Pam:
That was very interesting. I have two questions though. What is the school like today? Are the same policies in place? Also, how many students attended Harry Ainlay Composite when you were there?
Arlington High School, where you work, is the alleged reincarnation of Mechanic Arts H.S., where I attended from 1964-1967. So as a comparison (and for your amusement), here are some bullets regarding life at good old MAHS.
By way of introduction, Mechanic Arts was the 2nd high school in St. Paul (after Central) and was envisioned as a combination high school and trade school (hence the name). My dad matriculated alongside Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun in the 1920s (although Dad left after the 10th grade). Because this was during the baby boom, there were 10 city high schools open (Central, Mechanics, Humboldt, Highland Park, Monroe, Johnson, Harding, Wilson, Washington, and ... I forget one). At Mechanic Arts:
* 1300 or so kids in grades 7 through 12
* Hours were 7:30 to 3:00
* There were no school busses. You had to find your own way to school. Most kids walked or took the city bus. About a half dozen seniors had cars. The school parking lot was for faculty only.
* Although most of the four floors (plus the basement) were used for traditional high school, the 4th floor was also the "vocational school," which included a reknown chef's school where the city's movers and shakers would often meet for lunch.
* Students who were not inclined towards college and had a job outside of school were dismissed at 11:30 to work at those jobs.
* Because we had an elevator, it was the only school in town that accommodated handicapped kids. The 12-15 mostly wheelchair-bound kids were assisted by a staff of four white-uniform clad physical aides who helped them get to classes and lunch etc. I should add that every effort was made by the student body to embrace and include those kids in all of the school activities.
* Socio-economically, we were probably the poorest school in town, with most of the kids coming from the McDonough housing project ("Hungry Hill"), the Rice Street area, University avenue, or from the Selby-Dale neighborhood (like me).
* Ethnically, we were a combination of white, black, hispanic, and American Indian with a slew of first-generation immigrants. I had friends from Russia, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Iran and Mexico.
* English was the only language used in school.
* French and Spanish language classes were available but not required.
* I don't remember how the classes were assigned (I just remember having my schedule handed to me on day one) but I do remember that I had three years of math (two years of algebra and one year of trigonometry), three years of English (composition, literature, "advanced"), three years of science (biology, chemistry and physics), three years of music (choir) and three years of phy ed.
* Most of the boys had a shop class (wood, metal, electronics) and the girls had a home economics class (cooking, sewing, child care)
* There was one career counselor for each grade. I never met with one until the last week of my senior year when the senior counselor called me into her office to tell me I had won a full scholarship (that I never applied for) and that my SAT score was 1350 and could go to Harvard or Yale if I wanted to. It was the first time we had ever met and she seemed shocked and a bit embarrassed at the turn of events. I said no thanks, I was joining the Navy.
Now, I'm not a religious person, but I include these last few bullets just show you how much times have changed.
* Corporal punishment was the order of the day, with most male teachers having a paddle hanging in the front of the room. The paddle was a sawed-off goalie stick with holes drilled into it to improve its aerodynamics. A paddle offense (one whack) was reserved for boys only and was rarely used, althought I received at least three that I recall. Telling your parents of your paddling ensured you got another one from Dad.
And although we were considered the toughest school in town with the "roughest" kids:
* The really bad kids were those who used profanity or smoked in the bathrooms (although the teachers' lounge was a thick haze of puffing adults)
* In my three years there I witnessed one fight ... between David Proulx and Ricky Sharp, the two toughest kids in school. It was a draw.
* In my three years there only one girl got pregnant (name withheld to protect the now model-parent) and she was sent away to a school for wayward girls for the duration of her pregnancy.
* Our choir (with me singing barotone), finished 4th in the state choir competition, singing "Halleluja Chorus from the Messiah" which was also the featured number in our CHRISTMAS pagent.
But I think you're right in that the best teachers, the ones we remember to this day (George Janisch), were the ones who challenged us. Who ripped us a new one in front of God and everyone if we dared come to class unprepared.
But I disagree with your comment: "When will we stop reworking education every four years when there is a change in the White House and/or a change at the State Capitol. Education should be something we don't redo every four years, that factor alone contributes more to our under achievement than anything."
I don't see it. In my humble opinion, things began to change for the worse when in 1970, the NEA went from being an education association to a labor union. Now decisions are made, not with the kids' best interests in mind, but with the "memberships'."
Dennis Tester Mac-Groveland
----- Original Message ----- From: "Pam Ellison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Joe Nathan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "St Paul Discuss" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 8:06 PM
Subject: [StPaul] Edmonton Schools - State of the Art in the 70's incomparison to US schools - My Opinion by experience
Joe:
Just returned from an unexpected visit to Edmonton last week, to attend my
grandmother's funeral. It was good to go back and drive past my old high
school. It brought back memories that lead me to the educated conclusion
that the education I received in Edmonton back in the early 70's is still
more state of the art in comparison to the way in which we educate students
today at the secondary level.
Here were the facts in 1972-75 at Harry Ainlay Composite High School in Edmonton, Alberta Canada
I will try to keep to a bulleted list of things that made high school great
there. (I would go back to my high school days in a minute.)
* School hours were 8:00 AM - 4:00PM ( give or take a half hour)
*All classes were offered at multiple times of day, so each high school
student chose their classes around their personal schedule (no need for late
start, you could choose it.
*A college or academic track was simultaneously offered at the same time a Trade track was offered in the same school
* There was a program for everyone whether you wanted to focus on college, work as soon as you graduated or opted for both
*The campus was an open campus and students came and went according to their
class schedule
*High school was run more like college in an effort to prepare you FOR college
*Students purchased their textbooks at the school bookstore and were completely responsible for them, they could resell them if they so chose.
*Teachers took attendance and the attendance record was part of the report card that also showed the grades
*Teachers would bend over backwards to help students that needed and asked for assistance
*By the same token they had little time for students who skipped class and chose not to show up
*There was no effort to assist those who were truant, they either rose to the occasion or they failed the class
*There was little intervention by the school system for students who did not
want to do the work
*Students were expected to graduate before or by their 18th birthday, and if
they failed to make the grade by that time, they had to pay the system for
credits through a type of GED course or by correspondence courses.
* There was little misbehavior in the classroom, because largely those that
didn't want to be there didn't show up thereby allowing the teacher to teach
instead of find creative ways to make incorrigible students behave. That is
not their job.
*Parents were involved because it was THEIR responsibility to make certain their child was performing, not the school's or the teachers.
*Public schools is paid for by taxation much like it is here, but textbooks
in the high school's were the student's responsibility and it worked well.
*We had a full range of athletic and artistic opportunities available as well.
*Each high school drew students from a defined attendance area, and school choice was not offered or needed, because all high schools offered largely the same types of program tracks.
*Keep in mind that Canada also uses the metric system of mathematics which
greatly reduces many of the problems that our students struggle with in
regards to conversion to the English system. I believe we are the only
country that teaches the English system and the whole rest of the world has
gone metric long ago. This means that our students need to master both. We
lag behind in Math test scores and this is one of the statistically proven
reason. ( Attended a seminar put on by SPPS at the Midway Sheraton in 1999
where an expert mentioned this as one of the big problems holding our
students academic achievement back, and he had the empirical evidence to
prove it.
* Canadian students ( in Edmonton anyway) spend from the end of August to
the end of June in school each year. They put more time in than we do. They
get the traditional two week winter break and a one week spring break.
* Many of my high school credits from Canada counted as College credit when
I came back to Saint Paul for my college education.
* Summer school was never offered. You got your work done during the year or you failed. Social promotion did not occur.
Sorry for the long list, but I thought all of these points are worth
considering when we think about the way we educate here. When will we stop
reworking education every four years when there is a change in the White
House and/or a change at the State Capitol. Education should be something
we don't redo every four years, that factor alone contributes more to our
under achievement than anything.
Overall, just a few comments, as I DO work at Arlington High School and I
believe as far as High Schools go in Saint Paul, we do a great job in the in
the current system.
First of all, I would have to say that we are misssing the boat when we are
not offering a Trade track in every high school and only focusing on sending
students to college. We demean unintentionally those students that are not
college bound by making them feel that if they don't go to college they
cannot be successful. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know a
student at Arlington who is trying hard to pass the Basic Standards so he
can graduate, because he already has an automatic job from his uncle who
lays flooring and carpeting. This student knows that this is what he wants
to do for a living. He is not a candidate for college and he is looking
forward to working in the trades. He told me that the minute he graduates,
he will be taken into the family business and start out making between
$25.00 - $40.00 an hour. How many of the people on this list make that
much??? So can he be successful without a college degree, by all means!
Why are we not seeing this? To many students are being squeezed into a mold
that doesn't work for them, and we need to CHANGE our thoughts where this
issue is concerned.
I will give one final example from my high school years. I had a friend
that was one year ahead of me in school. She decided she wanted to be a
beautician. Our school had a Beauty Culture program where she spent most of
her time. We also had a working salon much like Aveda has in Minneapolis,
right in our school. Students and community members could come and pay for
services at a reduced rate and the students would get their hours needed in
their practicum in this way. I got my haircut at school all the time. The
day after she graduated she started a fulltime job in a salon nearby and
made a great income. She was a RAGING SUCCESS!
Once we provide opportunities for both academics and trade officianados then
we need to RAISE the bar for student behavior. We need to RAISE the bar on
what we expect from parents. We need to intervene less and let our students
who choose to misbehave FEEL the consequences of their behavior, by allowing
them to fail. I am a parent and I find that the best taught and best
received lessons are lessons that happen as a result of allowing in a
controlled way my child to fail and experience the ramifications of
behavior.
When you have high expectations of students and instill a "sky is the limit"
mentality, they will soar. If you expect the worst that is what you will
get.
Respectfully submitted,
Pam Ellison Como Park Saint Paul
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