Public education: building futures

Friday, July 21, 2017 at 3:14 pm

Originally published in the Citrus Chronicle: http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/public-education-building-futures

Teachers are a special group of people who act as parent and elder. I am proud to say I become a teacher five years ago due in large part to the great teachers and coaches I had while attending Citrus Springs Middle and Lecanto High School in the late 90s through the middle 2000s. When I talk to my colleagues about teaching, the consensus is students inspire and challenge us, and we thrive shining a positive light for them in their darkest times.

This year I had the great joy of teaching a student who was able to shine even though they were going through some personal issues. This student was shy, but fought through it. At the start, they weren’t the most adept student or most interested student I had this year in Civics, but instead of shutting down and focusing on their issues they strove for success, and achieved it.

This student inspired me. I would often adjust my teaching style or curriculum depending on their reaction. The reason I used them as the basis was because if they seemed interested and were learning the material, then my methods were working. I knew if they didn’t get the material there was no way the other students would. Everyone looked to them for leadership and though they might not have realized it, they were the cog that made the classroom run.

This student also had the ability to work with others. When we tell our students it doesn’t matter who you work with, if you are working they won’t annoy you, they took this to heart.

There were times I had to put them in a group for leadership or knowledge purposes. They were a student that wanted to learn. They were always willing to help classmates, and on holidays remembered what the teacher’s favorite things were.

This student was just one of many with which I could write for days about.

The reason, I am writing this and will be writing other success stories about the students we as teachers in Citrus County public schools interact with every day is because no matter how flawed public education may seem, there are a greater number of successes. Teachers strive to be the shining light down the future’s uncertain path, yet we cannot do this alone. We need parents to support us and our discipline in the classroom. We need to pressure our political parties to put forth candidates that want to improve lives of our students and will put forth measures allowing teachers to teach while holding us accountable for the things we can control. It is important to demand funding to rebuild damaged or aging schools, because no matter what anyone says, school environment does matter. We need to demand our support professionals (aides, bus drivers, lunch ladies, and custodians) earn a living wage so they can master their trades, while at the same time have the correct supplies to do their jobs correctly. We need to continue working as a community to push education. Not because every child needs to go to college, but every child needs the opportunity to have choices in life and understand what those choices are. Public education is a place for good, and without the help of the community we cannot succeed.

Donald Whitaker

Inverness