11. Students would have more enriching, real-world experiences.
“I would provide buses to schools’ parent centers. These buses would be used to take less fortunate families on group trips (museums, libraries, etc.) on weekends to enhance their child’s education and open our students’ eyes to a world of opportunity.” —Susan M. Prichard, community/parent/volunteer liaison, Hawaiian Avenue Elementary School, Wilmington, Calif.
“I would restructure STEM student-teaching at the university level to include one entire semester out in industry, in addition to the traditional student-teaching experience.” —Paul M. Rutherford, Ph.D., physics educator, Project Lead The Way, engineering design & development instructor
12. School counselors would be available to all students, 24/7.
“I would have school counselors available to all students, not just to push paper, but to be there on a daily basis; going into classrooms and having groups about needful things like grief and loss, divorce, living with drugs or alcohol in the family, stress management, anger management, dealing with mental illness in the family. Going into a classroom and trying to concentrate on school subjects, when the child is terrified of what he or she will find when they get home after school, is a major challenge in itself. Having a counselor available from K-12 would be one of the healthiest things we could do for our kids to help assure their academic and emotional success.” —Susan Deitrick, Lakeview Intermediate school counselor, K-Kids and Club USA Facilitator, Stow, Ohio
13. The arts would be mandatory subjects.
“If there was unlimited funding for school districts, I would want music made a mandatory subject. I remember a quote I heard from an educator 20 years ago: ‘It’s not the smart students [who] are in music, students are smarter because they are in music.’ I firmly believe that the discipline needed to learn the second language of music transfers into other subjects. The rhythmic breathing needed to complete a passage, whether vocal or band, balances your physical and mental well-being and provides for clearer thinking and improved hand-eye coordination. Mandatory music class would improve overall student test scores as well as provide a life-long hobby.” —Teresa Chrisler, Natoma, Kan.
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