CHALLENGING OUR YOUTH

Marina came to the United States on a student visa, yearning to leave a war torn existence behind in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Through her, I learned just how far behindAmerica is in educating its youth. By the age of 16, Marina was already rich with science and math skills, as these areas of academia are well taught to the youth in Eastern Europe. I was in awe and envious of her knowledge of chemistry and biology, which even at that time seemed to be above college level knowledge. Her only weaknesses were writing in proper English form, and driving without getting tickets or into accidents.

The experience of knowing Marina, was an up-close affirmation of how far behind America is in educating our children properly. Just this week, The Gazette confirmed this realization with a featured article reflecting how America is falling behind in the “space race.” Countries such as India, China and Israel are gaining on the west fairly quickly. It was reported that India launched ten satellites from one rocket at a single launch recently— the first time a large satellite project such as this has been done. The exploration and use of the last frontier is rapidly shrinking. America now has some fierce competition.

I can remember back in the 1970’s of reports claiming that America fell behind countries such as Japan in the science and math areas. In the 1980’s there were critical reports written reflecting the high suicide rates of Japanese students due to the pressures of maintaining excelling grades and the academic competition. America shook her head at the sacrifice of Japanese students, never taking her own children’s failure to keep in pace with the sciences and mathematics seriously. As the rest of the world took notice and invested in their children, America found one excuse after another to budget cut educational programs. Here we are several decades past the claims that America cannot keep in pace with other developing countries academically. What has been done to fix this? Shouldn’t these red flags scare us?

Depending on whom you ask globally, America is deemed as being the greatest country on the planet, a super power. Emigration to the U.S. is always a popular choice for many individuals who seek independence, freedom, and democracy. Our Land of Opportunity beckons to people worldwide to cross vast oceans to reach our shores for a chance of a new life filled with promise. For those who emigrate, many leave behind family, friends and everything they have ever owned, in order to begin a new life with more freedoms than they could ever dream of. What they sacrifice in order to come to America is worth the chance to turn over a new leaf, to begin a new chapter in life.

Nearly every high school or college in this nation allows room for foreign students to attend. Many colleges even maintain a coffer of funds that are set aside for these special students in the form of scholarships and work aid. Foreign students are an asset in that they offer traditional U.S. students a chance to learn what other countries are like without ever having to leave the states. Diversity helps make college degrees a little sweeter whenAmerican students are willing to get to know foreign students. The experience of knowing a foreign person can enrich one’s understanding of what it means to be an American and one that reminds us that our freedoms do not come to us without sacrifice, nor are they free. It also gives us a real global perspective.

Why are we falling behind the race for academic excellence? What can we do about this? Perhaps pressuring our government to refocus on the importance of education would be the first step. We could all send letters of concern to our Congressmen or even to the President. With all of the other current issues that are in the limelight such as our gas crisis and involvement in war, it would seem that attempting to draw attention to education crisis would be anything but possible.

However, we must start somewhere in requesting that the education system in America be given an overhaul. Otherwise, we are waving the white flag of academic defeat to the rest of the world. Restructuring the education process in America will take generations to complete, so the quicker we initiate our concerns to the right people, the faster we initiate change. In order to beef up the performance of students in the field of math and science, teaching these disciplines must begin in Kindergarten in all schools, not just the schools that educated the affluent. If we sit back and do nothing, we might as well put our feet up and watch the rest of the world surpass our successes from the comforts of an arm chair.

We easily see a reflection of success vs. struggle in separation of economic status when we look at students and school districts performances by viewing the publically announced CSAP results each year. Rural schools on the eastern plains are constantly battling between smaller budgets and rising operating costs. Per capital income is lower with families on the plains than in school districts that service Falcon, Monument and the Broadmoor areas for example. Consistently we see the CSAP scores of CheyenneMountain School District students significantly higher than D-22, JT60, RJ-1 students as well as other smaller rural schools.

Does thismean that their students are brighter? No. It means that they simply have more resources available to them because their tax base helps offset the money that the state provides the districts. More money equals more pay for teacher’s salaries and programs for the school.

There are so many great teachers in these smaller schools who constantly deal with small budgets and long commutes, especially in the winters. Teachers are hard to retain in smaller districts because of the smaller salaries and their cost of commuting.

Now with the soaring cost of fuel, we need to prepare ourselves for the next round of budget and faculty adjustments. How will this rise of operating cost effect rural schools where bus stops are sometimes miles apart? So just how do we fix the plunging interest in math and science with our students who come from less affluent areas when we have all of these other little negative factors weighing in? We must voice our concerns all the way up the chain. We must also be willing to give our time to our children and to the schools to help facilitate a difference. Education MUST be a top priority in our country, and be maintained as a primary focus.

When education is a top priority, our future becomes well invested in. We would then create a stronger foundation of future scientists and mathematicians who give back in the form of great inventions that help sustain our presence as a super power in the world. We will be better able to compete with India, Japan and China when it comes to new frontiers, as well as reforming older frontiers into more functional ones of today. We have heard the saying over and over of how our children are our future. We must ensure that our government is invested in making this more than an old adage, but a reality.

I heard from Marina the other day. She is successfully completing her degree in dentistry in Connecticut, at one of the top dentist college inAmerica. She is planning to continue her education in the specialty field of prosthodontics. She shared with me how much she enjoys performing implants, working with dentures, crowns and bridges, by saying, “Since I did some of this kind of lab work back home in high school this kind of comes full circle for me.”

Hellooo?? She did this kind of work in high school?? What does this say about American education and the capacity our government thinks our kids have for learning at 15, 16 and 17 years of age?

I guess to answer this question all we have to do is look at what other countries are teaching their teens. Even war ravaged countries have the power to see the importance in investing towards their future through students.

Marina took the adverse circumstances of her youth, sacrificed her heritage, to pursue a love for learning. Marina turned it all into a new life worth exploring in a new frontier. She has taught me that even though a country has one eye on severe social and political problems, while the other reflects a functioning education system, an individual can grab life by the horns and ride off into a new direction where opportunities are what you make of them.

Even though America tends to be blinded by political interests and less focused on the value a solid education can be for this nation, we can use our liberties and freedoms as the commuter vehicle that forges a new path to a brighter future for America.

Education needs to become more hands on for the students, more applied learning helps children to better understand concepts. We must take gaming controllers out of their hands, and challenge their fingers with professional tools of higher academia and careers.

We have to be willing to sit in the driver’s seat and help takeAmerica into a new direction by speaking out to demand change. Otherwise, that comfortable armchair with the footrest will be the only thing heading into the future. How fast will that take us there?