I WENT, I SAW, I LEARNED

I started my teaching career at Stanford in 1959. No, not the university. Stanford Elementary School in Westminster, California, teaching a fifth grade class. Later, I taught in Garden Grove, California until recall back to Air Force active duty in 1962. After retiring from the military, I later returned to teaching in California in Riverside, Moreno Valley, and San Bernardino.

When Alaska called our family north, I taught severely emotionally disturbed teenagers at Romig Junior High in Anchorage. What wonderful preparation for the legislature!

I relate my teaching experience to give credibility to my observations of our District 31 schools. In addition to a full day at South High School as part of Legislators Back to School Week, I toured and have met one-on-one with school principals at Huffman, O’Malley and Bowman Elementary Schools, Goldenview Middle School, and South and Service High Schools. With few exceptions, I liked what I saw: good teachers, students on task, and involved PTSA leaders.

I also enjoyed being invited to a working breakfast with a group of South Anchorage principals. I’ve been called in to the see the principal before – both as a kid and as a teacher – but never before have I been on the “hot seat” alone with a whole bevy of principals!

My observation? Yes, most of our school facilities need some work, computers age fast, and most class sizes aren’t optimal, and some state policies have made recruitment of new teachers difficult, et cetera, et cetera – and this means money, money. But money alone a good education does not guarantee. I went, I saw, I learned: a lot of quality education is being provided to our children by quality educators.