn that these little schools now have the support of the NJ Department of Education?  I say forget about Charter Schools. We have a lot of work to do in our own backyards. Make sure our boards of educations are knowlegeable. Our attention must be turned within. 

We must concentrate our energies on the students in front of us? When we consider this, grow your own takes on a whole new meaning. Start  in nursery school. Start at home. We have few choices left. Do we want a college education to become something available to only the rich? Public schools have the hardest job, because they embrace all students. This is the RIGHT thing to do. We must turn our weaknesses into strengths and rededicate ourselves to growing our own high achieving students, teachers, principals, even boards of educations. A good artist uses whatever medium available. So let's get going my people. It is time to stomp the yard to the rhythm of some found sounds. We have all the tools we need to grow our own. All we need do is keep our hearts and our options open for change. Roll up your  sleeves NJ residents. We have only begun to realize that the battle started while we were napping.

We must stop thinking the negative about our own neighborhood schools. Somewhere down the line we lost our way. It is not too late. We still have control. Our children recognize our confusion and our apathy. We need more faith in the strength and resilience of our own characters. We must become better models. There are many positive things going on in our communities.

On Saturday, March 19, 2011 we watched a line of young ladies grades 6 and up proudly dressed in their red and white accept awards at a Delta Luncheon. They were well dressed, well spoken and well on their way to preparing themselves for a college education. We must not cease having high expectations for our children.

On my honor, I will do better. Will you make the same committment?

"It takes a village to raise and educate a child. Welcome to the village."

"The Dreamer Cometh!"

..."Tell a man he is unworthy of the ideal he has built into his life; he has still something to live for. He may yet strive! But God pity that one who has persuaded himself that his dream is false! The ideal must be true and eternal. It can never be shattered. We may forget it; we may barter away for dross that which is priceless, but whatever our weakness, the Dream is true. Let the cynic scornfully say, "The Dreamer cometh!" With the sobered confidence of youth. with all the humility of manhood we can answer in the very words of cynicism, 'We shall see what will come of his dreams.'"

Excerpt from Dwight Whitney Morrow's commencement speech at Amherst College June 26, 1895

"Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave." Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778 - 1868)

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." Diogenes Laertius

Initiative # 6 Small Learning Community:: The Instrumental Music Initiative

"It is important..to keep your cultural foundation intact as you rebuild." James Elmore Morrow. Dwight Whitney Morrow's father.

It seems like only last year when the Drama and Dance Programs in  the middle schools in Teaneck, NJ were being dropped. I was teaching those subjects at TJ at the time. A group of students came to me with a problem. They, yes they had heard that one of the principals had suggested  that those programs were expendable. Susan L., Greg S., Jessica R., you know who you are. I will never forget what you did. That one grand event changed how I will view the power of teenagers forever. Three students spear headed a campaign that collected over 1,500 signatures asking the Board to leave their programs intact. That was one of the most emotional moments of my life. They taped together hundreds of sheets of loose leaf filler notebook paper and rolled it up. When they were finally allowed to speak, they rolled the long wad of paper down the right aisle of the auditorium, up the stage steps, across the board 's long table and down the steps up the left aisle to the other auditorium entrance. All because a teacher they respected suggested that they, their parents, neighbors, business owners and other taxpayers were the only ones who could save the program. They had to vote yes on the Budget. One young lady testified that dance was the only reason that she got up every morning and came to school. Right, Susan L. The programs were not cut that year. In this time of economic crisis and budget cuts Dance and Drama are still offered as electives in both Middle Schools along with Instrumental Music and Visual Art.

Dr. Carlisle's Iniative #6 Small Learning Community. I was reminded of those events when Gary Hollander presented his proposal for the Instrumental Music Program at Dwight Morrow High School. He was alone. I wanted to go up and stand beside him, because I know full well what he is going through. He is reinventing the wheel as he tries to rebuild a once respected program. One man does not a music program make. As quiet as it is kept fine and performing artists spends years perfecting the craft. A Small Learning Instrumental Music Program in the high school must have a feeder program from the lower grades. Dr. Hollander needs support from the Community and the Board.  Changing the colors may not have been such great strategy, but we can get pass that. Surely the District can afford maroon pants for everyone. The band always looked real fine to me. (2 or even 3 colors interchangeable for the garment  below the waist is a compromise. Right?) Has everyone forgotten Mr. Ashley, Wallie Richardson and a score of other fine musicians that instructed the young musicians of Englewood?  The classroom at right is slated to be sound proofed and made into the band room. That decision should be brainstormed a bit more carefully. We must not allow vocal music to be lost in the mix. The Janis E. Dismus vocal class was superbly represented and it included some great voices.  Vocal Music also needs a larger more content specific room. Is anyone doing the outreach and research into what is required in chorus and band rooms? Should these rooms be located in a central location? Poor middle school, where is your auditorium?

What ever happened to Mr. Ashley's sound proof classroom? The band needs the benefit of being able to practice on stage.  If memory serves, Mr. Ashley's classroom was down the steps below Dizzy Gillespie Auditorium. The value of the Fine & Performing Arts must not be underrated. Sometimes these core areas are the saving grace for borderline students who find nothing else attractive about school.

While driving forward in our zeal to create professional "looking" people we must remember that some subject areas require less formal attire. The Art teacher appeared very uncomfortable and quite frankly needed a smock. In her eagerness to gain approval, she dressed in attire that she was afraid to get dirty. It was obvious. This actually made the day's activity a bit awkward to observers.

"Every art is social. It is the result of a relation between the artist and his time." James Truslow Adams