One thing that I have learned after spending my career in education is that if you want to get a snapshot of how a district’s schools are doing, all you have to do is ask the students. Asking students about their experiences in school is not only a great way to connect with young people, as we have all had some experience in school, but it also provides a quick measure of how education has and has not changed over the years.
What has not changed is the 3Rs. Students in the Merrill Area Public Schools (MAPS) still learn the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, focusing on those three areas is no longer enough. In addition to focusing on other core areas, we also teach students how to communicate clearly, think creatively, and solve complex problems using technology.
We also know that the students who graduate from our schools will eventually enter a job market that is much more competitive than most of us did. For this reason, we work hard as a district to ensure that students have more knowledge and skills than most of us had at the time of our high school graduation, giving our students an advantage.
You will find that learning in the MAPS is both rigorous and personalized. We expect a lot from our students, and we work to raise the bar continually for what students should know and be able to do when they graduate. However, we also know that students learn differently. While some students enjoy learning from reading, others learn better by doing through projects. Regardless of how a student learns, we seek to give students the opportunity to learn based on their own interests and method of learning.
I hope that if you spoke with a MAPS student that you would also be able to see the spark of what truly interests that student. Children, and adults for that matter, want to learn. It is merely a matter of understanding that all students are different.
Finally, a MAPS student would tell you with great pride about their classroom, their school, their teacher, and their friends. Each of our students would gladly tell you of the terrific things that go on in our schools. It is that excitement over learning and that pride in our schools that makes MAPS so special.
Take some time this spring and speak with a MAPS student. Ask them how they view their school. You will be impressed with their answer.