CNN Special Featuring FIRST, Sunday 5/15

[LightWaves1636]

I really liked the special (although I did feel it could of use more material in it), but overall it was the motivator I needed to show the students of FRC 3320 to keep them marching on.

Maria's story really struck a cord with one of our girls; she has a very similar story cause her dad doesn't believe she'll graduate high school and will end up like her cousins. (She almost quit robotics over it). But now she's more committed to be something great for her family and herself. She told her mom awhile ago her dreams of being a biomedical engineer and I'm excited that their relationship is a lot closer over it now.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Now that I have had a chance to think it over, what we perceive as a nice piece about FIRST and our students was more a report on the failing education system. CNN showed that bright, hard working students are not currently getting what they or the the US needs. CNN demonstrated the need to change by demonstrating that students that can compete in a difficult challenge like FIRST Robotics need something different, something more. The show might instill in some students a desire to join FRC teams as a result, but really leaves them wanting more from their local school boards. The great news is that FIRST students now have some role models to look up to. They can see that students from wide and varied backgrounds can achieve scholastic success and attend college and universities. I wish them all the best in the future.

[Dmentor]

Despite the great stories and FIRST publicity, in my opinion this was a very sobering and depressing documentary. Some points that I walked away with:

1. Parenting plays a primary role in education (no surprise there)
2. Insufficient inspiration and motivation for learning as a whole
3. Vast disparity between regional means and standards
4. Inadequate teaching of basic economics, planning and societal value
5. FIRST may be a step in the right direction but it is an awfully small step

Reflecting on these... I think it is probably unrealistic to expect that the schools can systemically fix parenting issues. Schools probably need to spend more time educating students on the role of education within our society and in our personal living standards and this should then form a basis of motivation in the absence of parental influence. If we can't sell the majority of students on the fact that education leads to a better life, then I see us always being in a downward spiral as one generation passes their values to the next. I doubt there are many students that think testing is fun. An educational system based around high stakes testing doesn't seem to me to be a model for inspiration to learn. Technology if used properly can help address the disparity issues but I've rarely seen it used properly and there are too many entrenched stakeholders in the current process. Ugh.

[Chris is me]

Schools can fix parenting issues. Keep in mind, they're teaching the next parents right now.

[Dmentor]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Schools can fix parenting issues. Keep in mind, they're teaching the next parents right now.

I'd love to know how to do this systematically. Both of my parents were teachers so I have had a pretty direct perspective on what the school can and can't fix. What I observed was that for my parents to "fix" parenting issues they pretty much had to become the student's parent by proxy. Since my parent's house was always open to strangers, we "adopted' plenty of students whose lives were clearly changed. I think that this had little to do with our school (other than providing the mechanism for them to meet my parents) and a lot to do with my parents. And as successful as they were at radically changing student's lives, they were only able to reach a small percentage of students. More often than not, students would under perform, fail, and ultimately drop out only to become parents of the next generation and then repeat the cycle. Maybe I'm overly pessimistic but it is happening all across the country in large numbers.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Dmentor

What I observed was that for my parents to "fix" parenting issues they pretty much had to become the student's parent by proxy.

I meant that the teachers can work to make sure the next generation of parents aren't as bad, by teaching... Probably a little optimistic.