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Show By Brian Gray When Career Ladders first burst on the scene two years ago, this column was one of the first to fire an angry salvo. I saw the "ladders" as a massive waste of the taxpayer's money and a program which, rather than help teachers and students, would lead to feuding, nitpicking and bureaucratic eyewash. When that column appeared, the telephone began ringing; most of the calls supported my view... And most were from teachers. Of course, not everyone called. Jim Hill never called. Instead Jim went quietly about his job of deciding how the funds could be wisely used to help children. Helping students is his job and as the supervisor For the Davis County School District's healthy lifestyle (health and physical education) program, he had an idea that Career Ladders could help him solve a growing problem. The problem was in the elementary grades. "By the time a student reaches junior high and high school, the physical education program is fairly established," says Hill. "The physical education teachers at this level were specially trained in the subject, and frankly, by this time some of the students are star athletes while others are turned off. But in the elementary grades we have a much different challenge." The challenge was created by the State Office of Education. The state officials created a list of worthy objectives and standards stan-dards and then expected local school districts to meet them. "Most elementary teachers had little training in physical education," edu-cation," admits Hill. "Here we have a list of objectives, but no methods by which to meet them. That's where Career Ladders came in." Using the extra monies, Hill gathered a group of teachers to work additional hours in creating a list of activities. The lists are detailed, including the exact equipment needed, the recommended recom-mended distance between participants and the reasons for the exercise. The state officials required teachers to help students build muscular skills; Jim's committee explains how it can be done. "It's no use telling people to do something without also telling them how to do it," says Jim. "This activities curriculum is one of the most exciting things I've ever seen." It's also one of the most important. In the nuclear family, children are usually sent out "to play" without guidance from mom and dad. Increasingly, fathers are not finding time to chuck a football to their son in the yard; more and more boys have never "played catch" with their father. It's a societal problem caused by divorce, television, working habits and just plain laziness. "In a situation like this," says Jim, "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We end up with bonafide star athletes but the rest of the kids are way behind. Children deserve better." The parents might not change. The school system can. I thought about Jim last night. I was driving by a school playground and saw four kids tossing around a baseball. Only one of them could consistently catch the ball, a feat in which the young boy was taking obvious Dride. "My dad taught me to squeeze the ball in the mitt," yelled the kid. "You guys aren't catching it like that." The other boys nodded and one of them blurted out, "Yea.. .Well, my dad's in California. He can't teach me." Yes, I thought about Jim. I also thought about Career Ladders. Lad-ders. There has been waste. But there have also been educators like Jim Hill who've attempted to make a dent in previously unsolvable obstacles. In the meantime, I'll take a wait-and-see attitude toward Career Ladders. It's my money. ..It's your money. I just hope others use it as wisely as Jim did in Davis Countv. |
