Sipping cocoa...

If I have learned nothing else – I have acquired a newly ingrained habit.  Somewhere in my day I have to go to my Goggle Reader and look over the many articles that I have marked to embrace my feed.  This addicting habit has introduced me to a wealth of topics and opinions that I never would have pondered if I didn’t take the time to sit with my cup of cocoa and nestle myself down for a good read.  It is a sort of “My time” instead of wandering around the kitchen looking for something of a high sugar content to satisfy my needs.  So now my caloric intake is satisfied by authors such as D’Arcy Norman Dot Net, English Muse, Cool Cat Teacher, Curriculum Matters, etc. etc.  By the time you look up, forty-five minutes to an hour has passed by and you are only on thirty-four of the 101 in the current folder. 

I have discovered that the only way to get good at something or to learn something – is to invest some time in it.  It is like that nightly math homework that I had in the seventh grade – it was expected and required for me to become proficient.  Now the proficiency is mine for the choosing, as I long to get connected to an academic world of thought that I never knew existed, (accompanied by the cocoa of course).  It also gives me the opportunity to talk out loud and exchange thoughts and perspectives on a myriad of subjects.

So now that I have rambled on long enough, I wanted to share some thoughts on an article by Laura Pappano for Education Week.  It correlates with the Humanistic theory that I am such a fan of – and it made me long for a principal that cared as much as Anthony G. Smith.

In 1999, his Cincinnati Taft High School was in “academic emergency”.  With the focus on the value of relationships, the school progressed to an “excellent” rating which is Ohio’s’ best.  Smith did this by going door to door in the neighborhood and asking for resident support.  He met with every teacher and “listened” as to what was working and what was not.  He built a key relationship with an outside stakeholder, Cincinnati Bell.  “This partnership offered his students an alternate vision to what they see in their neighborhoods (only 55 percent of adults in this census tract have a high school diploma, and 53 percent of households live below the poverty line) (Pappano, 2010).

Cincinnati Bell president, Jack Cassidy provides the use of a cell phone and laptop to every Taft Technology student who maintains a 3.3 grade point average; it also wires the students’ homes for high-speed Internet because, says Cassidy, “poor families can’t afford broadband, but college exists on the Internet.”

Realizing that most of his students come from homes where college is not even considered, let along having a career, Smith provides a safe environment outside of the home and neighborhood where children can be tutored, recreate, and be fed.  But it is just not about their bellies being full, but their minds as well.

What struck me is the fact that Smith leaves nothing to chance.  W always read about stories where students have an adult come into their life and mentor them down the road to success.  Taft takes it a bit further to “insure” that every student has a mentor and environment where creativity is fostered and the tools to do it with.

The opportunity for success must be rooted in relationships throughout the process of change and in a recalibration of expectations that students have for themselves (Pappano, 2010).

What a blueprint for success!  Why doesn’t every school have leadership that steps out of the box and the time constraints of 7-5?  Unfortunately, I think I do know the answer to that.  We have our own lives - but wait - this is our life. Is this not the call of servant-leadership? There are student homes we need to visit. We need to learn from each other and take the time to listen to our fellow peers. There is a corporation or business in every town to solicit help from.  If our school leadership is not willing to do this, why should we be satisfied with that?

Whew I am exhausted from that speech, and I must move on to Melanie McBride’s new piece.  My cocoa has cooled off, so I need to warm it up again…

This is a metaphor right? Or is it a paradox?

Pappano, L. (25, October 2010). In School Turnaround the Human Element is Crucial. Education Week Retrieved from http://www.cps-k12.org/whatsnew/TaftEdWeek.pdf