What your local educators want you to know …
Parents are frequently invited to give feedback to their children’s local schools through district surveys, conferences, and school board meetings. The education system needs the support of parents to function.
Another essential force that powers education is seldom given the chance to speak. Without prepared and passionate teachers, a large gap opens in a student’s ability to succeed. In anonymous interviews, teachers were asked what they would like to tell the community.
The shared responsibility for academic success arose as a central focus point in many of these interviews. Teachers, parents, and students — the “success triangle” — are all responsible for supporting academic success. It is the teacher’s responsibility to relay the information; a student’s responsibility to retain the information; and a parent’s responsibility to create an environment for a student to study, ask questions, and receive help when they need it.
When a student isn’t academically successful, it is easy to point fingers at the teacher for inadequately doing their job. This isn’t always the case. Failures on the part of the parent or student can easily be “swept under the rug.” Some parents and students may struggle with admitting failure on their part, but the admittance of failure and the determination to learn from it can allow parents and students to grow and better themselves.
“You have to assume that everyone is trying their best,” one teacher expressed when explaining how they deal with conflict.
Another teacher said Meeker students showed, “strong family values” that help them “achieve their greatest potential.” They also praised the methods Meeker School District has in place to keep students accountable for their behavior.
Teachers also brought attention to the amount of time they put into their jobs. While they do have summers off, they often put in extra hours every week to catch up on grading, perfect lesson plans, and give individual help to students. Passionate teachers put in a lot of work behind the scenes to do the best they can for each student. This time is not always apparent to those looking in from the outside. Teaching is no walk in the park.
One teacher noted that, “there is more rigor in school than many parents realize.” Students and teachers alike experience an intense workload. The teachers also communicated how thankful they were for the opportunity to teach and see students grow in real-time. In a small community like Meeker, these teachers are grateful for the support and the opportunity to see their students succeed in life outside of the classroom.
THE SUCCESS TRIANGLE:
It is the teacher’s responsibility to relay the information; a student’s responsibility to retain the information; and a parent’s responsibility to create an environment for a student to study, ask questions, and receive help when they need it.
BY OPAL MUNGER
