Another Delco Guy In South Jersey

Wordless Wednesday - Art

 

The Madness Has Ended - Or Has It?

Last night the Prince of Darkness and his minions smashed the forces of All That Is Good and Holy and took the national championship for NCAA Men's Division I Basketball. There was a score, but the score was not really indicative of how much The Prince's (John Calipari) forces dominated the boys from Kansas.  This was as thorough a destruction as I have seen of one team in a championship game and despite a late attempt by Kansas to make things look respectable, the game was really never in doubt.

This was the predicted outcome. The gifted recruiter Coach Cal would finally get his national championship ring and his players would disperse to the winds to prepare for the NBA draft, possibly never having seen a UK classroom this semester. Bill Self's KU squad, already a loser to Kentucky back in November didn't have the firepower then and it didn't last night. Kentucky may not either next year, as they are set to lose freshmen superstars Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for certain and probably also Marquis Teague.

But Kentucky will reload with new talent, the recruiting of top prospects fueled by Coach Cal's first ring and the likelihood that the NCAA is still a few years away from catching up to him at Kentucky.  I don't really have a problem with the players to spend a year 'at school' and then head to the NBA draft.  For me, an educated, suburban, white guy to tell these kids who generally have so little academic preparation for college that they need a college degree to be successful while the NBA beckons with guaranteed millions is just stupid.

However, I do think that this is just another example of how college sports are nothing like what we pretend them to be. There is very little honorable or noble about universities making millions off the labor of athletes who will never graduate. Similarly, the athletes participating in this sham are little more than mercenaries, serving their term of enlistment for the bonus at the end of the line.

And it's not going to change. The NCAA tournament TV contract is an $11 BILLION deal. Anyone who has been to a Final Four has seen the obscene amount of money that gets thrown around in bars, restaurants and clubs wherever the games land each year. Then there is the merchandise.  People who can't find Kentucky on a map are bedecked in school color, wearing foam fingers and painting their faces. It's a virtual orgy of consumerism around a few games played by kids, who for the most part are not even able to drink yet.

It's a giant mess and it isn't going to get better.  I've always been a huge fan of March Madness, but this year may have been the beginning of the end for my enjoyment. The Madness isn't in Lehigh beating Duke (ouch that hurt) or in Butler making it all the way to the final game. It's in the masses believing that this is really amateur athletics and that the experience is somehow important to what colleges and universities are supposed to be about - namely education.

BTS Night Debacle

So last night was back to school night at my son's school.  I like back to school nights.  I think they are a great way to get a feel for the school and the teachers as well as a great opportunity to get to know the other parents.  It's always interesting to meet the parents of the kids I hear so much about.  The parents seem far more normal that the texts I have read from their kids to my son about them!

Last night was my first BTS night at the school my son attends.  The last 2 BTS nights were in our old school district.  It was pretty interesting to see how two different middle schools approached the event.

Last night, our grade started by going to each of the classes on our kids' schedules.  I knew where to start, but son's mom grabbed up the paperwork so, I basically had to follow the herd from class to class since I didnt have a schedule.  No biggie.  It can't be that hard, right?

It wasn't. What was hard was the timing.  We only got 7 minutes in each class.  I was trying to figure out why we were being rushed from place to place, given that the last session was labeled as a "Meet the Related Arts Teachers" session.  Each of the 7 minute sessions was really about 5 minutes by the time we got settled.  It didn't leave much time for substantive discussions and it left NO time for personal questions.

Each teacher was great about making sure we felt comfortable with contacting them, but everything seemed pretty rushed and no one got through their entire presentation.  Once we we finished with the regular teachers, we were all herded into the gym for the "Meet the Related Arts Teachers" session.  Then it became clear why the rest of the night had been rushed. 

The school district, in its infinite wisdom, had contracted with a guest speaker to deliver a speech on all of the problems that are facing today's middle schoolers.  He got as much time for his spiel as all of the rest of the teachers combined.  It's 45 minutes of my life that I want back.  After a cursory point int the direction of the gym, art, music and Spanish teachers, John Kriger was introduced.

I've seen the standard 'The World is a Dangerous Place' talk before.  Last year, the community police officer in Mount Laurel did a great job introducing 5th grade parents to the dangers of sexting, Facebook and other issues.  He had real world examples drawn directly from our community and he was able to convey facts with authority as well as offer practical solutions. I don't live in Mount Laurel anymore, but I still have his name and number in my phone in case I have a question.

Tabernacle, though, doesn't have a home town police department, so instead went to a paid speaker.  I sure hope they didn't pay John Kriger much for his 45 minutes of fear-mongering and lecturing on 'the problems of this generation' of kids. 

Kriger presented in a warm, modulated voice, running though his slides and interacting in a friendly way with the audience.  He seems like a grandfatherly bank vice president when he's up there. A very competent seeming guy. It was his message that was just silly.

His basic theme was that technology has ruined kids.  He went on and on about the internet and being connected 24/7 and how it has ended family time, reduced concentration ability, endangered health and essentially made kids slobbering fools.

He also wanted to make sure we were terrified of bath salts (now banned), energy drinks (the same effect on the body as cocaine!!!!????), 4Loko (reformulated already) and of course Farmville.  

For every one of his pronouncements about technology and kids, I could imagine my parents sitting in the same gym 30 years ago hearing about the dangers of Movies glamorizing drinking and drugs, or their parents hearing about the dangers of television or my great grandparents hearing about the dangers of radio.

Humans evolve.  Technology changes.  Drugs of abuse have been part of human existence for eternity.  Growing up and parenting can have some scary moments, but the message last night was that kids can't possibly handle the evil place the world has become and parents are just not doing the job.

There were wild claims, unsupported statements, dated 'news' and questionable science.  And I was left wondering to what end this man was lecturing us.  He never really explained.  Just let us know that we needed to turn off our devices and be ever vigilant.

Never once did he mention how much more able this generation of kids is to collaborate, to sift though vast amounts of information to make decisions and to accept change.  Instead, he made blanket statements about colleges saying that kids are more unprepared than ever for the rigors of college work.  As a college enrollment officer, I can tell you that Kriger is dead wrong on that.  Students today are prepared for college in a different way than any generation before, but that's because the world is a very different place.

As the parents grumbled, Kriger pushed on, apparently oblivious to the fact that he had lost most of us.  A few brave souls, confident of their ability to parent their children, got up and left.  A hilarious moment came when several members of the audience spontaneously joined the volunteer fire company and bolted from the room when a fire call was sounded.

In the end my major issue was that this guy got way too much time for his alarmist agenda and the teachers got far too little time to talk to us.  He was a poor choice for a speaker, but the really poor choice was to maximize his time and minimize our potential to interact with the most important non-family members in their lives, their teachers.

Tabernacle Teachers

My kids go to school where their mom lives in Tabernacle Township, one town over from where we live in Medford. It's a pretty good school district, perhaps not quite as technologically savvy as the Mount Laurel schools they used to attend, and not really very diverse, but just fine as public schools go.  The teachers are good people, the kind of folks who are active in their community, approachable and well-trained.

Tabernacle is a very small town and a pretty quiet place.  Everyone pretty much knows everyone else or at least knows someone who does.  News travels pretty quickly and sometimes it can be a bit like being in a fishbowl.  So I was pretty surprised when I began seeing singes like the one above on all of the teachers' cars in the parking lots in the morning when I drop the kids off.  I read the local newspapers every day (online of course) and there had not been a word mentioned about the the Tabernacle teachers not having a contract or their decision to work though the labor issues.

I have no idea what the contract status is, where the talks stand or what the potential is for a strike.  I am a firm believer in teacher unions and in their right to collectively bargain and in some cases, to strike.  Usually though, the issues are fairly publicly debated, sometimes quite heatedly.  It's kind of odd to see this quiet job action happening and not know what the issues are.

On one hand, I'd much rather have teachers working under contract.  Everyone - teachers, parents, students and taxpayers deserve the certainty that a contract brings to a school district.  On the other had, if talks are continuing and things will be settled soon, this kind of job action is really about the best you could hope for as a parent.  My kids aren't affected, there aren't 'informational pickets' in the morning, and presumably the contract will soon be worked out.

I hope.

This is A Big Meeting

It kind of blows me away to be at a huge conference sometimes. There are over 2000 people in this session and we lined up 45 minutes early to get in. What's more is that the session repeats 3 times during the conference.

There are big changes happening in how America pays for higher education. The US Department of Education is hosting about 10,000 folks at Disney World this week to talk about those changes. While I have not seen any weapons this week, there is clearly some hostility in the sessions as long-time aid officers vent about their feelings on the newest Federal rules.

Needless to say the bars are full at night!

Back To School Night

I have to admit I love going to Back to School Night.  There is something special about sitting in their tiny chairs with the other parents.  Hearing about your children from people who are today total strangers, but will be among the most important people in their lives for the next year is also fascinating.

Add in that this is the first year in a new school and there is so much to think about.  Emma's teacher has both a business degree as well as a master in early childhood education.  I can see her reading her Blackberry with one hand and finger painting with the other. John's teacher is energetic and engaging, and a big sports fan.  Her co-teacher clearly loves John already.  The teachers seem to be perfect matches for my children.

Fleetwood Elementary School is small and homey.  Built as the 60s came to a close, it's in remarkable shape for the 360 or so neighborhood kids who will spend much of their waking moments there until June.  

I hope you all take the time to go to your own Back to School Nights.  I always learn somehting and I always leave smiling.

Willie Free Hits It Big

I caught it on the news last week and regular reader Jimmy Delco noted it as well, but alas I have not gotten around to this story until today.

And it's a big one for a small school in Delaware County.

Two of the area's wealthiest couples combined to give $45 million to Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades in Middletown, PA on Tuesday..The Lenfests (Suburban Cable money) and the Rowans (Inductotherm money here in Moorestown, NJ) made the gifts to the unique 120-year old school.  Rowan made the original $5 million gift as a challenge gift.  The school approached the Lenfests to meet the challenge and THEY turned around and challenged the Rowans to up the gift.  Ya gotta love it when rich people get competitive.

Williamson provides free education to young men to learn trades.  Preference for admission is given to guys from the Philly area who couldn't go to college otherwise.  The 120 year old school effectively doubles its endowment with these gifts, ensuring  that the school's mission will continue for generations. 

It's in an enviable position in higher education.  They've got the funds to do what they want, a distinctive niche of enrollment opportunity and the attention of the philanthropic community  at a crucial time.  With the economic crunch hitting higher education, as well as demographic pressures beginning to restrict enrollments, gifts like this can be transformational, giving institutions not only the opportunity to continue a current mission, but to develop important new programs, build classrooms, labs and shops for the future and catch up on deferred maintenance.

I've known a number of Williamson men.  They tend to be incredible people.  The school does an amazing job taking guys wilh what would be otherwise challenging futures and leading them to lives that matter.   It couldn't have happened to a better school.