I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Hamilton who for the last 38 years has been the secretary of an Elementary school in Indianola, Mississippi. Mrs. Hamilton is a wealth of knowledge about education in the Delta and I asked if she had seen any changes in the kids over time. Her response was that school doesn’t seem as important as it once did. Kids now have so many other things going on that school is not the priority that it was once. Kids have computers and cell phones in every class at every grade from 3 through 6. They are constantly texting and chatting with each other daily often in the middle of class. When I asked her what would make it better she pointed to students valuing school more and them being able greater levels of concentration. Their work ethic is not the same as it was in the past.
Hearing her reflections was difficult because I had spent 3 years teaching at a school not so unlike this one and the challenges she spoke about seemed daunting. That being said, she spoke about them with a sense of hope. The school has recently hired a new principal (a close personal friend of mine) and also received a significant school improvement grant and she remains hopeful that their school can continue to improve and provide a better education for the students. Where they are going remains to be seen, but it is clear they are trying to adapt and serve students differently.
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