Carey Dillinger, November 1995
The Daily Commercial
Leesburg High School had the pleasure and honor of having our local state senator, Karen Johnson, on our campus, not once but twice within the last three weeks. The second of those visits occurred November 10th, when she spoke during the Veteran's Day Assembly held in the H.O. Dabney Stadium.
Senator Johnson was a part of a rather large dais that included state representative Everett Kelly, members of the county commission, members of the city commission, representatives of the Lake County school system, and of course members of the various veteran's groups. The audience included veterans, current members of the armed services and the entire student body of the high school. Let it be said here that the behavior of the student body during the assembly is to commended. This superb behavior was due in part to the time spent in the classrooms by the teachers explaining the purpose and the meaning of the assembly prior to its occurrence. However, the primary reason the students were so well behaved, is that by and large they are good hearted kids that are willing to cooperate if they know what is going on. Congratulations are in order to all of the participants and audience members for providing our veterans with a ceremony they can look back on with fond memories.
It was only a week or so earlier that the Senator had visited the Leesburg High campus on a fact finding mission. She wanted to see certain aspects of the school's daily operation and was given a tour that provided her with the information she was seeking. Accompanying her on this tour was an entourage that included members of her staff, members of the county school administration staff, and a member of the high school administration. It was not a normal day at Leesburg High.
It was not a normal day because a state senator does not drop in that often. It was not a normal day because the county school staff is usually not on campus in force. It was not a normal day because a breakfast scheduled for first period to recognize academic achievement was moved to third period so that the Senator might drop by. It was not a normal day because the custodial staff that generally begins work at 3:00 PM was on campus at 7:00 AM.
The school cannot be faulted for not presenting the Senator with a normal day, after all if a special visitor is coming don't we all spruce things up a bit? You might mow the lawn, pick up the kid's toys, put on your good clothes, clean the bathroom, set out the fine china, and fix some good food. The school basically did the same thing.
If our governmental officials want to see our schools on a normal day, they need to take a page or two from the handbooks of corporate America and our Armed Services. They need to visit our schools incognito and conduct surprise inspections. Just show up unannounced, check into the school office, ask for a student guide and go observe a normal day. Where should the tour begin? Why in the restrooms of course. Check them for soap, paper towels, toilet paper and cigarette butts. Then a visit to the administrative offices would be in order. Is the secretary or clerk on duty? Is the office accessible to parents, students, faculty and visitors or is it more reminiscent of a medieval castle complete with a moat full of crocodiles masquerading as the receptionist, the clerks, the aides, and the secretaries.
Now it's time to visit the teacher's lounge to get a sense of what is going on around this place. Quite a bit of grousing, whining, complaining, and actual tear shedding goes on here. Do not discuss the obvious, the teachers know they are overworked and underpaid. Talk to them instead about your commitment to kids. Lend them a sympathetic ear as they describe how hard it is to teach the academic classes, when the emphasis is on the elective classes and the extracurricular activities. Find out from them that in education the tail actually does the impossible - it wags the dog!
Lunch time should be spent in the cafeteria, eating with the students, yes, the same food as the students eat! Spend your time there talking with individual students and groups of students. Talk to everyone, not just the honor student the principal gave you as a guide. You must talk to the academically able and the academically disabled. You need to commune with the socially in and the socially out. You need to meet the druggies, the alkies, the thugs, the gangsters, the punks and those of the pierced body and tattooed persuasion. You can explore the various world and religious cultures by consulting with black, brown, red, white,and yellow students, as well as the Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists.
After lunch it is time to visit the guidance department. Observe carefully what is taking place here. Is the counseling of students taking place? Does every counselor have a student in their office or is the counselor pushing mounds of paperwork generated by you and your colleagues?
Have you enjoyed your visit so far? It is far from over. It is time to visit some classrooms. This is what school is all about. It is not about field trips, band and chorus concerts, drill team performances, steer raising, nonacademic assemblies, fashion shows, sporting events, or the ever present public address announcements, although these things are necessary and occasionally have their place. School is about a teacher and his students spending fifty minutes together five days a week. Anything that interferes with that time had better be important. If a student is to be deprived of that precious time it had better be with the student's, parent's, and classroom teacher's permission.
Has your visit on a normal school day been informative? It has certainly been a more realistic dose of the status quo than when you announced your stopover. Come back and visit anytime. Don't call ahead, just drop by.
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