Klarinet Archive - Posting 001123.txt from 2004/03

From: "Dallas SCUBA" <forest_aten@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] re: no one left behind
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 12:21:09 -0500


> 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
>
>
>

Go Nancy Go....

Forest

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