Have you seen the spoof on state mottos that made the rounds a couple of years ago? I chuckled when I read Florida - Ask Us about Our Grandkids; Oklahoma - Like the Play, Only No Singing, but when I got to Tennessee - The Educashun State - I wasn't laughing anymore.
In Chattanooga the facts are pretty dismal and everyone knows it, so I'm not going to quote a single statistic (you're welcome). My sons went to public school and they both graduated from state colleges, so I've been invested in this process for many years.
Why does the quality of our education matter? Like the song says, "I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way." I hope Whitney Houston's version is playing in your head now.
Poor education means many of our children will not grow up to participate in the workforce. For Chattanooga, that adversely affects business development. And that impacts economic prosperity. And that touches every one of us, whether we have kids in school or not.
This year I've been working with two people who have taught me a lot about successful high quality education. Dr. Elaine Swafford from Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy (CGLA) and Bobbe Spink from The Montessori School. Chattanooga is lucky to have them. I am blessed to have become entrenched in their philosophies.
I learned there is a secret sauce to good education. It's the Whole Kid.
Not just what they are learning in order to pass a test, but how they learn. What makes them want to learn? What gets in the way and what pushes them forward? And it's different for every child.
Learning is not really a group activity.
We are teaching to the middle of a large group of kids in most of our schools. Yet every child who functions one step outside that narrow middle path ends up off track. Inner city kids will fail today's test because they can't stop thinking about the crime scene they witnessed last night. Gifted kids who need more challenging work will languish. Attention deficit kids who need to move around in order to learn will die a thousand deaths trying to sit still in class all day. Average kids who didn't master reading may never catch up. Girls who think they can't be good at math will never be good at math. High school kids whose brain power is sluggish as a result of poor nutrition will sleep in class.
I don't think it's intelligence or ability that makes a difference. I think it's individual diagnosis of student need, followed by the flexibility to meet that need.
Bobbe Spink told me about a first-grade Montessori student who needed to do a handcraft every morning before he could fully engage in the rest of the day. They discovered this through active observation of every student to understand how they learn best. This boy needed to occupy his hands creatively for half an hour to get his mind ready. Seems so simple.
Dr. Swafford tells the story of a young lady who took the ACT test and earned a score of 19, which was sufficient for acceptance to a state college. Swafford pushed her to take it again and helped pay the test fee. The next time she scored 23 and was ecstatic. But that was only good enough to earn scholarships for tuition, and Swafford knew this student would never be able to afford the living expenses. Additional scholarships meant a higher score was needed. She took it one more time. With a highly respectable score of 25, this student could truly afford to go to college and became a member of the ACT 25+ Club at CGLA.
What kind of environment allows our teachers and school leaders to know each student so well they can actually set them up for success beyond general academic standards? It can be done in an entire school. Ask Bobbe Spink or Elaine Swafford. Is it possible in a larger school?
The teachers must be equipped with the right training and enough time to focus on their students. Maybe that means year-round school, smaller class sizes and ready resources. I see the dollar signs flashing in your mind.
Can we invest in our future through these children? Dare we open our minds and hearts, and probably our wallets, wide enough to make Chattanooga the beacon of hope for Tennessee, the "educashun" state?
Barb Bowen, a partner in Bowen & Bowen, is a fundraising consultant and professional writer. Contact her at barbandbillbowen@gmail.com.