Promoting Changes is not for the Pusillanimous

     If you want change, you can't be timid. Authority has a way of leaning on you that forces you to question your own power. They usually do this by telling you that as the experts, they know better than you. In regards to education, the administration usually does know better. But, they don't know your child or your school like you do. And, they aren't always right.
     Outside of Deer Valley Support Our Schools, one of the most rewarding experiences I ever had with education was changing the cancellation of a program at Desert Sky Middle School. After twenty years of a successful woodshop elective course, the district cancelled the very popular program about five years ago.

     They were very "kind" about it, explaining that the teacher was retiring and there was no one qualified to continue the course. (That's district office speak for "don't bother me about my decisions.") Never mind that 500 students a year went through the program or that children had learned shop safety, how to draw a straight line and how to cut pieces of wood to create a useful item for the home. How often I was told, "Programs like that are teacher driven and when the teacher leaves the program goes away." We were expected to bow our heads and walk dutifully away.
     But, a dear friend of mine wasn't about to give up on saving woodshop. And, neither was I. We peppered the board with e-mails and phone calls, we spoke at board meetings, and we went to board study sessions to express our outrage at the reduction.
     For, you see, in our investigation of the cancelled class, we found three qualified applicants had applied for the job. It wasn't being cancelled because of the loss of the teacher. It was being cancelled because of a decision up on 15th Avenue. The highest qualified candidate came to a board meeting with us and was publicly identified in front of God and everyone. The person making the decision to cancel woodshop no longer had a place to hide.
     Today, when I meet students from Desert Sky Middle School, I always ask them about woodshop. They love it. For me, that is the best thanks I could get for the summer of work put into saving the school from a bad decision. And, I have to thank Christy Agosta, Ron Bayer, and the three former board members for their support in restoring a valuable class.