Education (Post 6)

Education

I have an opinion when it comes to education.  Many of my opinions can be explained by my K-6 school experience.

I started in a K-8 private grade school in Burlington, WI - St. John’s Lutheran Church and School.  It was a wonderful place and staying true to their goal of providing a great life for me, my parents made a choice to make a Christian education a priority for my life.  When my dad was laid off, hopping jobs, and money was tight…my parents still paid for my education when they could’ve easily put me into the public school system. 

I have very fond memories of my teachers at St. John’s:

I remember strong discipline as early as Kindergarten.  I once said, “Chrissy pissy” in the boys room and was threatened to be kicked out of school by my Kindergarten teacher and Pastor’s wife.  I remember how scared I was as she gave me a snake bite in the hallway and told me that we don’t talk like that and if I would do it again I would have to find another school.  I wasn’t being sassy, honestly!  I just thought it rhymed and was funny.  Lesson: be careful who you try to be funny around.

I remember differentiation as early as first grade.  First grade was Miss Hintz and she was an awesome teacher.  I cannot remember exactly but I’m going to guess that there were less than 10 of us in our first grade class.  I remember Miss Hintz showing me this new game she made, it was in a large brown envelope and she said I could play it whenever I wanted.  It was an alligator math game and was multiplication.  She said that since I was good at math, this would be a good way for me to learn more, faster.  Wow!  She thought I was smart.  Shortly after that, she made me my own checkbook.  Again, she said that I was smart and that I could handle my own checkbook.  Cool!  She gave me a checkbook, a budget, and told me I could buy anything I wanted, I just needed to write it in my register.  Lesson: everyone needs to know they are smart.

In 2nd and 3rd grade we had a multiage classroom.  I don’t think we had multiage because it was a cutting edge strategy, I think it was because we didn’t have many kids.  Our teacher was phenomenal.  I have often thought about trying to find her and tell her how she has impacted my life.  Her name was Miss Torgerson and when she left our school to get married, we were all sad.  What I remember most about Miss Torgerson is that she loved all of us.  She cared for each of us.  I really felt that she knew that each of us were important, that we mattered.  We had so much fun in her class, it was awesome!  That was also the classroom we were in when Challenger exploded.  Do you remember where you were when that happened?  We were with Miss Torgerson and looking back, that was the perfect place to be because Miss Torgerson handled it perfectly.  Lesson: everyone needs to feel loved and like they belong.

4th grade was the tough class.  That was where the toughest teacher in the school was.  Nope, the snakebite was nothing compared to our 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Rouse.  Mrs. Rouse was tough and everyone knew it.  The students, the parents, the teachers…everyone knew that Mrs. Rouse’s class was serious business.  Shhh…don’t tell anyone but I really liked Mrs. Rouse!  She made me nervous and I was careful in that class, but I liked her. 4th grade is where I learned that school was serious business.   My favorite 4th grade story is when my parents caught me sleep walking one evening.  I was about to walk out the front door when they heard me and got up to ask where I was going.  I said, “to the library, I have a book report due”.  It was 3am and we lived in the country about 7 miles from town.  Lesson: school is serious business.

5th and 6th grade was another multiage classroom and that is where I had the coolest teacher ever, Mr. Burmeister.  Mr. B as we called him was young, athletic, and was totally cool.  All the kids liked him, all the parents liked him, he was the coolest person in the world.  It really didn’t matter what Mr. B said, we all listened and did everything we could to make him happy because we all wanted him to like us.  Mr. B taught us a lot of things, but what I most remember is that he always played with us.  Mr. B completed every pass on the football field, made every basket he shot on the basketball floor, and always hit a home run in baseball.  Mr. B was the definition of success.  He was good at everything, everyone liked him, and we all wanted to be like him.  Mr. B was our role model and a good one for us to emulate.  Lesson 1: find great role models and learn from them.  Lesson 2: be a great role model for someone and they will look up to you.

You’ve probably noticed that my opinions don’t center on standardized testing, reading in the content area, or other academic strongholds.  I believe that education is and always should center on the learner.  Teachers and adults should be role models as learners and as humans.  Students need to know that they are loved, that they matter, and that it is advisable to have an enjoyable time in school.  And, school is serious business.

First and foremost I want my kids to have these experiences.  I want my children’s education to be totally centered on them and on the amazing children of God they are.  I want them to be surrounded by amazing role models and I want the most important of these role models to be Jodie and I.  I want my children to feel loved by the people around them, I want them to know that they truly matter, and I want them to have an enjoyable time learning.  And, I want them to know that school is serious business.  I know that a great way to accomplish all of this is to have the next year of my children’s education be in Kenya.

I also want to bring my educational experience and opinions to the children of Barut.  For generations, children in this area have not been able to go to school.  Over the past 8 years this has opened up slowly and the new norm is now school.  I believe my family can have a positive impact on thousands of children over the next year, so that’s what we’re going to do.