Schools & Refrigerators
Schools...
Friday was a big day for public schools in New Orleans. Immediately after the storm NOPS announced there would be no classes til next fall, meanwhile the private schools were rushing back into action as fast as ever they could. Then, when it was obvious you couldn't have New Orleans without kids, and you couldn't have kids without schools, they announced they'd open a few West Bank schools & let anyone attend them.
Ben Franklin High School is not an open admission school, and cannot be one. There were no plans to open this year and in fact, the school board forbade anyone from the school to even enter the building. Like many administration orders, it was ignored at Franklin, for the good of the students. For weeks people have been cleaning and salvaging and preparing for the work yet to be done.
Among the biggest jobs has been writing the Charter School application so the school can open independent of whatever happens in the rest of the system. Friday night was presentation to the New Orleans School Board, about which none of us were comfortable.
I knew lots of Franklin kids planned to be at the meeting, but until I arrived I had no idea how many. It was huge. Parents, teachers & kids occupied half of the meeting room.
Link to TV Report
This is just the beginning. And it comes lots of challenges. It will be challenging to just open the school on January 17. And the returning kids will come from all levels of schools. Some, like Christopher, have been in an excellent academic setting, with no disruption at all. Many have been bored and unchallenged. This is truly a scheduler's nightmare. But I'm confident they will get through this year and continue to provide a top-notch public high school for all of our city's brightest children.
And Refrigerators...
So what do refrigerators have to do with education? Well, nothing, really. It's just that I've noticed some changes lately.
When refrigerators first started appearing on public sidewalds several weeks ago, they just were. Standing up or laying down, they were just refrigerators.
Of course, while some looked like they could be plugged in and used today, many had suffered greatly in their move to the street
As later groups of returnees have arrived and found their food older and nastier and even more disgusting, people started taping them up without ever opening them. Most people wouldn't even consider cracking that door open without full Haz-Mat gear, down to the self-contained-air-supply.
Then, people started writing and painting on their boxes. "Levee Board Victim" is always a popular saying.
Although some people vent their anger at Katrina. There's certainly plenty of that to go around.
And some people are able rise above their personal frustration to express kinder and gentler emotions.
Friday was a big day for public schools in New Orleans. Immediately after the storm NOPS announced there would be no classes til next fall, meanwhile the private schools were rushing back into action as fast as ever they could. Then, when it was obvious you couldn't have New Orleans without kids, and you couldn't have kids without schools, they announced they'd open a few West Bank schools & let anyone attend them.
Ben Franklin High School is not an open admission school, and cannot be one. There were no plans to open this year and in fact, the school board forbade anyone from the school to even enter the building. Like many administration orders, it was ignored at Franklin, for the good of the students. For weeks people have been cleaning and salvaging and preparing for the work yet to be done.
Among the biggest jobs has been writing the Charter School application so the school can open independent of whatever happens in the rest of the system. Friday night was presentation to the New Orleans School Board, about which none of us were comfortable.
I knew lots of Franklin kids planned to be at the meeting, but until I arrived I had no idea how many. It was huge. Parents, teachers & kids occupied half of the meeting room.
Link to TV Report
This is just the beginning. And it comes lots of challenges. It will be challenging to just open the school on January 17. And the returning kids will come from all levels of schools. Some, like Christopher, have been in an excellent academic setting, with no disruption at all. Many have been bored and unchallenged. This is truly a scheduler's nightmare. But I'm confident they will get through this year and continue to provide a top-notch public high school for all of our city's brightest children.
And Refrigerators...
So what do refrigerators have to do with education? Well, nothing, really. It's just that I've noticed some changes lately.
When refrigerators first started appearing on public sidewalds several weeks ago, they just were. Standing up or laying down, they were just refrigerators.
Of course, while some looked like they could be plugged in and used today, many had suffered greatly in their move to the street
As later groups of returnees have arrived and found their food older and nastier and even more disgusting, people started taping them up without ever opening them. Most people wouldn't even consider cracking that door open without full Haz-Mat gear, down to the self-contained-air-supply.
Then, people started writing and painting on their boxes. "Levee Board Victim" is always a popular saying.
Although some people vent their anger at Katrina. There's certainly plenty of that to go around.
And some people are able rise above their personal frustration to express kinder and gentler emotions.
And some people just let their artistic expression run wild.
But for all our diversity in New Orleans, theres always the Saints to pull us together.
posted by Carl at 6:35 PM
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