Springfield Medical Care Systems hosted a backpack and school supply drive to collect donations for area students to help them get ready for the new school year.
The drive, coordinated as part of National Health Center Week and conducted in Springfield, Ludlow, Londonderry, Chester, Bellows Falls, VT and Charlestown, NH health center locations, yielded boxes of backpacks and several hundred school supply items. The supplies were delivered to area schools and service organizations in each of the towns for distribution.
What does it say about our valuation of our children's education that we have to have charity drives to supply them with the basics they need for school???
ReplyDeleteChuck, it looks like a lot of backpacks and other things that are not typically supplied by the schools.
DeleteSome one trying to help out and Chuck has nothing good to say, how many tax dollars do you provide to the Springfield School System Chuck?
DeleteIn the last century when we went to school we never used backpacks, guess they weren't invented yet except for the military. I saw a little girl yesterday, her backpack was bigger than she, she could have gotten inside and zipped it up. What do they put in these backpacks?? Chuck did you use a backpack?? In high school some of us had book bags, and everyone had a locker. But in elementary school the class rooms had desks in rows. the A's sat in the first and the Z's were in the last. Each desk could flip up and that is where you stored you school books etc. Today I believe the kids sit at a round table??
ReplyDeleteYeah, and Abraham Lincoln did his homework on the back of a shovel using a charred stick from the fireplace. We don't realize how contemptuous of public education many Americans are. There are school districts which ask their parents to donate toilet paper!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the only people in Springfield who can afford to see the kids given an equitable chance to succeed are the workers at SMCS....
It seems that any attempt to improve education, or anything else, is always met with condemnation by those on the far right. In the early 60's, William F. Buckley referred to them as "primitives." Things haven't changed much since then.......
ReplyDeleteImprove education? What the heck was wrong with it in the last century ? All you mellineals have done is mess it up.
DeleteChuck can fix all of these problems for the price of a simple cup of coffee! And maybe a lot of Bernie's ferry dust...
ReplyDeleteIf the teacher's union wasn't so greedy regarding pay and benefits, perhaps more funds would be available for supplies. The average Vermont teacher is paid $27.25/hr and has a pension most of us can only dream about. Beyond that, they have a job for life irrespective how poorly they perform.
ReplyDeleteTo 9:17 and 9:22, your pitiful spelling make the case for education reform better than I can. To 6:04, on what planet is $27.25 per hour good money for a college graduate? You ALL need to go back to school!
DeleteYou get the point correct spelling or not. If this machine can't correct the typo then have the mellineal who developed the program fix it.
DeleteNo, correct spelling IS the point of education! Relying on auto-correct is what Millenials do!
DeleteYou both fail. The proper spelling is Millennials.
DeleteYou're welcome.
$27.25/hr is outstanding pay for a liberal arts graduate with no viable trade skills. If not for teaching, most would be painting houses or waiting tables.
DeleteIf not for teaching, 6:16? The only reason people with degrees end up in service jobs is people like you, who don't value education! Most teachers work only six hours per day in class. Then there's the six hours per day they work outside of school that they DON'T get paid for. When you add it up, they make little more than minimum wage! As far as "viable trade skills," supply-side economics sent most of those jobs overseas decades ago. Take a good look around town, there are a lot of skilled tradesman working crap retail and landscaping jobs, or have no job at all. Most have no education, and are too old to benefit from one. For them, it's game over! To 8:31, a simple typo is a far cry from the wholesale butchery I see on this blog every day! I suffer from old eyes and fat thumbs, not a lack of education!
Delete@ 7:54 AM
DeleteRE: ""As far as "viable trade skills," supply-side economics sent most of those jobs overseas decades ago.""
BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No one identified as a "skilled tradesman" is mowing lawns as a landscaper other than chronic drunks and felons.
A quick search of regional jobs reveals dozens of openings for, TALENTED, ASE certified automotive technicians, HVAC technicians, AMS certified welders, licensed A&P mechanics, journeyman electricians, journeyman machinists, CNC programmers, and healthcare lab/diagnostic technicians.
What is truly criminal are liberal, high school administrators, teachers and counselors that despise TALENTED tradesmen with high incomes. They view their effectively useless liberal arts degrees as some bizarre badge of intellect. These educators have done every thing possible to sabotage technical training at the Howard Dean Center. Think not, take a tour yourself and ask why no program certification for the highest demand trades. Note the term "certification" and not empty, self-enrichment non sense.
That and a myriad of other reasons is how liberals have devastated Vermont's economy.
First off, the factory owners who abondoned this town were not liberals! (Neither am I, for that matter.) Blame them, if anyone. Maybe the Howard Dean Center should have better classes. Are you willing to pay higher taxes for them? Probably not. My experience as a certified CNC machinist/programmer was terrible. Anyone stupid enough to work under those conditions for the money they paid wouldn't be smart enough to do the job. But that's life in NON-UNION shops! There are plenty of technical schools and junior colleges with certification programs out there. You just have to look. I think the hatred of "skilled tradesman with high incomes" stems from this: Many of them aren't nearly as skilled as they claim, and charge a small fortune for sloppy work. That'll piss off a smart, educated person pretty quickly! The belief that liberal arts degrees, (and the people who have them) are inherently worthless, is pretty irritating coming from some slack-jawed, booze-soaked redneck who just charged you $500 to fix a leaky faucet, and it still leaks!
DeleteI grew up in Springfield and taught for years in another state (no jobs in my subject area in VT when I graduated). I must speak out against erroneous statements about teachers/unions. 1. I have a Masters degree that I received on a full scholarship at a major university. Because I already had some in the field experience, I also taught undergraduates as a Teaching Assistant. That required intelligence.
Delete2. If I added up all the unpaid hours I spent in eve., wknds., summer on work, I would not have hit minimum wage.
3. The amount of money I spent out-of-pocket for my students was in the thousands by the time I ended my career.
4. As a teacher, I had no employee advocate (such as HR dept in other fields), and unions served that purpose. I paid union dues for that protection.
5. Despite unions, don't be fooled. If a teacher is incompetent, there are many ways around a contract to remove them. I have seen many (even those w/tenure) terminated.
6. My state teacher pension plan required a 7.25% deduction from every paycheck. I had no 401K and no choice in how that money was "invested" by the state.
7. Finally, regarding my employable skills, they were many. In fact, in frustration over my pay, I left teacher for several years and was quickly hired as a corporate project manager for a major financial institution. I was eventually made an Executive Officer and was being consider for promotion to Asst. Vice President when I left to return to my first love: teaching.
Please, on behalf of teachers everywhere, I request that you stop making sweeping, incorrect generalizations about teachers. In turn, I will not make any uninformed assumptions and generalizations about others' occupations.
Thank you!
typo: *left "teaching" not "teach"
DeleteAmen, 10:58. I left CNC machining, and spent my 401k putting myself through college to become a teacher! At the end of the day, teaching was far too much work, for far too little money. I didn't stay long. TEACHERS BUST THEIR BUTTS! Anyone who thinks differently should spend the time and money going through college, and then DO IT! I'll bet they don't stay long, either!
DeleteEvidence doesn't correlate to claims of unreasonable hours worked. Why is it that every "snow-day" I have to schlep myself to work staff parking lots remain empty? I have never seen cars in the staff lot on a weekend. Why is it teachers are allowed to use the exact same course materials year after year? Was reprehensible how older siblings would pass along quiz and exam answers. I have never met a teacher that used their summer vacation time to gain hands-on experience in their field. Go ahead and cry me a river how over worked you are. If teaching was such a rotten job why are there so many applications for openings?
DeleteUndeniably there are very talented teachers that greatly contribute to their student's academic success. Perhaps if we recognized excellence in education and proportionately paid and promoted these educators consistent with their demonstrated skill, the whole system would benefit? Naw, that's not how a union works.
9:56, you and your kind NEVER speak from education or personal experience. You view everyone, and everything, through the warped lens of your warped politics. I suggest that you go out and learn something before you speak! Naw, that sounds too much like WORK. It's SO much easier to watch Fox News!
DeleteAnonymous 9:56,
DeletePlease provide your data and evidence re unreasonable hours worked. Also:
1. I spent many summers attending summer workshops (at my own expense) to keep my professional teaching license up to date with earned CEUs.
2. Curriculum/materials are routinely re-written/replaced to stay current. Curriculum design and material evaluation is often done during summer, btw.
3. Pay is experienced based. I learned new techniques, material, etc. every year when I taught!
Finally, and most importantly: I was definitely not "crying" over how tough I had it as a teacher or saying teaching was a "rotten" job. I did it (in the years I could afford to) because I loved it and wanted to make a difference.
I was responding to generalizations/stereotypes with facts (see 9/7, 10:58).
Good day to you!
Great Job SMCS, it that's a whole community sometime to help and pitch in Thanks Team at SMCS!
ReplyDeletePeople move to places where they know their kids will get a great education. Right now, Springfield's population profile reflects the fact that families with children, especially those in the higher grades, leave for other towns, and the state rankings have our schools almost at the bottom. If people think that occasional outstanding acts of charity are going to be the engine for improving the school system, I just hope they didn't get educated here....
ReplyDeleteChuck, I'm at a loss for words. We couldn't be more on the same page. For your admission of Symbolism Over Substance as a useless, feel good gesture, you sir are now an honorary Ditto Head.
DeleteActs of kindness can grow, plant a seed and see what happens when it's nurtured. I have 3 children, 2 daughter-laws and one grandchild all who graduated through the Springfield School System and they all have good or great jobs here in VT, and building families in the community. Maybe the person needs to look individually and sometimes a little help by some others pushes them.
ReplyDeleteHere we have both Chuck Gregory and Roger being essentially right. :-)
ReplyDeleteSpelling, grammar, writing skills, and math skills are basic tools of great value. They should be maintained and improved throughout life. Even small errors degrade understanding, and they inevitably call into question other statements and even thought processes of those who commit them. Where small errors thrive, large errors may appear. Write and read carefully, and don't rely on machines (or other people) to think for you.
ENOUGH of U people , please donate me a back pack. I'm out of hear. Ah, spell check finaly worked.
ReplyDeleteYou will be surprised:
ReplyDeleteI thought you would be interested in this story I found on MSN: Most and Least Literate States http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BBN1f5q?ocid=se