Still a Shared Journey: Education 1960’s Style

One thing for sure –when folks attend a high school reunion, it’s the one place where no one has to guess how old anyone else is. I recently attended my high school reunion, and it was more fun than I could have imagined! The icebreaker was walking up to someone and saying, “And who are you?” We never knew that we would ever not recognize people we spent twelve formative years with and whose features we knew so well.

This was the class of 1967, Kosciusko High School, in Mississippi. As we gathered and talked, I reflected a great deal about the public education we got there together. There were no accountability measures, state-mandated standards, or state assessments. There was nothing like No Child Left Behind legislation. We just went to school and got our education. And seeing my classmates and what they have done with their lives, it must not have been such a bad education at that. While I realize the many differences and challenges in American schools today and fully understand the accountability system, I see in our education some of the components that have become lost in today’s schools – and that parents very much want to get back.

Together we reflected on our education and our teachers …mostly smart, mostly women, and completely committed to our academic success. This was, after all, still the era in which women’s options for careers were limited. The teaching profession was a viable option that attracted the best and brightest women. One classmate referenced a teacher who allowed him to come back when he was in college and get help with his work. Even decades prior to NCLB, we got all of our basic skills, and most went on to higher levels. We studied history, the classics, English, geometry, trigonometry, French, and other subjects, and we had varied musical opportunities – both choirs and band. We did term papers and researched from encyclopedias and books – not search engines and the internet. In addition, we had a full array of other opportunities –athletic, extra-curricular, drama, and social.

Our education journey together brought us the best of public education … there seemed to be a place for everyone, and based on the affection displayed towards classmates at the reunion, that feeling has continued over the years. Our public education truly was the great equalizer. Our journey together in school provided us with a strong foundation, often coupled with family and community support, as a springboard to our future. And when we got back together for a weekend, it was obvious that each of us has taken our shared experiences with us through life and been affected by them.

Classmates have gone on to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, business people, editors, and many other professions. It certainly appears that we were taught to think and that creativity and innovation were prized. Teachers took the time to work individually with us and stayed late to do so. All this in a small Southern town ….

As our nation struggles with how to do education, how to deal with No Child Left Behind, how to teach children who come more challenged than ever with poverty and language issues, perhaps we can learn something from the past – and get it back. Parents today want their children to learn to think and dream –all the while learning basic skills that will take them into higher levels of learning. They want music and art for their kids, whether or not they will become professional musicians and artists, because of what those disciplines contribute to a child’s life and development. And they want teachers who are beloved and respected by their communities and who respond to that respect by making sure students get what they need to succeed.

All of this may be a lot to ask, but those of us who have had it benefited greatly. It’s only right to want it for every generation and every student… and it’s worth working for. Our current public education landscape would improve if we could reconnect some of these attributes of the past with improvements that have been made over the years.

Thank you, teachers, administrators, and community ...you truly sent us out ready to take on the world! And thank you, Class of 1967, for the shared journey.

[Photo credit: riptheskull]