More Coffee, Please

Today, despite the weather, was another graduation Gateway at MC². In many ways, it was the end of an era, the last of the initial students who began at the school when it was new, before there were checklists, formats, procedures, and the cutting-edge educational program the school has become.

No part of this was easy. The student in question has been at school—cancelation or not—working on his Gateway. As an authentic assessment of the student’s abilities, his knowledge, and how he’s grown and what he’s now capable of, it was brutal—well over an hour, with the student responsible for making sure he proves he’s met the New Hampshire state standards.

And always, no matter how much I see it, I’m impressed by it. Despite the hours of practice I’ve seen, despite the work that I know went into it—the “behind the scenes” view I get as the teacher—I always see something new, I always see something to walk away with touched and changed.

In this case, I was touched by the bluntness of Sue Oerman’s question.¹ “Would you have graduated without MC²?”

The answer was just as plain. “No. I wouldn’t have.”

I know there were many other young men and women who were—and are, right now—in the same boat. There are a host of young men and women who, just like this student was a few years ago, dreading their 8th grade graduation and wondering how they’re going to pass four years of high school. They’ve been told for years that “high school isn’t going to be so easy” and they’re already struggling to pass now.

It doesn’t have to be this way. And it is going to get worse.

This is the final year that a student can drop out at age 16. After this, the state has made 18 the drop-out age²—and now the schools have to offer something to those students who would normally leave the first chance they get. This is going to be a sincere problem, as schools have traditionally marginalized the experiential and skill-based aspects of education.

Which is, in a nutshell, what every good educational theorist has been saying we’ve needed for over eighty years.

This is really the end of the line. We’re no longer looking for a way forward, no longer experimenting as we look for the right answer. It’s sitting, right here in our district, and the real question, now that it’s been so clearly demonstrated, is what are we going to do to make it happen for every kid?

There are a thousand roads forward. Of course, we have to choose to put one into action. It is not acceptable to do what we’ve always done.

So let’s not.

1 Ms. Oerman, like Mr. Pickering and Dr. Dassau, was brave enough and dedicated enough to come through the snow and poor weather to be there for a student. I’m not surprised, as I’ve seen this level of dedication from all of them before, but it does deserve pointing out. ↺

2 I will not repeat some of the commentary I’ve heard about this particular law. Suffice to say that if dropping out is viewed as an acceptable method of classroom management, then there is a major and sincere problem with the viewpoint of the teacher involved. We’re educators and that means every kid—especially those who need it most. Part of our task as educators is going to be realizing that every child can learn, and creating the opportunities so they can all be successful. ↺

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Monadnock Community Connections School, Monadnock Regional School District, School Change

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