Yesterday I posted a video of Geno Auriemma talking about the kind of athlete he recruits for UConn’s women’s team. It’s great–you can find it anywhere on the YouTube circuit.
But that’s about the athlete. What about the student? If old Betsy DeVos gets her way and every school becomes a voucher school, don’t even think they won’t have a selection process for students. Many will want to go to those “better” schools, but somehow/someway there will be students who don’t make the cut.
My wife and I have often kidded about starting Stover High School (we have no mascot name yet). Who would we let in? What kind of student would we want to attract? The answer is SO easy, but we often forget, as we are swayed by personality and style.
–We want kids with intellectual curiosity. You know, kids who want to learn stuff.
–We want to know what books are on their shelves, what music is on their playlists.
–We want to meet their parents so we could see if we were going to be thought of as babysitters or teachers. When parents drop their kids off late EVERY day at school, you can only blame so much on the student.
–Passions? Overrated. Potential? Ridiculous. Give us the kid who gets it done, because we’ve had tons of kids with passions and potential, student who gave us hope for the future, but nothing ended up getting done. Happens every year.
The list could go on. Simple, right? You’d be surprised. Because I bought into the idea of a PLC long ago. Professional, learning community. It’s community that has everyone winning. It’s a daily battle of tardies, cheating, work getting done, reading.
There’s a quote that makes me sad every time I think of it. Chief Joseph–“I will fight no more forever.” You could call it his speech of surrender. Makes me sad every time.