SHRINK TO SIZE

I was mean to a middle school teacher.

Challenging is a better word.  But snippy also works. 

Disclosure: I fervently believe that there are few jobs more demanding and vital than educator.  If it is your job, and not your calling, choose a new profession. 

Back to snippy. It happened a few months ago during Back to School night. A teacher was sharing the information she planned to teach about human reproduction and teen sexuality. I inquired about why she would not include other critical information in her lecture. Noting her squeamish response, my temples began to pound, and I feared my head might begin spinning as I foamed at the mouth. 

What our children are learning-or not learning-in schools is a topic for another day. Basically, I overreacted (also a topic for another day.)  As I reconsider my response to the teacher, I realize that my reaction had less to do with critical information being withheld from our children, and more to do with a small poster that she had displayed beside the chalkboard. Five words typed below the photograph of a very cute puppy: It's Okay to be Smart.

Teacher talked and I considered the poster. I considered my daughter, and other students like her who shrink to size; not answering questions in class because they get picked on for being brainiacs, not being too effusive when discussing Faulkner, Virgil, or Aristotle, not admitting the scores they achieve on tests, the names of the colleges they apply to, or that they'd rather spend an afternoon with Math, Literature and Physics than Football. 

I thought about all the kids I know who shrink to size because they are smart, and I wanted to march across the room, tear that poster off the wall, and toss it in the recycle bin shouting, "It's not okay to be smart, educator! It's awesome to be smart! It's a gift to be smart!"

Disclosure: I find smart individuals who condescendingly spout their brilliance to be almost as annoying as unimaginative, uninspiring educators who phone it in year after year. I'm not referring to those smarty pants- be they kids or adults. I am talking about intellectually curious students who are consistently given the impression-in our Reality TV World and our oftentimes One-Size-Fits-All schools- that brilliance should be concealed or apologized for, rather than celebrated.

Which is why I have a new hero. His name is Freeman Hrabowski, and he is the President of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.  Profiled on 60 Minutes for the important and inspiring work he’s done with science and math students, Hrabowski recalls being arrested at a children's march during a Civil Rights demonstration in 1963. Questioned by Sheriff Eugene "Bull" Connor when he was just twelve years old, Hrabowski responded that he only wanted to kneel and pray for freedom, and thus found himself incarcerated for five days. That traumatic experience taught him that "even kids can make decisions that can have an impact for the rest of their lives." Admitting that math gives him goosebumps, Hrabowski discusses the alarming lack of science, engineering and math majors in U.S. higher education. He laments how the attitude of both students and educators, and a lack of commitment to hard work have resulted in a majority of SEM majors transferring to simpler courses of study. Hrabowski stresses that hard work, attitude and support from each other- rather than smarts- is at the heart of success, and encourages his students, and all who watch this interview, to 'keep dreaming of the possibilities.'  

Penn State and the Herman Cain saga have captured the news, but Freeman Hrabowski and his students should be in the headlines. Consider this: The video of Kina Grannis singing in front of a changing diorama of jelly beans has had 2.5 million hits. The video of Freeman Hrabowski on 60 Minutes has had 1400 views. 

I encourage you to watch this ten minute segment; share it with your kids, friends, colleagues. It is a call to all of us to embrace hard work, believe in our abilities, and refuse to shrink to size. Our kids' success and happiness, and our nation's future depends on it.    

QUING Hereby Decrees:  Check out the video here!