Putting A "Ding in our Universe"

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. - Wayne Gretsky

When I first went to college, I entered into a major that I didn't want to have - mostly because my dad was paying for my education and it's the major he would pay for.  Now, many of you will have your opinions on that little tidbit of information.  But for me, it ended up being a good thing for several reasons.  One of those reasons is that I dropped out of college.

What?  Dropping out of college is a good thing?  Thanks, Clasen, for giving that message to our children.  No, I am not saying that dropping out of college was a good thing.  However, not having a college degree showed me a lot - it especially showed me the value of continuing my education. 

People take education for granted.  And as a result, public education can be slow to change - because it relies on public funding - lots of people with lots of opinions.  However, like medicine, education has an ethical duty to NOT be slow to change.  When I went back to college eleven years later, I majored in education, because, like Steve Jobs once said, I wanted to put a "ding in the universe".  I wanted to make a difference in the lives of children.  To me, I couldn't think of a better investment in the future.

I still can't.

Successful investment takes time and resources.  When I bought my house, I wanted to live in it, yes, but I also bought it as an investment.  If I hadn't, I would have rented.  Period.  But just because I bought a house didn't mean that I wouldn't put time and money into it to make it better, or to change things as my family dynamic changed.  The same can be said about education, about districts. 

Nothing stays the same - save my grandmother's sugar cookie recipe (can't mess with that one, uh-uh...too good!).  We can't expect education to stay the same, either.  Brain research has opened our eyes to things we never even knew twenty years ago.  Warp-speed changes in technology can't give us pause - we need to jump on that technology train,otherwise it will pass us by.  And families in the state of Minnesota have a choice of where to send their students.  Simple as that.

I moved to Minnesota from a state that didn't have open enrollment.  In fact, I had no idea what "open enrollment" was when I moved here.  ("You can what?" I asked.)  The options afforded by open enrollment have been the law here in the state of Minnesota for over 20 years.  Over twenty years - and districts who  embrace the myriad opportunities that open enrollment brings have grown and morphed in those twenty years.  They continue to "make a ding" in their universe for their families.

People shop for school districts.  They have for a long time and they will continue to do so. When I moved to Minnesota in 1993 I shopped for a house based on the strength of the school district.  So this is nothing new.  Communities who invest in their schools are investing in themselves.  That money is strengthening their home prices - even in this... how did I read it recently?... bleak economic time.   I became a teacher of all students - no matter who they were, how long they had been in the district, how well they read or wrote.  I became a teacher of every student before me, every day.  I wanted to build a great school and a great program because I believe with every fiber of my being that education is most powerful tool we can acquire.   I respect the fact that parents are shopping for their children's education.  I want them to land on Robbinsdale Area Schools and say, "that's where I want to be."

The School Board recently approved the creation of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics magnet for K-5 schools to be located at Olson Elementary School in Golden Valley for the 2012-2013 school year.  That magnet will benefit our entire district.  Every student in the district will reap benefits from the professional development and curriculum planning that will be infused throughout the district.  It's an exciting time and yes, it's an investment and yes, there will be some open enrollment.  But that's a fact of life in Minnesota and has been for over two decades.  Even if we want to keep our eyes on the past, there have been two decades of state law that gives parents choice.  But Gretsky is right - I'm not looking at where the puck was, I'm looking at where it's going.  Heck, if I looked at the past all the time, I would never have seen the potential in my students.  And I sincerely believe there's not a person out there who wants their child's teacher to focus on the past, but rather on the potential that their child holds, and the future that awaits them.  Think of it this way:  where do you want the eyes of the person driving the car you're riding in?

The way we've always done things just doesn't cut it anymore.  It's not enough.  As Steve Jobs also said, it's technology married with liberal arts, married with humanities, that yieds us the result that makes our heart sing.  Although I both love (really love) and taught American History, sometimes we can focus too much on the history and not enough on the future.  It turns out that dropping out of college was very instrumental in my future course of life.  When I went back, I went back with zeal.  And I've never looked back.