Witchcraft in Our Schools - 5:30PM Meeting Today at CMS
The final Harry Potter movie is out this summer. It's a tale of magical kids attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, being empowered, and learning wicked things like Arithmacy, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and Quiddich. This makes some real-world parents uncomfortable. Children learning things we don't know, things beyond the "straight and narrow", things that empower them, is scary.
There was a gathering August 13th where over a hundred local citizens sat down with school board members, administrators and community leaders to define a vision for our Carson City schools. Tuesday, September 6th, 5:30 pm at Carson Middle School there will be another opportunity for parents, taxpayers and students to have their say. If what happens in our schools matters to you, show up.
I'd like to pass some things along. First, our schools are much better than you may think. While the high school graduation rate for all Nevada is a dismal 70%, it's better in Carson City. Over ninety percent of our students graduate. I also learned we spend, on average, the price of a house, to give just one kid a K-12 education.
But the most important thing I learned August 13th, was that our teachers show up. A third or so of the folks in the room were teachers and they weren't talking about what they're paid, or about their benefits. They were focused on how teachers, parents, schools and our community can educate our kids, better. If you worry about our schools, you should talk to a teacher.
We expect a lot from our schools. We expect skilled workers for our economy; engaged parents effectively raising their kids; inspiring teachers; kids who become successful workers, husbands, wives, parents and citizens. Unfortunately, our schools cannot make even one of these things happen. Not one. Schools don't make skilled workers, successful parents, great teachers, or future citizens. It's students, parents, teachers and kids who do that.
All we can do is empower teachers with facilities and resources, policies and support to help them teach; empower parents by communicating and working with the community to help them raise their kids, and in the end, empower our children with the knowledge and the skills, the attitudes and the values, they will need as adults.
In short, schools can never create success. The best our schools and our community can do, the only thing we can do, is empower our teachers, empower our parents and empower our children to be successful. If you have read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies, empowering kids' success is what Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is about. While our Carson City schools likely will never teach Arithmacy, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, or Quiddich, we do teach the magic of Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, and Football. Like Hogwarts, we are there to empower success. After all, our kids need to become Wizards at real life. And if empowering kids scares us a little, maybe that's magical too.
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