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The idea of change should be shared with all involved, for too long this has not happened in St. John.

The School Board will have a regular meeting on the 29^th. We need to let them know the regular location will not be big enough; they saw the crowd last Thursday at LaPlace Elementary. A Workshop meeting is also scheduled for the same week. Maybe we will get a call on the date and place, or maybe a letter will come home with the students. Communication is just another concern to be worked on.

During the 2010-2011 school term, employees gave four days (Furlough). The time spent discussing this process is as vivid to me today as it was at that time.

I know much happened during the 20th Century that is higher on the worry or concern list of life, yet here we are again.

The 20th Century education emphasized compliance and conformity over creativity, two skills that were necessary to do well in a professional or corporate environment and to hold down a good job for decades. Louisiana, when we look at the third from the bottom in ranking in the country, it is for sure not just what the Districts aren’t doing – the Constitution gives the responsibility of educating citizens to the state in which we live, where we pay taxes to run the government that is paying too little attention about the education of our children.

Unfortunately, most students continue to be educated in the same way as they were in the past, being taught a standardized curriculum through learning that is no more than memorization and repetition and individualized testing, at a one-size-fits-all pace.

A 21st Century education is about giving students the skills they need to succeed in this new world, and helping them grow the confidence to practice those skills.

With so much information readily available to them, 21st Century skills focus more on making sense of that information, sharing and using it in smart ways.

I do agree with the Superintendent. Enough is Enough, as stated in a previous letter I wrote to the citizens in the paper.

Hope to see you at the Board meeting on the 29th.

 

Stay Safe St. John,

Citizen Jean Batiste

Carolyn Jean Batiste