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Health & Fitness

Winds of Change

2012 brings changes - for the good - for Robbinsdale Area Schools.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover."  - Mark Twain

Well, we rang in another new year.  Being the mom of a young boy, I didn't even make it to the new year via East Coast time.  But sure enough, the new year came, just the same.  With every new year comes a host of new resolutions... the "this year, I'm going to...".  Best intentions, all.  I was just  listening to the news this morning, however, about how many new years resolutions do not come to fruition.  It got me thinking about education, about status quo and change.

The Sun Post recently had an article about "a year of change in District 281".  A lot went on in 2011!  I haven't been a member of this district for that long, but I have to tell you, there are a lot of great things about this district.  I have met teachers that make my jaw drop with what they do and accomplish in their classrooms.  I have met amazing students who make me think back to when I was their age... did I do anything that fantastic when I was their age? 

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Education is changing.  Our district is continuing to move forward, to embrace that change.  We have to.  Education is the single most important gift we can give our society.  I believe that with my whole heart.  I read this morning a blog post that stated that early childhood education was a liberal obsession.  (Seriously, I'm not making this up.)  Now, I will admit, education is an obsession of mine.  Guilty as charged.  Shouldn't education be an obsession of society?  Please tell me, what is wrong about being obsessed with early childhood education?  About exposing our little ones to music, colors, books, nature, sharing, play, the beauty of math?  Someone once said, "If we continue to do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always gotten."  There couldn't be a truer quote.  Our world is changing, our society is changing, and education should change along with it.  Robbinsdale Area Schools believes this.  We are focused on educating all students, every day.  Mark Twain (someone I LOVE to read) also once said, "The man who doesn't read is no better than the one who can't."  I kept that quote up in my room for most of the years I taught, because really, it's so true.  We must educate our society and then empower our society to do something with that education to better the world. 

I've been accused of marketing rather than communicating.  I beg to differ.  Cicero once said, "When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff."  I speak the truth and always have.  I'm not about to change now.  When I wrote about our new STEAM school, its benefits, its conservative financial picture, and the fact that the one-third open enrollment spread across schools, I was speaking the truth.  I will say, that in the days following the approval of the STEAM magnet school, I have parents calling me and emailing me everyday with renewed interest and excitement in this school district.  That alone is fantastic.  That alone can do so much for the families within and outside of this district. 

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This district is doing some great things.  I'm glad I'm here, because the winds of change are, indeed, blowing.  I can't wait for the next chapter.

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