Ahhh- Spring. And Senioritis!

This is a beautiful day. I think I am going to find out just how strong senioritis can be as I attempt to teach my psychology students the ins and outs of cognition, problem solving and our obstacles to problem solving.

The beauty of teaching psychology is that it is unarguably relevant. When we talk today about the difference between trial and error, algorithms, heuristics and insight, I will be teaching them something they can use for the rest of their lives. The applications are easy-I hope. On the other hand, several of my students are off to the university already, mentally, anyway.

And that's what I want to brag about today. I will be attending my first college graduation this spring (along with my colleague and friend and fellow-poster, Donna) as we watch one of our students from our "6-8 Loop." Our Ranah Voss is currently on the Dean's List and has had her art work chosen for permanent display at UW-Oshkosh. I can't tell you how proud I am of Ranah and the good choices she has made along the way. She's one of many MPS students who don't get the press they deserve.

I have several students from another "loop" in college now, and some on scholarships. UW-Milwaukee and UW seem to draw most of my former students, although there are some at Alverno, Mount Mary, and MATC. Let's not forget that MPS has sent students to the Ivy League, as well.

This year, I am even closer to the decision making process. I see some students living my dream and going off to UW (Madison) and UM (Minneapolis); several students are enrolled at UW-M (Milwaukee), and then some will attend the area private colleges. I'm so proud and excited for their upcoming journey! I was on the UW-M campus yesterday and I was so inspired FOR them.

I'm not going to pretend that this won't be difficult (it will--there were many, many moments when I wanted to give up, and I had EVERY possible advantage in terms of parental emotional and financial support), and I'll never say that MPS is "good enough." I'm not good enough; I'm always looking to improve my own practice. But I will shout from the mountain tops-or at least from Miller Park- that MPS does offer success stories that are largely ignored by the press.

I am surrounded by students who will do amazing things in their lives despite the fact that no one in the local press believes they can. I am surrounded by kindness, brilliance, and hard work-even in March. Let's not dismiss the accomplishments of our MPS students.

A page a week

This is a letter to the editor (MJS) from yesterday's paper (emphasis mine):

It's great to hear good news

Thanks for running James Sonnenberg's and Stephen Paske's excellent op-ed on critics of Milwaukee Public Schools ("Critics of MPS just won't see for themselves," Feb. 22 Crossroads). They wrote the article I have always wanted to write. I am a retired MPS teacher who through the years also has invited the same people who only berate us on radio or in the newspaper to come and visit the school, but they never answer.

I help throughout all the MPS schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, with the Special Olympics. In the past two weeks, we were at Vincent and North Division, and their students helped us with many challenged athletes. Had I not had the opportunity to work with these students, I would not have known what great students are in these schools. These high school students actually make a positive difference in someone's life - and did I mention they all were going on to higher education?

Wouldn't it be neat if the media could do the same and make MPS students feel good about themselves? If you continually tell a child he's a loser, sooner or later he becomes a loser. But if you reinforce positive actions and thoughts, he has more of a chance of being a winner.

I challenge newspapers to take a page a week and talk radio to take five minutes a week and point out some of the great happenings in MPS.

Joy Adams
St. Francis

Good idea, Joy! Thanks for the support.

Letter to Jane Pettit a Mixed Bag

Alan Borsuk, education reporter for the Journal Sentinel let out his creative side in a letter to Jane Pettit, the Milwaukee philanthropist who gave $20 million to build Bradley Tech High School.

Bradley Tech has been getting a bad rap recently due to some high profile fights. What the letter does successfully is point out that there are really good things going on at the school, because of dedicated students and staff. The letter ends on a low note, but it's still worth a read.

An excerpt:

If you wanted the school to be a launching place for new generations of technical and vocational workers, you can find good news. That goes for training for high tech jobs in computers and electronics as well as classic jobs in things such as carpentry and welding. The demanding Project Lead the Way program to promote engineering careers is popular. One thing they do in the vocational program is Take abandoned homes, rehab them and sell them. They recently finished the 42nd house since the school moved into your building.

Read the rest here.