IT SEEMS that education is always in the news. Whether it’s league tables of schools or the latest call for schools to “do something” about the issue of the day, it doesn’t ever seem like much time elapses between stories on some aspect of schools or education by most news outlets.
I guess that’s because education matters and, in particular, schools matter. It’s because kids are our future, and everyone wants our kids to be doing better than ever before, and we are very focused on everything they do. For parents, this is especially intensified as each little achievement of our children can give us a great sense of pride, and each misstep is a cause for great concern. Either way, every parent is deeply engaged in the possibilities and opportunities available for their children.
I think what is often lost in this is the kids themselves. I don’t really think the fundamentals of what our students want have changed over all the time I have been in teaching. Most kids want to feel belonging and connection; they want to know that someone cares for them, they crave clear rules and consistent boundaries (although they won’t always say it that way), and they are curious about their world and value those teachers who help them unlock its mysteries.
Our high school-aged young men and women have an energy we start to lose as we get older, with nimble minds that learn quickly, especially in the right conditions.
With that energy, they often love sport and movement, and anything that can use that energy physically and in a productive way. They value people who bring that to them, like their sports coaches, who challenge them to improve.
Their young minds are generally up for the challenge, and they want to be stimulated and learn new things. They learn new technologies at lightning speed. They are less self-conscious about little failures than we are as we get older. They are deeply a product of their environment, so how they are nurtured within their family, within their community and within their school matters! Everything we are will pass on to them.
Schools are in the news because their outcomes matter and because we want to see our young people achieve at their best. Sometimes, the things the news wants to focus on are the wrong levers, and some things can be blown way out of proportion. The news rarely focuses on what is so right, so positive, so creative, and so capable about our young people. I think it’s time we reset some things and let everyone know of the great things that our young people do and why Coolum State High really is the place to be. It’s because our students are so valuable, and they are capable of so much!