The community of Roxbury had high hopes for its newest public school back in 2003. There were art studios, a dance room, even a theater equipped with cushy seating.
A pilot school for grades K-8, Orchard Gardens was built on grand expectations.
But the dream of a school founded in the arts, a school that would give back to the community as it bettered its children, never materialized.
Instead, the dance studio was used for storage and the orchestra's instruments were locked up and barely touched.
The school was plagued by violence and disorder from the start, and by 2010 it was rank in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts.
That was when Andrew Bott — the sixth principal in seven years — showed up, and everything started to change.
“We got rid of the security guards,” said Bott, who reinvested all the money used for security infrastructure into the arts.
In a school notorious for its lack of discipline, where backpacks were prohibited for fear the students would use them to carry weapons, Bott’s bold decision to replace the security guards with art teachers was met with skepticism by those who also questioned why he would choose to lead the troubled school.
“A lot of my colleagues really questioned the decision,” he said. “A lot of people actually would say to me, ‘You realize that Orchard Gardens is a career killer? You know, you don't want to go to Orchard Gardens.’”
But now, three years later, the school is almost unrecognizable. Brightly colored paintings, essays of achievement, and motivational posters line the halls. The dance studio has been resurrected, along with the band room, and an artists’ studio.
The end result? Orchard Gardens has one of the fastest student improvement rates statewide. And the students — once described as loud and unruly, have found their focus.
You know as somebody who has worked their entire life with children, this is absolutely a no-brainer. Of COURSE children respond well when provided an artistic outlet, and after the school stops treating them like inmates instead of students, how could they not?
Sadly however this is NOT where education is headed in this country. As evidenced by this disturbing story from Oregon:
Two masked men wearing hoodies and wielding handguns burst into the Pine Eagle Charter School in this tiny rural community on Friday. Students were at home for an in-service day, so the gunmen headed into a meeting room full of teachers and opened fire.
Someone figured out in a few seconds that the bullets were not drawing blood because they were blanks and the exercise was a drill, designed to test Pine Eagle's preparation for an assault by "active shooters" who were, in reality, members of the school staff. But those few seconds left everybody plenty scared.
Principal Cammie DeCastro said it became clear very quickly just how many of the school's 15 teachers would have survived. The answer: "Not many," she said.
So instead of preparing classrooms and curriculum for their students these teachers were being terrified and taught how to prepare of the least likely scenario to ever occur in their teaching career. What a great use of resources.
Fear is a powerful tool, and it is merely the latest one that the Right Wing can now use to interrupt education in this country.
That small eastern Oregon town called Halfway is just 10 miles from the central Idaho state line, and about 50 miles from Boise.
ReplyDeleteThat whole area of Oregon, and the south end of I-5 near the Oregon-California border is solidly redneck (and stupid, if supporters of Art Robinson, "chemist" and 2010 candidate are any indication).
I'm not in the least surprised by any Wasilla-like vibes that emanate from eastern or southern Oregon hamlets.
don't have much to say about the fuk_tards in my home state of Oregon but at least principal Andrew Bott of Massachusetts has his better interest ( his students ), priorities and morals in the right place - kudos to him - give that man a raise ( though he'd probably refuse to take it and rather it applied to his school instead )
ReplyDeleteYou know the last part of your comment made me choke up a little, because you are undoubtedly correct.
DeleteAnd that is EXACTLY the kind of educator that we need more of in our public schools.
And they exist, but for how much longer?
Younger college graduates are now looking at education as a place where their creativity and passion is stifled and where they will be blamed for every failure by every student they ever have.
My high school was very small (my class started out with 93 as freshman and ended up with only 52 graduating). I never witnessed fist fights (although in my entire four years I'd only heard of 2 incidents) let alone someone bringing a gun to school. I remember there was a bomb threat back when I was in middle school which turned out to be false. And while there is a huge drug problem (the small county has the highest meth use per capita) in the town, there just was not a lot of violence.
DeleteWe did not have a movie theater, but we had a performance theater. We did not have a CD/music store, but we had an amazing choir and band program as well as an extracurricular jazz band program. We had an annual art fair that lasted a week and put up student's artwork all over the school. There was a local contest for student artists that I was selected for and that's how I won my full ride scholarship to the local community college.
I never made the connection before between the lack of creative thought and violence (just because I am still, to this day, very ignorant of daily violence others are used to living in big cities). But thinking back, art and writing and being on the speech team gave me not only a way to express myself, but gave me an opportunity to be proud of my creative accomplishments. That was the only self-worth I felt in high school. I didn't give a shit about my grades (even as a straight-A student), schoolwork was just like a job that i knew i had to slog through. It was the creative arts that helped me feel unique and accepted.
And what if one of the Oregon teachers had had a heart attack or a stroke when the intruders burst into the room? Exactly what did the principal want to prove? That the teachers should have come to the all-day session armed to the hilt and that they should have shot at the intruders. For all the captive teachers knew, the intruders could have been real. What a dumb idea. On the other hand, the Roxbury school sounds wonderful. Would that all American schools had similar principals.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
What if one or two of the teachers had been armed and shot the fake shooters?
DeleteLake County, Oregon, is also solidly redneck. Greg Walden is our Congresscritter. Fortunately Senators are Merkley and Wyden.
ReplyDeleteI moved to Central Or. last July and our county has less than 300 Democrats. Everybody waves at each other though and try to pull over and look at a bird or some other critter..... everyone (local) stops to see if everything is OK.
DeleteVernD
Palin preaching to the choir at pro life dinner in Vegas, terry shiavo scam dinner, NRA event and is at a fundraiser for a frack in Kentucky museum and the preponderance thinks this translates into a run for the presidency in '16??? Are they actually suffering from senile dementia?
ReplyDeleteRemember when she ahem "quit" fox and said all that bs about getting outside the safe zone and takin the message (I know! What mssg?) out and not just preaching to the choir? Uh huh. Yeah how's that not havin a title thingy workin for ya skank?
Many days now I find it isn't even fun to visit the peepond!!! And section9 and his references to the "bushes" like they are a mafia family-wth is that about? I just picture him as this video game playin, godfather obsessed loser living in his parent's basement all day everyday-LOL!
Art Robinson - hahahahaha That article is slanted his way and he still comes off as teh lying loon he is. I researched that mailing he did extensively. It wasn't "just" the Haliwell signature, but tht ahe considered "scientists" to be anyone who had received a degree in a science field for almost 50 years. That included optometrists, vet techs, and electrical engineers. It was laughable.
ReplyDeleteAnd notice how Art doesn't even understand that an education is much more than a technocratic specialization. Artyfarty is too scared to let his adult daughter consider ideas counter to his indoctrination. Must be a pretty weak indoctrination, pan you've got there Arty.
Imagine if one of the teachers had a concealed carry permit, and actually shot one of the pretend intruders? Would they have been charged with murder or manslaughter?
ReplyDeleteThey really need to hire lawyers and get those "assclowns" removed from the school board,as well as the principal.
ReplyDeleteBravo to the Principal of Roxbury. Roxbury is the roughest, toughest, poorest section of Boston.
ReplyDeleteA Watts, Bronx demographics.
Gryphen, you may want to check into the case of a Polk County (FL) middle school, where a girl who's a science geek was fiddling with some chemicals in a bottle and accidentally set off a blast outside. Scolded? No, jailed. Have I mentioned that she's black?
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/04/florida_teen_girl_charged_with.php
This is another example of having a "School Resource Officer" on premises to treat school infractions as crimes because, when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Tom, stuck in FL
Great post Uncle G!
ReplyDeleteThe irony is inescapable.
Texas Schools Cancel Gun Safety Program after learning it’s NRA Affiliated (AUDIO)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guns.com/2013/05/01/texas-schools-cancel-gun-safety-program-after-learning-theyre-nra-affiliated-audio/
High School Student Expelled Over Gun Accidentally Left in Truck, Now Facing Felony Charges (VIDEO)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guns.com/2013/05/02/eagle-scout-honor-student-expelled-from-school-and-facing-felony-charges-over-gun-accidentally-left-in-truck-video/
Look, I can't stand guns, and yet I do believe that this is over the top and ridiculous how they are reacting to this incident...if all this is in fact the case. It's extreme and unwarranted and I STILL hate guns. This kid was doing the right thing and some asshole administrator jumped the gun, pun intended, and spun this way out of control. And I STILL hate guns. This kid is being victimized in a really bad way and it sets an awful example of reasonableness and fairplay. And I STILL hate guns. Let this kid be, don't fuck up his young life this way. It's ludicrous.
We need more educators and administrators like the ones in Roxbury. They're out there and it can be done!
ReplyDeleteThe second story is beyond crazy! What were they thinking?
I agree, what were they thinking?
DeleteAnd I wonder how many young people might be reading that story and thinking to themselves that the last thing they want to do for a living when they grow up is to become a teacher. Would you, if a major part of your job were spent learning how to defend your classroom and your students against lunatics with guns, instead of teaching them science, math, social studies, art, etc.? I'm not sure how much you would have to pay me to even consider, let alone actually take that job.
While this ultimately makes me happy, my first thought was, "what a kick in the pants to the victims in CT last Dec."
ReplyDeleteThat is the first thing I thought of.