The Importance of the Classroom
As many of you may remember today is an anniversary. Today is the “14 days to flatten the curve” or 1 year anniversary of “our 2 week lockdown.” I’m sure it will be many years before we learn all of the lessons that COVID has taught us, but one is for sure—during a pandemic, internet should be discontinued, as a major side effect seems to be ultra sensitivity to things considered humorous 5 years ago.
One thing that is no laughing matter is our urgent need to ensure students return to the classroom. Dr. Perry has provided some eye opening statistics and It is hard to argue that we can provide the same education to our youth from home. He is very clear that this is not just a local problem but one that is being explored and experienced across the state by all educational leaders. One interesting side effect is that many high school graduating seniors have increased proficiency levels almost 90% from home. I’m not sure how promising that honestly is, but at least we now know the education level of many of our parents reverting to high school work in their free time.
In all seriousness, there has to be a sense of urgency in our students to returning to some type of normal and that includes returning to the classroom full time. We know they are in a very comfortable habit of working from home at the moment, but be prepared, as parents, we are setting these children up for a lifetime of dependency and reliance on parents. There is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting our kids, but allowing laziness, performing their tasks and work for them and teaching them to skirt their educational responsibilities is teaching them to be an unproductive future tenant of our community.
It was also interesting to hear from Dr. Perry about all of the calls and exaltations of the importance of participation in elementary sports yet no calls came in regarding the importance of academic success among these same students. I feel like today is a perfect day to let my feelings known, and the beauty in my sharing is that you are free to agree or disagree. In the words of Dr. Seuss “ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”