March 2008 - CHS News from the Principal
March 01, 2008
On February 20 and 21
I went to a great conference in Junction City on "Equity in
Education". This conference dealt with poverty and the
inequitable conditions that we impose on those in poverty, in our
educational system. It was an important conference and
offered many changes that we need to implement to transform our
practices. It is important that we recognize that students
and parents from poverty simply do not have the same access to
material resources that their economically advantaged peers take
for granted. We have to understand that ALL of our parents
value education and want a great education for their child; we have
to engage and motivate ALL of our students. Some of the ways
we as educators can change:
*Work requiring computer and Internet access needs to be done on
in-school time
*To make parent involvement easier, provide transportation, on-site
childcare and time flexibility
*Develop curricula that are relevant and meaningful to our
students' lives and draw on their experiences and surroundings
*Continue to reach out to parents, even if we feel they are being
unresponsive; establish trust
*Challenge ourselves, our biases and prejudices, by educating
ourselves about the cycle of poverty in and out of our school
If we do these small things, ALL of our children will benefit and
Concordia itself will benefit.