I came to Nashville for a dinner last night (read Joy’s entry for more info). Today I was able to meet with friends who live in here Nashville:
Jen is a former PE and health teacher. She taught 2 years in a public school and 1 year each in two private schools. As we all know, Physical Education and the arts are often a low priority in the schools because these subjects aren’t tested on state exams, the ACT, or the SAT. However, Jen brought up a good point: “Not every kid will be a rocket scientist, but every kid will have a body, and they need to know how to move their bodies and take care of them.”
There’s a reason Jen is no longer teaching in the schools. She was very passionate about what students should learn, and she brought innovative and exciting techniques to the classroom (gym). The problem was that she wasn’t supported by leadership and/or her fellow PE teachers, so she constantly felt unappreciated.
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Paul and Sondra have lived in Nashville for about 20 years. Sondra works as a secretary at McGavock High School. Last year MHS held a training for support staff so they could know what was going on and have a better understanding of how their roles fit into the mission and activities at the school. Sondra shared about an interesting initiative they’ve adopted, which is to break the high school into Academies. Students choose a track (similar to a major in college) where they then have exposure to classes in particular subjects, such as aviation, digital design, or law. This is an exciting development that the city of Nashville is adopting for several public high schools and hopefully will better-prepare students for college.
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Want to read about other thoughts for improving education? Check out my blog at http://AStarkReality.com.
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