"Dropout Factories"

I'm not a guy who really likes to complicate things any more than they have to be. So here's how I'm going to pitch it to you: If you have a window that is losing expensive, valuable warm air from your house in the middle of the cold season...what do you do? YOU CLOSE THE WINDOW.

"1 in 10 High Schools Are Dropout Factories"

This was the title of an AP story by Nancy Zuckerbrod, and AP Education Writer. According to the article, a school is a "dropout factory" if they have 60% or fewer of their entering freshman not graduating after four years. Granted, some of the kids had transferred by that time, but most had dropped out.

It's also true that in many of these areas, education and traditional schooling are not valued by the culture. Apparently many of these kids dropped out because of a necessity to support themselves and/or their families with jobs such as millwork. I understand this sentiment. And I also understand that this has changed.

Turning people's beliefs around and the culture in which they live is not easy. But we (the school community) absolutely must change! We must make education relevant, fun, innovative, novel and challenging to prepare our young people for their futures, which is our country's future. Cripes...it has to be turned around from the inside! We can't afford to waste people! It's immoral, it's stupid, and it's dangerous.

That being said...I need to point out that we train students in my school starting in Kindergarten, that they must take control of their own learning and exert effort! That anything short of that will not affect any positive change! You can't sit around and wait for life to happen to you. To do so is also a stupid and dangerous waste!

Let me remind you that in order to get muscles to grow, or any physical conditioning to take effect, an overload on the system is necessary which may include temporary muscle failure or exhaustion. Anything less than this will not work. And we're way beyond the at-least-it's-better-than-nothing approach.

But standing in our way, is our fragile sense of self and our egos.

For starters, let's change what we can...from the inside. Close the window, stop the loss, and start valuing kids and learning from the inside!