OCR Text |
Show a r = “August 31, 1999. WASATCH COUNTY COURIER peahrshlihihii this mellow bronzing entails the eat world of and shorter periods of daylight. But — along with crisp morning temperatures Hansen example, fall represents the end of the This year marks the beginning of. Barbara Hansen’s eighth year Barbara Hansen and her fifth grade class The Larne married mother of three, ranging settle in for another day of knowledge. 7 in ages 15-24 grew up in Minnesota. Currently, Hansen is teaching the fifth grade at J.R. Smith Elementary. “I love children and anything I can nbn wea With an encouraging administration and support from other teachers, Hansen thoroughly enjoys going to work every morning. “What other profession is there where you come every morning and everyone knows _ your name and is happy to see you?” All teachers deserve recognition for the wonderful and sometimes demanding job of educating the future of our + eae —! country. For the future, Hansen plans on continuing to reach the children and to let them know that they can do anything they choose to do. She continues by adding, “I appreciate the opportunity to have this recog- ‘ | : = nition, I feel that any one of the teachers deserves the same thing.” a ——lt at . BINGGELI ROCK ~ @& CONCRETE ed ee <4 ally BE i Supporting a strong foundation for education in Wasatch County! | 654-2611 © Charleston, Utah * 654-2233 vacation season and the beginning of a new work or school year. Adults, who have lived without a true summer vaca- tion for quite some time, still feel the changeover and lament it. But for teenagers, the shift is a mixed bag. The back-to-school rite is a time to renew friendships and to make new ones; to usher back in the prom season and the popularity contests; to buy and exhibit the latest fashions; to warm up the driver’s ed car; to use the meat squad to train the special teams; to come up with rhymes for obscure Indeed, the social function mascots. of public education in America has been the source of joy and pain for millions upon millions of American schoolchildren since the dream of public education caught on in the 19th Century. Indeed, the only thing missing from this great annual celebratory ritual seems to be education itself. For many students, the thought of reading, writing, and arithmetic; of homework and the intellectual rigors of com- prehending complex phenomenon is too much to have to consider. In the sense Contributing Writer ead public education was to be the © means of bringing the masses into the light of knowledge, that utopian dream. is in trouble. Don’t get me wrong-the masses are being educated, but the light of knowledge itself is in danger of going out for too many of our young people. ‘When was the last time you heard any | young person: say “I can’t wait to get back into the geometry of Pythagoras!” Or, “I think Pll read King Lear now so I'll be better prepared to discuss its allusions. come November.” . Or, “Perhaps this year I’ll finally come to understand the reasons behind war.” Some will be quick to answer that these obscure subjects hold no relevance to “real life” and therefore would fail to capture the attention of any typical human being, except for a mathematician, English ~ teacher, or politician, respectively. Moreover, for the rest of us, such intel- lectual preoccupations come off as pretentious and stuffy-to express them is to be instantly unpopular. Besides, some will say, there is no money in any of them. No money means no value. ‘| disagree. Such utilitarian requirements for educational validity depend on a perverse logic: we judge the worth of knowledge against the requirements of a specialized society that has lost the ability to judge the worth of anything outside its own socio-economic niches: within the larger market economy. © In other words, education has gone com- mercial and can’t hold its own. THINK continued on page 25: | Wicca County Courier Kids Say... bi oo In the leaves, the lowering of the water table, do to help them succeed is what I will do,” explaining why she continues to take annual courses to keep current in her educational tactics. 4 Fall is in the air. and the occasional woodsmoke, there is a discernible shift in mood from summer to autumn. In the human world, for teaching in Wasatch County. —- by Matthew Heimburger, ~| Kendra Jepperson, age Kris Brockman, age 10 "Because it's a holiday.” “Because we don't get to ~ go to school on that day.“ Trevar Lawton, age 10 : ~ | "Because we get rest.” aa “We Support Our Great Appreciate Wasatch County Supporting Us ~ RC a Barbara Opinion CN Sponsored By: Binggeli Rock & Concrete 2 NN senile | L su — nee ‘ wil . k? in Th u o Y t n' Do y a i a e t a n Notnovic Rachel Ahlberg, age 10 "Cause we do stuff with our families.” Joe Probst of REPUBLIC MORTGAGE 196 North Main 654-2818 } ; ' i j i : ; ; |