Passion

Alright, so, I have a lot of things to say right now, but I am really exhausted. Let's hope this blog is still coherent in the morning light.

Today 40 teachers were let go from the school system where I spent the majority of my pre-university years. First of all, I feel like I need to say that it really, REALLY sucks that teachers lost their jobs (we'll come back to the suckage later), but I also think that some people need to keep things in perspective. Avon's population has exploded in the last two decades. When I started school there in second grade, there were 4 elementary schools that housed K-6, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. Today (a mere 13 or so years later) there are, like, 7 or 8 elementary schools that house only K-4 and are still at max capacity, 2 intermediate schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school that has pretty much been undergoing expansions since it was opened. The Avon school system has done a phenomenal job keeping up with this rapid increase in population, always making sure to provide its students with a great education and plenty of opportunities. It has managed to avoid making significant cuts since the federal and state budgets began hacking away at the money available for schools until now. There are other school systems even just within our county who have had to make MUCH more drastic cuts in order to even remain open. I guess all I'm saying here is that, it could be a lot worse.

Also, I don't think it is fair to blame the school board or superintendent for these cuts. In all fairness, they DID let the people vote directly on this matter via the referendum. You want to go light a fire under someone's ass? Take your matches to the rear-ends of all those people who didn't bother to go out and vote on the referendum. And I don't mean go around bashing the people of Avon either because that isn't going to make people care anymore. You have to do something different. Organize a benefit, and go knocking door to door to invite people. Have students perform and speak at the benefit about how they feel and why they're scared about the way their education will suffer. In the end, that is what this is about. It is about the students, and these kids deserve to be able to actively do something to change the way things are going. Yes, parents need to get involved and be fired up, but kids can do incredible things that adults simply cannot do.

Children have this intangible ability to inspire adults. Do you know difficult it is for one adult to inspire another adult into action? That takes, like, stories about near death experiences. To hear a kid say that they are truly heartbroken that the teachers who inspired them to love school have been let go and that they don't think they can feel inspired again with the way the system is going, that is going to make a HUGE impact an audience. Children are incredible. They think that they have no power, but in reality, they are in the most powerful position to inspire changes in education.