Street Level

There was a moment during the school board’s meeting with the Beattie School of the Arts community this week that encapsulated so many realities.

Students had started off the presentation to the trustees who are considering changes to the school by performing a play they wrote about how welcoming the school is to others.

Superintendent Terry Sullivan thanked them at the end, noting how unique the scene had been.

Later on, a dad stood up to clarify something for the people sitting at the front of the gym, charged with making difficult decisions about our schools.

He noted that what Sullivan had found unique is a reality that is commonplace for the parents and students who make up this school of choice.

We’re used to seeing kids dancing and singing in the hallways.

We’ve watched our kids learn about the digestive system by creating and acting out a play that follows the travels of a burger from mouth to — well, you know where it ends up.

But it points to a reality I’m sure the trustees are having difficulty grappling with — they really don’t know what actually happens in our schools.

Sure, they know teachers teach, students learn, administrators do whatever it is they do.

They see reports showing percentages of students who graduate, drop out, get suspended or expelled.

They calculate how much it costs to keep the lights on, the floors clean, the shelves filled and the parking lots shovelled.

They may even remember what it was like when they were in school.

But they don’t really know what its like now.

They don’t get to see the magic that happens in a school like Beattie, where everyone is accepted because they are unique.

Where teachers are truly engaged in the learning process because they’re not limited to working strictly from the textbook.

Where the high school band gets to play the theme from 007 movies instead of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Trustees have mentioned after other meetings they’ve had with schools that they’ve learned a lot about what goes on in those classrooms, too, so our experience at Beattie is not unique.

You can see the same sort of disconnect with who they represent in the decision earlier this week by city councillors to not hold evening meetings.

The reasons given ranged from ridiculous — Coun. Marg Spina asserting that if someone wanted to be at council, they’d find a way — to insulting — gee, we can watch it later on cable TV.

But the reality is council is supposed to be easily accessible to the public and that simply doesn’t happen when it meets in the afternoon.

Perhaps this disconnect comes format the fact our council is made up of only one true 9-to-5 working stiff — Nancy Bepple — with the others business owners or retirees.

While the process the school board has been going through is onerous — by the time the reconfiguration is complete, there will have been about 30 public meetings — it has perhaps been good because it not only gave parents a chance to spotlight their schools, it gave the board the chance to truly see what it is that is accomplished every day.

At Beattie, that means students whose learning is infused with the arts.

Who learn in a way that is different from the other secondary schools.

Who mentor the younger students and don’t think twice about sharing a stage with them.

The presentation from the Beattie community — the majority of whom want to see the board follow through on its original commitment to create a K-12 school of the arts in one building — was well-orchestrated.

Parents took the microphone and extolled the virtues of the school and its learning style.

But, in the end, it was the students who made the true point through song and dance (based on how a virus attacks a cell), visual art (an interpretation of an Irish poem) and the play that started it all off.

And that’s so appropriate because, when they sit around the horseshoe in December and early next year, trustees need to remember just who they really represent.

dale@kamloopsthisweek.com

Posted by Dale at 1:31 p.m. Comments