The Value of Education: It doesn't cost, it pays

In the world of finance a few people get lucky and hit it big in a short period of time, but investment counselors agree that most people make safe gains by staying with their plan over the long haul.

So it is with education and schools. It is a solid investment that is proven directly tied to economic development. It can't be considered a short term investment, nor a temporary one, although there are near immediate benefits. But it is a good and wise investment in not only the future of your children, but also wise for anyone with an interest in the social and economic enhancement of a community.

This is simple research-based information. One good example is from the book, "Smart Money: Education and Economic Development," by William Schweke (published by the Economic Policy Institute).
 
The book summarizes that education at all levels is an investment worthwhile. Writing about primary and secondary education he notes:

Research shows that a high-quality education increases the earnings of individuals and the economic health of their communities. Some believe, however, that increased public investment will not necessarily improve the quality of education offered. But recent studies show that education spending can have a direct, positive impact on the business climate and can improve the success of at-risk students, whose contributions to the economy are critical for achieving a high-value/high-wage economy in the 21st century. Such spending will have a greater chance of success if coupled with specific reforms, such as smaller class sizes, greater access to technology for at-risk students, support for teacher training and innovation, and improved accountability structures.

Schweke also attributes human and social costs to a lack of investment in education, citing areas that lack educational resources and drawing correlations to increases in crime rates, drug use, gangs and basic family stability.

Education has a direct impact on specific values in the work place, indicating a more immediate return on investment with the educational dollar. One of the most immediately visible returns is the proven increase in productivity when education is a priority within a community.

The Congressional Joint Economic Committee Study published in 2000 and titled Investment in Education: Private and Public Returns reaches one of its first conclusions in relating the impact of an investment in education on the labor force:

The most direct way that education affects the labor market experience of workers is by increasing their productivity, thus increasing their earnings. The more education individuals acquire, the better they are able to absorb new information, acquire new skills, and familiarize themselves with new technologies. By increasing their human capital, workers enhance the productivity of their labor and of the other capital they use at work. If higher levels of productivity reflect higher levels of human capital, which are in turn primarily a result of increased education, then a positive relationship should exist between educational attainment and earnings.

The report also states that education not only has a direct result on income, but also improves the quality of employment.

As it turns out, attributing numbers to the correlation between good and higher education and economic growth has become easy to realize. Other research confirmed this finding. Edward Denison undertook one of the most comprehensive studies on the effect of education on economic growth. Denison estimated that education per worker was the source of 16 percent of output growth in nonresidential business.

In another study done for the Rand Corporation, 21 percent of the growth in output from 1940-1980 was the result of an increase in average schooling levels. Estimates of the effect of human capital on economic growth in the United States mostly range from 10 to 25 percent, although some recent evidence disputes this finding. But the specific number is definitely a positive and continuing trend.

The joint congressional study points out:

By improving the productivity of American workers, education increases the wealth of the United States. To illustrate the magnitude of the effect of increased educational levels on economic growth in the United States, consider the effect on gross domestic product (GDP) if educational levels had stopped rising in 1959. In real terms (chained 1992 dollars), GDP rose from $2,210.2 billion in 1959 to $7,269.8 billion in 1997. If one were to assume that increased education levels contribute 16 percent to economic growth, and that this education improvement did not occur, the result would be that in real terms 1997 GDP would be lower by approximately $1,260 billion dollars, standing at just over $6,009 billion in 1997.

But it turns out that the intangibles that follow as a return on investment in education have been known since before we were a nation. Traditional concern about the educational opportunities of the poor, as it has evolved in the American context, has resulted in the public provision of education. The public provision of education predates our independence beginning in 1647 with the passage of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's first schooling legislation. A tradition of state guidance, but local financing and control has characterized American public education for the majority of the past two centuries.

When not tapping out a blog article, I'm often doing internal marketing consulting for a portion of a large company.  An ongoing struggle is convincing powers at all levels that investing in quality in process, productivity, parts, production and service is worthwhile. I'm not sure if I can take credit for the term, but people have gotten used to me saying, "Quality doesn't cost, it pays." This appears to hold true with education. It is a good deal and a worthwhile investment - it doesn't cost, it pays.

Sometimes the public loses sight of the nature of education, and is blinded to the fact that the best route away from poverty, the best route to a better standard of living, the best way to prevent crime, the best way to ensure commerce and peace - locally and globally - is to make an earnest investment in education.

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."  -- a line often attributed to Mark Twain puts the matter together in a concise nutshell.

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Best to all,

Lloyd
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Lloyd Schultz

On the learning environment

Informed decisions on seemingly difficult local issues often require a view that exceeds daily horizons.


Cutting to the chase


There are activities that are more difficult in certain environments.  Some have trouble writing in a noisy setting, icing a wedding cake in hot humid weather or reading in subdued lighting and many more. 

And so it is with the modern school facility. It is a site to return and repeat experiments, a place to rehearse, a place to perform, a place conducive to learning, a central resource location, and a place to share experiences and pass on information. In short it must be conducive to learning.

The age of a building can be a relative thing. The Cathedral at Chartres and its exquisite stained glass windows can be no better. It serves the purpose it was originally intended to serve, and remains an example of the best of what a cathedral can be in artistically representing the architectural standard for a place conducive to worship. It is spiritual in nature. It is not transient. It was built to last.

But schools serve a dynamic group of students and teachers, where new ideas are explored daily, or hourly. And if new ideas are to be presented to an ever more sophisticated group of students in an ever more sophisticated world, then the facilities must be able to adapt to those educational needs. 

Additionally, as more programs are mandated by legislative bodies, often no matter what the enrollment numbers, facilities will need to accommodate those changing requirements.

In a report on the impact of inadequate school infrastructure on student performance, David Branham, Ph.D of the University of Houston Center for Public Policy (click) cites several correlations. Simply put, the report studied 226 public schools and found that poor facilities have a direct impact on student abilities.

According to the report:

Specifically, schools in need of roof repair, schools with a high percentage of temporary buildings, and schools with inadequate custodial staffs will have lower attendance rates, higher drop out rates, and lower accountability ratings than schools without such structural problems.

The report goes on to say that people initially vote for school issues based on what they perceive as their own best interests. "That being the case," Branham writes, " it makes sense to discover what those interests are. In other words, if voters can see that school infrastructure has an effect on student achievement, then they may make a more informed vote on bond initiatives that support school infrastructure."

The state of Florida implemented a constitutional amendment recognizing the impact of class size on education, and requiring that different ages and programs have space and teacher/student ratios that optimize an educational experience.

A report on the amendment rationale, which includes input from the American Institute of Architects, recognizes that school expansion has not kept pace with population expansion, and also states that there was a gap in school spending compared to other growth related areas.

A part of the report states:

According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s New Cornerstone Report published in 2001-2002, Florida’s population expanded rapidly in the 1990s from 13.1 million to almost 16 million in 2000, a gain of nearly 18%. In addition, the Chamber reported that between 1991 and 2001, the K-12 expenditures in Florida did not keep
pace with either inflation or the rate of student growth. What has
resulted from this shrinking financial support is a construction
and maintenance backlog that has the potential to cripple Districts
as their physical plants age and they struggle to address the immediate concerns of campus overcrowding. With the Class Size Amendment added to the equation - which state economists estimate will require 30,000 more classrooms – there is potential for losing focus of the importance of a quality learning environment.

The Florida report also notes that there is a direct impact on teacher satisfaction related to work environment, which could have an impact on teacher contract matters.

Still another report on the funding of schools in Tennessee notes that the impact of a school environment has historical evidence.

The report, entitled "Do K-12 School Facilities Affect Education Outcomes?" states:

As far back as the 1920s, industrial research established the
relationship between environmental factors and employee
productivity and morale, but these lessons have not been applied
widely in educational settings. In recent years, however, the
importance of school facilities has been increasingly recognized.
There are now eight states where the courts have explicitly made the funding of capital facilities a part of education equalization remedies.

School facility factors such as building age and condition, quality of
maintenance, temperature, lighting, noise, color, and air quality can
affect student health, safety, sense of self, and psychological state.
Research has also shown that the quality of facilities influences
citizen perceptions of schools and can serve as a point of community pride and increased support for public education.

Wisconsin too has looked at its school facilities. A joint research paper done for the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) surveyed state schools. The research paper found interesting information about the age and condition of schools in the Badger State

It notes that three-fourths of Wisconsin's public school buildings were built before 1970, nearly one-fourth before 1940. About two percent were built in the 19th Century. Most of the existing buildings were constructed during the 1950's and 1960's. These buildings have been the target of considerable criticism because of their relatively poor construction. A 1989 study of the nation's school buildings by the Education Writers Association concluded that buildings of this age are "wearing out quickly and have severe repair needs. . . Many construction experts say the buildings were intended to last only about 30 years. If so, their time is up" (Lewis, et. al, p. 2).

The Wisconsin research concludes:

Furthermore, in our focus on numbers and quantitative measures, we must not forget the human dimension. Ultimately, we need to keep in mind that the 172 buildings judged inadequate by the principals in Wisconsin have an enrollment of nearly 75,000 students whose lives are affected on a daily basis by substandard school facilities.

While school facility matters are dealt with across the state and nation, at the local level the faces of individual students and teachers come into focus. We are no longer dealing with statistical figures and graphs, we are dealing with your children and my children. None of us think of our children as a statistic. They are the growing future. We urge them to be the best, to pursue the most, to aim high while learning conditions may be less than optimum.

Music teachers cannot expect students to learn on a mangled instrument. Ag teachers cannot demonstrate germination, photosynthesis or plant growth if seeds are planted where there is no light. So it is with students in all subject areas. It is essential to have the environment and tools that will maximize the odds for student success.

It is a national concern that really comes down to common sense. Everyone needs a location where they can study, exercise, play, perform and socialize, yet currently we have a tendency to shoot for the lowest common denominator in educational facilities. At the same time we say that we value education. Should school be any less accommodating than the areas where we work or pursue other interests? If anything it should be superior.

Why is a 50 year old school considered old? Because it was likely built with the scope of education that was prevailing at the time of its design.

It is time to see the facilities for education the way the designers, builders and supporters of structures like the cathedrals of Europe. When education is again seen as more than finite as an ever changing and never ending endeavor, planning and building for education will appear less transient as well.
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Best to all,

Lloyd

Block Schedule: Will it crumble?

 

This blog spends a lot of it's time on school matters.  This happens for many reasons including the fact that there is a lot going on within the district, a learning environment is an exciting and interesting environment, and the energy of youth is generally contagious.

There are so many good things that can and do happen in public schools that one can feel the need to give change a little scrutiny, yet one of the exciting things that occur in schools IS change.  But change can be an exciting trial for the future, and often times change takes a fork in the road under the guise of advancement which is in reality a step backward.

This blog has already gone on record commenting on returning to the use of bells to signal class changes, and sees it as a step backwards.  There has since been another blog (see "Echoing bells") citing information about schools that don't use bells between classes, just as a reference point.  It isn't as impassioned as the original bell blog "Hells, Bells".

But this time our interest lies with what may have enabled Johnson Creek schools to dispense with bells in the first place - block scheduling.  That alone is a good reason to use block scheduling, a system set up to have fewer longer classes (typically four) per day and have the same classes daily for at least a semester.

On the upside of block scheduling, longer projects can be completed in science classes, shop classes, math classes... lets face it in all subject areas.  Generally schools appear more relaxed, classes are closer to the length of classes in post-secondary institutions AND they likely counter the short attention span fostered years earlier by the likes of Sesame Street.

Education World has a tendency to agree with the latter.  They say

When students attend as many as eight relatively short classes in different subjects every day, instruction can become fragmented; longer class periods give students more time to think and engage in active learning.

A schedule with one relatively short period after another can create a hectic, assembly-line environment;

A schedule that releases hundreds or thousands of adolescents into hallways six, seven, or eight times each school day for four or five minutes of noise and chaotic movement can exacerbate discipline problems.

Teachers benefit from more useable instructional time each day because less time is lost with beginning and ending classes.

I give block scheduling several 'charm factors' for providing an environment conducive to learning AND teaching,  but there are admittedly times when charm factors aren't worth the paper they're written on, just as many educational mandates make requirements in programs without taking into consideration funding or practicality, or space, or equipment, or...!?!

During the course of a four year experience in high school, students still attend sequentially difficult classes in a variety of subject matter.  With block scheduling, it is possible that a freshman taking an advanced math class requiring a prerequisite may take the prerequisite one fall semester, but due to a schedule only allowing four class periods per day over a semester,  the advance math class may not be available until that student's junior year.  A similar scenario can play out in foreign language classes, with an introductory class one semester, but the school or the student schedule not allowing high level coursework in that language until more than a year later - making it potentially difficult to retain information from the first class.

It is difficult for humans and computers alike to schedule students satisfactorily under these situations.

The initial reaction is to return to the eight period day, which is in effect suggesting that block scheduling was just a fad, and that may be the case.  However, it is up to administrators and boards to determine what characteristics in curriculum development are more important, a solid learning environment conducive to learning or a schedule and curriculum tantamount to a checklist so that we can report, "yep, we touched on this subject, this subject, this subject and this subject..." without a chance to savor or go into depth at any one point.

How many of us grown-up type people actually do eight different things in a day?  All of us are busy, and while I am writing and doing research  for this blog and have written two other articles on separate subjects today, it often comes down to listening, reading, taking notes and writing.  Different topics, but the same work.  Yes, I may run to the grocery store, and have the tires rotated on my car, but adding those two things to the one thing I do ends up sounding like an incredibly busy day.

I think the "out-of-school" equivalent of an eight period day could go something like:

1. Go to work where you bake muffins and plan a menu before your boss has you

2.Go to your church or synagogue and translate a few pages of scripture from original languages prior to

3.Running to a lumber yard to finish blueprints that you picked up from the building inspector after proving geometrically that the structure is sound according to the codes and principles of engineering which needed to be done before you.

4. Write a legal brief using historical context with proven research sources and then it is time when the company requires the arts so you

5 Haul your instrument to the local chamber music society to practice with an ensemble for the inter-corporate competition, after which you play

6 Play a mandatory game of dodgeball to test a new product - but your job description says it's your day to

7. Collect water samples from bodies of water to check for contaminants and record that day's weather observations, but before that you are expected at the company conference room to

8 Solve some advanced algebraic equations just because they are there, and everybody else does. 

At that point you just can't wait to go home and zone out mindlessly in front of the television...

Granted most of us grew up with an eight hour set of classes, but one begins to wonder if the increased incidence of ADD/ADHD is not induced when requiring some to approach new concepts and consider the meaning of a Shakespeare play during a portion of one hour, then switch to plotting solutions to problems in multidimensional differential Calculus (which isn't related to anything tangible) during a portion of the next hour.

It is a tough choice, because schools are charged with providing so many hours of core curricular classes in a sequentially advancing curriculum.  BUT there is nothing in Wisconsin State Laws that say students MUST learn anything.  It requires an amount of school time to be offered or attended and curricular areas to be approached.  Individual districts decide on what constitutes a credit, and how many credits are required to graduate.  (Current standardized basic knowledge tests aren't intended to test students, but to evaluate schools and attach that to public funding, BUT that is a subject for another blog.)

So it isn't a clear choice, block scheduling offers many optimum learning situations.  One wonders if absolute sequential courses could be offered ONLY in paired up schedules e.g. "If you take Greek I first semester YOU WILL take Greek II second semester." essentially making it a one year class.

The eight period day allows for a schedule where one can say 'we met the spec and touched on everything required.'

In an effort to find materials on both sides of the issue, it appears that there are a variety of issues involving many variables.   Read through the research and you will find favorable and unfavorable findings.  One reason for this lies with the fact that not all block schedules are the same. Several studies in individual schools in Iowa say that grades decreased with block scheduling along with ACT and SAT scores, while Minnesota and Wisconsin finds the opposite to be true.

If local indicators are that it works, then it would behoove administrators and officials to stay with it using education as the primary rationale.  If grades and any other school characteristic are declining then it may be time to consider something else.  But it may not be an all or nothing situation. 

Then it is time to simply find what works,and do what works and not lock into an inflexible model that will prevent the best education for everyone. 

1.  What characteristics are positive about block scheduling according to teachers, students, administrators and statistics and studies? 

2.  What characteristics of the traditional schedule are positive or beneficial according to teachers, students, administrators, studies and statistics? 

Find the commonalities and expand on those commonalities to fit the needs of the students and the district.

Hells, Bells
---Sometimes less really is more...
(Commentary/Editorial)

Today was the first day of the 2004-05 school year. The time when teachers and students gather for the first time since departing on the unknown adventures that summer would hold.

The last moments before the first class are a time of anticipation and excitement triggered by the smell of freshly waxed floors, newly painted areas and the aroma of the ink wafting from new textbooks, almost as if the information and ideas within had vapors of their own making the air heady with ideas for potential treks of the new learning experiences that lay ahead.

But that special time of anticipation before launching into a new year was shattered at the Johnson Creek upper school by an annoyance, a new bell system signaling the beginning of classes. After asking about it, hoping that it was some sort of mistake, it was most dissappointing to hear that a noise had been implemented to signal class times.

If I haven't written about it, I know that I have talked about an unquantifiable yet very tangible characteristic of institutions like Johnson Creek Schools, one I call the "Charm Factor."

The charm factors at Johnson Creek Schools include the fact that grades K through 12 are on the same campus, which has promoted the use of upper class mentors and student aides at the lower grade levels. It has minimized class rank issues and streamlined the students' vision in understanding the route through the grades.

Johnson Creek school charm factors include situations held unique where a student can be a successful athlete, musician, thespian and maintain an interest in agrarian roots by belonging to and being successful in FFA.

Another is a built in support system, where everyone knows everyone in the school, with an enrollment of fewer than 600. That support system includes parents knowing parents and students knowing all the district families and realizing that a lapse in behavior will be addressed by all levels of peers and families in addition to school staff. This has kept the need for pre-emptive excessive rule making to a minimum. It is also the type of built in support system that held the school together a few years ago when a student perished in an auto accident, where in a larger institution the loss may have gone unnoticed by the majority.

And of course the small student to teacher ratio is what education experts dream of and dream for getting closer to the goal of individualized education (although with ongoing budget constraints this becomes more difficult to maintain as the old solution of consolidating schools becomes more like herding cattle to go through the motions of providing an education...).

Last year I remained silent as "security cameras" were installed in the hallways of the upper school. Reports indicate they did catch perpetrators of ongoing vandalism, as they record images from those hallways for days at a time. However one wonders if the cameras have deterred any acts vandalism or misbehavior. I sighed at their installation as they had the potential to undermine the charm factors that reinforce what the school stands for. But one also wonders how many events may have occurred in an attempt to outsmart the intrusive cameras, easily construed as a general vote of no confidence.

Today, disappointment killed the excitement of the first day of school when the evidence of the school schedule bell system became apparent, knocking the legs out from under the charm the school once held.

Across the nation, new schools are striving for characteristics like the ability to have class changes with no bells. The Scholastic Administrator website-

http://www.scholastic.com/administrator/novdec03/articles.asp?article=spotlightschool

-describes a new school in the Napa Valley, California as having "an open school culture" and a "celebrated model for replication."

The first part of a description of the New California school says it is,

"...AN OASIS OF LEARNING
Walk through the doors of New Tech High's low-key building and you'll find a welcoming environment. With no bells to signal transitions between class periods, the hallways are peaceful and unhurried."

And they are replicating what we used to have. These are characteristics leading schools are striving to have, and we are letting those characteristics dwindle.
Flexibility has been a key to the success of the Johnson Creek school district. In every instance where one has compared the local schools to a larger district, I have been able to counter with a plus directly related to the intimacy and adaptability of the district.

The class size coupled with a block schedule, allowing four 90 minute classes during a day with time for lunch and co-hort or homeroom activities, while having some bugs has the advantages first of being a relaxed atmosphere more conducive to learning. It allows for entire cooking projects to be completed, impromptu field trips to collect samples for science classes, time for lecture and lab work and precious time for rehearsals. There are some shorter classes creating a modified block schedule, but as a whole as reported in previous school board meetings, grades have gone up and the number of people on honor roll have increased while using this system. It has allowed students to concentrate on four areas of study at a time instead of the typical eight in a fragmented schedule of bits and pieces.

Up to this time, everyone has presumed that students and teachers could tell time. And when it was time for classes to change, students changed classes BUT it was done after a teacher completed a thought or an assignment, or a group returned from an impromptu outside lecture or fieldtrip.

These are among the things we are teaching students to understand: When they get to college there are no bells, they must figure out how to be where and when on their continued journey through education and life or they miss out. There are no bells out there. Yes there are deadlines, the trains, planes and busses leave on a schedule, taxes are due April 15 and the curtain goes up after the overture. And some people miss out...

Are the class bells an effort to have fewer tardiness reports? I hope not, because tardiness exists, has existed and will exist everywhere in this nation's schools. It isn't something that can be stopped with bells. Go to any school and it will be a concern of a few people, but an accepted fact by most educators. This is not to say that chronic tardiness is acceptable in schools if for the only fact that it disrupts classes and staggers the momentum of all of the students.

One of the chief factors, a charm factor if you will, that I used to brag about regarding Johnson Creek Schools was that there WERE NO BELLS signaling class changes. It was as though they were making the effort to raise the students' level up to accepting and understanding schedules, leading by example instead of forcing through a mold. In fact I used tell people that the only thing resembling a bell or signal, when it worked, was a large grandfather clock in one of the upper school hallways.

Now we have another vote of no confidence tossed at students, students who are becoming more sophisticated every year.

Why must we head for the lowest common denominator? Sure all area schools may have bells. But hasn't Johnson Creek maintained a standard that says we don't need them? The ongoing the assumption that the majority of students will do the right thing at the right time is the reason tour companies, transportation firms and hotels have written to the schools regularly to compliment the school and the students for their exceptional behavior compared to student groups from other schools when on trips and performing tours.

It is dismaying that the importance of students' timeliness has begun to supersede what they do after they arrive, because only a fraction of learning happens within the set time frame of the classroom. Students follow good teachers out on their own time to test the thermo-dynamics of shelters they built as part of a science project. They make the extra effort to attend rehearsals of musicals nightly, taking the energy of pros as teachers provide examples, often not realizing where the time has gone. They work between classes to gather resources for international humanitarian efforts. Students clammor to see Shakespeare performed in a setting realistic to the Bard's lifetime. They represent the young people of potential career choices who take part in competitions across the state and nation with the extra time and guidance from teachers. It is continued proof that school is and should be a verb - not just a place, or a building where one goes for a specific period of time.

The class bells will have a limiting effect, and have already diminished what remains of the district charm factors. They are the factors in a school system that can make people invest in a home and relocate a family -as our family did. It could have an impact in the future growth of the schools as other families make decisions on moving...or maybe not.

Once a gem is covered or lost no one knows it was there.

There are times when people familiar with what exists don't recognize the glowing and positive facets as assets until they are gone, and that is a shame.

-Lloyd Schultz
2SEP04

Education is a living thing

"Education is not the filling of a pail,
but the lighting of a fire."
- W. B. Yeats

If you have read through this edition of CreekNews, you will have seen that the majority of the pages have to do with school news. And while there is always news throughout the area, the schools grabbed much of the CreekNews' collective attention during the course of the week.

This is not an apology, for we try to cover active events and the schools and education demonstrate a perpetual activity. We can be thankful that, even though some will try as they might to make it otherwise, education is a very dynamic process.

Many wax nostalgic about the "Three R's" - reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic - evidently not realizing their education wasn't adequate enough to teach them that there is only one R in that aural alliteration.
In fact, education has never striven for just the Three R's. Educational models from England and Germany always sought more for their students. In the middle of the 19th Century Margarithe Schurz championed the idea of Kindergarten, with the first such in the US located in Watertown, Wisconsin. Starting in the first half of the 20th Century country schools in Wisconsin were linked by WHA radio. The public radio "School of the Air" included elementary and high school level classes ranging from nature studies to music. It was the first distance learning system using the audio visual technology of the day.

There was never a time when good educators would put the Three R's over an opportunity for students to better understand the world around them. Nor was there a time when teachers would prevent students from excelling in an area of interest in order to stick to R-R-R.

Accounts of 19th century teachers convey delight when the board of a one room school district could afford for the school to have a globe to reinforce geography classes. Other teachers of the time often wrote of the wish that classes would allow for them to give more individualized instruction to each student - a dream that teachers often hope for to this day.

It is unfortunate that many people think of school as a place, when it should first be considered a verb. While the hours of the institution have a beginning and an end during the day, learning should never stop. It doesn't stop with graduation from high school or college either - a concept that may be as important to learn as any skillset acquired in school.

So often schools are judged by the apparent order and decorum observed by former students. But that order is no proof that learning is happening.

Schools that encourage learning in a variety of ways are inherently alive. There is joy in the hallways, creative clutter in the classroom and there are teachers who listen as much as they lecture. In dynamic schools, desks are not always in rows, and often the greatest amount of learning happens when the classroom is empty and the Socratic tradition is maintained by refusing the limitations of four walls.

CreekNews looks forward to its coverage of the school experience, and invites readers to continue or return to learning first by celebrating the many ways that learning is manifested by the local school system.
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