End of summer Start of school
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 09:18AM 
Labor Day is always a wistful time for me. The long weekend of family and friends at "our" resort in northern Minnesota, The Cry of the Loon, signals that summer is indeed gone and that fall and school have officially begun. Even grandson Miles pictured above seems to be in a reflective mood. Although he doesn't go to school, I'm sure he will miss his brother who will be a first-grader this year.
Our all-staff back-to-school gathering last week was one of the very best I remember in my career. Highlights included:
- The superintendent listed a dozen major accomplishments of the district last year, including beginning all-day kindergarten throughout the district, implementing a new reading series, installing 100 new projectors and SmartBoards in classrooms, and having our school board recognized as the best one in Minnesota.
- US Representative Tim Walz re-joining us to offer a heart-felt thanks for our work in getting him elected to Congress last year. Tim, a social studies teacher from the high school across the alley from my office, is the only elected teacher serving in Congress. He also seems to be one of the most articulate and value-driven. Any surprise?
- Jamie Vollmer "the blueberry guy" gave a great speech on education. I suspect Vollmer is old news to most educators, but if you don't know his work, check it out here. The heart of Vollmer's message is summed up in his "Blueberry Story":
We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission and active support of the surrounding community.
He strongly advocates that we stop trash talking our own schools and fellow educators and instead tell positive stories to counteract the biases in media against public education. Sensible, concrete advice. (Another intriguing part of his website and talk is "The Burden" - the added expections of public education from 1900 to the present.)
It may just a heightened sensitivity because of Vollmer's talk, but the comic strips this fall seem to realy be playing up the negative aspects of returning to school. Yeah, it's a perennial source of humor, but wouldn't it be nice if we saw the antics of some of the kids who enjoyed returning to school? There are those kids still out there. Right?
Reader Comments (2)
Hey Doug,
I've always wanted to see Jamie Vollmer in person... that must have been a blast.
And yes, those kids are out there. One of the really fun things we've seen in the past few weeks is how many of our kids can't wait to come back.
Chris,
At your school I bet you have tons of kids who can't wait to get back. That should teach the rest of us about what schools of the future need to be.
On another note, I tried to leave a comment on PracticalTheory <http://practicaltheory.org/> and was unsuccessful. Any trick to do so? Been reading and enjoying it.
Doug