On Sports and School

Last night I had the privilege of attending a brainstorming session on creating an ideal school.  The high school here is going to compete to become an XQ Superschool, a program sponsored by Steve Jobs' wife, Laurene Powell.  It was invigorating to meet with other parents, faculty, members of the school board and the community to talk about ideas in education.  And the focus was not on reinventing the wheel or incorporating more technology - it was more about identifying the challenges to learning that kids face and how to create a school that addresses and tries to eliminate these challenges.  There was a lot of consensus on the idea that kids need smaller classes and engaged and engaging teachers. They also need the ability to access classes that stir their curiosity as well as meet their interests, so there was a lot of discussion about changing the length of the school day, week, and year to allow internships or special interest classes.

One idea I really liked was the concept of having kids take one large lecture for a class in high demand like AP US History, and then meet in breakout sessions with smaller groups for discussion and review. So you could have the most dynamic teacher lecture and then let students learn critical thinking by leading discussion groups.  Another idea was changing the traditional language classes to become less about vocabulary and more culture classes where students learn about other cultures and then dialogue with students from that country via Skype or Facetime.

My suggestions were to make learning more expeditionary - go to the ocean front, go to the desert, go to the battlefield. These would require a "flex term" sessions - three or four weeks devoted to special interests classes or projects, which I've seen done at other schools.  Additionally, I'd like to see more fluidity between the community and the school. Invite experts in to teach or lecture.  Have career days or clubs. Get businesses to offer apprenticeships or internships in the community. We live in a place ideal for that because students could walk to a business. They would see how certain skills are necessary in the real world. [A real world skills class was also mentioned: Home ec for the modern day.]  Since this is a public school, involving religion or spirituality wasn't discussed, but several people brought up the idea of educating the whole person.  And the buzzwords resilience and mindset came up also. Grit wasn't mentioned but that's the other buzzword getting tossed around lately - how to teach kids grit.

One way is through sports, I would argue. Sports came up at the very end of the evening. The principal asked about actually doing away with sports. I drafted this note this morning. Kind of presumptuous of me, but in my defense I have had a couple conversations with her at various events that made me feel more comfortable with being long-winded:

Thanks for including parents in the brainstorming meeting for the xqsuperschools project last night. I really enjoyed listening to ideas and getting a chance to add some of my own ideas that have been percolating for years.  As we move around and see bits and pieces of what works and what doesn't at different schools, I always wish we could put together the ideal school where all of these things come together.  And hearing about other people's experiences about what works/what doesn't is also invaluable. Of course, the two biggest indicators of "learning potential" are great teachers and smaller classes where kids get mentored rather than managed, and both of these are hard to realize.  But finding creative solutions like reorganizing classes with "breakout sessions" or inviting "experts" in to inspire students, even if they don't have teaching credentials, were two of the ideas I really liked last night. 

I also wanted to revisit the topic of sports while I am thinking about it. I know I was quick to jump to the defensive when you mentioned doing away with sports last night, but after giving it some thought, I had a couple observations - no solutions, but some ideas to come back to.  First, I do agree that sports can be disruptive of learning and require an immense amount of money and time to manage.  Our last school was a football school, and there was some definite resentment on the part of a some faculty, students, and parents about the time and attention given to football, and for good reason.  On the other hand, the football team actually paid for itself and made the school money through tickets, concessions, and donations.   

I may be biased because  I come from a family of athletes.  I said last night that boys need the competitive outlet, but I was every bit as competitive in spirit as my brother, and my middle daughter isn't afraid to take on her brother's friends on the soccer field, so girls benefit from athletics just as much as, if not more than, boys, as studies have shown.  

I'm sure other studies exist that show how sports can help improve grades and lifelong learning and living habits just as much as the arts can.  As a huge fan of the arts in schools, I was excited about the idea of the school hosting an arts conservatory when we were researching schools. But I am sorry that some of the classes/programs are not more available to students outside of the program.  [Both of my boys would love to be able to take some music classes, but the one band class available didn't fit their schedules and they were told that the band was very competitive.  May be a rumor, but they were discouraged.]

What I think would be ideal is if both sports and the arts were more accessible to average students - students who want the enrichment of learning to play an instrument or golf but aren't going to make a career out of either.  Both sports and the arts teach students habits of mind AND body that are essential for healthy adult lives:  discipline, the value of effort in producing results, the value of creative thinking and problem solving, the value of using different kinds of thinking and moving to reach a goal, the values of teamwork and collaboration, the value of taking care of your health, and sports especially I think provide a social connection that promotes other-focused thinking - in an ideal program.  For instance, as much as I cringe at the violence in football, I think there is something valuable in learning to defend a teammate.  Some people might think it a stretch if I argued that sports teach compassion, but I'm willing to make that claim!  I also appreciate the importance of sports as a type of ambassador outreach to the local and other communities.  In my own experience and in that of my kids, I've seen that sports, perhaps more for individual sports like cross country, swimming, and track, provide an opportunity to interact with kids from other schools and other parts of the state (and other countries when we were in Guam and they participated in Far East competitions.)  Our kids have also experienced this doing things like Knowledge Bowl, Model UN, and Geography Bowl -  elevating the acceptability and the fun aspect of academic competitions is also important.  

So I defend sports as a part of a school program because they are essential to educating the whole person.  I do think that high school sports, especially here in California, have become much too competitive and time consuming. I know CIF has some rules about practice times and travel distances, but in some cases coaches find a way around these rules. Ideally, you'd find brilliant, charismatic coaches who valued balance for students.  The other key is accessibility (allowing kids time to do sports and drama, for instance, or offering more options, like another fall sport for boys besides football and cross country.) This requires both the drama instructors, or whoever, and the coaches agreeing to creative flexibility. 

My fear is that turning sports over to clubs would make them inaccessible because of cost, travel time, and selectivity, at least clubs in the sense of what they are right now.  As you know, sports are becoming elitist at the middle school level because of these highly competitive and expensive clubs, which is a challenge for kids who develop at different rates and may like to try something new.  But if by clubs, you mean something more on the level of an Ultimate Frisbee Club, for instance, that meets at the park on Friday afternoons, or a running or biking or paddleboard club that gets together on weekends, then I am more onboard.  Allowing students to organize and manage some club sports would provide even more opportunities.  The challenge would be finding other communities to play with or against, but without incurring great costs or travels.

In closing, I think returning to this topic could provide even more creative ideas. How to eliminate the time out of class requires the cooperation of coaches and athletic directors willing to postpone competition times or limit them to weekends. How to widen accessibility but also provide an opportunity for students who have the ability to excel are additional challenges. And finally, finding those great coaches who inspire athletes to give their all, without demanding that they make sports their reason for being, is probably the biggest challenge of all. 

A bit too much, probably, but it was cathartic to write - one of those "I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say" moments Flannery O'Connor noted. 

I think the idea of trying to create an ideal school is a fascinating thought project, and as a former home schooler, one I tried to articulate and simplify. I never wrote it down, though.  I really don't think home schooling is the ideal situation - I'd rather send my kids to a small school with a Catholic identity, unlimited funds, and charismatic experts as teachers. Technology use would be limited to being a learning and access tool, rather than an entertainment factor. Learning would require the use of all the senses - field trips, experiments, projects.  There would be plenty of literature, art, music, and sports and community service. All the good things, and none of the peer pressure, college pressure, or competition that gave more emphasis to the athlete rather than the glory of God. We would have 32 hours in the day and 57 weeks in the year.  And parents could go to school, too. 

A little bit of everything

The daylight hours are growing shorter but the days are no less full nor any cooler here in Southern California.  The trees and hills are brown, but from the drought, not the change in seasons.  Yesterday I watched from the corner of our street as helicopters doused a brush fire in the hills on the other side of the highway. It was contained and didn't threaten any homes, but the sirens, choppers, smoke, and flames were intimidating - and exhilarating: drama in the 'hood!

Though the days are shorter, they are no less full. The past week was full of sporting events.  In the past all the kids did the same sports at the same time, mostly soccer, although they tried swimming and baseball. Then the girls did gymnastics. Now they've begun to differentiate: everyone has a different activity.  It's interesting to observe the parent culture that surrounds each of these sports.  I have to admit to preferring the Cross Country crowd because that was my own beloved sport of choice (it's co-ed! No other teams get to ride buses with boys), but it's also a sport that encourages friendly conversation, because you only get to watch about 20 seconds and the rest of the time you stand around and wait for your runner to come by.

Soccer is also conducive to friendly conversation if you come to all the games and your kid isn't overly competitive. I sometimes want to remain anonymous among the soccer parents because my son is a bit of a ball hog.  He's working on it, but he really doesn't like to lose, and he really is a pretty good soccer player, so when the team falls behind, he acts on a driving urge to dribble the ball down the field and score.  If he does score, then he backs down and lets the other kids play forward, but it can be a little embarrassing when you hear other parents yell "Pass it!" at your kid.  I also got in trouble this weekend for harassing a ref - he DID make a bad call, though. He told my husband, the coach, to ask the parents on the left of him (me) to respect his calls. Oops.

On the other hand, football parents are known for being involved, loud, and obnoxious. Since my son on the football team plays benchwarmer, I go to the games looking for conversation, but everyone else watches the game, even my husband. So I watch our third son play in the band.  This is a new pursuit, and I'm just realizing that band parents are pretty fun.  They cheer "Go Band!" during the moments when play is stopped on the field, and applaud and shout whenever the band plays the theme to Ironman. Since the group is small, the kids don't march and don't wear uncomfortable uniforms which we don't have to fundraise for. This makes me happy.  Another good thing about Friday night football games is that the younger kids, who complain about going to cross country meets and soccer games, are happy to come along and watch. They spend a couple hours strolling around the stadium with their friends and begging for dollars to spend at the concession stand.  A good time for all.

Our oldest daughter is playing middle school volleyball, which would be more fun to watch if they won sometimes.  It isn't too painful to watch, though, and this year I finally know some of the other moms to chitchat with, as opposed to last year, when I knew no one because it was the beginning of the year in a new school.  The school volleyball team is a mix of girls who just play after school and girls who play together on a club team. Fortunately, these club girls are not clubby and it's actually hard to tell who is getting coached for free and who is paying $$$ for coaching at the club.

The youngest two girls are purely spectators.  Baby is learning to clap. Her other exercise is rolling and sitting.  The 8 year old wants to do dance or gymnastics, but right now she's stuck doing cartwheels on the sidelines because the parks and rec gym class is only offered on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Horrible times.  Fortunately, she's a good sport about getting left out.

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I was saddened to see that D. G. Myers died last week.  I enjoyed reading his blog A Commonplace Blog for his book reviews that were both scholarly and personal.  He often examined the treatment of faith in literature and seems to have been an influential teacher and a voice of reason on the internet.  He will be missed, as the Image blog indicates. RIP.

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I myself have done little reading the last month. I did finish a couple read-alouds with the two younger elementary kids, Stuart Little, Matilda, and now Ella Enchanted. Favorite of those three is Matilda, the reading genius. She was also the kids' favorite. We also finished listening to some James Herriott stories on CD. James Herriott was a favorite author when I was younger.  Listening to his stories makes me still kind of wish I could be an Irish vet 50 years ago.

I finished reading Alan Sillitoe's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which I had never read.  It's about loneliness, not running, or perhaps I would have read it sooner. A collection of short stories about the slums of London in the 50's, it's very dark and depressing, but short, so I finished it.  It's been awhile since I read something so bleak.  Each story focuses on a lost soul, someone who has been downtrodden and can't quite get back up. Sometimes the narrator is like the voice of the author, who grew up in the slums but got an education and moved away, but the voice seems to have guilt about having left and criticizes his books as decorations. Why did I stick with this book? Perhaps because these lost souls are so human. Did I read with a sense of "Thank goodness, I'm not like that, except sometimes"? Or a sense of "Fascinating look at aberrant human nature"? A bit of both. I can't say I'll become a Sillitoe fan. I can only stomach so much of unrelenting human distress, without needing a little joy for balance.
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A tonic: I liked this quote below about small joys, because that is what our lives are all about in this season of busyness.  We have lately experienced the small joys of brownie fudge sundaes on a Saturday evening with the cousins, a lobster fishing escapade, small successes at school (A's in math for the 7th grader at last!), sports fan happiness, coffee in the morning with the WSJ, which was on sale recently for $5 for two months, (now this deal), and best of all, sweet, chubby baby kisses. Softest cheeks in the world are found right here.  Now that Baby is no longer in that fragile newborn stage and has begun to chortle at silly antics performed for her delight by brothers and sisters, I find myself wallowing in intense moments of mothering contentment in a way I didn't have confidence or time to experience very often with the other kids. A pleasure of being an older parent.

Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. 

Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. 

Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. 

Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples, pears. 

Show them how to cry when pets and people die. 

Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. 

And make the ordinary come alive for them. 

The extraordinary will take care of itself. 

- William Martin

linked at hopeinbrazil

After the funeral

May already! Time for catching up:

First a funeral.

Each rose represents a member of the family.
The different colors are for different generations.
There were 54 roses altogether. And my grandmother
was an only child. . . 

My trip back to the states for my grandmother’s funeral was very brief.  It took me as many days to get back on schedule as the number of days I was gone.  My husband convinced me that I should take one child with me as a representative of the others at the funeral.  I feared cries of injustice from the five left behind, but they all seemed to accept that one getting to go was better than none – maybe they realized that the house would be one-sixth less noisy.  And we also explained that others were going to get opportunities for traveling at other times. So my nine year old daughter was my travel companion, and a very good one she was. We never really had a heart to heart conversation, but we enjoyed the serendipity of airplane meals, watching travelers in line for security checks, and resting on each other’s shoulders during brief naps on the flight. And my daughter carried six roses up to the vase in the picture above, while I carried two, to help fill in the overflowing, somewhat chaotically enmeshed, arrangement of flowers that represented my grandmother's fondest accomplishment: being matriarch of a close, loving, although sometimes quibbly, but always faithful family.  She presided happily over birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, graduations, marriages, and the other ceremonies and daily rituals that mark the rearing of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I debated returning for this funeral because I had just made the visit with my grandmother in January. At the time, I had decided I would rather spend time with her living than dead.  And we had a wonderful visit.  Knowing that it might be my last, I made an effort to be present, to listen, to ask questions.

But despite the financial sacrifice for the airline tickets, as well as the sacrifice of sleep and health, I’m glad I made the trip again, not because I felt the need to say goodbye, but because there was more of her to get to know. Listening to what my cousins and aunts and uncles had to say, browsing through all the old photos, hearing the pastor talk about my grandmother’s ministries in her church, all made me realize there were questions I didn’t ask, stories I didn’t hear during the last visit, that would help complete the picture of the person my grandmother was. As my mom has mentioned while cleaning up my grandmother’s house, here are all the pieces of a life, one that was well-lived, but perhaps underappreciated, as all lives might be. Everyone's memory of the same person reveals some additional facet of her personality. How can we ever really know another fully…

In one of her journals unearthed in a visit to the home emptied of her physical presence, but full of her spirit, she had written this piece of advice: "Look for everyday blessings that sometimes seem very mundane. A flower! A butterfly! A phone call! A special book! A song! A beautiful day! In all things be thankful."

One of the photo collages my sister-in-law assembled.

Four generations a generation ago.

I really admire the custom here on Guam have holding several nights of rosaries, sometimes entire novenas, after loved ones pass away.  Barbecues are held at different family member’s homes, or all at one central place, so everyone has a chance to come and pray and talk and share stories.  And often there are advertisements in the paper for one year anniversary parties after a death.  Maybe these are just excuses for the living to gather for good eats, but why not use any opportunity to revisit good memories and strengthen family ties? I'm glad I grabbed the chance to spend time with the siblings and cousins. Worth every penny and lost minute of sleep.

On the way home we had a short layover in Tokyo. The airport was clean, modern, and quiet. The lighting was cool, the waiting area decorated with geometic, but comfortable chairs, and the toilets all offered bidets, which my daughter mistook for the flusher.  One of the little stores had an origami exhibit that we meandered through. A fine introduction to Japanese culture.

Little Red Riding Hood

A soul ascending? The little matchgirl?

Other benefits of travel: ample time for reading (some books which I finished on the plane I may review soon), a brief experience of spring, a visit with our old dog, a view of the Alaskan skyline, time to laugh with cousins.

More updates soon. I give my class their final tomorrow night, and then I'll have more time for gathering thoughts.  

Gathering eggs just after sunrise.

Bosco has lost weight on the farm.

An out of focus mayapple, one of my favorites.

A bouquet of dogwood, phlox, and asters gathered
by the granddaughters.

Meanwhile, back at home, soccer season ended with a win.

From the plane window over Alaska. Seredipitously,
the movie on the flight was Big Miracle about the rescue
of whales in Barrow, Alaska.

Chesterton poem on Football

G. K. Chesterton visited Notre Dame in October, 1930, as a guest lecturer. He was invited to give a series of lectures in Victorian literature, but he also attended the solemn dedication of the stadium and the Notre Dame - Navy game, in which the Irish defeated Navy 26-2.  Chesterton composed a poem marking the occasion.  The Notre Dame football team may not have had a good season for several years, but how many football teams have inspired such poetry?  (I read an excerpt of the poem in an article by Dale Ahlquist in the most recent Notre Dame magazine. The full poem was found here.)

The Arena
Causa Nostrae Laetitiae

(Dedicated to the University of Notre Dame, Indiana)

           There uprose a golden giant
           On the gilded house of Nero
Even his far-flung flaming shadow and his image swollen large
           Looking down on the dry whirlpool
           Of the round Arena spinning
As a chariot-wheel goes spinning; and the chariots at the charge.

              And the molten monstrous visage
              Saw the pageants, saw the torments,
Down the golden dust undazzled saw the gladiators go,
               Heard the cry in the closed desert
               Te salutant morituri,
As the slaves of doom went stumbling, shuddering, to the shades below.

                                    “Lord of Life, of lyres and laughter,
                                      Those about to die salute thee,
           At thy godlike fancy feeding men with bread and beasts with men,
                                    But for us the Fates point deathward
                                     In a thousand thumbs thrust downward,
           And the Dog of Hell is roaring through the lions in their den."

  I have seen, where a strange country
Opened its secret plains about me,
One great golden dome stand lonely with its golden image, one
  Seen afar, in strange fulfillment,
     Through the sunlit Indian summer
That Apocalyptic portent that has clothed her with the Sun.

             She too looks on the Arena
             Sees the gladiators grapple,
     She whose names are Seven Sorrows and the Cause of All Our Joy,
                     Sees the pit that stank with slaughter
                     Scoured to make the courts of morning
For the cheers of jesting kindred and the scampering of a boy.

                          “Queen of Death and deadly weeping
                            Those about to live salute thee,
               Youth untroubled; youth untutored; hateless war and harmless mirth
                              And the New Lord's larger largesse
                              Holier bread and happier circus,
                 Since the Queen of Sevenfold Sorrow has brought joy upon the earth.”

            Burns above the broad arena
            Where the whirling centuries circle,
Burns the Sun-clothed on the summit, golden-sheeted, golden shod,
            Like a sun-burst on the mountains,
            Like the flames upon the forest
Of the sunbeams of the sword-blades of the Gladiators of God.

                          And I saw them shock the whirlwind
                          Of the World of dust and dazzle:
      And thrice they stamped, a thunderclap; and thrice the sand-wheel swirled;
                          And thrice they cried like thunder
                          On Our Lady of the Victories,
      The Mother of the Master of the Masterers of the World.

                                  “Queen of Death and Life undying
                                   Those about to live salute thee;
                   Not the crawlers with the cattle; looking deathward with the swine,
                                    But the shout upon the mountains
                                    Of the men that live for ever
                   Who are free of all things living but a Child; and He was thine.”

--G.K. Chesterton (1930)