I wanted to speak up at the board meeting, but I didn't sign up. As the other speakers stood up and voiced their views, my desire to speak grew. But I didn't.
Now, here is what I had to say.
New buildings will not educate students. A wall, no matter how recently it was raised, will not teach students about DNA, World War II, or trigonometry. I've spent plenty of time staring at walls, so I know. They tell me nothing. New buildings, new desks, new lockers, will not teach students.
I'm not even sure if new books do a very good job. A lot of math formulas have existed since before the book as we know it even existed. Now, if a student's history book refers to the Civil Rights Movement as "a bunch of loons", or closes with a reminder to be on the lookout for Communists, I can understand wanting to buy some new books. But my history textbook ends with the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
No, these things do not teach students. You want to know what does? There are two things that will really teach students.
1. Good teachers
2. Innovative classes
This year at Tower-Soudan High School, two science classes are being offered as PSEO through Vermilion Community College, both with an environmental science theme. These classes are unique in that they are part of the district's Applied Learning Initiative. Instead of being lectured on experiments that some dead guy did 100 years ago, students taking these classes actually go out into the field and do their own experiments. According to the counselor at school, three seniors intend to go on to VCC in the natural resources program. I'd wager that the engaging and interesting nature of the class, as well as the teacher, Ryan Lindsay, greatly influenced their choice.
A class that makes the student excited about learning is they key, not being able to sit in a shiny new desk.
Scorpio, I wish you had signed up to speak at the meeting. I think everyone should hear from the students that are impacted by the decisions made in our district. I agree that our teachers are the ones that make the education in our district. They are involved in the students lives, available for questions or extra help and they work hard to educate our students.
I really feel that the bond referendum will help us with educating our youth. Granted, the money is for bricks and mortar, but the changes will affect every aspect of the school. Money will be saved, class offerings will be increased, and great teachers will be retained. There are other (personal) aspects to the bond referendum, depending on which area you live in. These are the aspects that people focused on when they voted NO. I'm not saying they are right or wrong, just personal reasons.
The truth is that Orr and Cotton are getting too small. These are not one-room schoolhouse days. Many students in those schools have too few electives to have a well-rounded education. The Cook school is a nice school, but it is in an area that is not safe for the students. There are fast trains going across the only entrance/exit for the school. As one parent commented, what if a train carrying a toxic load were to derail right at the entrance/exit to the school? If it were not for the safety factor, I would have liked to see the school stay where it is now. The Tower School is very old. A few years ago I was talking to a friend of mine who graduated from Tower. My friend was saying how the school was in bad shape at the time of his/her graduation, and has not changed in all those years between (unless you count the fact that it has gradually gotten worse). It would not be economically feasible to totally remodel the Tower School.
I feel that this bond referendum plan, although not perfect for everyone, is still the best overall plan for the district. I respect the personal views of those who oppose the plan, but still believe the plan is the best one for our district.
Oh holy cow, luv2laf. Do we have to hear these same old worn out stories of how this bond referendum is going to improve education, despite not 1 dollar going to education? And honestly, I am sick and tired about the claim that the railroad going by the schools is a hazard. The schools were built after the railroad was already there, they provided quality education during the time the railroad was there, and frankly, I am tired of the "what if's" about the freight de-railing. Anybody driving on the highway has a higher probablity of dying in an accident than "if" a de-railment occurred near the Cook or Orr school. The Orr people that opposed the railroad in Orr a few years ago were off their rocker on that issue. The only accidents that occurred at that crossing were the faults of the drivers trying to beat the train.
Also, Orr will experience increased enrollment if the Nett Lake numbers keep up and the potential economic development projects on the drawing boards become reality. If copper-nickel development proceeds as hoped, in spite of Marshall and Jodi, Tower-Soudan stands to have more kids sitting at desks. Harvard, Yale and Princeton have buildings over 200 years old still in use today, the only problem with the fine, Oliver Iron Mining Company School built in Tower is neglected maintenance. I don't and can't buy the argument that older buildings need to be demolished. If that were the case, how can your school board support the closing of the Cotton school when the majority of floor space was built after 1982, but the Babbitt school was built in 1959 and the Cherry school well before that? And they get to remain open!
We have chosen to disagree on this issue. We can never find any middle ground if you continue to use arguments that are unfounded, just to support the YES vote on the Bond Referendum. This district will never pass an excess operating levy 3 years down the road and then after spending $115 million on new buildings, our district will fold and we will still be responsible to pay the bonded indebtedness. I can't make it any simpler than that.
nancyL: What happened to your wonderful post from February 6 @ 8:17PM. Do we have censoring amongst our midst?
There is such ignorance all around here....Where were all these people during all the other referendums????Where? and what other options do they have in mind.... I see this as a direct campaign by Cook supporters to keep their precious school open. They could care less about Orr or Tower staying open...They want to be the center of the world and they are going to fight until they think they are...For some unearthly reason they think that they are so much better than every other school that there is no way that they can be forced to close. There is an elitism in this that smacks of manipulation....
orrcountry; moving and or closing babbit and cherry would most certainly affect us in the loss of taconite funding.
are you going to pay the difference there?
i agree with dahlias.... i think that each town thinks that their opposition action will save THEIR school, and the heck with the other ones; they will close the other 2 instead. its funny how people can work together and have such opposing backstabbing mindsets. :P because i KNOW the orr people wont want their school to be closed to go to cook, and neither does tower, and the same with the other combinations therein.
but at the same time, though some act like they are better than everyone else, at the same time, our city government doesnt think they are good enough or smart enough to make sure their town survives WITHOUT a school. it will require some serious thinking and some creativity. but towns can AND DO survive without a school in city limits. believe it or not, the towns will grow or die REGARDLESS of whether or not a school is in city limits. and in fact, as i have said before, the reason the schools are suffering is because there arent enough students. there arent enough students because there arent enough families living in our area. there arent enough families in our area because there arent enough jobs. and there arent enough jobs for many factors, but a good one is the fact that our city government passes on every opportunity that comes to our towns. and i see them working so hard on this school issue, but there is NO talk about actually working on their own economic and population growths.
sure willing to place blame on schools, but not willing to step up to the plate and do the work to improve our situations.
Very nicely Said, Flowers...