A tornado, a dark hall and frightened children. A school saddles up to meet the challenges.
Jim Arnold leads the Pelham City Schools in Mitchell County, Ga. He is a frequent essayist on this blog. Here is his latest piece:
By Jim Arnold
Public school teachers are fighting battles on many fronts. These challenges have been presented and debated again and again. Everyone seems to have an answer but no one can present a viable solution. Many believe that teachers and public school students are being held hostage by state and federal politicians to promote an agenda of privatization; others are convinced the public schools are irretrievably broken and beyond redemption.
Furlough days that directly affect teacher pay and quality of life, denigration of public schools and of the teaching profession, the use of public schools as instruments of social experimentation and reform, the imposition of more and more standardized tests as an educational end unto itself rather than a means to improve achievement, the threat of tying meaningless test scores to teacher evaluations, the continual micromanagement from state and federal agencies, the institution of program after program, each designed after the fashion of snake oils and Vitameatavegamin to miraculously cure whatever ails our students – all combine to make it difficult to continue teach in the face of what might seem to be insurmountable odds, opposition, constant criticism, all too frequent complaints and parental indifference. It would be oh so easy for teachers to become bitter, jaded and downright mad about the lack of support, dearth of approbation and the seeming lack of appreciation for the vital job they hold and the work they do every day.
Sometimes it takes a tragedy for the rest of the world to see what many of us already know; that the overwhelming majority of teachers and administrators care deeply for their students and go far above and beyond what our most vehement detractors can see or observe. These heroes want “their kids” to be safe and to experience learning opportunities that will make them better citizens, better learners and ultimately better people.
They take kids as they are and refuse to allow them to fail. They take students from hopeless family situations and give them something to build their lives upon. They struggle against staggering amounts of meaningless paperwork and regulations and impositions that make their jobs both thankless almost impossible, and they succeed more often in spite of the system than because of it.
They fight continuously to reach those students that others find unreachable, to find time to teach in a hopeless tangle of bureaucracy and regulation, and more often than not don’t see the results of their efforts until years later, when that treasured note or email appears from a student from years ago thanking them for what they did to help that child succeed.
On Jan. 30, a devastating tornado hit the area in and around Adairsville, Ga. Sonoraville Elementary School was very close to the path of that tornado.
One of my colleagues contacted Sonoraville Elementary Principal Elizabeth Anderson to ask how they might help. None of us really know how we will react when danger threatens. Will our first thoughts be to protect ourselves or will we fight our fears and do what we can to protect others? John Wayne said “courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”
This story is about heroes at Sonoraville Elementary School.
Dr. Anderson wrote:
“I would be honored for you to share this. When I wrote this it was to convey what everyone did in our building that day. Our society should know what educators do every day for children.”
“Good morning!
Thank you for asking about our area. The Sonoraville community was devastated last week by the tornado. My family advocate, counselor and county social worker continue to make home visits and locate all those impacted by the storm. The damage to many homes was more far reaching than we had originally thought. We are a resilient community and the volunteers have been amazing. We are so appreciative. I would like to brag on our faculty, staff, and students. I think as a principal, you often wonder what the reaction of everyone will be when a crisis happens (you always..what if ?). We were in dark hallways and other areas for approximately two hours and lost all forms of communication.
As the tornado spiraled in our direction, everyone was safely huddled in hallways, bathrooms, and practice rooms. Adults took little ones in their laps and covered them with their bodies. Many adults rocked small children and used soothing tones as they waited in cramped spaces. Our nurse remembered medical needs and tended to those in the darkness. A teacher and her paraprofessional drew blood from a diabetic child to make sure he stayed healthy during the storm. A fourth grade teacher prayed with her students when they questioned what would happen if they died. Once the warning was lifted and we proceeded back to our dark classrooms, the heroism did not cease.
Everyone pitched in to serve lunches and aid in a dark dismissal with no means of mass communication. Many adults had learned they had severely damaged homes, but never once did they ask to leave their students. They all stayed until students had been safely removed from campus. Many said we are here to the end, and they were. Our students assisted each other and each one stepped up that day.
Words will never be able to capture the spirit of Sonoraville Elementary School that day. Following the storm, our people have cleaned, served meals, donated money, resources, and so much more. As their principal, I am one of the luckiest people on earth to say they are mine. So, this February’s Board of Education report’s classified and certified personnel of the month is all of Sonoraville Elementary School. What do Phoenixes do? They rise up…yes they do.”
Stories like this restore my faith in what teachers do. They remind us of why we went into teaching in the first place, and why we spend our lives helping other peoples’ children. They took care of other peoples’ kids because it’s not their job, it’s their calling. John Wayne smiles down on heroes like these.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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81 comments Add your comment
jarvis
February 11th, 2013
2:56 pm
@bootney, Muliple refineries have been taken off line for maintenance and Summer preperation. Hopefully we’ll see some relief soon as they come back on line. Similiar trend (but not quite as expensive) happened last year.
I think we actually saw a little relief in May or June if memory serves
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:17 pm
@ jarvis,
thanks. be nice if they could figure out some kind of rotation so we don’t get stuck every year
Jerry Eads
February 11th, 2013
3:20 pm
Hi clutch – glad to see another neanderthal knee-jerker on board — – - you contribute so much -
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:20 pm
@ clutch
I’m just trying to sort out your bona fides to comment with anything resembling authority.
you didn’t/couldn’t answer a simple question, and in not doing so actually answered after all.
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
3:21 pm
Astropig, you probably aren’t smart enough to understand John Taylor Gatto.
For example, my grandma went to a private expensive women’s college, flunked out. Her parents “re-channeled” her to a public “normal school”. She taught in a proverbial rural “little red schoolhouse” in the Roaring Twenties. Most of her grammar school alumni went to work on their farms, a few went to high school.
My grandma wrote letters that were grammatically perfect, and her handwriting was “wow!” impeccable. She could do perfect checkbook balancing, and household-expense budgeting. She couldn’t do Algebra II or geometry, and certainly not calculus.
My great uncle was a high school teacher, who could “do the math”. He went to an Oxford-descended American University, an institution that was named to the Association of American Universities before 1908.
Tech made AAU in 2010. UGA has never made it.
No Georgia regional-state-university (the predominant Georgia teacher-training institutions) is a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
Public schools perform services. If some of you want your kids to attend scholarship-tradition colleges, you need to determine if your kids’ teachers attended AAU/ PBK-chapter universities. In a modern world, where these things matter, who teaches your kids matters.
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:22 pm
@ clutch
you did know teachers unions are specifically forbidden by state law.
which is probably a violation of 1st amendment rights – if that matters top you.
bootney farnsworth
February 11th, 2013
3:29 pm
@ home
in fairness to UGA, they have made huge strides in cleaning up their academic act and have become a very competitive, very academically successful school.
getting AAU status is profoundly hard. consider how long it took Tech. give them time, they’ll get there.
Prof
February 11th, 2013
3:36 pm
@ Wondering. Well, if you haven’t retired by June 30, 2013, I assume the bill goes into effect for you…if it manages to get passed by both the House and the Senate. But I REALLY suggest that you ask your HR department about this. They should be keeping up-to-date, for it will be a significant change.
State employees have a different state retirement plan from public school educators and USG employees (Teachers Retirement System); and all have various health insurance packages. My own USG school has its own post-retirement health insurance coverage as a “perk” for its own employees, that other USG schools do not.
But do ask your own HR, especially if this would determine whether you retire before or after June 30, 2013.
Just Sayin
February 11th, 2013
3:40 pm
I’m sorry but to the people yelling about homeschool I have news for you. All those homeschoolers aren’t as brilliant as you think. I homeschool my daughter and let me tell you that many of the kids parents exaggerate about what they can really do.I know cause I have met and interacted with MANY of them. Also, there has been a trend of late of home schooling parents being more relaxed in their curriculums. This is resulting in the kids not being as prepared as homeschoolers were in the past. It has been discussed in a lot of the coops and other homeschool blogs. The movement is towards unschooling. There are a lot of problems in the homeschooling arena that are never put on public display (abuse, depression, even apathy). There is also the new problem of the kids rebelling against values and teachings of homeschooling. Just because someone is homeschooling doesn’ t mean they are doing a good job. It also doesn’t mean their family is a happy one. It takes work. Homeschooling is great and provides excellent results when done right. What I am seeing is more and more parents moving towards what’s convenient.
Mikey D.
February 11th, 2013
3:42 pm
Gotta love how every blog entry here, regardless of the topic, gets hijacked by the “unions are evil” crowd…
Brasstown
February 11th, 2013
3:52 pm
Astro,
A reference?! Are you kidding? With all of the crap that is spouted here you want a reference on one of the oldest stats. out there? Look it up yourself. You apparently have alot to learn about what skill sets are needed in the private sector.
My ideas are “Kook Fringe” but then you go on to tout home schoolers. We did that for about a year in some unusual circumstances and went to a local home-schoolers meeting in Gainesville. Wow! There are a few wonderful, well-meaning people going that route. Glad they have that right. However, it also is a group that has many members that fit in with the doomsday prep crowd. So be careful throwing around the word Kook until you look at the group you run with.
Here’s something you’re probably also not aware of. The private school and public school teachers are not really discrete sets. Many travel back and forth from one to the other. There are a few exceptions usually those not trained in schools of education. Few of those last very long. Generally, public schools pay better and so attract the top teachers. So why would anyone chose to teach in private schools? Could be several reasons: Religous reasons, classroom management problems, well off spouse, couldn’t pass state exams, smaller class size, to get their own kids out of public education (reduced tuition), more freedom to teach a curriculum of their choosing, etc.
Oh and Pig, I’m not a teacher. So, I wasn’t bragging on myself. Got one more tip for you. Your home schooler will likely spike very high on different areas of their testing. They will score very low in other areas. These peaks and valleys will likley track along side of your own strenghts and weaknesses. A source you ask? I got this from testing information data of homeschoolers that were applying for admission in a private school.
Prof
February 11th, 2013
3:52 pm
@ Home-tutoring parent. Your ideas about education, whether K-12 or higher, are certainly antiquated. If your grandmother was teaching in the 1920s, you must be at least in your 70s or 80s… not a home schooler for quite a while.
Oh, and UGA has a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
4:08 pm
bootney, UGA is making progress. Keep it up!
Home-tutoring parent
February 11th, 2013
4:32 pm
Prof, I re-read my post. I didn’t say UGA didn’t have a PBK chapter. I knew it had. of course. I only mentioned Georgia regional teaching colleges, cum state universities’ not having PBK.
Rare originally state normal schools,such as LA Normal School now UCLA, and James Madison U have made PBK. Your school “university” didn’t make PBK. Whine about it all you want about why they didn’t recognize your second-rate mediocrity as being worthy of admission.
But UGA is not an Association of American Universities member.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
4:48 pm
With current economic conditions, surely the state will follow-through with removing health insurance supplementing from TRS.
Private Citizen
February 11th, 2013
5:08 pm
Allowing for topic drift, here’s a commentary from the service man who killed bin Laden (referring to Esquire magazine interview):
“Esquire reveals how, despite being riddled with scar tissue, arthritis, tendonitis, eye damage, and blown disks, the shooter has even been denied health insurance by his country.
“My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night,” the shooter said in the days after leaving service. “I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You’re out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go f- yourself.”
http://www.news.com.au/news/the-man-who-killed-osama-bin-laden/story-fnejlrpu-1226575893020
Prof
February 11th, 2013
5:21 pm
@ Home-tutoring Parent. How do you know what “my” university is? And Georgia does not now have “regional teaching colleges.”
What is your educational expertise or teaching experience that permits you to make such sweeping judgments about the worth of teachers and the ranking of universities? Whether or not an institution of higher education was originally a “state normal school” for teachers in the 19th century is about as irrelevant as it comes.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
February 11th, 2013
5:49 pm
Even in a postive story about good works, the negative Nellys come out to play…. One wonders, do they have nothing better to do?
I myself say thank you to the good folks of Sonoraville Elementary. Thank you for doing what you could to keep your students safe and make them feel secure in the midst of a difficult time. I am sure the parents of your community appreciate it.
Astropig
February 11th, 2013
10:23 pm
@Brasstown
So…You just make stuff up that fits your fringe worldview, yell it loud enough and it becomes fact?
Paint everybody that you disagree with in broad-stroke stereotype and then pronounce yourself enlightened?
I think I see the problem here…
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
1:33 am
Prof, of course Georgia still has regional state universities. Their majority of students live within a 100-150 mile radius.
I don’t know where you went to college, that’s true. You don’t know where I went to college, that’s true.
Mine was a university that joined AAU in 1900, that’s true.. Check your university’s AAU election year.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
1:59 am
Prof, old state “normal schools” are very relevant today. Originally schools for 13-14 y/o 8th-grade grammar school graduates, they became, after WWII, multifaceted universities. The vast majority of them today are not allowed to confer PhD’s, operate law schools, operate med schools, operate dental schools, and none operates a DVM program.
The vast majority of originally normal schools today have sub-1050 SAT M + CR or sub 23 ACT mean score first-year-student matriculants. If you’re teaching at one of these universities, you probably started out teaching remedial high school subjects. Now, you don’t have to because you’re a senior, tenured, professor, so newbie assistant professors have this role.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
2:20 am
Prof, old state “normal schols” are relevant, because in my “old” era, they had <500k bound-volume libraries with <10k research-journal subscriptions, today, with internet, they have more, but you still can't go to the stacks and dig up a century-old journal article.
Of course I went to every stack I could find, including Harvard, Berkeley, UC Irvine. For biomed stuff, UCSF and UCLA and UCSD Scripps were science-report treasure chests
Personally, I think the Google fellows have a great idea: Put the Library of Congress online. Fugg the publishers, authors want to get their ideas out.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
2:32 am
Just Sayin.
“All those homeschoolers aren’t as brilliant as you think.”
Tis true. But we loved having our kids at home, not being pummeled by misguided stupid people, who didn’t even know they were selected and groomed to be other people’s chlldren’s teachers because they were dullards.
Home-tutoring parent
February 12th, 2013
2:42 am
My perhaps-best experiences as a young adult, were roaming the library stacks. Berkeley, UC San Diego, particularly Scripps, UC Iirvine, Harvard, they were all fantastic. Talk about discovering treasure troves.
Segursky
February 12th, 2013
5:57 am
I wish I could say that I am shocked by the cynics who have responded to Dr Anderson’s comments about how her faculty handled the events on January 30, but sadly I am not.
As the mother of two Sonoraville Elementary students, I applaud the teachers and administrators who took care of the students that day. There was a vast amount of destruction that occurred less that one mile from the school and many parents were unable to pick up their children for several hours after the tornado touched down. I was one of those parents- I took me well over three hours to get to my children when I was just 10 miles away from their building. My comfort was knowing my children were surrounded by people who would take care of them and make them feel safe.
Until you walk in the shoes of an educator, you have no idea what it takes for them to “just do their job”.
Pride and Joy
February 12th, 2013
6:46 am
RE: “They take kids as they are and refuse to allow them to fail.”
Um…kids do fail and they do it it alarming numbers and in Georgia 33% of all kids fail to even graduate from high school.
I understand there are some good teachers, even in dekalb and in APS. My personal experience is that 25% of the teachers in my very personal experience are good teachers. 75% are not.
While I understand the author’s point that some teachers are good teachers, when the writer makes the sweeping statement that teachers “refuse to allow them to fail…” the author loses all credibility. The piece becomes just another “woe is me I am a teacher” complaining diatribe that paints teachers are martyrs.
It just isn’t true.
And the other truth is that the more we read the seemingly endless ‘woe is me I am a teacher” pieces the more I as a parent am just tired of hearing it.
Kids ARE ALLOWED to fail and teachers ARE NOT martyrs.
And when teachers complain on a public blog to all of their stakeholders (we the tax payers and parents) the less we are inclined to listen…or care.
Lee
February 12th, 2013
7:50 am
“…the use of public schools as instruments of social experimentation and reform,…”
Probably the #1 reason schools are in such disarray, IMHO.
Brown vs. Board, forced integration, forced bussing, IDEA, equal outcomes, don’t paddle kids, pass them from grade to grade even though they cannot do the work, grade inflation, ad infinitum.
At some point, schools are going to have to get back to the basics.
Segursky
February 12th, 2013
8:22 am
I wish I could say that I am suprised by the cynics who have commented on what Dr. Anderson had to say about the response of her staff to the events of January 30, but sadly, I am not.
As a parent of two students at Sonoraville Elementary School, I applaud the efforts of the faculty and staff. In a time of chaos, they remained calm and kept children safe. The destruction of the tornado left a twenty mile path that came within one mile of the school. Although these teachers did not know how their own homes or family members had been affected, they focused on the children in front of them. It took many parents several hours to pick up their children from school due to the abundance of road closures. Although I was only 10 minutes away from their school, it took me more than 3 hours to get to my children and every road I traveled revealed more of the devstation that swept our community. My only comfort was knowing that my children were surrounded by people who would keep them safe and comfort them. Some of you say they were just doing their job, but I’d have to argue that on January 30, those teachers went above and beyond their duties as a teacher.
Until you walk in the life of an educator, you have no idea what it takes from them to “just do their job”.
Dianne
February 12th, 2013
9:28 am
I, too, am proud of the job done by the teachers and staff at Sonoraville Elementary during the tornado. I have 2 grandsons who attend this school and my daughter is a teacher in the High School nearby. It was truly a time of heroism, and as mentioned by the blogger, a quote attributed to John Wayne, “courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” This was not a time to think of what would be “politically correct”, but a time to consider the immediate needs and protection of mankind’s most precious commodity, its children. I don’t like to think that it would take a disaster such as this to remind us of the how much we owe to our teachers. To the vast majority, I think and hope, teaching is a calling. It certainly isn’t because of the wonderful paycheck! Whenever something comes up in our legislature, state or national, that would cut the pay of teachers in lieu of another “important” project, I would like to remind legislators…is there REALLY something more important to us than a good teacher?? These women and men hold the future of our country in their hands and we all should support them at every turn! Do we celebrate a National School Teacher’s Day? If we don’t we SHOULD!
Prof
February 12th, 2013
10:41 am
@ Home-tutoring Parent.
FYI. I received my doctorate from a university that joined the AAU in 1908. I said that there aren’t regional teaching colleges today not regional universities, which would be a ridiculous claim to make. Teaching colleges are now part of our universities.
I don’t know why you’re so fixated on universities that were originally normal schools, for you’ve stated on several blog-threads that teachers with degrees from such schools are third-rate. I can’t think of any Georgia universities that “are not allowed to confer PhD’s, operate law schools, operate med schools, operate dental schools, [or] operate a DVM program.”
One goes to school to get a degree so that one can then accomplish something: the school is merely the preparation for the rest of your life. After you got your degree (B.A.? M.A.? Ph.D.?), what did you accomplish afterwards in the field of education that qualifies you to evaluate educators and schools as you do constantly on this blog?
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
February 13th, 2013
6:22 pm
@ Pride and Joy “My personal experience is that 25% of the teachers in my very personal experience are good teachers. 75% are not.”
I have to wonder what school your children had the misfortune to attend! I spent time is a very difficult inner-city school. It was known as one of the worst – gunfire drills, barbed wire around the playground, toxic soil contaminated by chemicals, gang fights at recess, parents punching each other in the parking lot, investigated for school wide cheating scandal, teachers assaulted and hospitalized, drug sales on the corner, weapons found in the lockers, etc.. Still, I would still have estimated the percentage of good to poor teachers at 50% good and 50% poor – and that in a state with tenure! I have heard you complain frequently about a particular teacher who could not speak with proper grammar, but you seem to have encountered a plethora of problematic teachers. If that is the case, I can understand your frustration, but having worked in numerous schools, districts and states, I find it hard to imagine that only one out of every 4 teachers your child had were any good. What made the “good” teachers different? What did they do that you appreciated?
Was that one school or was it a system wide problem? Were the parents working together to address the problems? Was there any recourse for you through the system? Would you work for a parent trigger for that school if given an option?
I guess having never encountered a school that was that badly run, I find it hard to imagine, especially since you say you pay $10,000 a year in property tax! I would have thought an area with that high a property tax base would have better schools?
Is that a situation that is unique to Atlanta?
Have other posters encountered the same issues?