Tonight’s School Board meeting was… uplifting. Inspirational. Bragging rights (sort of, for what tiny part of it I can claim any credit for) have been established.<\/p>\n
There are some parents out there whose bragging rights are much more substantial, and I hope that they are swelled with pride. First up was one of our multi-age preschool classes, demonstrating what they’re learning these days. We’re talking reading, counting, dates, money, alphabets — everything one needs to be ready for kindergarten.<\/p>\n
Actually, it’s what we used to learn in Kindergarten.<\/p>\n
One of the things that impressed me was, when a child did not know the answer, he or she did not stare at their shoes and mumble, "I don’t know" (oh, the humiliation of the public "I don’t know…"). They looked up and around at their classmates, saying "I need help," and the rest of the class would chime in with the answer.<\/p>\n
There was no shame, only helping and sharing. There will be enough days down the road to feel the shame of having to say "I don’t know" in front of the whole class (not to mention the school board, all the parents, and the television camera); these preschool days are for learning. There’s no shame in not knowing, only in not trying to know.<\/p>\n
Pigpen was not among those needing help — he knew his answers. He’s ready for the big K.<\/p>\n
* * *
Next up was Landon Smith, an ORHS junior who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT. Asked if he had anything to say he simply replied, "I had my Jr. AP (English) presentation today, so I think I’m just about done with public speaking for now."<\/p>\n
Good job, Landon. And good job, Landon’s mom, who teaches at Jefferson.<\/p>\n
* * *
The rest of the meeting was fairly uneventful, but one item in the monthly financial report stood out to me: with 75% of the fiscal year behind us, our sales tax collections stand at 64.9%. The big back-to-school shopping days of August are behind us; the mammoth Christmas season has passed. Easter, when there’s usually a bump simply because most children have to have new Sunday clothes and shoes (and baskets and candy), is also history.<\/p>\n
There are no more significant local shopping days, and we’re still grossly behind our target sales tax collections (which were meager to start with).<\/p>\n
Think about it. I know it’s hard to find stuff here, but it’s worth a try. And, a vote in favor of the bond issue for infrastructure improvements is a direct vote for better shopping in Oak Ridge, which provides the money your schools must have <\/em>to operate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tonight’s School Board meeting was… uplifting. Inspirational. Bragging rights (sort of, for what tiny part of it I can claim any credit for) have been established. There are some parents out there whose bragging rights are much more substantial, and … Continue reading