The End is Near, Maybe

I've been dreaming about this for months. As my youngest child was getting ready to graduate from high school, all spring I would think about winding down this blog. Which--to be fair--I've been doing over the last year. It turns out that there are other things I want to spend my time on in my life.
And, as my children have moved out of the public schools, and moved on to other things, my attention has wandered. Also, I don't get as much "back door" information about the schools.

I said several years ago, that when my last child graduated high school I would end this blog. Now, I'm not saying that I will completely and totally end the blog. That seems too final. You may see me pop up now and again, for elections, major controversies, etcetera.

In case you're wondering, I've mostly been happy with the education my kids got in the Ann Arbor schoosl, I still believe that all of Michigan's schools deserve more money, and I still believe that public schools--for the people, by the people, of the people--are the way to go. And I still believe that testing is a waste of time and energy.

So for now, I'm winding down.

Except--I want to end on a high note, before school starts again, so there are 2 (or maybe 3) posts to go.

One more thing: I will be keeping the Ann Arbor Schools Musings facebook group open. If you are interested, ask to join it.

And if you see me on the street, introduce yourself!

Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

WCC GED Celebration & Graduation

I walked into the Washtenaw Community College Morris Lawrence Building to see a sea of caps and gowns and the palpable feeling of joy. As I was there for another meeting, I was a bit confused. "What is this?" I asked the woman handing out booklets. She had flowers on her lapel.

It was the GED (General Education Diploma) celebration, a high school equivalent. There were young graduates and older graduates. One young man was holding a newborn. 

I didn't go to the ceremony, but I did take a picture of the booklet. If you know a GED graduate, congratulate him or her! 

I

And, on the back page, a memorial to a beloved teacher, 
Susan Campbell, along with a suggestion to make a donation
in her memory to the WCC Foundation Scholarship Fund.

Joel's Ann Arbor Open Graduation Speech: Video and Text

A fortnight ago, Ann Arbor Open held its eighth grade graduation. I alluded to it in this post. My son Joel was one of the speakers. I was very proud of the poem he wrote, and he gave me permission to post it. (Thank you Joel!) Unfortunately, I didn't have a video to post. Now I do. Many thanks to Mark for sending me the video he took. If you have a little trouble hearing it, you can read the poem below the video. A few explanatory notes follow the text.

When I Was In Kindergarten 

By Joel Appel-Kraut 

When I was in kindergarten, we would sit by the bookshelf in the classroom and read. We would read until our heads were swirling with all the 5 letter words we didn’t fully understand. When I was in kindergarten, we would stand in front of the stoplight in Char’s room and yell and scream until it turned red. Because some of us went to safety town, so we knew what that meant. 

When I was in 1st grade, we would bring in stuff on 100s day and the kids whose parents let them bring in marshmallows were instantly cool. On occasion, we would get visits from the only Superhero who ever made time for 6 year-olds. When I was in 1st grade, I would cower under the middle schoolers as my siblings told stories about their cute little brother and his golden angel locks. 

When I was in 2nd grade, we would look down on the lowly first graders as if they were our pets. Unless they were on our team in gym. We would marvel at the fact that the science Olympiad teacher was teaching us science. When I was in 2nd grade, even rock paper scissors could not decide who got pentathlon. 

When I was in 3rd grade, we looked up to our CHS buddies as if they were our future, high-school selves. When we went to West Park, a walk down the block was like a time machine, where we could walk the trails like the native-americans who started them. When I was in 3rd grade. We still didn’t have a good way to decide who got pentathlon. 

When I was in 4th grade, we would think of alliterative names for our friend group like fantastic five, or super six. We would engrave the drama in embarrassing recordings that will not be heard ever again. When I was in fourth grade, the CHS buddies didn’t seem quite as tall. We still all wanted pentathlon. 

When I was in 5th grade, we would stress all week about checking out on Friday. We would protest that Rick Hall should not be able to grade our cursive or spelling. How can you tell me that I spelled George wrong when Doover is not even a word. When I was in 5th grade we would have sweet dreams about burning our cursive sheets in a fiery inferno come November. And we would fight about who got pentathlon. 

When I was in 6th grade, we would shrug off checking out as if it were nothing. By 6th grade, we had learned from experience to stay on Ko’s good side during yearbook time. And it was even somewhat sad when Rick put his doover stamp in my yearbook. When I was in 6th grade, we would have sweet dreams about that time we burned our cursive sheets in a fiery inferno last year. And we would laugh at the 5th graders' petty fights about who should get pentathlon. 

When I was in 7th grade, we would commiserate over how we didn’t get the schedule we wanted. We would meet with Allan even though we knew there was nothing we could do. When I was in 7th grade, we thought it was stupid that the eight graders said they should get first choice for Gardening. 

When I was in 8th grade, we would laugh as the 7th graders looked at their schedule to remember it. We turned lunch basketball games into two person dunk contests. When I was in 8th grade, we wanted to get first choice for gardening. 

When I am in High School, I hope to take the lessons I learned here, and apply them every day. I hope to be successful, largely because of this school. When I am In High School and Beyond I hope to be a role model for future kids standing and giving a speech at their 8th grade graduation. 

When I am 100 years old, I hope to sit around a table on the porch and drink ice tea with my friends, many of whom went to this very school. See, when I am 100, I hope to reminisce about the fun we had, the bonds we made, and the things we learned, when I was in Kindergarten.



*pentathlon=an activity in Science Olympiad (for 2nd-5th graders) that utilizes both scientific principles and basketballs, and requires using the gym.
**doover=do over; pronounced as doo-ver.
**CHS buddies=Community High School buddies, a cross-school program
The first names are names of teachers at Ann Arbor Open.

Graduation: Goodbye Ann Arbor Open!

Ann Arbor Open graduation was tonight. We've put 16 years into this school, and we're going to miss it.

In the great Ann Arbor Open auditorium

there was a fake balcony

and purple and white balloons

and a mobile of. . . the world.

And there were many family members sitting on chairs

Goodbye music instruments

Goodbye music room

Goodbye mural

Goodbye stairs
Goodbye chairs

Goodbye to all the friends (kids and parents) I've made there.

Goodbye teachers everywhere! (at Ann Arbor Open)

Goodbye to the Ks (Kit, Kathy, and Karen) 
in the A2O office too

Goodbye to me, and Goodbye to you.

Goodbye cafeteria

Goodbye whale jumping over bookshelves

Goodbye.

And good luck graduates!

(With apologies to Margaret Wise Brown)

Showing Real Promise

There's an excellent story in the New York Times about the Kalamazoo Promise. It's a nice overview, and it raises some interesting questions about incentives for learning and about the achievement gap.

Skyline High School and the Shortest Poem in the English Language

At the end of this school year I went to the Skyline "Pinning" Ceremony. The "pinning" ceremony is where honors students get their honors pins. The speaker for the event was a well-loved Skyline teacher--Collin Ganio. I really enjoyed the speech, and I thought you would too. So I contacted Mr. Ganio--who teaches Latin and etymology--and asked for permission to publish it. Permission given!

Permission given, with the caveat that I mention that the story about Ali's speech to the graduating class was originally told by the sportswriter George Plimpton.  He tells it in the film When We Were Kings, and I've put the youtube link (if you want to see Plimpton tell it) at the very bottom of this post.

The Shortest Poem in the English Language

by Collin Ganio

Good evening, everyone.  Those of you who know me know that I love words.  I really do.  I honestly think they’re the most powerful tool humanity has ever created.  Words have started wars, words have ended wars, and—when we’ve gotten really lucky—words have averted wars altogether.  I love it when people use words well.  And whenever I hear someone using words poorly, it makes me throw up in my mouth just a little.  If you know me, you also know I love telling you stories, so here’s one last one for you.

Muhammad Ali—there was an amazing wordsmith.  You know, he struggled with dyslexia, but rhymed with ease.  He composed extemporaneous poetry about his upcoming fights all the time.  One of my favorites: “I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale.  I’ve handcuffed lightning an’ thrown thunder in jail.  Yesterday I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick.  I’m so mean I make medicine sick.”  There are plenty of others. Just go google ‘em and you can find ‘em easily.

Muhammad Ali bust portrait by Ira Rosenberg. Available from the Library of Congress.

His most thought-provoking poem (for me, at least) is also the shortest poem in the English language.  Harvard had invited him to come speak to their graduating class.  He gave a great speech about how he had not had access to their education, and how the new graduates should take the opportunity that they had been given to go out and change the world.  At the end of his speech, as the applause died down, someone yelled “Give us a poem!”

He looked out at the class of graduating seniors, people very different from him in so many ways.  He gestured to himself and said “Me.”  Then he opened his arms to include all the students and said “WE.”  The crowd went wild.

What a poem!  Two simple pronouns, without even a verb.  Four letters in all.  The first letters of each word are just reflections of one another.  Is the second word the opposite of the first word, or just a reflection of it?  The meaning of this poem is so much greater than the poem itself, when you think about it.

We’re all part of Generation ME—anyone born in the 1970’s, 80’s, or 90’s is a part of this generation—and we’ve been taught largely that the self is the most important thing out there.  “What’s in this for ME?  How does this benefit ME?  What am I going to get out of this?  How is this going to help ME succeed?”  And the internet, which theoretically broadens our social horizons to include a global community, ironically tends to focus on the self—Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter are all, ultimately, in a way, tools for the narcissistic.

With two little words used so simply, Ali suggested that this world might be a happier place if we spent less time thinking about me and more time thinking about we.  I issue the same challenge to you—think less about Myspace and more about Ourspace.  Use your agile minds and big hearts—ask the deep questions—in order to make this world better not just for yourselves, but for everyone around you.  I mean, think about it—if everyone worked to better a community for their fellow citizens, then we might not spend a lot of time working to make our own lives better, but we might not need to, since everyone around us would be doing that for us. 

And wouldn’t that be a hell of a thing?  Thank you.  Good night.

Thank you, Mr. Ganio!

 

Graduation Photo Links and More

Top Scholars

AnnArbor.Com Top Scholars: I think this is the top 5% (or top 2, for the smallest schools) of every school in the county.

Graduation Photos

From Annarbor.com

Annarbor.com Community
Annarbor.com Huron
Annarbor.com Pioneer
Annarbor.com Skyline

From AAPS News (You can subscribe to this and get it in your email inbox if you like)

AAPS News Community
AAPS News Huron
AAPS News Pioneer
AAPS News Skyline
AAPS News A2 Tech and Adult Education

Ypsilanti Graduation and Honors Ceremony (from ypsd.org but you need to scroll down)

Skyline Graduates Its First Class! Happiness!

Tonight was Skyline graduation. For those of us with children who graduated--and that includes the Deputy Superintendent, Robert Allen, as well as myself--it was a very happy day! The event was held in the EMU Convocation Center.  It wasn't as warm and fuzzy as the Community High School graduation I wrote about two years ago, but there were three times as many students, and the arena was much bigger. And as I wrote then, of course it was awe-some! It was my daughter!

So here is my list of interesting/fun/meaningful things about the Skyline graduation. This is mostly random, but of course #1 has to be #1.

Students walking in. The yellow banner identifies the "Small Learning Community."

1. It was the first class to graduate!!!!! This is something those kids will carry with them for  years. I know this because I have a friend whose dad was in the first graduating class of a Detroit high school. He's in his seventies now, but he can still give you lots of details about the experience. My favorite t-shirt that the students ever made was "Even the Mayans saw us coming." Of course, they didn't get to wear that t-shirt at graduation. They wore light blue caps and gowns.

The first person to walk across the stage--my daughter--sits down! (First, by virtue of a last name that starts with "A" and an assignment to the Small Learning Community that went first. In other words, by virtue of luck.)

2. Ms. Jackson had kids with different types of honors and involvement stand up. Sure, there were lots of great students who did lots of great things. But the most impressive thing to me? I was completely blown away by the number of kids who had participated in sports, and then in clubs. It was over 2/3 of the class each time! And in fact, that is one of the reasons that people voted to build a third comprehensive high school--so that kids could have more opportunities for participation!

Todd Roberts on the big screen. And. . .

3. Todd Roberts, the former Superintendent, who was here while the school was being built and for its first three years, was asked back to speak. I thought that was a nice touch for the first graduation. One quote he shared, that he attributed to a science teacher, was "Reason answers questions, and imagination asks them." That was my favorite quote of the evening. (He went on to stress the importance of asking questions. "Ask how. Ask why. Ask why not." As it happens, that is a philosophy with which I am in complete agreement. In fact, that is why I have this blog!

. . . Todd Roberts at the podium

4. I loved the class gift. If you've ever been on the first floor of Skyline, you know that the halls are long (apparently, 1/10 of a mile) and very white. There is one mural completed now, and a second mural on its way. The class gift is a third mural. One student also organized a plaque to leave at Skyline. It has a Dr. Seuss quote (of which I think this is only a part):

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. 

5. The loudest applause went to Jasper Lindsay. He's a student who is in a wheelchair, and he received honors at the academic "pinning" ceremony earlier this month. The students were on their feet and clapping, because--according to the announcer--he trained for three years to be able to walk across the stage to get his diploma. And walk he did!

Jasper Lindsay as he sits back in his wheelchair after walking across the stage!

6. I really enjoyed watching the American Sign Language interpreters. I could see two of them from where I was sitting. Is that standard? I am guessing it was by special request, but I don't know that for sure.

Note the two American Sign Language interpreters. One bottom left, and one in the corner of the stage.

7. Fifty-six percent of the class graduated with academic honors. In fact, 13 students had 4.0 averages. Is this proof there is grade inflation? Yes. (I am not sure if anyone in my graduating class of 262 students had a 4.0). Do we care? I am not sure. Maybe the number of kids graduating with academic honors can be attributed to Skyline's mastery learning approach.

The graduates!

8. Beach balls. There were three that ended up in the graduating student section. You might think that came from the students. At least two of them came directly from the audience! Parents--right in front of me--threw one of them down! Yes, I saw it with my own eyes! Next year, at the end, maybe they should hand out beach balls to the graduates--they are light, they are fun, I believe that no harm was done.

Look in the top left corner and you will see one of those beach balls!

9. Really worth noticing--Band, Choir, and Orchestra each commissioned an original piece in honor of the first graduating class. I thought that was really cool, and I hope they play them in subsequent years. I took some video of that. I just have to figure out how to upload it.

10. And then, it was over. Four years, gone in a flash. And for the seniors, it was on to the all-night senior party. Of course, that's going on now. I hope it goes well. I do know that a lot of parents worked very hard to make the all-night party memorable. And I hope a new Skyline tradition will be born.

Poem for a Graduating Senior

Be safe.
Have fun.
Call me.
I love you.



Note: I wrote this last year. I wonder why it took me a year to publish it?

Six Things I Learned about the College Application Process Last Year

Note: The audience here is presumed to be the parent, although the information is good for students too...

1. There is a college for everyone, whether or not you have good grades. So don't panic. That said, once you determine what your "range" school should be (e.g., you think you should be able to get into MSU), apply to more than one of them! And for every "reach" school you apply to, apply to a "safety" school. The application costs only sound like a lot when you forget how much you will pay for college. In the case of my son, that meant two reach schools, two range schools, two safeties. Verdict? Admitted to ranges and safeties; waitlisted at reaches. That made me feel that this system works. (The key, however? Correctly identifying your "range" schools.)

2. Apply early! Yes, that means October. Not only does it improve your chances of getting in to the school you want, but it also makes the rest of the year much more pleasant.

3. Your mileage may vary. If financial aid offers are important to you, then "you'd better shop around." Small schools may give more money than large schools--and this could effectively neutralize the cost of going to a small private school. Some schools--Western Michigan, Indiana come to mind--advertise that if your GPA is X and your test scores are Y, you will get Z amount of merit money. And test scores do matter when it comes to racking up financial aid. Applying to more schools means you will be able to compare more offers--you might be surprised at the variation.

4. Despite that--before you decide that you must pay for Kaplan, Princeton Review, or a private test tutor, why don't you see how your child does on the PACT and PSAT? Or even on the ACT or SAT? You can retake those tests, you know. It may be totally unnecessary to pay for any tutoring at all. In my son's case, after he took the PACT, the ACT, the PSAT and the SAT, I decided to pay for three hours of a private tutor to help with the math part of the ACT. That ended up costing a lot less than a full course, and seemed to do the trick. Most of what he learned related to how to "read" (analyze) the test questions. I also heard the tutor telling my son the same things I had said. "Take your time, don't rush through the material." Somehow, when the tutor said it, it had some weight.

5. Before your student fills out the college application, have him/her make a list of all the activities she/he has done over the years. Think broadly--tutoring a neighbor? Sunday School teacher's aide? Working at Dairy Queen? Read over the essay questions. Expect a question about diversity, and remember that that question does not have to mean racial diversity.  Sure, you can discuss the essay questions and do some editing, but don't write the damn essay--it needs to be the student's work.

6. Work with the school counselor to get the best recommendation letter possible. At Community High, the counselors ask studentss to provide names of people whom the applicant thinks would provide a well-rounded picture of him/her. The counselors then email those people asking for a few sentences about said student, and that detail becomes the backbone of the counselor's letter. I really like this approach and wish more counselors would use it, because many times, students switch counselors partway through a high school career, and the counselor doesn't know the student from Adam.

OK, I lied in the title. Here's one more thing:

7. Despite what all of those education manuals will tell you, college is not for everyone, and certainly it's not for everyone just after they graduate from high school. There are many fabulous gap year programs. (I went on one many, many years ago and boy did it open my eyes.) There is a great big world to explore. And the world still needs electricians and plumbers.

Community High School Graduation: May You Have Many Such Joyous Occasions

Written on 6/2/2010
Last night, my son graduated high school. Many people have asked me, "What was the Community High School graduation like?" Of course, it was AWE-some. It was my son!

Seriously, it was awesome in many ways, not just because it was my son, and if you want to see the video, you can, because it is going to be on CTN (Channel 19)! (It was two-and-a-half hours long; watch the first 30-40 minutes and you will get a very good feeling for the night.) Premier: Friday, 6/4/2010, 7 p.m. Replays: 6/5, 2 p.m.; 6/6/, 9 a.m.; 6/8, 11 a.m. or call 734-794-6150 for more times.

At my high school graduation (public school in the New York City suburbs), we girls wore long white dresses and the boys wore white dinner jackets. We had voted against caps and gowns. The ceremony was held on the football field (inside the track). Those of us in the top 10% (I was 19/26, there were 262 students in my graduating class) sat in rank order. Luckily, one of my best friends was right next to me. The rest of the class sat alphabetically. The superintendent and principal were supremely boring. The student council president gave an insipid speech about rainbows. We were called across the stage one by one. And that's the way it was. Even today, except for the lack of cap and gowns, I think there are an awful lot of graduation ceremonies exactly like mine.

Not so at Community's graduation.

In complete randomness of order (well, not complete randomness--number 10 was chosen to be last), here are ten things I really liked about the Community High School graduation:

1. It was not random. It was very well-planned out, with musical interludes, a cartoon movie and a slide show, and even a stretch break. I was told it would be 2-1/2 hours, and it was.

2. The kids. The dress was very mixed, from jeans to suits to caps and gowns.  For the caps and gowns, well--CHS has the rainbow zebra as its mascot, so any color of cap and gown matched. I loved the variety. There were a lot of kids I had known from my son's preschool and from Ann Arbor Open. Some of them looked exactly the same, and others were unrecognizably different (grown!).

3. The Awards: My daughter pointed out to me that most of the graduating class got recognized in the program. Sure, they had the typical "excellence" awards, but they also gave awards for "Perseverance in the study of mathematics," which went to students who stuck with math for all four years, and for PERSONAL fitness (achieving personal goals) and for personal FITNESS (excellence in conditioning).

4. Could there be a more magnificent place to hold a graduation than Rackham Auditorium? It was full of proud parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters. I know it would be too small for the graduating classes of the larger schools, but the ambience was magnificent.

5. Both Todd Roberts (Superintendent) and Jen Hein (Dean) did a good job. Their speeches were short and to the point. Dean Jen recognized the retiring teachers. Their resumes are impressive! Todd Roberts focused on the students' accomplishments, and he made a small mistake, but it was okay (and funny). I'll tell you why in a minute.

6. Thirty seconds. That's the amount of time each student got to speak. Students stuck to their thirty seconds. There was a lot of thanking, particularly of moms, often of teachers, occasionally of dads. There was a lot of quoting: Dr. Seuss, Yogi Berra ("When you come to a fork, take it"), Babe Ruth, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and more. There was a quote in an eastern European language (Russian? Polish?). There were thank yous in Gaelic and Ojibway. There were exchange students speaking.  ("When I got here, I wondered, this can't be school. Is this summer camp?!") There were some stories. One student said, "My game plan when I started high school was to drop out after my sophomore year. But because of Community, my game plan changed. I'm going to college next year, and I am very happy to say that." There were a few songs. Specific memories. There were ideas: that at Community High one didn't feel one had to change one's personality; that at Community High you could find that you loved ........ (fill in the blank): literature, science, nerdiness, a particular person; that teachers at Community High lived to teach; that forum rocked. There were students who said they didn't think they would finish school, but they had made it. And they were proud. Honestly, I don't think that at my graduation most of us would have had such nice things to say.

7. There was Todd Roberts' very small error. One of the members of the Mock Trial team took his 30 seconds to say, "Todd Roberts is a very modest man. I am not a modest man. Our mock trial team didn't compete in the state championship, we won the state championship!" The crowd roared. And laughed. That Mock Trial team is proud--and competitive.

8. Statistics. I like them. According to the booklet, 122 students graduated. I think all but 3 or 4 were there. The counselors processed 423 college applications, and they reported that students were offered nearly $3,000,000 in merit scholarships. I thought that was a typo! My husband pointed out that if a student applied to 4 schools and got awarded $10,000/year in merit awards from all four, that would be (4 x $40,000) $160,000. So even though that student is only going to one school, and can only accept one offer, they still report all four offers. Still, I think that is pretty impressive. Also impressive? Fourteen students going to the University of Michigan. Twenty going to Washtenaw. Lots of kids going to small midwestern colleges (Kalamazoo, Beloit, Siena Heights, Albion, Oberlin, Denison). Students at Wayne State, MSU, University of Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Bowling Green...and a few going to east coast powerhouses. Most have plans to go to college.

9. Of course the slide show (baby pictures and grown up pictures) was fun, but my favorite part of the slide show was that they included the retiring teachers in it, with their baby/little kid pictures.

10. Forums do rock. Forum is the class that everyone at Community takes for four years. Forum is way more than a home room. If you are lucky, you get the same forum teacher all four years. With your forum, you go on field trips; you fundraise; you discuss. As a freshman, your forum teacher (not the counselor, generally) helps you plan your schedule. Forum leaders frequently serve as the first stop for other teachers, if a student is having trouble; and a first stop for parents, who need information about a developing situation; and a first ear for students. In other words, they divert a lot of work away from the counselors, and often they develop enduring relationships with their students. If there is one thing, I believe, that is completely transportable from Community to the other, larger, schools, and that would make a huge difference in the lives of students and the experience of high school--it is forum. (That explanation, by the way, was not a digression. That was the object lesson of the evening.) Students got introduced, not alphabetically, but by forum. The forum leaders handed out the diplomas, introduced each student, stood next to each student, hugged each student. And it was clear that there was a lot of love going on in those forums, between and among students and students, between and among students and teachers. There was the love.

Was there joy? You bet. Everybody loves a diploma, even the kids who are sad to leave.
May you have many such joyous occasions in your lives.

It's Work!

It sometimes amazes me how well my graduating senior can characterize settings, situations, and people.
Take this example:

When my oldest was in first grade, he was a rather reluctant reader.
I love to read, so I was starting to despair, and I said to him, "Why don't you like to read? Reading is fun!"
"No mom," he said to me. "Maybe someday reading will be fun. But right now, it's work!"

These days, he reads quite well.

Side note: The Annie E. Casey Foundation has ranked states based on the proportion of proficient readers by fourth grade: # 1-3 are four New England states (yes, I can count, but #3 was a tie): Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. Michigan ranked #34. That came up in a Lansing State Journal article which says that "governments are cutting programs that could help families raise better readers."

Exodus, aka Graduation

Who thought it would come to this, so soon? When I heard people say that the hours would drag by but the years would fly by, I didn't know what they meant, but it's true. I have a graduating senior. Over the next few months, you can expect to see some posts on this. moment. in. time.