Klarinet Archive - Posting 001117.txt from 2004/03

From: Nancy Buckman <eefer@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] re: no one left behind
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 11:36:11 -0500

At 10:49 PM 3/17/2004, you wrote:
>Nancy,
>
>(Chiming in on a subject I haven't really been following - apologies if
>I'm re-hashing paths that have already been explored)

Karl,

As the parent of one of "those kids" who shouldn't be put in with the
"smart" kids", I can tell you that you are dead wrong. My child had
problems in school from day one. She couldn't rhyme in kindergarten,
couldn't sound out words or memorize math facts in the early primary
grades, repeated fourth grade, was unable to write without lines in middle
school, couldn't memorize anything all through high school. She barely had
the grades to graduate.

However, she had an IQ of 166. She excelled at drawing and painting and
making sculpture. She was and still is an excellent musician, making honor
band from sixth grade on, every year through high school. The school
system was furious at me for insisting that she be allowed to take music
and art when she couldn't function in the other classes. Her high school
government teacher told her in front of her entire class that she would
never amount to anything and always be a sore on society (this man is still
teaching in the school system).

She went to college (where there were classes for those who weren't
prepared for academia) and in two years had mastered all that she should
have learned in the prior twelve. She then went through seven years of
college and graduated magna cum laude in her field of study.

Today she is 32 years old; holds a Master's degree in Special Education,
which is a field that requires extensive education to get into; is working
on her Ph.D.; teaches in a local school system; is president of a national
organization for the advancement of children with disabilities; is married
with two beautiful children; and still has the same disabilities that she
had as a child.

I know first-hand what kids with disabilities need. I have lived through
it and dealt with a society that is not interested in dealing with any
child who doesn't fit the mold. If it weren't for the fact that I insisted
she be included in every class with kids who were "normal and smart", she
would never have made anything of herself. Every child has the potential
to be someone vital and it is up to the rest of the world to give them
every opportunity to be so.

Oh, and I just would like you to know that my daughter's best friend from
her school days, who happened to be one of those "fast learners", but
didn't have the high IQ like my daughter, has just completed a stint in a
rehab unit for drug addicts. This young lady had every opportunity as a
child - she traveled the world as a kid, could play four instruments, is
fluent in three languages - but look where she is. Her parents divorced
when she was fifteen .

We are responsible for every child's welfare, and that includes the one's
who don't learn as quickly as some others. teachers need to be able to
teach children, not smart ones or slower ones or rich ones or poor
ones. Look where trying to put people into neat little piles has gotten us
in today's world. This is a very global society and we will always be at
each others' throats, if we don't learn to live in harmony.

I invite you to attend my classes that I teach at the local college. I
have everything from autistic 19 year-olds to 85 year-olds who can't
hear. I have two blind students and four kids in wheelchairs. All of these
people are in the same class together (there are 29 all together). It is
mid-semester and they are all passing (in the 30 years I have been teaching
I have NEVER failed a student). They are allowed one absence per semester
and no tardies. I have the greatest respect for them and am proud of the
progress they make - individually and as a class. They are my future.

Nancy

Nancy Buckman
Principal Clarinet / Orchestra AACC
eefer@-----.net

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