A Student's Understanding of Memorial Day and a Mother's Wish

This is a nice story of a young student understanding how important it is to remember military men and women on Memorial Day.  A nine-year old boy raised $239.00 for the USO by running a lemonade stand.   Thanks to his mom for sharing her wish about  teaching children the importance of this holiday.  From  Kirkwood Patch:

 

“We should explain to them (children) that this day is really about honoring our troops and their families,” Joanne said. “People take so much for granted that it is important to explain kids when they are young of the sacrifices others make for this country.”

Here is a follow up story from today's Memorial Day observance in Kirkwood.  My family and I attended and kudos to the American Legion and the city of Kirkwood on a well done service. 

 

Scary Time at Meramec Community College as Students Brawl...and a Little Child is Thrust into the Fighting.

Kirkwood Patch reports on a melee at Meramec Community College in Kirkwood, Missouri.  The article contains a video from eBaum's World of the fight.  What is particularly disturbing is a very young child witnessing and being carried into this violence.  Frightening events happen on college campuses today having nothing to do with academic learning.

From the article:

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Two people sustained minor injuries from the violent fight that broke out on the St. Louis Community College at Meramec campus Monday.

It's unclear whether the two who sustained injuries were involved with the fight, according to DeLancey Smith, director of communications for the college.

(See previous article: Brawl Breaks Out on Meramec Campus, Three Arrested)

The three people arrested after the fight were arrested on charges of assault, Smith said. The degree of the charges is unclear at this time. An official incident report has yet to be completed and filed by campus police.

The altercation that drew a crowd of bystanders broke out between the Business Administration and Communications South buildings afternoon passing periods. Police responded to the scene at 1:50 p.m., according The Montage

Campus police responded within minutes after receiving a report of a disturbance. Five officers, including a lieutenant and chief, responded to the incident. A bystander video shows police arriving on the scene 90 seconds after the fight broke out. STLCC believes police arrived on the scene much sooner, Smith said.

The video shows one officer holding a can of pepper spray. Smith said the spray was never dispersed and was used as an element of restraint.

The communications director said the incident was a rare occurrence.

"This is the first fight I've seen on any campus, and I've been with the college for two years," Smith said. "It's certainly not a common occurrence at all."

Police handled the situation in the appropriate manner, Smith said.

"As a public institution, we're always trying to tweak emergency management procedures," he said, noting that one campus is conducting a security drill Friday. "It's really on the top of our mind. With all the incidents (on campuses) across the country, every institution has to aware of incidents like this."

Those arrested Monday were booked through the Kirkwood Police Department. Their cases will be referred to Kirkwood Municipal Court, according to The Montage.

Kindergarten Rigor in Connecticut and the Kirkwood School District

What do you remember about kindergarten?  Was it the coloring?  The playing of games?  The songs?  The end of the  year recital?  I remember playing the triangle for a song in an "orchestra" and being dressed up in a crepe paper flower costume my mother made for the finale presentation.  

I don't remember rote activities, assessments and rigid expectations.  Probably most parents today don't think of kindergarten in those terms either.  Before parents get all excited about free all day kindergarten in their district and are eager to send their child for a magical experience, they might want to read this from the educational blog in the Washington Post, not known for conservative views:

There is no end to the bad ideas advanced in the name of school reform. Here’s one that will ensure that kids learn to hate school even earlier than usual: In Hartford, Conn., the superintendent of schools wants to extend the school year for some kindergartners to 11 months of the year. 

And these kids aren’t having a laugh riot at school as it is.

Some kindergartners there go to school from 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. — with no time for naps and no time to play, according to this story in The Hartford Courant.

“Play? No. No, no, no. This is no longer the case. Even in pre-K, for us, it’s no longer the case,” Immacula Didier, the principal at Betances Early Reading Lab School was quoted as saying by The Courant.

 
These students are being robbed of opportunities to learn through play that is carefully constructed, which early childhood experts say is the best way for them to develop their social-emotional and academic learning skills.

Think this won't happen at YOUR kindergarten class in your district?  Ask the kindergarten teachers about the expectations of the standards and assessments on kindergarteners thanks to the Common Core standards.  Better yet, ask to see them so you can read what is expected and assessed on a 5 year old child.  See how much time is dedicated to playing and exploring just for the fun of it.

Do you think your child might want to experience half day kindergarten instead? It's an uphill battle in the Kirkwood School District.  The district instituted "free" all day kindergarten (which is of course ludicrous as it's taxpayer funded) and have informed the parents who had been sending their children to the half day program this option was not an option any longer.  Apparently it's an issue in which the educators know best.  Silly parents.

Who would want their 5 year old on the fast track for being assessed to standards that may or may not apply to their particular learning style or ability at such a tender age?  If you are a parent who looks upon kindergarten time as free day care, you probably don't give such a question any thought whatsoever.  

I hope the half day parents stand firm and demand what is best for their children, not what is helpful for their own personal schedule or the mandates the school must follow.   After all, there is plenty of time for a child to be educationally tracked by the government to determine his/her data set and how that data is best suited for particular employment.  


From the Post:


Now all we hear is about getting kids ready for the rigors of rigor at school (“rigor” being an operative word today in education, even for 5-year-olds). That includes subjecting 5-year-olds to test after test.

Ask the superintendent if KSD is under these same tests.  Ask the kindergarten teacher to show you how your child will be assessed on test after test.  Is this really want you want for your child?

Kirkwood School District and Washington DC School Council Have a Common Thread: Education Equity

 We wrote about Washington DC's idea about mandating and paying for all students to take the ACT/SAT and apply for college:


Mandates are in the works for universal preschool and the Washington DC council may be taking the first stab at mandating mandatory post-secondary education.  A bill has been introduced that will mandate that everyone apply to at least one post-secondary institution and take either the SAT or ACT. It apparently doesn't matter if the individual doesn't want to attend a post-secondary institution, he/she will be compelled to apply to a college, trade, seminary or vocational program.  


Kirkwood (Missouri) School District administrators believe in education equity for all students even if they can pay for half-day kindergarten or ACT testing. 

The Kirkwood Patch reported Kirkwood School District's administration wants to offer the ACT test to all junior beginning next year at the cost to the district of $17,000.  Principal Mike Havener wants every junior to take the test for "free", which is somewhat disingenuous as the district will pick up the cost. Why does the district want to provide the test to all students, regardless of their ability to pay?  It is evident the vast majority of students have found a way to pay for the test in past years:

“My goal is to provide opportunities for all of our students to be successful,” Havener said. “We are telling our students that we are preparing them for college – we need to back that up.”


Many Kirkwood students already take the ACT and some take it multiple times, but Havener said that as many as 20 to 30 percent of students don’t take the test at all, for a variety of reasons, including cost.

“This would give all the students at least one opportunity to take it for free,” Havener said.
He said he hoped it would inspire some students to go on to college who might not otherwise have considered it. It also might give students confidence that they could score better on a subsequent test, he said.

Kirkwood is not a high poverty area in Missouri.  Here is  2010 Census information from Wikipedia:

As of the census of 2010, there were 27,324 people, 11,894 households, and 10,276 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,993.5 people per square mile. There were 12,895 housing units at an average density of 1,333.7 per square mile (514.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.4% White (88.2% Non-Hispanic White), 7.0% African American, 0.1% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.8% of the population.


The median income for a household in the city was $70,261, and the median income for a family was $89,219. Males had a median income of $51,515 versus $36,235 for females. The per capita income for the city was $32,012. About 2.8% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.


Why would the school administration with an area poverty level of 6.1% of those under age 18 living in Kirkwood offer to provide ACT testing for ALL high school juniors at an additional cost of $17,000 to the taxpayers?  The district has just implemented "free" all day kindergarten (half day was paid for and mandated, full day was not funded nor mandated) for ALL residents, regardless if they were above that 6.1% poverty level.  This will cost the district $850,000 to implement the program with continuing costs every year. The superintendent explained in an informational meeting with citizens this was an issue of "educational equity".  Regardless if a family could pay the way for their child to attend kindergarten, it was incumbent on the taxpayers to foot the bill for this unmandated program.  I suppose "educational equity" for kindergartners should be expanded to "educational equity" for high school juniors.  Has the district considered:

• Not all students WANT to go to college. 
• Not all students SHOULD go to college.  
• Not all students ARE READY to go to college. 

Why should the taxpayers foot yet another wealth redistribution program for students whose parents can well afford the $34.00 for the test?  Why should the taxpayers pay for a test some students have no desire to take?
  

If the administration wants ALL students to take the test and it is a financial problem for some students, then maybe the PTOs or the Kirkwood Foundation (a private fund raising group supported by citizens in the district), could raise funding for those students  unable to afford the test.  To burden taxpayers with a cost for test taking because it is "educational equity" is poor financial planning especially as the tax base is shrinking.    Kirkwood School District funding: 

• 92.60% local, county and Prop C monies
• 5.10% state funds 
• 2.30% Federal funds

 KSD relies heavily on local taxes for its operating budget.  The school spends $12,200 per student, well above the average Missouri per pupil expenditure of $9,619.13. If the district is determined to provide this test for all high school juniors, it could review its expenditures in education and see if it can eke out $34.00 per pupil from this $12,200 per pupil yearly figure to accomplish its goal.


If this plan goes to the School Board for a vote, the voters must ask the existing School Board members and the candidates running for election in April their thoughts on this proposed expenditure.  The voters should also ask this administration if applications to colleges (as in Washington DC) should be considered "education equity" as well and if that's the next "free" offer from Kirkwood School District.