Archive for August, 2008
August 27th, 2008
In another month, JA will officially kick off the third edition of the Rockford in 20 contest, which provides K-12 students with the opportunity to answer the question “Where do you see Rockford in 20 years?”
In the last few years that we have done this contest, it is amazing to see some of the creative answers that comes from the minds of our youth. While they are dreamers, they all have realistic plans of how we can reach the best Rockford.
Many of us adults in the community have an unfortunate “Well I’ve seen this before” attitude whenever some idea is introduced - anti-truancy programs, downtown development, crime prevention plans.
“Rockford is Rockford and it will always be that way.” That’s something I hear occasionally and, when I do, it isn’t meant as a compliment. The people who say this are those that need to get out and visit other places. See that other places, while beautiful, have their own set of problems. If you do that, you will see that Rockford, like most any other place, is also beautiful with its own set of problems.
Before we go around making our own children jaded, let’s get a full picture of this community, what it has to offer and encourage your children to do the same. Make them creative, productive optimists who will see the problems you see, be a part of the solution, and increase the beauty in this community to an even greater extent.
August 18th, 2008
I was listening to a story this morning on NPR that included comments from Julia Wright, daughter of well-known African-American author Richard Wright (writer of Native Son). She spoke of how, as a youth, she read her father’s autobiography Black Boy while eating caramels. She learned how her father received a single orange for Christmas one year and he savored it slowly as he ate it.
She immediately spit her caramels out.
A lot of times – probably most of the time – we don’t think about those that have had to work a lot harder than us to accomplish things we take for granted – eating an orange; voting for president; getting an education.
For so many young people, going to school is a necessary evil. It is something to be suffered through on the way to reaching the “real world.”
My children are the same way. My oldest wants to be a chef, but will have to work hard to get finished with high school and then culinary school. I went to college and got my degree in journalism. My mother took care of me as a baby while my father worked his way through school so that they could have a good life for their family. Both sets of my grandparents worked long hours in factories so that their children wouldn’t have to. My great-grand parents included hardworking Midwest sharecroppers and new immigrants from Poland who sweated each day just to make sure there was food on the table at the end.
We must realize the struggles of our past to value the gifts of our future. So much work has been done to get us where we are today, who would want to let them down?
August 7th, 2008
When I first moved here 3 years ago, I was told by many to avoid living in Rockford because the schools were so horrible. Being naive to the environment, I moved to an area that I was told was a “safe pick” for schools. Into the Rockton-Roscoe-South Beloit area we went. My kids have been going to Hononegah ever since. A great school.
Since then, I’ve had a considerable amount of experience with many of our region’s school districts and, because of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that Rockford has some really great public schools. I have met amazing students who have big dreams for their future. I have met high schoolers who are preparing to go off to great colleges (including Ivy League!). I have met kids who are building robots that would make C-3PO jealous.
Now, I don’t want anyone to interpret this as me saying that our Rockford schools have no issues to work in. I would be one of the last to say that. But what I have seen in the last few years is a strong passion among Rockford teachers and administrators for the education of our youth. This is their hometown, too, and they want to see that our youth are ready to make it an even better place.
Bottom line, don’t write off our Rockford youth or our Rockford educators. They do some amazing things.
