MLK Day Activities

Well the walk and the company was great on the Walkathon from Stratton Center to the MLK Statute downtown and then to RCC.  It was great this year, in addition to City Officials to have a great representation from our high schools.  I saw three, but there may have been more.  Both ML King and Poly had their colors on.  I know that Principal Painton and Activities Director Porter were there with a number of students -- though their blue didn't stand out well from the MLK March blue. 

I know that there were a number of teachers and other staff there along the way -- and it was great to see them and their support.  I believe that this was Dr. Beaty's 19th march which is consistent with the 19th year of this event along with Mayor Loveridge's 19th walk as well.

Attached are some of the photos I got along the way.

  

Martin Luther King, Jr Day

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  I hope you get a chance to engage in the activities of the day in downtown Riverside.  I am planning to be part of the 19th annual Walkathon that starts at the Stratton Center.

I know the students from each of our High Schools that serve on the Student Advisory Group are planning to be there with a number of their colleagues.  It should be a great walk.  See you there.

Conundrum?

So this past week I had the opportunity to read USA Today and found a most interesting set of articles that were juxtaposed on the same page (6A) on opposite sides. 

On the one side, there is a description of a major and growing problem with schools and people that are trying to "cheat" their state test for the purpose of appearing "good" rather than being concerned about the primary mission of schools:  student learning.  The most egregious example cited being the Atlanta Public Schools in Georgia.  I am not sure why it would be a surprise that when there is extraordinarily high focus and penalty / reward of test results -- that people can and do try to beat the test in in unethical, immoral ways.

The interesting part was that right next to this article was another that brought us up-to-date on the whereabouts and achievements of Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of the Washington DC Public School.  The curiosity is that Ms. Rhee continues to propose more "high stakes testing" as a great solution, while there is some evidence that under her short administration in DC there is substantial evidence on an unusually high rate of "erasures" -- which is commonly a sign of "extra" help on state assessments.

Juxtaposition???

When will we start talking about an improved learning?  Clearly assessment is important IF we don't forget that this is about the learning of students, not passing tests.  The other part of this conundrum is that most of our state assessments are minimalist and very narrow -- leaving out other important arenas of learning such as:  history, science, music, fine arts, etc.

So what did you learn over the holiday break?

Welcome Back!!

Welcome back, I hope you all had a great and restful holiday.  I had some good time with family. 

However, I also am aware that while many of us were resting and relaxing, there were those that were working very hard and were very focused.  Representing all the great value-added and performing arts programs in RUSD, we had Mr. Charles Gray and the King HS Kingsmen Band representing us in Arizona at the New Year's Fiesta Bowl Parade.  Not surprisingly, the King Band once again showed themselves well.  You can see them here on You Tube from the local ABC news channel (go to 11:30 on the tape).

Bottomline, the Kingsmen walked away with all the honors and the Grand Championship.  Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work.