ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997 TAG: 9704070019
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELIZABETH JONES
AS A 1994 graduate of Bedford County's Staunton River High School, I was interested in your March 22 news article (``Bedford school superintendent tells principals to cut cost").
It seems that after spending 75 percent of the year's budget, school Superintendent John Kent - to conserve funds - wants principals to avoid using substitute teachers, has combined small classes, and has banned field trips, except for trips he approves that do not require substitute teachers or take place after school hours.
Also, School Board member Betty Earle offers additional ways to reduce spending. I was particularly interested in her suggestion that classes with 15 or fewer students aren't cost-effective.
The article reminded me of two aspects of my high-school education that altered the course of my college career.
It was during my senior year at Staunton River that I developed a new passion. It wasn't for the new substitute teacher with the sexy sideburns or the newly marketed, alcoholic beverage Zima. Instead, at age 17, I fell in love with the English language. Until that year, I had focused most of my attention in my classes on my wristwatch, waiting for the bell to ring.
In my senior year, college preparatory English class forced me out of this stupor. All of a sudden I was introduced to literature, Shakespeare and contemporary works, and forced to go beyond skimming the work to analyzing the writing in order to contribute to class discussion. As a student who had previously been mainly exposed to classrooms where the teacher spoke and students pretended to listen, the idea that my teacher wanted - indeed required - me to share my ideas was a foreign concept. Most importantly, the class trained me to write concise academic papers, an essential skill for any college-bound high-school student.
About 10 students in my class elected to take this advanced English course. It was the smallest class I ever had in a Bedford County school, and also the most valuable learning experience of my life. In addition to instilling a need to read and write, it also provided skills needed to survive college and the job market: to be able to speak, to write and to analyze.
Although its size made the class more costly, shouldn't these skills be afforded to any student who requests them?
While the advanced English course gave me many tools I would need in college, I wasn't as prepared in some fields as my undergraduate classmates. Each year in high school, I asked about the possibility of the school's offering a creative-writing class. Each time I was told that, although this program had been offered in the past, it wouldn't be taught again because of a lack of student interest.
When I enrolled at Hollins College, many of my friends spoke of their high-school writing programs. I was so intimidated by their experience that it wasn't until my second year of college that I had the courage to sign up for a creative-writing class. Hollins fosters every type of writing style and skill level, so I've been able to catch up. But didn't my high school have the responsibility to prepare me for college-level work?
Even if creative writing could be dismissed as trivial and nonessential, what about the student who is denied the opportunity to study advanced physics due to a lack of interest at his or her high school? Will this student be able to perform as well in college as students who attend larger high schools able to offer more specialized classes? No. Who are school systems serving when they fail, in the name of cost-effectiveness, to prepare students for life after high school?
Earle states that ``it is time for the board to make people understand that students come first.'' By eliminating small classes, Earle would be serving the budget, not the students.
The quality of education that children receive shouldn't be slaughtered. If Kent and School Board members are unable to properly manage the budget, they should step down. The students, teachers and principals in Bedford County shouldn't have to carry the burden of their mismanagement.
Elizabeth Jones-is a junior at Hollins College, majoring in English.
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