Two Thumbs up for my Represenative--Richard Greenwood

I sent a letter to my Utah House Representative today. And he responded...FAST. I just thought I'd share:

Dear Representative Greenwood,

You may remember me, I had the opportunity along with my husband to discuss many issues with you in our home before you first took office. Of those issues public education took the fore front. I really appreciated the time you spent with us and your thoughtful conversation. I am writing you today to urge you to do all you can to fund public charter schools in a fair and equitable way. You may remember our conversation about the frustrations I was having with my son and daughter in our local public school. Let me tell you what has happened since.

My son starting in 2nd grade was bumped up a grade for his math studies. He excelled and did great with the accelerated studies until 4th grade. At that time we had a new principal and she was unwilling to facilitate the timing between classes to allow this opportunity to continue for my son and several other kids. At the time, it was arranged that my son’s 4th grade teacher would teach him the 5th grade material. My son’s teacher refused to do that as agreed. After working with both the teacher and principal for many months to solve this problem, the principal finally told me. “It is not a good idea to push a kid in math because he will run out of classes to take”. I was astounded by this because had my child had a disability, they would have been required to teach him at his level. As it was, he was excelled in a subject but they had no interest in furthering his education and this was to his detriment. He began to be bored and his citizenship grades greatly declined as the year went on. To me, this meant the principal and teacher were just not willing to put forth the effort to make something useful work. At that point I started looking around for other educational opportunities and found Venture Academy. It is a charter school in it’s second year and teaches expeditionary learning. You have several constituents that go to this school. What this means is that the goal is to intertwine the core classes in in-depth examination of a subject. They also do multi-age grouping for learning and encourage kids to be taught at the level they are ready for and need. This was a great solution for my family.

But, the story does not end there. Because of the distance to the charter school, I decided to put my kindergartner in our local public school. And would you believe what I found. Class sizes across the board (with the exception of kindergarten) had decreased from when my older kids attended. This was most impressive in the 6th grade class where 3 years ago there were 31-34 kids in a class and this year the beginning of the year class list had 28. Just ask any teacher if a decrease of 6 kids in a 6th grade class would make a difference. This decrease I believe is directly related to the opening of 2 charter schools in our district boundaries. In addition, I also found out that the principal has once again instituted the opportunity for students that are more advanced in math to take classes at a higher level than their grade. To me this can ONLY be attributed to the competition that was felt from several families leaving the school due to similar frustrations I had.

Charter schools are not for everyone, they are a piece of the puzzle and along with traditional public schools can help parents and students find the right fit for their education. Please do all you can to ensure these choices are available for all the kids in your district whether they go to traditional public schools or public charter schools.

Thank you for your service,

Kat(I put in my full name and address...but you don't really care now do you.)

The cool thing...he wrote back...FAST (within a half hour) didn't expect that on the second to last day of the session but that gives him 2 thumbs up from me. :)

I do remember visiting you and your husband several years ago in your home. I have enjoyed reading your comments and support what you have said. I have had others write me similar stories. I will do what I can to see that money continues to be spent on our charter schools.
Please let me know if there are any other issues that you feel need to be brought to my attention.
Richard


So...go on if you have an issue write to your representative...who knows what will come of it! To find your legislators in Utah go here: Utah Legislators

In Which...

Emily goes to the capitol...

Sits at the Governor's feet...

Asks a Question and Makes a Politician think...

Finds out she has the same last name as the Speaker of the House...

and Kathryn gets irritated that because of her darn desire to shoot all manual totally screws up a great shot. :(

But still has a great day!

A Comedy of Errors Transcontinental Railroad Style

A trip with Sierra to Gold Spike National Historic Site revealed that even in 1869 people had bad days.

You see it was really a comedy of errors that all came together on May 10, 1869 to bind the nation together from one end to the other.

• Originally the meeting of the rails was scheduled for May 8, 1869.
  

• Neither engine present in the famous joining of the rails photo was actually the scheduled train for the occasion.

• Coming from the East the scheduled Union Pacific train that carried the railroad's Vice President Thomas Durrant was delayed in Wyoming by 400 laid off workers waiting for back wages. The workers chained the train in place and refused to budge until they received their pay. After the delay, heavy rains in the Weber River weakened a bridge enough that the engineer would not cross with the engine. Instead he gently gave each passenger car a push across the unstable bridge. On the other side Engine #119 came from Ogden, UT to their rescue.

• Coming from the West the Central Pacific Railroad train carrying Leland Stanford was delayed when workers failed to notice a green flag on the first of two trains traveling together. The green flag signaled that another train followed behind. However, workers did not heed the flag and a log tumbled on to the track. The second Engine (called the Antelope) hit the log and was severely damaged. Leland Stanford had to transfer to the first train at the next station to continue on to Promontory.

• It took some effort to decide where the meeting spot for the railroads should be. Each side wanted to get as much money from the government as possible as they were paid per mile of track on a scale that took into account difficulty and terrain. Because of that before Promontory was chosen each company prepared and graded parallel land for track for 250 miles.

• Once at Promontory they prepared to celebrate the joining of the rails. Unfortunately all those in charge had somehow forgotten to bring an American Flag to fly at the occasion. After asking those attending the festivities if anyone had a flag they finally found a small regiment of soldiers that was attending and someone had a flag in his knapsack. However, the flag only had 20 stars. In 1869 there were 37 states. The 20 star flag only flew for one year in 1818 before another state was added. This flag, no doubt an heirloom, was 51 years old! Still today at the Historic Site they fly the 20 star flag to reflect what happened that day.

(I love this photo...all the kids and tourists moved out of the way so I was able to get just the locomotives and their engineers. All in period costume. It's a bit hard to see in this picture, but I think I might print this one LARGE for Ethan's room.)

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. There were 4 spikes 'tapped' into place at the Gold Spike Ceremony--2 Gold, 1 Silver & one Gold and Silver Spike
2. The replicas of the Locomotives are painted in the same colors and manner as the originals. Engine #119 has a pictures of Johnny Appleseed on it.
3. The Jupiter (Central Pacific Railroad) was a wood burning locomotive and Engine #119 (Union Pacific Railroad) was a coal burning locomotive.
4. None of the ceremonial spikes are at the Gold Spike National Historic Site. They are housed in other collections in California and New York.
5. I 'think' I have a relative that was there. Peggy can you help me out here? Is it true or just a rumor?

P.S. I had so much fun photographing yesterday I just had to share one more.

If you do that one more time, you will go to bed with no homework!

Did I just say that....really?

It seems the best form of discipline for Savanna lately is to take away her homework privileges. That is NOT ALLOWING her to do her homework.


Her least favorite day is Friday...because no homework for a whole weekend.

Her most favorite day is Monday...because there is 5 glorious homework days ahead.

Is there something wrong here?

Random Bloggy Blogginess Again...

I am going to have to become very creative if I want to keep my unique random blog titles unique.

The sub-title for this post is

How my Kids Rocked Their Day At School.

1. Emily's teachers had a meeting yesterday after class to discuss their upcoming expedition that starts in January. Some of the topics in the running were 'Ghostowns of Utah', 'Water', and well the third one escapes me. Needless to say, Emily was NOT impressed with the possibilities. She suggested to her teacher that they might do an expedition on Food. While her teacher took that as somewhat a tongue in cheek suggestion, Emily set to work writing a persuasive essay for the cause. Yesterday her teacher read it to the school director (Principal) and all the other 6-8 grade teachers. She was informed this morning that while they may or may not use her idea (the kids won't know until January) that her paper received a 4 out 5 on the AP English scale of writing. Being only an 8th grader, this news DID make her day. Some of her supporting themes included the topics they could study might be nutrition, agriculture, manufacturing and distribution. I think Emily rocks because she even thought of getting her point across in this way. She may not get extra credit for her paper, but I giver her an A+ for her GoToITiveness.
2. Tim...well Tim is a great thinker but sometimes struggles getting his thoughts on paper. So I was very happy that Tim rocked his day by getting his 'From the perspective of an Oil Drop' essay, his poster and all other assignments in on time and complete. Hallelujah!
3. Sierra (the third grader) rocked her day by finding out that on her recent Math test in her (mostly 4th grader) class--she was the ONLY one to get a perfect score! You go girl! We do love math around here. :)
4. In a somewhat random form, I learned Savanna has a lazy eye from her Kindergarten teacher. Am I the only one that is clueless about their children's eye problems? Whoops. On a good note, it doesn't seem to be holding her back in the reading department and her teacher gave me a great report on her behavior too. Thank goodness.
5. Ethan...well he didn't rock school today, but he did participate in Library time with gusto and that in and of itself is rock worthy.
   

Back to School 'Lunch' Night...OVERLOAD

Tonight was Back to School night! But in Ethan's mind the only thing worth going to school for is lunch so he keeps calling it Back to School Lunch night. Sadly for him...there was very little food.

We started out at what I THOUGHT was on time. Savanna's teacher requested all the parents and students arrive at 6:00 pm for a meeting. We got there at 5:59 and it seemed it was standing room only and she had been talking for a good 5 minutes.

LESSON LEARNED: BE PUNCTUAL!

I can't believe I am doing the Kindergarten schpeil for the the FOURTH time! Luckily for Savanna it is only the first. And she is VERY excited. She met Buzzy Bee the Puppet (of fame from her friend Whitney who had Ms K last year.) It was a thrilling moment. ;) Only problem with Kindergarten back to school night is that now school doesn't really start for 10 more days! That for a 5 year old equals eternity.

We then headed to our other school, where Emily, Tim & Sierra got to checkout their new digs. A brand new building finished just 'seconds' well maybe an hour before the ribbon cutting. It is very nice...three 'pods' consisting of 6 classrooms each that open up to a commons area. The middle school pod walls are lined with lockers. You can probably hear the cheering from Emily still.

LESSON LEARNED: PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED! I really wanted Sierra to have the right teacher for her. I had 2 or 3 in mind that I thought would work and she got one of my favorites. He just happens to be the husband of her teacher last year. Kinda quirky, but I think it will work. Also it appears that she will be placed in the higher math class and for that I'm thrilled. One of the reasons we switched schools was the lack of understanding the individual child and helping them reach their potential. I see real progress on this front here.

One interesting concept with the combined age groupings is that the kids are placed with a teacher for crew and keep that teacher for multiple years. So it is really more important than with traditional schools to get a teacher that meshes well with your child.

I am pleased with the choices for each of my children. Emily has a great rapport with her teacher from last year and Tim has one of the teachers on my short wish list for him. And of course I think Sierra is in good hands.

Overall it was a great night...but boy are we tired...tired and now officially READY FOR SCHOOL! It can't come fast enough at this point. :)

School Year Round Up

I've been trying to 'write' this post for awhile now, but the words are not coming easily. I think I just wanted it to sound thoughtful, or eloquent or some other odd thing. But I guess you'll have to take it as it comes. And please forgive me for its length. I will forgive you if you fall asleep in the middle, but if you actually make it to the end and comment then well, there might just be a surprise in store for you! (Well at least a pat on the back in a cyber way)

My kids just finished their first year of education at an expeditionary learning charter school. It has been an interesting, fun, adaptive year and I wanted to reflect on how it went.

First my educational philosophy, so I have something to measure against.

Education is very important to me. I think a well educated society is the way to having a successful society. I believe that it is primarily the parent's job to make sure that their kids are educated and I fully support choice in education. This means public, private, charter, homeschooling are all viable and good options for parents to look at. I wish there was not such a spirit of 'contention' between different methods of education because I really believe one size does not fit all and a variety of options provides for the best education for all kids. I believe all kids are 'gifted' and that through the right education they can all reach beyond their perceived potential. I personally believe learning should be enjoyable and does not always (or even necessarily most of the time) happen at a desk with a worksheet. I believe hands on experiences and projects that allow for kids to discover things themselves bring the greatest learning moments. I think teachers are undervalued in our society. They have huge responsibility, sometimes little control of the circumstances and high expectations. In general I think they do a great job at reaching those heights and when they do I think their compensation should be commensurate. I do not think those heights should be judged solely on test scores. I think other measures some intangible must be used to see if an educational method is working. I believe 'the system' should be run by those closest to the school, the farther away from the school the less clue people have about how to make it successful. I realize this is hard to do in a real world scenario. So despite its conflicts that is my educational philosophy.

We embarked on a new chapter in our families educational journey because I felt there were some items that were lacking in the previous arrangements. It is now time to investigate whether our decision was a good one.

First the kids take...Tim (5th grade) LOVED school. He loved exploring new concepts in a student led learning way. He loved the hands on field work and projects, he even learned to love a subject that has previously been a most distinct least favorite...that was Art. He had an art teacher that taught real art concepts (rather than craft projects) AND related it to the subjects being taught. Tim learned how to draw the parts of a bird about perspective, and form. He learned that he does have art talent after all. He still didn't feel very challenged in math, but did learn new things, though turning in homework is still on his 'Why do I have to do that list'. I am hoping he'll figure that out next year.

Emily (7th grade) struggled at the first part of the year. Her teachers (some only being hired a couple of weeks before the start of school) were not as prepared as some of the lower grades to run full on expeditions. She struggled with missing her FANTASTIC sixth grade teacher and tended to compare everything unfavorably to last year. However, she had some great learning experiences this year and some great teachers. Top on my list was her math teacher. He really inspired her to go for the gold and as a member of the Math Counts team she did just that taking with her team the First Place for Small Schools award at a State Math Contest. She also loved her band experience and she had an excellent teacher and group. Overall I believe she is on board with the concept of the charter school and will be even more so next year when she has a locker and doesn't have to carry all her books around on her back.

Sierra (2nd grade) had a very adequate year. She enjoyed her expeditions and loved being an expert on Trees and Frogs. She at times felt that they went too much in depth on subjects and on occasion would talk about wanting to return to her old school. She missed many of her old friends but most of all her best friend across the street. In asking what she liked most about the old school she answered learning different things, so I asked her what she remembered learning at her old school and she answered mixing colors and the science of bubbles. It just so happens that both of those topics were science fair projects. Both hands on--done entirely at home projects that didn't have anything to do with school except the display and the judging of the projects. Looks like we need to do some more of those...at home. Comparing Sierra's second grade to Emily & Tim's experience she had an outstanding year. I think all in all it was a good move for her even if she doesn't recognize it yet.

Some of the highlights:

Tim's launch of his bird expedition~ an evening field work at the Nature Center.

Sierra's field work at the Violin school.

Emily's participation in the Venture Decathlon

Intensives including Christmas around the World, Holiday Celebrations and Quilting.

Tim's pen pal experience with a wonderful senior from Brigham City and the subsequent writing of her life story and lunch date.

Sierra's trip to the Natural History Museum and later the Zoo to see the Frog exhibit.

Celebrations of Learning for Trees, Birds at the Bear River Bird Refuge, The Living Hero Museum, the interactive Frog Exhibit, & Energy Expo.

Band concerts

NOT having regular fundraisers

Fully integrated email communication~means better school/parent communication & less paper waste.

Lots of other field work...often weekly.

Sierra becoming an author!

School Uniforms (no big decisions on what color to wear)

Drawbacks:

The construction ridden commute

Learning/Growing Pains with a new school, a new system and new teachers.

No lunch service (thankfully that should change next year)

Hard to play with new friends because of the distance

Missing old friends.

Old building (though in many ways it was an upgrade from our old school it had a library and decent restrooms)

School Uniforms (little choice on what colors to wear.)

Overall I think we made the right decision. I think we'll do it again next year!

Taking a Field Trip

Today Savanna, Ethan and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon. Did you know it is more than 275 miles long? It has 10 different rock layers. It became a National Park in 1919 but the first evidence of human life dates to 2000 BC. You can find big horn sheep, lizards, squirrels, birds and other animals there.

These are the pictures from our journey....medium...crayons and watercolors.

Look close to find the very happy big horn sheep who is ready to take flying lessons. :)

Ethan took a more expressionistic approach...he is positive there are train tracks somewhere in the canyon.

Originals currently on display at the Clark Art Gallery. Admission: Free.