More from an “Old” chair

These ideas/thoughts are mine and mine alone… I cannot and do not speak for the board. Now, let’s move on to my topic for the day- READING to our children.

Looking in on the new mother and father, we see them sitting and reading out loud to their infant. What a loving picture and how cute we say. The truth is that, even at that age, the infant can watch things turning in front of his or her face, can and does listen intently to the sound of the voices that are shaping his and her future. As they grow, they point to pictures of animals and imitate those animals’ voices; they look at the pictures their beloved parents are looking at and learn language. But they learn something far more valuable than that. They learn the value of reading and the value of the words that form their world. In addition, through reading and talking with parents about possibilities, the child’s imagination grows and helps them begin to understand our world. [Well that could be a bit of a stretch as I read quite a bit and certainly don’t understand our world… but for a child- things begin to make sense.]

Reading out loud to them helps them learn to listen; they begin to see the melody of the spoken words and the beauty of possibilities. A few minutes a day is so rewarding for the parent- and so worthwhile for the child. The attention paid to the child reaps other benefits as well. If you have more than one child, reading together is great, but it is suggested that you try and find time to read one on one with each child. Once the child recognizes the relationship between the three letter word ‘cow’ and the moo animal in the picture, he or she is beginning to read. Continuing this process allows the child to feel comfortable vocalizing and reading words that will lead to simple sentences. They will know the luxury of inflection, sarcasm and recognition which will help their preschool teachers and early grade teachers continue that development. As your child grows, continuing this process and modeling your own silent reading- a sports magazine, a fine local newspaper like this one or a home improvement book- continues this value clarification that reading is a good and meaningful thing.

I grew up in the days before internet but shortly after dinosaurs. We had books, magazines, and comic books as well as a regular MAD issue around most of the time. Somehow my parents knew the value of reading even though they were never college bound. Of course, I know them to be of unlimited intelligence and wisdom- but I could be slightly biased. My parents read and discussed and read some more. When I had a question, they said “Look it up” and provided me the tools to do that. When I taught middle school, I found, and believe to this day, that the important factor is getting children to love to read. I didn’t care what they read during our 15 minute silent reading time [as long as it was not rated R that is]. Access is so easy today. I read on my kindle; I read on the internet; I read the books that literally line the walls of my home; I seek out new sources of the issues that interest me. I owe this to my parents who taught me the love of words very early in my life. However, I honestly do believe it is never too late to make a difference in our children’s lives.

If you have teenage children, watch their amazement that you have been reading song lyrics from the hip hop rappers Common or Erykah Badu. If you check those lyrics, you’ll find very meaningful comments about our world today- the world that your young adults inhabit. If you have children in middle or elementary school, read what they are reading and listen to the interests your child has. Our Fern Ridge Library is full of rich extensions of that interest- cultivate it. If you have grandchildren, do all the things you did and wish you did in this area with your children and more. So regardless of the age of your children, modeling reading helps mold the future of these up and coming citizens of our world. Work with the teachers, follow the child’s abilities as they grow stronger with each passing day and grade, and if you have questions, talk with the teachers- seek out the classroom truth of what she or he is seeing happening.

For more information check out the Reading is Fundamental website list of important results of reading at   http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/facts-about-reading-aloud.htm and if your children or grandchildren don’t live near you- volunteer in our schools. Frankly, I thought RIF stood for Reading if FUN. It is- A child will enjoy and benefit from reading to you.

As always, I remain open to comments and questions. Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us – I look forward to hearing from you again. I leave you with a thought from Walt Disney – “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age and dreams are forever.” Something new as well- From time to time, I will share a website with you that you might enjoy. This is Taylor Mali- a well-known poet from the poetry slam movement. He believes in the nobility of the teaching profession:     http://youtu.be/RxsOVK4syxU . Join the other teachers in your children’s lives- teach and learn together. You will be glad you did!

Observations from an OLD Chair about Listening
I would be remiss if I did not start out with: these are my thoughts and only my thoughts; I do NOT speak for the board-!!! Bet you have heard that before 
Tonight I decided to write about listening. It is an excellent skill… here’s an old question – If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? The reverse is also true- If no one says anything until a decision is made, does that mean that no one was listening? I believe that communication is the key piece in most everything we do or hope to do. This is a learning process on many levels – I would very much like to be able to improve the communication with the community, and believe we have made some positive strides in that direction. Yet, I still hear that some in the community feel unheard or may even feel that the school board does not act based on community input. I can think of two recent examples where decisions were made based solely on the feedback we received from parents and staff. I will elaborate.
First of all, my job as I see it is to try to make intelligent decisions for the good of the students, parents and staff while making financially prudent choices. To do that I listen to the facts presented to me; I do my personal research into the issue; I listen to input from parents, students and staff; I vote based on that information. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? But not always.
My first example has to do with busses at Veneta Elementary. I have always disliked and felt our students and families were endangered by the bus situation as it was for the last years. The new plan, lining them up over to the north of the school made sense to me, was recommended by the architects and approved by the original design committee. The busses would not be in front of the school so all the real and imagined dangers having to do with large vehicles, little cars and even littler children would be greatly diminished. Financially, it was a sound decision. All is well. Then Dr. Fromme from the Veneta Veterinary Clinic came to our meeting offering a solution that I liked even better – At First. The buses would enter from Hunter through a side entrance, make a loop behind the school and exit with children safely in the bus. Sounds even better – until the community came to us with their concerns. Supervision was going to be tough. The play area in the middle of that loop was going to be smaller because of the loop. Territorial Sports Program [TSP] provided many games there and would also be affected. Some were concerned because the community uses that track as a walking area for exercise. There were many more solid reasons that were brought to my attention. One of the final straws for me was that Hunter is a very narrow street and now we are going to have all buses turning in and pulling out in that space where children, adults and pets walk regularly without bike lanes or much of any walking space. So we went back to the drawing board. We discussed this at length – some of you may have been present. I appreciated the offer so much, but there was just so many who came forward and spoke up against the idea that I changed my mind- as did others I would guess given the vote the came about. Why did that happen? Your Board listened to you. I weighed the options with the other things I mentioned above which I consider are my responsibility and voted with your input. Thank you so much for bringing these things to my attention.
The other recent example I have happened early June of this year. Elmira Elementary School is finalizing their design plan. The experts recommended putting the gym on the south end of the school with the office in between and the cafeteria area [the Commons] at the north end. Made sense to me, and it looked great. The committee of parents and staff liked something else. They wanted to have the gym in the middle with the office on one side and the Commons on the other. Now to me, this did not make much sense… The Entry was going to be less formal or visible, and it truly foregrounded the gym.
Those of you who know me well know I have spent the last 40 years working with the University of Oregon athletes on the academic side of the equation. My greatest complaint about our society is that we put too much emphasis on sport achievement and not enough on academics. The thousands of students I have worked with through the years often had never received accolades for their ability to think as all praise went to their jumping, running, throwing or hitting ability. So I instinctively did not like foregrounding the gym.
But then the meeting happened. The architects gave us the expert recommendation- said that the other choice being considered [the committee’s preference] was going to be “almost” as cost effective. The folding door joining the Commons and the gym was going to cost $70,000 and hints were made that it could be damaged by gym like activities. The parents and the staff were adamant about their preference and made extremely good points as to why their choice worked better for them and therefore the community. After some discussion, it was suggested that perhaps the folding door could be eliminated. As a result of excellent input from both the experts and those who will be using the building who are experts in what they prefer and know will work better, the board listened. If the costs are the same, the gym will be in the middle.
So I guess those are two examples of where community input was so valuable to me in casting my vote. There was another example of community input that resulted from a decision we made that we knew was best for the students but had not let the parents voice their position. Some did and I am grateful to them as well. With their input we were able to adjust the situation to something that worked well for as many as possible and achieved our end goal.
This is an area of communication I am looking to improve. The problem for me is determining what might draw comment, getting it out in a timely manner, finding a way to reach as many as possible, take input and make a decision in a timely manner. But that is another conundrum, another column and another day. I would love to hear your opinion on how you feel that might be done.
I am grateful to the community who have contacted me and who have come to meetings. I understand that family time is important time so you might write to me or any board member and make your concern known. It is the ONLY way a board member can listen- if you share your ideas. Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us – I look forward to hearing from you again. I leave you with this thought and quote. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. Margaret Fuller (1810-1850, Journalist, Critic and Women’s Rights Activist) and this video about a form of listening. https://youtu.be/gvwHHMEDdT0 Enjoy.